Importance of Tarbiyyat
This is mostly to Ahmadi Muslims as I consider us a family, a family which grows closer with every hardship endured, every obstacle overcome, every event organized, ever national convention attended, etc. However, on a human level, it can be applied as a gesture of good will to all people.
Some Ahmadis have trouble carrying doing tarbiyyat which is improving morals and in a group like ours, we help each other to do that. However, some find it difficult as they don’t know where the line between being pushy and being a good brother/sister is. Furthermore, they consider their own faults and see themselves unfit to preach to their own. Finally, they just don’t think it’s their business.
First thing to remember is nothing gets done w/o prayer. One should always pray for one’s own guidance in such an endeavor and then the guidance of others. We are all weak and susceptible to wrongdoing to one degree or another so we ask for Allah taalah’s guidance.
B/C of this, we’re all working towards becoming better people though we all do it at our own pace. When we keep that in mind, instead of seeing our faults as a sign of hypocrisy, you see them as things you can relate to someone else who has faults elsewhere. Certainly, if you don’t do something and you’re telling someone else to do it, that’s wrong…unless you’re working on it as well. When I wanted to get regular with my prayers, I didn’t go around telling people to do 5 prayers and sit on my hands, I prayed with them.
This is why it is important to consider us a family and not just a group of people as part of some society as trivial as some school organization. We believe we are a divinely guided community seeking to bring humanity together as a family under a peaceful message. When we realize this, we consider what it means to be part of a family.
If your brother or sister was hanging out with the wrong crowd or indulging in bad habits, you wouldn’t just sit by and watch them destroy themselves. It was Cain in the Bible who asked if he was his brother’s keeper b/c he killed his brother and didn’t care what became of him.We look out for our family, we don’t break these ties or trade them for a paltry price.
I think the best way to do tarbiyyat is to strive to be a positive influence in other peoples lives. To do that, remember that we believe in the Promised Messiah (as) and his Khulafa and their guidance and that through obedience to them, we improve ourselves. When we do that, we automatically start to show that goodness. Give that goodness to your brothers and sisters around you so they follow, inshallah.