Bangladesh postpones Biswa Ijtema as Tabligh Jamaat factional fight simmers

The authorities have postponed the Biswa Ijtema after two Tabligh Jamaat factions announced different schedules for the largest Muslim congregation after the hajj, triggering fears of confrontation.  

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 15 Nov 2018, 09:23 PM
Updated : 15 Nov 2018, 09:24 PM

The government called the two groups and sat with them at the Secretariat on Thursday.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal chaired the meeting also attended by Islamic scholars of different organisations.

A six-strong committee was formed at the meeting and it will visit Darul Uloom Deoband madrasa in India to find a solution to the problem created by a statement of the Islamic school, the ruling Awami League’s Religious Affairs Secretary Sheikh Md Abdullah told bdnews24.com.

Besides Abdullah, the other members of the committee are Religious Affairs Secretary Md Anisur Rahman, Maulana Farid Uddin Masud, Maulana Mahmudul Hasan, Tabligh leader Syed Wasiful Islam, and Maulana Mohammad Jobair.         

One of the Tabligh Jamaat factions announced Jan 11, 12 and 13 as the dates to hold the first phase of Ijtema while the other group set Jan 18, 19 and 20 for the congregation.

“It would be difficult for the law enforcers to handle any situation if the two groups held the Ijtema in two phases each as they (law enforcers) would be scattered after the elections (slated for Dec 30),” Abdullah said.

Saad Kandhalvi, a member of the Tabligh Jamaat’s Delhi-based Supreme Council, had apologised for his previous remarks, his followers said in the meeting, but the other side claimed Saad had not admitted mistakes, according to a top official at the religious affairs ministry.

The official was present at the meeting but requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Saad Kandhalvi.

Saad’s grandfather, Indian Islamic scholar Maulana Muhammad Ilyas Kandhalvi established Tabligh in 1920.

Tabligh is now the largest organisation of Sunni Muslims in the Indian subcontinent with its  headquarters, referred to as the Markaz, in New Delhi.

Its operations were being conducted through a central council after the death of Maulana Inaamul Hasan, who succeeded Maulana Ilyas’ son and Saad’s father Maulana Mohammad Yusuf as the chief of the movement.

Besides Saad, the other members of the central council were Pakistan Tabligh Jamaat chief Haji Muhammad Abdul Wahab and Maulana Inamul’s son Maulana Zubairul Hasan. 

After the death of Zubairul, the central council was dissolved and Saad was made the chief of the movement.

But Zubairul’s son Maulana Zuhairul Hasan protested against the move and demanded the formation of a new central council.

Disputes over the leadership of the movement worsened when Saad ignored Zuhairul’s demand.    

Saad’s instructions based on the teachings of his grandfather, including one that imams and Quran teachers cannot take money in exchange for the services, fuelled the rift. 

The dispute sprung out in the open in Bangladesh last year when a Tabligh faction, reportedly backed by Qawmi madrasa-based Hifazat-e Islam, protested against Saad’s participation in Ijtema.

The Deoband school of thought is the root of Qawmi madrasas.

Saad was supposed to administer the closing prayers in the Ijtema in the beginning of this year as he did in the past three years. But following the protests, he returned home.