Biswa Ijtema extended by a day from Feb 15 to 18

Biswa Ijtema has been extended by a day, the government has announced after a meeting with Tabligh Jamaat leaders.

The congregation of Muslims will take place from Feb 15 to 18, according to the new schedule, State Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Md Abdullah said on Tuesday.

Maulana Jobayer will manage the congregation on the first two days and Syed Wasiful Islam the last two days, he told a press conference at his office in Dhaka.

The Tabligh leaders will decide who will conduct Akheri Munajat, or the final prayers, according to the state minister.

File Photo

Earlier, following a meeting with two factions of Tabligh on Jan 24, the government had said Ijtema would be held in one phase, not two like previous years, over three days from Feb 15.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal had earlier said Saad Kandhalvi, a member of the Tabligh Jamaat’s Supreme Council based in New Delhi, would not be attending Ijtema this year.

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

A Tabligh faction in Bangladesh protested against Saad’s participation in Ijtema in the beginning of last year.

The conflict escalated when Saad’s followers announced a different date for Ijtema by the end of last year, prompting the authorities to postpone the congregation, which is organised on the banks of river Turag at Tongi on the outskirts of Dhaka every year.

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