Ban on Tablighi Jamaat activities in Saudi Arabia has put millions of its followers worldwide in shock, but Raiwind has issued no reaction over the Kingdom’s decision.
The Sunni Islamic movement of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence was dubbed as a “danger to society” and “one of the gates of terrorism” during Friday sermons in the mosques of KSA, following the direction from the Ministry of Islamic Affairs Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on December 6.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, in its statement, said, “His Excellency the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Abdullatif Al_Alsheikh directed the mosques’ preachers and the mosques that held Friday prayer temporary [sic] to allocate the next Friday sermon 5/6/1443H to warn against (the Tablighi and Da’wah group) which is called (Al Ahbab).”
In a series of tweets, the ministry directed the preachers to state, “Declaration of the misguidance, deviation and danger of this group, and that it is one of the gates of terrorism, even if they claim otherwise. Mention their most prominent mistakes.”
The Darul Uloom Deoband India, a world-known Deobandi seminary, through a statement on Monday and the Tablighi Jamaat UK spokesperson Sameeruddin Qasmi, through a YouTube message two days ago, criticized the Saudi government’s decision but the global preaching movement’s Pakistan headquarters at Raiwind has opted to stay silent on the move considered most critical in the history of the Tablighi Jamaat that was founded in pre-partition India in 1926.
The leading Deobandi clerics and heads of different political and non-political organizations including Maulana Tariq Jamil, Mufti Taqi Ustami, Maulana Fazlur Rahman and many others having a strong link to the movement are also avoiding making any comments on the issue even after days have passed since the decision and after multiple attempts to reach them.
Reports say the Tablighi Jamaat has 400 million worldwide followers with over 20 million alone in Pakistan. It is believed that the KSA has long been planning to ban the movement having fundamental differences with the kingdom’s officially accepted Wahabi school of thought, but the decision was delayed due to different reasons.
The hashtag ‘#Tablighi Jamaat’ and ‘#Tablighi Jamaat Aman Ki Jamaat’ are trending on social media in Pakistan for the last couple of days with comments in favour and against the Saudi decision.
A daily alert blogger on Facebook, while criticising the decision said, “Tablighi Jamaat banned in Saudi Arabia and cinemas are opened.”
“How you see the decision of Saudi Arabia to ban Tablighi Jamaat by labelling it a terrorist organization,” said Allah Noor Wazir, a resident of Islamabad.
Zafar Ali Shah Chitrali wrote that the people must respect the scholars of Tablighi Jamaat. Another account “Jamaat Tabligh al-Bakistania” claimed that over 20 million people were followers of Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan.
Zakir Khattak, while quoting the Darul Uloom Deoband statement, said that the Saudi decision was against the preaching of religion.
The Tablighi Jamaat Pakistan and India have also developed differences during the last few years. The movement split into two factions in India following disputes over the running of the organization two years ago. Raiwind also faced a similar split after the death of its Emir, Haji Abdul Wahab, in 2018.
The annual Raiwind Tablighi congregation is considered the second largest gathering of Muslims in the world after Hajj. As per some estimates, over 10 million people gather in a three-day moot held in November each year in two phases.
