Home
+
Published : 31 Jan 2025, 11:44 AM
The 58th Bishwa Ijtema gathering has started in Gazipur’s Tongi as hundreds of thousands of Muslim devotees crowd the banks of the Turag River.
The main activities of the Tablighi Jamaat organised event began with a general address after Fajr prayers on Friday, but people had been pouring into the grounds from Thursday to take part in the massive gathering.
On Friday morning, Muslim devotees from different parts of the country flocked to the grounds in droves. Since the early morning, people wearing turbans and Punjabis from Tongi and the surrounding districts of Dhaka have been rushing to the grounds on a variety of transports.
Habibullah Raihan, media coordinator of Tablighi Jamaat's Shura-e-Nezam, said that the Bishwa Ijtema programme launched with the general address by Maulana Ibrahim Deola of India after Maghrib prayers on Thursday. Maulana Ziaul Haque of Pakistan delivered the general address after Fajr prayers on Friday morning with Maulana Nurur Rahman providing instant translations into Bangla.
He also said that the Talim session began at 9:15am on Friday. Before the Talim, Maulana Jamal Sahib of India conducted a discussion. Some other special programmes were also held.
Maulana Farahim Sahib of India began delivering a sermon from the teachers' pulpit at 10am. Prof Abdul Mannan Sahib is delivering a sermon on the prayer pulpit with students, while Maulana Akbar Sharif Sahib of India is delivering a sermon in a tin shed mosque among important personages.
Bangladesh’s largest Friday prayer congregation will be held at the Bishwa Ijtema grounds in the afternoon.
Maulana Zubair Sahib, a leading elder of the Tablighi Jamaat, will lead the Friday prayers.
The organisers expect several hundred thousand people to take part in the congregation.
After Jummah, Maulana Sheikh Umar Khatib of Jordan will deliver a sermon. After Asr, Maulana Zubair of Bangladesh is scheduled to give a sermon. Maulana Ahmed Lat of India will deliver a sermon after Maghrib.
2,150 FOREIGN GUESTS FROM 72 COUNTRIES
Meanwhile, 2,150 foreign guests from 72 countries have arrived at the grounds for the first phase of the Bishwa Ijtema so far.
They are staying in designated areas and are listening to the sermons of eminent scholars from Bangladesh and abroad, said Shura-e-Nezam spokesman Raihan.
He also said that this number will increase as the day progresses.
Due to ongoing tensions between Maulana Zubair and Maulana Md Saad Kandhalvi, the annual gathering of Tablighi Jamaat will once again be held in two phases, as it has been in recent years.
The first phase of the Biswa Ijtema will begin on Friday, with the participation of Zubair's followers. This phase, like previous years, will also be conducted in two separate segments.
The first segment of the first phase will begin on Friday, Jan 31 and end on Feb 2, while the second segment will begin on Feb 3 and end on Feb 5.
The second phase of the Ijtema is scheduled to take place from Feb 14 to Feb 16, with the final prayer marking the conclusion of the gathering.
