- Tabligh Jamaat Ijtima – A crowd puller besides Hajj
“We have today become contented only with becoming superficially and traditionally connected with Islam and are far from being true faithful model of Islamic idealism” – Muhammad Manzoor Nomani
“People out there are burning in the fire of ignorance and you are wasting your time here inquiring after my health!” – Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandlavi on his deathbed.
What is the Tablighi Jamaat?
Tablighi Jamaat is undoubtedly one of the most successful Islamic dawah movements in modern times. It was founded (revived) in 1926 in Mewat, north India by the prominent Deobandi great scholar of Islam by the name of Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandlavi (1884-1944).
This new movement was so popular that the first Tablighi Ijtima (conference) held in November 1941 in Mewat was reportedly attended by 25, 000 people many of them had walked on foot for ten to fifteen miles to attend the conference.
Tabligh Jamaat interprets dawah as “enjoining good and forbidding evil” in line with the Holy Quran 03:104 and Holy Quran 41:33.
“And who speaks better than he who calls to Allah while he himself does good, and says: I am surely of those who submit?” [Qur’an 41:33]
“Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong. They are the ones to attain felicity.”[Qur’an 3:104]
The Six Points Of Tablighi
Maulana Ilyas used to organise units of about ten persons and send them to various villages where they would assemble at the local masjid and present their lectures (bayan) in the form of six principles articulated by the Maulana Ilyas. These Six Points are now quintessential to Tablighi Jamaat’s teachings.
The six points are: –
1) Imaan/Kalima – Believing in the oneness of Allah
2) Salaah – To offer five daily prayers
3) Ilm and Dhikr – Gaining knowledge and the remembrance of Allah
4) Ikram-i-Muslim – To respect every Muslim
5) Ikhlas/Tas’hih-i-Niyyat – Sincerity of intention
6) Tafrigh-i-Waqt – To spare time and go out for the sake of Allah
Rules When Going Out For The Sake Of Allah
Apart from the Six Points mentioned above, Tablighi Jamaat members are commanded to follow a specific set of rules while they are going out in the path of Allah to conduct dawah work: –
– DO MORE
a) Dawah – Spreading the message of Islam (through bayan and ghust)
b) Ibadah – Worshipping Allah (by performing Zikr)
c) Taalim – Reciting of Holy Quran and Ahadith
d) Khimat – Taking care of fellow Muslim brother
– DO LESS
a) Eat less
b) Sleep less
c) Spend less time out of the masjid
d) Speak less un-important things
– ABSTAIN
a) Don’t take anything without permission
b) Don’t desire with the heart (lust)
c) Don’t desire with the tongue (gossip)
d) Don’t speak of worldly affairs
Tablighi Jamaat Main Activities
1. KHURUJ – Proseltysing (dawah) tour which has to be conducted on this schedule: –
a) 3 days a month
b) 2 ‘ghust’ (visiting Muslims in the neighborhood twice a week)
c) 40 days a year
d) 4 months in a lifetime
2. IJTIMA – Annual gathering (conference) of about three days. Tabligh Jamaat Ijtima gathers a lot of Muslims worldwide and can be assumed to be the second largest annual Muslim gathering in the world after Hajj. I personally witnessed such a gathering in October 2003 in the outskirts of Islamabad Pakistan which assembled over a million people.
Criticism Against The Tablighi And Their Response
There are many criticisms that are levelled against the Tablighi Jamaat sect both from within Islam and outside.
Amongst the major criticisms are: –
a) No dawah to non-Muslims – This was forbidden by Maulana Ilyas in 1944 because according to him “Present day Muslims cannot do dawah to the non-Muslims because Muslims (themselves) are not practising Islam (in full)”. It is however common knowledge that Islam is spreading in the USA (especially in prisons) due to the relentless activities of the Jamaat there.
b) Tablighi Jamaat men neglect their families when going out on dawah for long periods – The movement however says that the women can be rewarded by Allah for letting their husbands perform such duties.
c) Neutral stance on politics – During decisive conflicts with un-Islamic forces, the Jamaat do not join either sides and is viewed by other Muslims as tolerating evil governments. The movement has however defended itself by saying that political power is not enough to ensure effective organisation of the Islamic social order but by reforming the Muslim individual.
d) Tablighi Jamaat is breeding ground for terrorism – The movement is under strict surveillance in Germany, UK and USA because most suspected terrorists have used the Jamaat when going to carry out terrorist activities in other countries. There is however no direct link that the Jamaat advocates violence although the Pakistani government has openly criticised some extremist Jamaat members for carrying out terrorist activities.
These facts are supposed to be observed by every muslim who opt for Janna really.However, they have to be observed responsibly with no extremism as islam is a balanced religion. Sometimes the enviloment that surrounds our work place or business places especially here in Malawi will force one not to observe all the islamic principles. It is my prayer that Allah increase our imaans so that we can always act islamically.
The Tableeghis – A Short Poem.
The tableeghis, easy target for criticism, Attacks against them launched with cynicism, Politically unaware, Intellectually Docile, Painted by some as simplistically puerile…But I must hasten to disagree, And quote to you some history, To prove the nature of my claims, And perhaps to defend their noble aims…When Hinduism was spreading in Mewat, And Muslims were losing iman from the heart, A spiritual man arose who stood apart, And founded what we now know as tableeghi jamaat…Who knew this spark of love would spread like fire, For the situation seemed quite dire, It transformed darkness to illumination, And rescued the sunnah from devastation…Empty masjids cried floods of tears, As no worshippers made sujood for many years, And then crowds came back and thronged their floors, You can see angels smile, and the heavens echo with applause….The dhikr of Allah is being revived by their crowds, Throughout the lands jam'aahs travel like rain-bearing clouds, Bringing much sought for water to thirsty lands, And turning to luscious green arid desert lands…..Some people may be unaware of this information ,That mawlana Ilyaas was an initiated sufi master.Whilst India’s Muslims plunged into great disaster…So he took the da'wah out to the masses, Like Bees flying on journeys making honey in stashes, Unknown inhabitations became Honeycombs sweet, Where millions of Muslims gather and meet……They left their families and their abodes, And embarked on difficult dusty roads, Traveling for the pleasure of the divine, To replace the darkness of post modernity with the sunnah's shine….Embryonic change happens in Forty Days, Strange Indeed are Allah's ways, Don’t call this number a reprehensible innovation, Perchance it be a sign of your lack of academic discrimination….In the way of Allah each step they tread, But only for jihaad this should be said. Open the hadeeth work of bukhari- the chapter on JUMUAH,ya akhee f'illah,In that very chapter not about jihad, it quotes the hadeeth of the feet being covered with dust Fee sabeel illah…How many a former drug addict I have encountered in these lands, Whose previously injecting hands are enshrouded with ancient sins, And now he sits in the house of God with a tasbeeh in his hands, Those same hands make dhikr on those beads of strings…How many a robber who used to steal, How many a zaani who shamed the earth's surrounds, How many a musician singing profane sounds, Now recounts God's Jalal-it makes him yell out squeals, And now the earth begins to smile, as he prostrates and as he kneels…How many a face- black white and yellow from every schism, Sit on a mat and eat together their repast, Whilst politicians talk of the problems of racism, Oh This is not our problem- a thing of the past…He makes nadaama and in tawbah turns, His heart with Love of Allah yearns, God Bless you Oh dearest mawlaana Ilyaas, How beautifully you turned Yaas Into Aas, From the orient to the occident, And from the south right to the north, Crowds emerge with intentions heavenly bent, And taking Allah's name alone, they come forth…….Pakistanis, Caucasians, Malaysians, Africans, And Turks, Chinese, Eskimo, and Russian faces, Ethnicities unheard of fill masjids where traces, Of their forefathers are written in historical works…Whilst nations sit before cathode rays, That titillate their eyes with their enticing ways….To be Continued….
Thank you very much Brother Qibla for your beautiful poem; it is quite insipiring and illuminating. I have enjoyed reading it. Please continue writing.
Abale anzanga mchisilamu,tipangire dua mnyamatayu kuti Allah amulimbikitse pa zabwino zimene akupanga pomalemba nkhani za Dini especially ndi mutu wa Tabligh wautulutsawu. I witnessed myself kuona msilamu wa chi arabu akukanika kutchula Kalima mchiyankhulo chake uku akunjenjemera kuchita kumauzidwa 1 by 1 ngati muja mwana amaphunzitsidwa.I was shocked,ine mantha kuti zikutheka bwanji tikucheza mnyumba mwakemo mchiyankhulo choti iye anachita kubadwa nacho.Tapita nyumba ina tipeza msilamu waubutsa kuyakiratu kukanika kupereka moni wa pamkono osauwona koma akungotchula Kalima,ine mantha kukuliratu!Choncho anthu ambiri tiri mu umbuli mu Dini yathu yomwe and tikapanda kusamala,Allah adzatenga Imaan yathu ndikuwapatsa ma Kuffar iwo ndikukalowa ku Jannah ife tiri chiimireni chifukwa ndaona ma Kuffar ambiri ndi a chisoni ndi chifundo ndipo amatha kukuthandiza popanda chowalipira pamene mwana wa mkazi wa masiye wa msilamu akapempha Scholarship,koma timubvule kaye ndiye mpaka kugona naye.Amene mukuwadziwa anakubvuraniko chifukwa chothandizidwa,chooooonde musawatchule maina awo,ALLAH adzawalipiritsa tsiku lakelo.Nkhaniyi inatulukanso pa Radio Islam mpaka amene anali presenter pa tsikulo,zinamubvuta kwambiri.Tabligh ndiyofunika kwambiri kuyambira Iwe mwini,ndi ma banja ako ndi azibale ako.Allahmdulillah ndayendapo 40days mu July chaka chatha ndipo kuno 3 days ndidapita nawo ku saint Malo and this coming weekend,Inshallah tipita ku Paris ku Ijtima and pa 14 February ndinali nawo ku Paris konko pa za Dini.Practise Dini pali ponse pamene uli,Allah adzapangitsa anthu omwe ali nawe pafupiwo kukulemekeza ngati ndiwe wodziwa pamene kuli ena odziwa kuposa iwe. CHOONDE TAYETSANI KUTENGA NAWO MBALI PA ZA DAWAH FOR 3 DAYS CHABE,IDZASINTHA MOYO WANU,banja lanu ndi kakondedwe kanu ka Dunia. ALLAH AWONJERE IMAAN ZATHU MMITIMA MWATHU NDIKUTI MUKATHA KUWERENGA,Shaitaan asatenge nawo gawo mmitima mathumo koma mtima upweteke zoyenda nawo Tabligh INSHALLAH!
Brother Abdul Majid,ALLAH akulimbikitseni pa za Dini mukupangazi chifukwatu fitna imakonda kulowera pamenepa especially ngati anthu ambiri akuyamikira zimene mukupanga pa za Dini.Ndasangalala kwambiri ndi topic mwatulutsa ya Tabligh iyi and ine ndimapanga nawo ma Dawah Allahmdulillah.Mitu mwakambayo ndi zoonadi ndipo ndapanga Niyya Inshaallah kuti chaka chino ndiyendenso 40 days+ ALLAH akuti pikisanani pochita zabwino:Surat Almeida5 ;48.Achinyamata ndi akulu omwe ngati simumadziwa za Tabligh,Abdul Majid wakulongosoleranitu musakaname tsiku la Qiyama!ASALAAM ALAYKUM.