The Tablighi Jamat

The Tablighi Jamat

The Tablighi Jamat, a little known Islamic organisation, has been at the centre of a controversy after dozens of people who attended a religious congregation the group held at its headquarters in Delhi in march tested positive for COVID 19.

About:

• The Tablighi Jamat (Society of Preachers) was founded by a Deobandhi Islamic Scholar Muhammad Ilyas al-kandhlawi in Mewat, India in 1926.  Al-kandhlawi's goal was to establish a group of dedicated preachers as a muslim revivalist society, who could revive true islam, which he saw not being practiced by many muslims. The slogan al-kandhlawi coined for the essence of its activities "Oh Muslims,become true Muslims"
• Al-kandhlawi called upon his fellow muslims to " enjoin the good and forbid the evil ". This was also a time when Islam and Hinduism had seen several revivalist streams in Asia. 
• India had seen the rise of the Deobandi school in the second half of the 19th century. Al-kandhlawi's mission was also to revive his faith, but based on its core teaching and lifestyle of its early leaders. al-kandhlawi wanted to end it all through dawa (proselytising). He sent his volunteers to villages to spread " the message of Allah" 
• Now Tablighi's largest national wing is in Bangladesh. The group has presence in 150 countries and millions of followers.

Activities: 

• The Tablighi jammaat members have declared they are not political. They have also decried violence in the name of religion. They say the Prophet Mohammad has commanded all muslims to convey the message of Allah, and the Tablighis take this as their duty. They divide themselves into small jammats and travel the message of Islam to muslim houses.