Hyderabad: The Tablighi Jamaat has come into the spotlight after an event they held in the national capital has spawned a number of COVID-19 clusters across the country.
But there are many unanswered questions wandering around us like- What is Tablighi Jamaat? Who was the founder of the Jamaat which infected more than 600 people from the deadly virus?
ETV Bharat explains.
What is Tablighi Jamaat?
Tablighi Jamaat, is an Islamic missionary movement that focuses on urging Muslims to return to practising their religion as it was practised during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and particularly in matters of ritual, dress and personal behaviour.
It was founded by a Deobandi Islamic scholar Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in Mewat, India, in the year 1926.
It is often considered extremely orthodox in its interpretations, with the ability to convert Muslims into radical believers.
Who was the founder of Tablighi Jamaat?
The Jammat which began in the Mewat region of Haryana state in 1926, was instituted by Hazrat Maulana Mohammad Ilyas Rahmatullahaleh an ancestor of Markaz Nizamuddin Maulana Saad.
It is believed that the ancestral village of Maulana Saad is Kandhla which comes under the jurisdiction of Yogi Adityanath led- Uttar Pradesh.
The Markaz in Nizamuddin is owned and controlled by the family members of Maulana Saad.
It is believed that the first meeting of the Tablighi Jammat was held in 1941 and attended by 25,000 people.
In the 1940s the Jamaat was limited to the area of undivided India but with time it’s activities achieved a global scale.
What is the modus operandi of the group?
The group’s modus operandi is peaceful and it is focussed entirely on the Muslim community worldwide.
They say the Prophet Mohammed has commanded all Muslims to convey the message of Allah, and the Tablighis take this as their duty. It is assumed that those who participate in the Jammat, have to stay in local mosques.
Why the organisation hits headlines?
Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic reformist group, had a large gathering of more than 3,000 people on 13 March in Nizamuddin with foreign nationals from Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, and Malaysia, a hot spot for the deadly virus.
The Health Ministry on Friday confirmed that more than 600 cases are directly linked to the mass gathering organised in the national capital.
