Tablighi Jamaat
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Tablighi Jamaat ("Proselytizing Group") (Arabic: تبليغي جماعت, also Tabliq) is a Muslim missionary and revival movement. They usually limit their activities to within the Muslim community itself, their main aim being to bring spiritual awakening to the world's Muslims.
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[edit] History
It was founded in the late 1920s by the Deobandi cleric Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalawi in the Mewat province of India. Ilyas put forward the slogan, ‘Aye Musalmano! Musalman bano’ (O Muslims! Be Muslims).
It is largely an unpolitical movement. The Tablighis work at grass roots level reaching out to Muslims across the economic and social spectrum.
Originally started in British India, the movement has spread to 150 countries and has an active following estimated to be between 70 to 80 million devout followers.
The Jamaat does not solicit or receive donations. Rather it is self funded by its members and operates on a very efficient model where administrative expenses are almost absent or taken care of by donations from senior members.
[edit] Ameer or Zimmadar
Ameer or Zimmader is leader,The first Ameer, also the founder, was Maulana Ilyas Kandhalvi Saheb (RA). The second one was Maulana Yusuf Kandhalvi(RA). The third one was Maualana Inaam ul Hasan (RA). Now there is shura of two Maulana Zubair ul Hasan and Maulana Saad Kandhalvi.
[edit] Aims
Tabligh in Arabic means "to deliver (the message)" and Tablighi Jamaat claims to revive this duty which they consider as a primary duty of Muslims. Originally, the movement was intended to transform into ‘complete Muslims’ those Hindu converts who were practicing a mixed, almost syncretic, form of Islam, which incorporated many Hindu cultural aspects. The Tablighis follow strict codes of Islamic law. They are bound by the religious dogma, dressing patterns and detailed methods of religious practices.
The movement asks the Muslims at-large to spend their time and money in spiritual journeys (called "gasht" or in Arabic "khurooj") to seek religious knowledge ("Taleem") and promote the faith. During these scheduled journeys (usually for a specified period of 4 months, 40 days, 10 days, or 3 days), members of each travelling group (called jama'ats) learn the basic tenets of Islam from each other. Apart from these, a list of desired qualities of the sahaba are studied and practiced.
These are:
- Conviction of faith - Belief in the oneness of God. This is expanded to mean that the creation cannot do anything without the will of God, but God can do everything without the creation. It also has the adjunct of belief that complete success in this world and the hereafter is only achieved in following the way of life shown by Muhammad and every other way leads to failure in this world and the hereafter.
- Humility & Devotion in Salah - Perfection in observance of prayers.
- Acquiring knowledge and remembrance of God.
- Good behaviour towards Muslims, and others. Sacrificing ones own needs in order to fulfil anothers needs. Includes respecting ones elders and showing kindness to somebody younger.
- Purity of intention. Meaning that all good actions should be solely for the pleasure of God and not for fame or materialistic gain.
- Inviting to God - Spending ones time and money in the "Path of God" (Invite towards good action e.g. charity, prayer and calling people towards God), as Muhammad was the last messenger of God.
[edit] Constitution and activities
Members of any given Jama'at usually hail from varied backgrounds. Each Jama'at is usually constituted in a village or town mosque. They decide upon a route and time period of the Journey by Mash'wara or group counselling.
Each Jama'at has 5 to 20 members with one leader or Amir who is usually chosen by the members themselves before the actual journey. They usually camp in Masjid (Mosque) along the way, and preach to the people who attend the Mosque. During the day, members of the Jama'at visit Muslim houses door to door and roam the markets of the town or village they have camped in and exhort Muslims to lead a pure religious life and invite them to attend a sermon in nearby Mosque after certain prayers. Usually after the sermon, they encourage the attendees to come forward and join them on the spiritual journeys for a number of days they can spare.
Since they encourage other Muslims to join in their spiritual journeys, any Muslim can easily join. There is no strict membership rules to be part of Tablighi Jamaat. In fact there is no 'membership' at all and there is no background check for newcomers. Almost any Muslim can join the group in a mosque. On the same lines there is no 'expulsion' from the Jamat. However if a member expresses extreme views they are not allowed to continue with Tabligh, as Tablighi Jamat does not condone Terrorism.
The Jamaat as a missionary organization is popular in South Asia and has many adherents internationally. The main headquarters for Tabligh Jamaat (known as a Markaz) is in Nizamuddin, New Delhi, India. Europe's main Markaz is in Dewsbury, England. East Asia's main markaz is located in Jakarta, Indonesia. The main African markaz is in Durban, South Africa. The group has also given lectures in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem.
When a "Tablighi" returns from his journey, he must try to implement what he has learnt into his life. He should also invite others towards it so they can also spiritually benefit from it. Daily Taalim (which means teaching and learning) is recommended to be done at home so that the women folk and children can also benefit from what the men have learnt. However there is a Jamat for women called a Masturat Jamat. Unlike the men, the women stay outside the mosque in the house of a well known tablighi worker following full sharia'h rules with pardah and learn and also teach the women of that locality who may come to join them. Men do not join the Masturat Jamat as they are seperate and stay in nearby mosque.
Apart from preaching, followers are also encouraged to spend 2.5 hours every day serving others. Typically this involves encouraging other Muslims to join the effort. These 'hours' are also used to meet sick people and help the needy. In the local mosque, there is a daily 'Taalim' (which means teaching or learning) and one person reads from a book. 'Taalim' is also done in homes with wife and children. This teaching is generally done with a few books, but is not limited to (Fadail-e-Ammal or virtues of deeds by Maulana Zakaria and Riyadhus-Saleheen) and it covers the basic tenets of Islam. Then there is a 'Mashwara' where planning for the effort is done. They also do a weekly program called "Joula" where they go door to door meeting people and inviting them to mosque for prayer etc.
[edit] Social impact
Most hamlets in the Indian subcontinent usually have a mosque called the Markaz, or centre, where weekly meetings occur. Preachers during these meetings urge people to go in Jama'at for as many days as their condition permits. The recommended period (but not necessary) is four months once in a life-time, a periodic planned tour schedule of 40 days in a year and 3 days in a month.
A strong grassroots support for the movement can be found in India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Central Asian countries, East Asian countries, North and Central African countries, South American countries and the Gulf countries.
In Pakistan the movement is based in Raiwind, near Lahore. The annual Tablighi congregation in Bangladesh, the Biswa Ijtema, attracts over 3 million devotees from around the world. A large participation in Tabligh efforts are also seen in Europe, North America, South Africa, North Africa and East Asian Muslim countries.
[edit] Political links
The Tablighi Jamaat is a professedly non-political movement. Despite this, due to its popular stature, many prominent politicians in Muslim and non-Muslim countries from both the right and the left associate themselves with the Tabligh. Many entrepreneurs in the Muslim world have been Tablighis. Among others, former Pakistani Prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and former Pakistani President Muhammad Rafiq Tarar have been associated with the Tablighi movement. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency was formerly headed by Javed Nasir, also a Tablighi.
[edit] Comments by prominent personalities
Graham Fuller, a former CIA official and expert on Islam, characterized Tablighi Jamaat as a "peaceful and apolitical preaching-to-the-people movement."
Barbara Metcalf, a University of California scholar of South Asian Islam, called Tablighi Jamaat "an apolitical, quietist movement of internal grassroots missionary renewal" and compares its activities to the efforts to reshape individual lives by Alcoholics Anonymous.
Olivier Roy, a prominent authority on Islam at Paris's prestigious Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, described Tablighi Jamaat as "completely apolitical and law abiding."
Governments normally intolerant of independent movements often make an exception for Tablighi Jamaat. Pakistani military officers, even allow Tablighi missionaries to preach in the barracks.[1]
[edit] Criticism within Islam
Some groups within Islam, like the Salafis and the Jamaat-e-Islami, accuse Tablighi Jammaat for its policy of refraining from warning its followers of activities that could be labelled as forms of shirk (polytheism) in Islam. On the other hand, anti-Wahabi groups like the Barelvis accuse the Jamaat of propagating the Wahabi beliefs and associating with them.
The Jamaat claims to adhere and follow the thought of Ahlus'Sunnah and has the basic Islamic creed.
The book used by Jamat for "Taalim" (or teaching) Fazail-e-Amaal is criticized by Salafis and Wahabis for it weak hadiths and other contents. Tablighis refute the charge saying that weak hadith narration is allowed for teaching virtues of already establised practices in Islam.
[edit] See also
- Deobandi Analysis of the Madrassah Darul Uloom, Deoband.
- Islam in India
- Islam in Pakistan
- Islam in Bangladesh
- Biswa Ijtema, the annual congregation in Bangladesh
- Muhammad Zakariya al-Kandahlawi, author of Fazail-e-Amaal
[edit] References
- ^ Alex Alexiev. "Extract from a critical essay", Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2005.
[edit] External links
- Fiqh of Dawah
- Tablighi Audio
- Dawah
- Scholar’s attachment with Tabligh site in South Africa
- Scholar’s attachment with Tabligh site in Chicago, IL, USA
- Maulana Tariq Jamil
- Andrew Gilligan on Tablighi Jamaat's role in the building of a new East London supermosque
- Criticisms from Salafi standpoints [1] [2]
- Article about Tabligh's alleged terror ties
- Article in Daily Times
- Islamist Networks: The Case of Tablighi Jamaat U.S. Institute of Peace Audio, August, 2006
