Tablighi Jamaat

Subject: Arts and culture

Context:

A Delhi court granted bail to 200 Indonesians who were chargesheeted for attending TablighiJamaat congregation allegedly in violation of visa norms and violating government guidelines issued in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

Concept:

• Tablighi Jamaat literally the Outreach Society, is an Islamic missionary movement that focuses on urging Muslims to return to practising their religion during the lifetime of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and particularly in matters of ritual, dress and personal behaviour.
• It has been called “one of the most influential religious movements in 20th century Islam”.
• Its roots lie in the Deobandi version of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence.
• It was launched by Deoband cleric and prominet Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad IlyasKhandhalaw in 1927 in Mewat. Its emergence also coincided with Hindu proselytising movements.
• Its stated primary aim is spiritual reformation of Islam by reaching out to Muslims across social and economic spectra and working at the grassroots level, to bring them in line with the group’s understanding of Islam.
• The Tablighi Jamaat members have declared they are not political. They have also decried violence in the name of religion. They say the Prophet Mohammed has commanded all Muslims to convey the message of Allah, and the Tablighis take this as their duty. They divide themselves into small Jamaats (societies) and travel frequently across the world to spread the message of Islam to Muslim houses