99 year old group, presence in over 150 countries, its head is…, things you need to know about Tablighi Jamaat
The annual three-day Ijtema or gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat commence in Haryana’s Muslim-dominated Nuh district on Saturday, with over 15 lakh people expected to attend the conference, while the Jamaat’s chief, Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, popularly known as Maulana Hazrat Saad, will be the chief guest at the event.
While many might have heard the name Tablighi Jamaat when the group faced backlash for holding a gathering during Covid-19, and accused of spreading the deadly pandemic, not many would be familiar with the organization’s history, which is nearly a century old, predating India’s independence.
Let us delve into the history of Tablighi Jamaat and its foundations:
Who founded Tablighi Jamaat and when?
Tablighi Jamaat was founded as a reformist Islamic religious movement by Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in 1926 in Mewat, Rajasthan in British India. Al-Kandhlawi was a Deobandi Islamic scholar, whose aim behind establishing the group was to revive “true” Islam, and extort Muslims to be more religiously observant and practise the religion according to the teachings of Prophet Muhammad.
Tablighi Jamaat, which loosely translates as Society of Preachers, or preaching party, also aimed to establish a dedicated group of religious preachers who would propagate the group’s version of puritanical Islam among Muslims, and also give dawah (calling) to non-Muslim to invite them to Islam.
Jamaat’s puritanical view of Islam
Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalwi gave the slogan “O Muslims, become (true) Muslims!”, which became the Tablighi Jamaat’s rallying cry as they set forth on the path to unite different Muslim sects by urging them to follow and embrace the “core teachings” and the lifestyle of Prophet Muhammad.
Kandhalwi also urged Muslims to practice “Amr bil Ma’ruf wa Nahi an al Munkar“, a core Islamic teaching which loosely translated means doing good, following the right path, and shunning evil.
Tablighi Jamaat’s focus on returning to the roots of Islam and the teachings of Muhammad found mass appeal among Muslims in pre-Independence India, and group gained a large following within a short span of time. In November 1941, its annual conference was attended by more than 25,000 people.
Tablighi Jamaat core teachings and beliefs
As mentioned above, the followers of Tablighi Jamaat, sometimes referred to as Tablighi Muslims, urge their co-religionists to the follow the teachings and the lifestyle of Islam’s founder, Prophet Muhammad. The Jamaat is theologically opposed to the syncretic nature of Sufi Islam, and urge Muslims to dress like the Prophet (with Pajamas or pants raised above ankles).
Muslim men are encouraged to keep long, well-kempt beards, and shaving their upper lip (no moustache), although its not considered mandatory.
Although the Tablighi Jamaat does focus on giving dawah to non-Muslims, its primary goal remains the purification of the Islamic faith, which it aims to achieve by guiding Muslims towards the “right path”, or what it believes is the true version of Islam.
Who heads the Tablighi Jamaat?
The organizational structure of the Tablighi Jamaat is quite loose with an Ameer who is sort of an umbrella leader of the entire global movement and all the branches. At present, Maulana Saad Kandhalwi, the grandson of Tablighi Jamaat founder, Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, is the Ameer of the group, and heads its Nizamuddin faction.
The Tablighi Jamaat has a Shura council (central consultative council), who along with elders of the group, appoint an Ameer for life after the last one passes away or is incapable of carrying out his duties. In 1992, Inamul Hasan Kandhlawi, the third Ameer of the Tablighi Jamaat, formed a 10-member advisory committee to appoint his successor after his death. Inamul died three years later, and Muhammad Saad Kandhlawi, was chosen as the next Ameer of the group.
Why is Tablighi Jamaat banned in some countries?
Notably, a few Central Asian countries, including Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, have banned the Tablighi Jamaat as the governments of these nations view the group’s puritanical view of Islam as ‘extremist’, which poses a threat to the secular and democratic fabric of their societies.
Currently, the Tablighi Jamaat has a presence in more than 150 countries, and is believed to have an estimated 80 million adherents globally, a majority of whom live in South Asia. After the 1947 partition, the Tablighi Jamaat strengthened its base in Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), and today Bangladesh has the largest national branch of the group.
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