A Transnational Movement of Islamic Faith Regeneration

European Journal of Economic and Political Studies

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Tablgh Jamat: A transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration

Jan A. Ali1

Abstract:

The Tablgh Jamat (Convey Group or Group for conveying the message of Islam) established in 1927 in Mwt in India is an independent transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration. It is an offshoot of Deoband movement and emerged in

direct response to Hindu Arya Samaj sect which was seen by the Tablgh Jamat as a threat to vulnerable and non-practicing Muslims.

From its humble beginnings in Mwt Tablgh Jamat gradually grew from local to national settings and ultimately traversed the globe by entering over two hundred

countries becoming the worlds largest transnational movement of Islamic faith

regeneration. Its success is mainly due to its itinerant preaching style which revolves

around rudimentary teaching and its Six Principles.

This paper looks at the genesis of the Tablgh Jamat in the crisis situation of the people of Islamic faith. It argues that he growth and development of the Tablgh Jamat as the worlds largest transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration is attributed to its response largely to the negative consequences of modernity or to the

crisis situation in specific local context. However, the rise of Tablgh Jamat is also in part due to its ability to negotiate through modernity rather than destroying it.

Keywords: Tabligh Jama'at, Transnational Movement, Transnationalization,

Globalisation, Islamoscape, Islamic Faith Regeneration.

1 University of Western Sydney, Australia. [email protected]

-3 (SI), 2010

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Introduction

In 1927, Muhammad Ilys, a Deoband educated Muslim scholar found the Tablgh Jamat (Convey Group or Group for conveying the message of Islam) as an independent movement of Islamic faith regeneration among the Meos of Mwt in India. It is an offshoot of Deoband movement which is based on Hanaf jurisprudential school of Sunn Islam and emerged in direct response to Hindu Arya Samaj sect which was seen by the Tablgh Jamat as a threat to vulnerable and non-practicing Muslims.

Since the movements aim is to inculcate faith and develop spiritual zeal, it

distances itself from the enmeshment with politics and jurisprudential polemics to

eschew the controversies often surrounding such affiliations. Although the Tablgh Jamat is an offshoot of the Deoband movement which has a strong political and jurisprudential history specially since it was conceived in the brutal contexts of British

colonialism and the Indian mutiny of 1857, the Tablgh Jamat has no such history and has always remained apolitical and quietist.

From its humble beginnings in Mwt Tablgh Jamat gradually grew from local to national settings and ultimately traversed the globe by entering over two hundred

countries becoming the worlds largest transnational movement of Islamic faith

regeneration. Its success is mainly due to its itinerant preaching style which revolves

around rudimentary teaching and its Six Principles.

This paper looks at the genesis of the Tablgh Jamat in the crisis situation of the people of Islamic faith. It argues that Tablgh Jamat is the worlds largest transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration. Local crisis situations and Globalisation have

helped the movements expansion and its simple rudimentary teaching and itinerant

preaching style revolving around its Six Principles have made the movement very

successful. Emerging to work at the grass roots level of Muslim communities the

Tablgh Jamat reaches out to individual Muslims across all strata of social structure in an attempt to bring Muslims as close as possible to the life pursued by Prophet

Muhammad. Its purpose has been to rejuvenate and regenerate Islamic faith among

the strayed and fallen Muslims.

A Brief History

As an offshoot of Deoband movement, the Tablgh Jamat emerged in Mwt, India, in direct response to the rise of the Hindu Arya Samaj sect. From this sect

emerged two proselytizing movements of Shuddhi (Purification) and Sangathan

(Consolidation) which were engaged in large-scale efforts to win back strayed

Hindus who accepted Islam during Muslim political hegemony in India.


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In order to counter this proselytizing, the Tablgh Jamat embarked on the mission of Islamic faith regeneration and awakening among the Meos of Mwt and the broader Muslim population of India. The Tablgh Jamat was based on the understanding that Muslims had grossly neglected the true teachings of Islam. It saw

the Muslim bourgeoisie comfortable in the lap of luxurious living and argued that many

of them had given up their obligation to Allah in totality. Also, the ulam (Islamic scholars), it claimed, had focused excessively on knowledge construction within the

confines of educational institutions and mosques and in the process had neglected

preaching to the majority lay Indian Muslims.

To counter this division between learned and lay Muslims, Muhammad Ilys (1885-1944) invoked the fundamental principles of Islam in these communities. He argued that the

responsibility of spreading Islam was not confined to the ulam but was incumbent on every Muslim. This was the religious trajectory from which emerged the Tablgh Jamat and produced Islamic revivalism in Mwt. However, there were also other important factors that helped reinforce Islamic revivalism in Mwt.

At the turn of the twentieth century, with British colonial power firmly established

in India, the Meos were forced to confront their ambivalent position on the issue of

religious identity. A series of socio-economic and political crises engulfed Mwt in particular and India more broadly in which the Tablgh Jamat and its pursuit for reviving Islam found lush ground.

The Socio-economic Crisis

Despite the fact that Meos were the owners of almost the entire productive land

in Mwt they were overwhelmingly poor small land holders with few local leaders or large landlords amongst them (Ali, 1970; Shams, 1983). Moreover as the economic

situation deteriorated the Meos became poorer. According to Wahiduddin Khan one

reason for their deepening poverty was their growing indebtedness to the local Hindu

traders, the Banias, who charged impoverished Meos an interest rate of 5% per month

on their loans which amounted to 60% annually (Khan, 1988: 4). The consequence was

many Meos became so indebted to the Banias that they were forced to forfeit their land

to them because they could not continue to pay their debts. Shams (1983) notes many

Meos saw themselves as victims of the exploitation of Bania money lenders who they

blamed for their poverty. In turn they became disillusioned with Hinduism to which

Banias were directly linked as Brahmanic Hindus.

The Meos increasingly saw the colonial regime and the upper Hindu castes as

their enemies. Their response was to emphasize their Islamic identity and thereby

reinforce their communal identity.

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The Meo Peasant Uprisings of the 1930s

The global economic depression of the 1930s hit Indian peasants particularly

hard. In several areas of northern India, including Mwt, peasants rioted demanding relief from the economic hardships. From 1932 to 1934, in response to depressed

economic conditions, the Meos revolted against authorities so fiercely that the period

still features in Meo legends (Ali, 1970). The severity of the Meos oppressive

conditions can be grasped from the following assertions made by Haye:

The Meo tracts in Alwar and Bharatpur were victims of the extreme

authoritarianism and ruthlessness of their rulers. Government servants

would do nothing without extorting bribes. Peasants were being grossly

overburdened with increased taxation. The rights of the people were

being thrown to the winds. The Mewatis were now treated as goats and

sheep, as nothing better than dumb animals (Haye, n.d.: 8).

In addition the Meos were still required to render forced labour to the state, pay

numerous high taxes such as servants tax, tail tax on different kinds of domestic

animals, grazing tax, and a tax for religious ceremonies (Haye, n.d.). In addition to this

great economic burden, in 1933, the raja sanctioned a quadruple rise in revenue levy

(Shakur, 1974).

Meo peasants united in protest and resolved to boycott the levy rise. The Meo

demonstrations became widespread covering the entire Alwar district and

subsequently spread into the British territory (Haye, n.d.).

After the rebellion had broken out in 1933 the Tablgh Jamat started its dawah (preaching) work in full force in the Mwt area.

At this critical moment the movement of Ilyas (d.1944) infused new

hope and confidence in the Muslims living in the riot-infested areas. Some

felt that the calamities that had come upon them were a visitation from

God for their negligence of religious duties. Many were drawn to the

work of Ilyas which thus received great impetus (Haq, 1972: 44).

Initially the dawah work of the Tablgh Jamat centred on British Mwt, particularly around Nuh, and only began to focus on Alwar and Bharatpur after the

rebellion had broken out (Haye, n.d.). Although not a direct outcome of the revolt,

Islamic revival in Mwt was a religious response to social oppression.


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Mawln Muh ammad Ilys The founder of the Tablgh Jamat, Mawln Muhammad Ilys, was born Akhtr

Ilys in 1885 and was the youngest of three sons. His father was Mawln Muhammad Isml, a learned and pious man who was an esteemed religious teacher. He taught the Qurn to the children of Mirz Iilh Bkhsh who was related by marriage to Bahdur Shh Z afar, the last Mghal ruler of Delhi. His home was a small building over the red gate near the tomb of Hazrat Niz m-ud-dn Auly in the south of Delhi. Isml was also the mm (a leader) of the Banglawali Masjid which stood in the Niz m-ud-dn complex and practiced Sfsm (a movement within Islam that emphasizes Islamic spirituality).

Ilys first real Islamic education began during his ten developmental years under Mawln Rashd Ahmad Gangoh. When Gangoh passed away, Ilys found a new teacher Mawln Khall Ahmad under whose guidance he completed the levels of sulk (Sf mystic journey to God) (Azzam, 1964) and became a follower of the Naqshbandiya Sf order. Subsequently, he went to Dr al-Ulm (the largest and most prestigious seminary in the Indian subcontinent) which played a significant role in

shaping Ilys intellect, particularly in Islamic theology. Dr al-Ulm is a seminary founded in 1866 by Mawln Mohammad Qsim

Nanautv and Rashd Ahmad Gangoh in a small town of Deoband in Uttar Pradesh in India at a time when the British were at the zenith of their rule in India. Deoband itself

emerged as a reformist movement in British India in the violent context of the aftermath

of 1857 mutiny. Dr al-Ulm was in an important way an Islamic response to the approach taken by the British government in employing Christian missionary books

which instructed students in the principles of Christianity.

Deoband movement is a part of Sunn Islam and is based on the Hanaf jurisprudential school of Islamic thought. Its members strictly follow Islamic orthodoxy

and have always taken inspiration from Saudi Arabian based Wahhbi (a Muslim revivalist movement founded by Abdl Wahhb in Saudi Arabia) movement. The founders and initial scholars of Deoband movement were also vehement opponents of

Mutazilites. The Deoband movement has always expressed great appreciation of

Hadths literature which it argued is the most important text of Islam after the Qurn. The Deoband movements cultural style has been text-based and it is uncompromising

and confrontational towards bida(impermissible innovation). Its efforts are directed

towards re-establishment of true Islam.

Many of the lims (Islamic scholars) at Deoband adopted a simple ascetic lifestyle and this attracted a lot of students to seek initiation into losing themselves to the

Divine Love. However, as reformists, these Deobands (members of Deoband

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movement) understood the mundane problems well and thus embarked on the path to

imitate the practice of the earlier pristine period of Islam and enjoined Muslims in their

mission of transmitting Allahs word to both the impious and the ignorant. They were

well versed in the Qurnic scripture and used their power of knowledge to denounce syncretic customary practices, celebrations, and life-cycle rituals, saint worship, and

Shah (an Islamic religio-political grouping whose adherents believe that Al, the Prophet Muhammads cousin and son-in-law, was Muhammads successor) traditions

such as the taziyh (a Shah re-enactment of the passion and death of Hussein, the beloved grandson of the Prophet Muhammad and the third mm of the Shah) as unauthentic Islamic practices. Ilys was an integral part of this intellectual phenomenon and later in his life annexed knowledge with practice to launch what became the

Tablgh Jamat of spiritual regeneration. One particular group the Deoband movement has always clashed with is the

Barelws. Barelws are a group who follow Sunn Islam and have a strong Sf devotional tradition. The groups work revolves around the teachings of Ahmad Riz Khn Barelw (18561921) and its activities originally took hold in the town of Bareilly in north India. The Barelws principal effort has been to mount a spiritual opposition against the reformism of Deobandis. Although both groups follow Hanaf jurisprudential school of Islamic thought and have minor doctrinairal differences,

Barelws place great importance on Sf traditions, emphasise the need to praise Prophet Muhammad, and have a strong preference for saint worship and visitation to

shrines. Barelws have an enthusiastic cultural style and politically they have often supported political authorities during colonial period and subsequently the

independent secular state.

Emerging from this context in 1918 after the death of his eldest brother,

Muhammad, Ilys found himself the imam at the Niz m-ud-dn mosque which also had a madrasa (Islamic school, where a Muslim studies the Qurn, Sharah, and related subjects) and from here would soon control the Tablgh Jamat. Although he had held teaching positions in the past, such as at Mazhirul Ulm seminary in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, this appointment took him to new heights in his career. He continued his

efforts in Islamic teaching and preaching and the establishment of a number of small

scale madrasas.

He thought that by opening centers of religious instruction, the

young generation could be reformed. Moulana Ilyas started establishing

maktabs and madrassas in Mewat. He even spent his personal income for

this. Thanks to his missionary zeal, a large number of maktabs and

madrassas were opened in a short span of time (Marwah, 1979: 94).


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However, he soon became disillusioned with the madrasa approach to

Islamisation (Ahmad, 1991: 512), and being aware of the slow spread of the

fundamental principles of Islam in Mwt and the presence of syncretic elements in Meo living, Ilys embarked on the quest for a better way of reforming the Meos who had abandoned the basic Islamic principles. So during the course of his second hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah, which all Muslims are obliged to make once in their life time, if

they are able) in 1926, Ilys intuition was directing him to a greater divine course and upon returning to India this manifested in the form of the Tablgh Jamat.

Within a month, a jamaat of eight persons had been formed. The

jamaat moved out of its village of origin, Ferozepur Nanak, and moved to

other villages reaching a town called Sohna next Friday. The Friday

congregation prayers were offered at Sohna and again the movement

began. The next two Friday prayers were held at Taoru (in Rajasthan) and

Nagina (district Gurgaon) towns. This was the first tablighi jamaat

(Marwah, 1979: 95).

Marwah (1979) notes that after having finished performing his hajj the third time, Ilys returned to India and immersed himself in his missionary preaching work. In Mwt, he proselytized by sending small groups of Tablghs to preach in various neighbouring villages and subsequently to villages outside Mwt.

Moulana Ilyas was very systematic in his work of Tabligh in Mewat.

He had a map of Mewat prepared in which information regarding roads,

names of villages, population figures of each village, and names of the

prominent Meos was given. A number of jamaats were set up, which

included non-Meo Muslims, and started touring the villages in Mewat. In

this way the Moulana brought the Muslims of different communities

together, hoping to bring them closer culturally (Marwah, 1979: 96).

Ilys died in July 1944, but his work survived to this day and is guided by his Six Principles.

The Tablgh Ideology The Tablgh ideology centres on the relationship between the faithful and Allah.

Its central claim is that nothing is as important and worthwhile as establishing, and then

cherishing, this relationship. According to the Tablgh ideology Islam consists firstly of certain beliefs, such as believing in one unique God, the existence of angels, believing

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in Gods revelations and in prophets, the Last Day, and in the next life, and the

manifestation of these beliefs in the form of worship such as salt (prayer), charity, and fasting, all of which relates to the faithfuls relationship with Allah; and secondly, a

framework of morality, which relates to human beings relationships with each other,

and which manifests in particular institutions and laws such as family, marriage, and

social and criminal laws. However, the basis of this faith, the spirit that gives it meaning

and life, is the faithfuls relationship with Allah.Bryan S. Turner (1974) discusses this

point in depth and articulates that the faithful as a social actor who claims to

communicate with the divine being and have a relationship with Him has to be

sociologically appreciated because here, God is recreated as a social actor who is

socio-culturally conceptualised as a divine being. Worship, outwardly expressed in

terms of rituals and practices as we will later see, is the physical medium of this

relationship. This relationship is responsible for the source, the importance and the

final approval of the values of morality and their incorporation into a distinct socio-

cultural and legal structure. If the inside is in direct communication with Allah and

draws guidance and inspiration from Him, then this compares to the spirit within the

essence of the outer religion. However, if this diminishes, becomes weak, or

disappears totally, the outer appearance or the outer essence of the faith becomes

meaningless and the relationship between the faithful and Allah remains merely in

name. In other words, it is the faithfuls inner relationship with Allah which gives

meaning and value to his or her outward expression of belief and the performance of

his or her religious obligations. All of life, according to the Tablgh ideology, rests on this relationship. For this reason the faithful tenaciously embrace the notion that an

Allah friendly attitude can be evoked and life can be oriented towards Allahs

commands. The attitude of the faithful towards Allah should be inspired by love,

gratitude, patience, self-sacrifice, and complete devotion. The faithful should feel the

constant nearness of Allah. This is the inwardness of belief.

The relationship with Allah makes the faithfuls daily experience full of joy. The

faithful then seek Allahs grace through fulfilment of a variety of obligatory routines

and rituals. In the context of the Tablgh Jamat, the relation between a tablighi and Allah, an alter and an ego are interlocked as in any social relationship in the secular

world (Talib 1998: 312).

Francis Robinson (1999) sheds some light on this line of thinking by analysing

the shift that has taken place from other-worldly to this-worldly religion which

enabled human beings to pay unconstraint heed to the sovereignty of God. One key

outcome of this is that it helped shape the modern sense of the self. The new willed

religion, which human beings freely accepted, gave the individual a sense of his or her


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instrumentality in the world, of his or her competence to design it. The new and

important responsibility to God led to the inward turn. This new sense of human

instrumentality, focused on growing sense of self, aided the advancement of the senses

of individual personal autonomy. All this sustained the worth of normal life, the

significance of normal human experience.

Robinson argues that although the shift from other-worldly to this-worldly

religion for forming modern sense of the self took place in the West, it is important to

consider the degree to which a parallel change could have aided to shape Muslim

senses of the self. He asserts that:

With such evidence for the reflexive habit, alongside the

widespread exhortation to examine the self, it is arguable that the

development of this worldly religion helped open up an interior

landscape. the new type of reflective believer mediated increasingly

on the self and the shortcomings of the self. Now the inner landscape

became a crucial site where the battle of the pious for the good took

place. The importance of the shift towards this-worldly Islam, however,

was that self-consciousness and self-examination were encouraged to

become widespread (Robinson 1999: 24).

This can be appreciated even more when we look at George Meads (1934)

analysis in which he describes self as reflexive and which can be subject as well as

object. The self enters into the experience of the self through the process of social

activity when the individual mobilises himself or herself into the same experiential field

as that of the other individual selves in relation to whom he or she acts in a particular

social setting. An individual enters his or her own experience as a self, not by

becoming a subject to himself or herself but he or she initially becomes an object to

oneself very much like other individuals who are objects to ones experience. The

individual becomes an object to oneself by the virtue of accepting the attitudes of other

individuals towards oneself within a social environment in which both the parties are

participants. In general terms George Mead (1934) describes this as individuals

becoming self-conscious about their relations to the whole social process of

experience and behaviour. It is in this sense then, the connection between the faithful

and Allah is socially constructed.

In the Muslim context, or more specifically in the context of the Tablghs, this is a modern view of the self a return to the Qurn but based on a modern self. The members of the Tablgh Jamat may not see it in this way, however, this is not an

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illogical way of describing what may be called the Tablgh self. Experiencing Allah is as much part of this process as experiencing another individual or other individuals. In

other words:

It is by means of reflexiveness the turning-back of the experience

of the individual upon himself that the whole social process is thus

brought into the experience of the individuals involved in it; it is by such

means, which enable the individual to take the attitude of the other toward

himself, that the individual is able consciously to adjust himself to that

process (Mead 1934:134).

The relation between the Tablgh and Allah is embedded in a certain common socio-physiological basis, which in itself is social. A Tablgh achieves this through his initiation into the movement and subsequently into the Tablgh routines and rituals through which he learns about Allah, gets to know about His omniscience and

omnipotence, and ultimately through pure spiritual devotion feels a constant nearness

of Allah. The command for tablgh (convey) could be explained as an invitation to join the Tablgh Jamat and participate in its routines and rituals to practice the faith in the omnipresence of Allah who is always with the faithful. The faithfuls are ordered to

comply with the commands of Allah in practice so that they can get a real sense of

Allahs ontology and genuinely appreciate Him.

For the Tablgh Jamat, what constitutes a Muslim first and foremost, and therefore, is the focus of attention, is the individuals entire being. The actual material

being or material self of the Muslim is the real site where faith is constituted and

cultivated. According to the behavioural science (Mahoney, 1974), the material being

or material self is an environment in its own right with which we become familiar at

very early age in life. The familiarity with our material being lasts until we die. Whilst it

is possible that we may have less or no control over the environment external to us -

the broad socio-economic and political environment - we definitely have direct and

enormous control over our own material being which we can train and discipline in a

particular way, should we choose to, to meet specific needs or desires.2 Thus,

Tablghs find it logical and feasible to reform individual self the material self because as an environment individuals have jurisdiction or in Foucaultdian terms,

governance over the material me to the extent that he or she does not have over the

broader external environment. This is why the movement remains disengaged from

more general social and political processes of change. A Tablgh, for instance, does 2 For more detail explanation see Michael Mahoney 1974, Cognition and Behaviour Modification. Ballinger, Cambridge.


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not consider the engagement in state-building or the struggle for state power a

worthwhile project. Why? Mawln Muhammad Ilys addresses this question very early in the development of the Tablgh Jamat. What he said during his living years still resonates with Tablghs today:

when you (Muslims) are not able to defend and maintain Allahs

commands in your own individual being and in your life (for which you

are sovereign and face no barriers), then how could the task of governing

the affairs of the world be entrusted to you? Allahs purpose to hand over

the affairs of state to the community of the faithful is to implement in the

world the will and commands of Allah. When you are not practising it

within your limited prerogative, then with what hope could the

guardianship of the world be delegated to you? (Naumani n.d: 20).

The Six Principles of the Tablgh Jamat The existence of Tablgh Jamat rests on Six Principles. The Six Principles, of

which the first two are a part of the five pillars of Islam, are as follows:

1. Shahdah (Article of Faith); 2. Salt (five daily ritual prayers); 3. Ilm and dhk (knowledge and remembrance of God); 4. Ikrm i-Muslim (respect for every Muslim); 5. Ikhls i-niyt (emendation of intention and sincerity); and 6. Tafriq i-wqt (spare time).

Tablgh Rituals and Practices The purpose of the Tablgh Jamat is not to engage in the remaking of the world

through restructuring key social, economic, and political institutions in society but to

re-shape individual lives and re-create Muslims in the form of true Muslims of

pristine Islamic period. The re-creation of Muslims is not so much about inculcation of

belief or persuasion to subject oneself to transformation rather it is about concentrating

on rituals and practices doing deeds, repeating certain behaviours, and engaging in

some routinal actions. Tablghs try to imitate the Prophet and his Companions and take them as models. This makes the reconciliation between the real and ideal difficult

if not impossible and any hope of achieving a utopia is all but dashed. This reveals that

individual transformation is undertaken to transform Muslims in order to orient them

towards an Islamic way of life as this is much easier to do because as individuals

Muslims have total control over themselves. To produce a new and just society,

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however, is a task beyond Muslims because they not only lack resources and social

and institutional cooperation, but their broader social environment itself is in many

respects in crisis. It is in light of this that various Tablgh rituals and practices are pursued.

Khurj Khurj (preaching tour) is the engine that drives the Tablgh Jamat. To take a

mission on khurj one need not be an lim (Islamic scholar). This is because the Tablgh Jamat doesnt see the task of spreading Islam confined to the ulam (Muslim scholars) or simply the pious but a religious obligation of every Muslim. The Tablgh Jamat emphasizes egalitarian status of believers and, therefore, membership to the movement is on a voluntary basis. Those who join the work cover for their own

expenses and come from varying socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.

Khurj has three key rituals talm (education), jola (preaching mission), and bayn (religious talk or speech). Khurj is treated by Tablghs as a vehicle for self-reformation. The aim of khurj is to form a group and embark on a preaching tour, for a set time three days or forty days or four months to learn dn (religion of Islam) in order to reform oneself and then help others embrace dn in their lives. At a time when human living is globally dictated by the imperatives of material capitalism, the

movement sees it particularly critical to exit from this form of living for a short while

and engage in uninterrupted pure spiritualism. The purpose of khurj is to invite, towards the Right Path, those who have become engrossed in the world of materialism

and those, for whatever reason, have become negligent towards Islamic rituals and

practices. In a sense this is seen as a way of reminding oneself as well as those wrong-

doing and negligent Muslims about religious obligations and about rewards and

punishments surrounding obligatory rituals and practices in Islam.

Talm Talm is a session when Tablghs devote set time for learning and teaching. Its

objective is to arouse a desire for righteousness and good deeds. At talm members are encouraged to sit next to each other in a state of wud (ablution) and give their undivided attention to what is being taught. Talm has three parts:

(i) reading Fazail-e-Amal (Tablgh text), (ii) talk revolving around the Six Principles of the movement, and

(iii) tajwd (reciting the Qurn with proper intonation).


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It is not unusual during khurj to find Tablghs focusing on only one part of talm. However, when talm is conducted in earnest and in its entirety, first short passages are read from five separate sections of the Fazail-e-Amal (Tablgh Text). This is done to allow members to better understand the nature and depth of

engagement of Prophet Muhammad and his Companions in spreading Islam, and draw

inspiration from their efforts and sacrifices. The first section centers on the virtues of

Qurn, the second on virtues of salt (prayer), the third on virtues of dhkr (remembrance), the fourth on virtues of tablgh, and the fifth on virtues of Ramadn (the month of fasting). Each section deals with selected inspirational Hadths (accounts of the Prophet Muhammads sayings and deeds) and they are read to the members in

the context of a talm or by the members themselves for inspiration. The second part of talm revolves around the Six Principles of the movement as

mentioned above.

The third point is tajwd. Tablghs emphasise that the Qurn needs to be recited properly. Reciting the Qurn or pronouncing Qurnic verses properly is important because one slip of the tongue or mispronunciation can change the whole

meaning. This is important because the change in the meaning can lead to

misinterpretation of the word or verse and lead to all sorts of polemics and debate

among the people, not only about a particular word or a verse but a particular

message and even the whole text.

Jola

Jola or gsht (preaching visit) means a group of minimum of three Tablghs visiting Muslims in the local area where the jamat (group) is based. It is a quick visit designed to seek the participation of local Muslims in the Tablgh amal (deed).

There are two types of jola. One type is known as khuss jola (a special visit to a particular Muslim for the purpose of Islamic propagation) where one or more men

make a special visit to a particular individual to make special effort on the targeted3

individual so that he is encouraged or inspired to enter into the dn in totality. Another type is called mukam jola (a common or usual visit to a Muslim for the purpose of Islamic propagation) which involves a small group of Tablghs propagating to a targeted group of Muslims again to encourage taking dn more literally and seriously. Mukam jola is the common form requiring a minimum of three men and these members are chosen by the jamat (group) during mushwara (discussion) when

3Targeted connotes Muslims who do not practise Islam and fall in the so-called category of nominal Muslims.

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they are on khurj. The members forming the jola consists of an mir (leader) who keeps the group together and provides the technical and religious expertise when it is

necessary, a mutkallim (speaker dispensing message during jola) who speaks or dispenses the message and gives the invitation, and a dall (guide) who does the navigation work and knocks on the door and introduces the group to the household.

Bayn The bayn (religious talk or speech), whether long or short, usually revolves

around the movements Six Principles: shahdah (Article of Faith); salt (five daily ritual prayers); ilm and dhk (knowledge and remembrance of God); ikrm i-Muslim (respect for every Muslim); ikhls i-niyt (emendation of intention and sincerity); and tafriq i-wqt (spare time). A senior Tablgh who has spent at least a chillh (forty days) learning about the movements work is usually the person who delivers the

bayn. However, it is not unusual for a less senior Tablgh to deliver a bayn especially if the gathering is meagre in size. In the bayn the speaker refers to various inspirational Hadiths and relates emotive stories about the Companions of Prophet

Muhammad all to appeal to the hearts of the members of the audience. He

meticulously describes the Six Principles preparing the audience mentally to give time

to religious learning and preaching. At the end of the bayn some members of the audience become so emotional and passionate that when the jamat (group) starts its Tashkl (recruitment), they volunteer their time and energy with great enthusiasm.

Organisational Structure

Approximately twenty minutes drive south of New Delhi is the suburb of Niz m-ud-dn where the headquarters of the Tablgh Jamat is situated. The headquarters was once a small mosque known as the Bangalawali Masjid, but today, after structural

renovation and extension, it has become a large seven storey building which can

house approximately ten thousand4 Tablghs at a time. The structural changes have taken place around and on the top of the old Bangalawali Masjid leaving most of the old

structures intact.

In this large seven-storey building is the movements Madrasa Kashf-ul Ulum, a

number of rooms for important quests and visitors, a few conference rooms, and little

rooms for resident scholars and senior preachers. Also, situated in the building on the

ground level next to the old Bangalawali Masjid are two fenced graves belonging to

Mawlns Ilys and Zakariy.

4 I was given this figure by a senior Tablgh during my visit to Niz m-ud-dn in May, 2003.


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The headquarters was always headed by a single mir, but since 1995, it has been headed by two mirs Mawlns Saad and Zbair. At one stage the mir received the assistance of twenty senior Tablghs and fifty volunteers who had different responsibilities (Durrany, 1993: 24) but at the present the information is

sketchy with figures suggesting as high as a couple of hundred workers. The Niz m-ud-dn headquarters is an all-year round centre of activity with jamats coming in and going out all the time. They come to learn the tablgh work from the senior Tablghs and scholars, discuss with officials the Tablgh activities in their own areas or countries, and receive directives from the leaders.

Apart from worshipping such as ritual prayers, supererogatory prayers,

recitation of the Qurn, remembrance of Allah, and reading the Hadths, Niz m-ud-dn headquarters provides accommodation to at least two thousand Tablghs at any given time, three daily meals, organizes visa requirements for both local and foreign

Tablghs, and manages transportation, particularly for the foreign members. At the headquarters, all decisions, no matter how small or big, are made by the

shr (consultative committee) during mushawara (consultation) which takes place daily. For instance, a small matter such as a Tablgh member wanting to break his khurj for half a day to attend to a personal matter such as a visit to a friend requires the approval of the shr. The reason why mushwara is held daily is because given the large number of members present, many different issues arise requiring

resolution. Ordinarily, mushwara is convened by any shr member unless either mir is present who then assumes the role. Shr members are still required to go on khurj and for this reason the daily mushwara is not always graced by the presence of all the members.

Within India, the Tablgh Jamat has regional headquarters in the capital cities of almost all states. Unlike the elaborate Niz m-ud-dn headquarters, these are simple arrangements usually in the small back rooms of those mosques whose members have

cordial relationship with the Tablghs or are tolerant of tablgh work. Each Indian state has its own mir who operates under the direct instructions from Niz m-ud-dn headquarters. At district, suburb, and town levels the same organizational structure

exists. This model is reproduced in overseas countries where the Tablgh Jamat is an established organization.

The Tablgh Jamat has always focused on the expansion of its organizational network rather than on consolidation. In order to maintain its expansionary pursuits,

the movement has not diverted, for over eighty years now, from its original

recruitment strategy of Tablgh workers who go out on khurj and the fluidity of the

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leadership grounded in the notion of shr and localism has helped the Tablgh Jamat survive without any association with political or social institutions.

Though the Tablgh Jamat is reasonably large organization, it doesnt have paid staff or an elaborate bureaucratic hierarchy. The administrative or organizing

work is essentially performed by any Tablghs some of whom offer their free service on a full-time basis.

With the transnationalization of the movement, the need for a coordinated

organizational approach is fast growing. Therefore, an international directory is now

available containing details and addresses of Tablgh Jamat centers in the world which can be downloaded from the internet address:

http://tabligh.tripod.com/markaz.html. At the local level within individual countries, the

need for planning and a structured organizational approach has been emerging where

centers are now keeping journal entries of the tablgh work in general and khurj activities in particular. This facilitates not only a coordinated coverage of the targeted

local Muslims for recruitment and preaching but helps in the organization of the tablgh work with effectiveness and efficiency.

Globalisation and the Tablgh Jamat Islamic revivalists seek to travel across the globe and feel comfortable in the

secure boundaries of a Muslim universe. The Islamic revivalist vision is guided by the

desire for safety and comfort, where itinerant Muslims feel the need to belong to a safe

and secure globalised world. Like itinerant merchants and men of knowledge in the

past who depended on letters of recommendation and guarantees of secure travelling

that would permit them to move between places unhindered, Islamic revivalists seek

the same assurances today from the international order to be able to move between

places under guaranteed protection and with ease. In this way the Muslim identity and

a shared faith are very attractive as they guarantee free mobility.

This desire for freedom of movement, itinerancy, and the right to live and

establish home anywhere is all pragmatic, worldly, and material considerations that

pervade all people and are the embodiment of an era of globalisation in which we all

live today. The yearning for a global pan-Islamic universe or a global

Islamoscape/Muslimscape must be viewed as integral to the development of a Muslim

consciousness and emotional response that is global both in scope and attitude; it is

something of a global imagined Muslim community and citizenship.

It is in this context that the growth and expansion of the Tablgh Jamat need to be located and understood and its transnational character explored. The movements

network around the world and its method of operation that involves covering


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fundamental aspects of social mobilisation from recruitment, education, proselytisation

and rules of interaction and communication, and its advocation for Islamic faith

regeneration across the globe, makes it a great example of a transnational movement

of faith regeneration that no doubt has enormous social and cultural impact.

The international flow of Muslims and ideas in the networks of the Tablgh Jamat has contributed greatly to the transnationalisation of the movement as well as the religion of Islam. For many Muslims, taking missions of preaching tour (khurjs) particularly to the three key Tablgh centres in the subcontinent Niz m-ud-dn in India, Raiwind in Pakistan, and Tongi in Bangladesh have produced important

connections with fellow Tablghs and important Muslim institutions around the world. This has allowed Muslims especially from non-Arab countries gain center status in a

new world order.

However, the Tablgh Jamat by organizing local Muslims into preaching jamats (groups) that travel to all local areas and abroad in small and large groups for both short as well as long periods of time, have also contributed to changing the ways

in which Islam is practiced locally. In places like Malaysia and Indonesia, for example,

where Sf missionaries from Persia, Arabia, and India were instrumental in converting the local people to Islam, where Hinduism and Buddhism coexisted for many years,

where people shared a cultural heritage and beliefs in common ancestors, and where

the linguistic and cosmological similarities provided basis for mutual exchange and

solidarity, the arrival of the Tablgh Jamat changed all this in significant ways. The Tablgh Jamat claims that these are the kinds of foreign accretions that

have found their way into Muslim religious practices which have weakened Islam and

the ummah (Muslim community) thus forbidding these traditions which it sees as shirk

(polytheism). In declaring these traditions as shirk the movement has successfully

weakened interreligious institutions of cultural contact.

In its attempt to purge Islam of foreign accretions the Tablgh Jamat has replaced, in many places, the local preachers and religious teachers with Tablghs who studied in one of the movements many educational institutions called madrasas in

India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The new Tablgh preacher teachers continue the work of their local patrons and have themselves become important brokers in the

continuing transnationalisation of Islam.

The Tablgh Jamat has also brought about new meanings to the concepts of kinship and friendship and altered the general rules governing the integration of

outsiders into the trusted moral community in many places, for example. In

communities where foreigners, for instance, from India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan

would be perceived as strangers who would be required to go through certain

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initiation processes in order be incorporated into the group and become accepted

members, the Tablgh Jamat has changed the rules by introducing highly mobile jamats from far away places. The locals instantly become international and call their newly arrived Muslim visitors brothers with whom they have in common the faith in

Islam. The local concept of kinship is extended to include Muslims from far away

places rendering the kinship global but at the same time global Muslims from distant

places become local as they share the common faith with local Muslims and both

groups disappear into Tablgh Jamats transnational Islamic universe. By now, the Tablgh Jamat has become an important and highly dynamic

transnational movement with a consistent exchange of personnel in all local areas as

well as overseas. It is very critical to appreciate that the established personal networks

are strengthening the transnational social spaces not only in local areas but globally. In

this sense, one way of explaining the attractiveness of Muslims to joining Tablgh Jamat, making commitment to religion, valuing the traveling cultures, and severing ties with traditions is because self-empowerment is very satisfying. Hence Muslims are

prepared to forfeit their worldly pursuits and commit themselves to the Tablgh path. Importantly cross-border migration is paving way for an imagined, alternative

landscape and moral geography that zigzags and renders national boundaries

obsolete. Temporary visit to the Tablgh center in the subcontinent is a spiritual journey, a pilgrimage that produces many transnational belongings. Muslims who are

members of the Tablgh Jamat are also members of local Muslim community who share membership to a transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration and feel

at ease in any Tablgh enclave where the familiar rituals and practices are performed and a common global identity is enjoyed. Therefore, when we consult the literature on

globalization we find that it highlights local differences embodied in world religion, but

we also find that it reveals a global, hegemonic religious landscape that may have

minor differences yet is essentially a global trend of alluring Islam. It is no surprise then

that in this transnational universe, the boundaries that separate the local from the

global barely exists and are almost diminished.

The arrival of Tablgh Jamat in particular locality of Muslim transnationalism undoubtedly involves the removal of local Islam and its blanket replacement with

something rather foreign and distinct which is transnational Islam represented by

the movement. As it has been witnessed in history, the introduction of Islam has

always paved way form convoluted processes of adaption and transformation.

Similarly, Tablgh Jamat as a transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration has inevitably changed through its interaction with local religious culture the

prevailing models and practices of religiosity. This reveals something similar to


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what is being described in the literature on globalisation as glocalisation

(Robertson, 1995) of Islam and suggests that there is clearly an encounter of

transnationalism with local settings.

The survival of the Tablgh Jamat as a transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration hinges on the depth of its roots in the local environment with people who

are simultaneously local and international and who allow themselves to be

continuously involved in self-improvement.

It is critical to pay particular attention to the social and cultural import and impact

of the Tablgh Jamat as it work with and within well formed and accepted modes of globalisation and how in its own way it has benefitted from the innovative discoveries

and developments in modern technologies, transport, communications, and the media.

This proves the fact that Islamic revivalist movements like the Tablgh Jamat and their networks have inherited and benefit from the globalisation revolution and also

confirms that the benefits and effects of globalisation are not something that are being

enjoyed exclusively by specific group of actors such as transnational corporations but

that they can and are being used by a large diversity of actors and agents.

Tablgh Jamats sense of identity is faith-based and it does not pay any attention to political and historical realities of the modern nation-states in which it

pursues its missionary activities. If this is the case then what conclusions can be drawn

regarding the importance and relevance of modern concepts of rule of law,

citizenship, and constitutional liberalism in a modern democratic state? Generally

speaking Tablghs barely pay attention to these and do not concern themselves with state differences based on different political ideologies. In Muslim countries in

subcontinent, the Middle East, and South East Asian regions, for example, they are

able to move across national borders relatively easily because, as Muslims, they are a

part of a faith community with a shared sense of belonging who live in global pan-

Islamic universe where every Muslim country belongs to the universal home of all

Muslims in the domain of Dr al-Islm (abode of Islam). This demonstrates that in order to easily move between national borders one does not necessary need to hold a

passport but rather that one is a Muslim. In this sense it is fair to suggest that Tablghs do not recognise nation-state boundaries and in fact perceive the whole world as

Gods earth and therefore home to all Muslims.

Having said this, what is it exactly that draws Muslims towards Tablgh Jamat? This is an important sociological question which helps us recognise that transnational

Islam represented by movements like the Tablgh Jamat is not always about religion. In many instances what happens is that situations come into being in which religious

language and the way religion is practiced overlap with other broader phenomena

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that can only be comprehended through the analysis of the functional operations of key

institutions and prevailing social, cultural, economic, and political conditions in specific

societies. Only such analysis can shed sociological light on reasons for a Muslims

predilection for participating in the Tablgh Jamat or in the regeneration of Islamic faith broadly and reveal how much the pursuit of social justice framed around Islam,

for example, is a response to the crisis of modernity.

It is fair to suggest then that sociologically Muslims are attracted to the Tablgh Jamat and more broadly to regeneration of Islamic faith because many Muslims particularly from upper-middle class and below find themselves in the grips of a

disenchanted modernity in which human conditions are largely characterised by

perpetual struggle and suffering. Islam for these Muslims provides solace and an

anchorage. Of course modernity brought about positive changes in society and

improved human conditions particularly in the West where benefits of modernity have

been enjoyed the most. However, unfortunately minority groups like Muslims in the

West have not faired well socially and economically and the positive outcome of

modernity in the non-western parts of the world where majority of Muslims live has

been enjoyed only by a minority few. In Thailand, for example, Alexander Horstmann

explains that Muslims join the Tablgh Jamat because:

In a bastion of Thai cultural representation in the south, Muslims

find themselves economically marginalized. The majority of Muslims in

Tha Sala are engaged in small rubber plantations, fruit harvesting,

gardening, small trade, and fishing. Many of the Muslims in Nakhon Si

Thammarat are marginal, and many of the households in the villages have

been dispossessed during periods of rapid modernization and

transformation (2007: 30).

Exploring the activities of the Tablgh Jamat in Northern Malaysis and Southern Thailand, Farish Noor notes:

The spectacular success of the movement in recruiting a large

number of urban followers was explained in terms of its ability to provide

a sense of meaning and a comfort zone for working-class laborers who

were suffering the alienating effects of rapid modernization and mass

rural migration to the cities (2007: 8).


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Mohammed Haron explains that many Muslim individuals in Africa both males

and females and from all ages have demonstrated a strong interest in Islamic faith

regeneration. He notes that this is due to the desire for spiritual enlightenment in a very

competitive material world. About the Tablgh Jamat he says:

the TJ drew crowds of people to its cause and in the process

reformed many individuals who had been involved in gangsterism and

drugs. In fact, many of these individuals seem to have opted for this

movement because it suited their behaviour patterns; they were not at

any stage ostracised or looked down upon for what they had committed

in the past as might be the case in other movements. They also felt more

secure with the support the theologians had given the TJ (Haron, 2009: 7).

For the Tablgh Jamat, tablgh (convey) activities are pivotal to achieving change through a bottom up approach that is based on preaching and proselytisation. By

inviting Muslims to the right path and a pious life, it is expected that the movements

membership will increase as well as the level of religiosity in Muslims through a peaceful

non-political means. In this, prophetic instruction is invoked that Muslims should always

be receptive to learning even if one has reached an old age. Education and tablgh are critical within this legacy. For the Tablgh Jamat, social change starts with the individuals who engage in self-reformation and in disseminating the rituals and practices

of the movement embodied in the Tablgh path beyond the confinements of religious institutions into the broader community. This approach is intended to rejuvenate the

Muslim population and regenerate their Islamic faith leading, ultimately, to the creation of

a pious community and a society governed by the sharah (Islamic law).

Transnationalisation of the Tablgh Jamat Although the Tablgh Jamat emerged in the context of Imperial India and

Muslim and Hindu political struggle for power, religion was problematic as an identity

because of syncretism. Purging Meo ritual of syncretic practices developed the

community along religious and political lines. Tablgh Jamats expansion and growth then took place in the context of Muslim minority communities.

The Tablgh Jamat has always had a transnational focus ever since its inception. This is evident in the fact that the Tablgh Jamat did not only see Meos or Imperial India in crisis but the entire ummah was steeped in jhilyah (ignorance). The Tablgh Jamats aim was to save the whole ummah, therefore, it steered away from

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social and political ideologies generated by nationalism and remained committed to

purging Muslim practices at an international level. It was not only concerned with the

religious conditions and welfare of Muslims in Mwt or larger India but Muslims living in other regions and countries. It was even concerned with Muslims living as minority

communities in Western countries such as Australia and Great Britain.

The international expansion of the Tablgh Jamat is attributed to Mawln Muhammad Yusf (1917-65), the son of Mawln Muhammad Ilys, who took the reign of the movement in 1944 after his fathers death. Like his father, Muhammad Yusf conceived of Muslims as an ummah. The Muslim ummah was not only in India or in the

Middle East but in the entire world. Hence Muhammad Yusf embarked on a more ambitious mission than his father, upon taking the reign, to spread the Tablgh message to wherever Muslims lived and in this pursuit deployed many overseas

preaching missions and thus internationalized the Tablgh Jamat. Today, the Tablgh Jamat members are present In more than two hundred

countries (Horstmann, 2007: 27) spreaded across all the continents of the world with

the exception of Antarctica. Arguably the most successful transnational pietist network

from South Asia, the Tablighi Jamaat, is now considered the largest living transnational

movement of Islam on the globe (Reetz, 2009: 67). It is believed that the Tablgh Jamat have in access of fifteen million members worldwide (Reetz, 2009). Some speculate a much higher membership estimating between seventy to eighty million

active members globally (Burton and Stewart, 2008) and hence traverses Muslims in

their home countries and migrants from South Asia from all strata of societal structure.

In overseas, Tablgh Jamat was brought to the Arab countries after 1948; in the countries of the West after 1950; in African-Asian countries after 1956; and in Central

Asia and China only recently (Gaborieau, 1999: 99). Tablgh Jamat began a global program in earnest in 1960s with the large influx of migrants to America and Europe,

thus Tablghs first arrived in Britain in 1946, in United States in 1952, and in France in 1962 (Metcalf, 1996b). Tablghs in America and Britain have kept an intimate link with the headquarters of the movement in Niz m-ud-dn in Delhi (Roul, 2009).

Tablgh Jamats efforts and expansion in the West to a large extent has been propped up by the presence of a large South Asian Muslim migrant population (Roul,

2009). In the US, for example, the establishment of the Al Falah Mosque at Corona in

Queens in New York by Muslims from South Asia and their conspicuous presence in

various branches of the movement in Los Angeles and San Diego have facilitated the

movements dawah (preaching) work in America as well as in other Western nations.

In the US, the board of management of the Tablgh Jamat is largely constituted by


125

Indian Muslim migrants, particularly those from Gujarat, and some Pakistanis and a few

Bangladeshis (Roul, 2009).

In its early days Tablgh Jamat operated out of a Bangladeshi mosque located in Manhattan, however, with the establishment of Al Falah Mosque at Corona as the

North American headquarters the movement directs most of its energy from here now.

At Al Falah Mosque the sermon is usually in Arabic and English but sometimes Urdu is

spoken to cater for the South Asian Tablghs (Roul, 2009). There are approximately 50 000 Tablghs in the US and they are spread across

several US states including California, Texas, and New York ((Burton and Stewart,

2008). Tablgh Jamat is noted in the US and Canada for organizing large annual gathering called ijtim. In 1988 its annual gathering drew more than 6 000 Muslims and, in Toronto, it drew not less than 4 000 Muslims in 1997(Roul, 2009; Mohammad-

Arif, 2002). In Canada, the Al Rashid Islamic Institute established in 1987 is an

important Tablgh centre and the Toronto mosque is the movements principal base (Azmi, 1989).

In Britain, the Dewsbury seminary in West Yorkshire established in the early

1980s is the centre of the Tablgh Jamat (Metcalf, 1996a). Tablghs are present in 600 of Britain's 1350 mosques (Norfolk, 2007). In France, there are apprximately 100,000

Tablghs (Hasan 2006). The Mosque Omar in Paris is the centre of the Tablgh Jamat (Kepel, 1987) and Tablghs are also represented in the French Council of the Muslim Faith (Kepel, 2004).

In Belgium, under the leadership of a Moroccan who received training in

Tablgh rituals and practices in Bangladesh, a first Tablgh mosque was established in 1975 followed by over a dozen others in 1980s (Dassetto, 1988: 164).

The Tablgh Jamat also has a strong hold in Southeast Asia. In fact Tablgh Jamat established itself in Malaysia in 1952 (Hamid, 2009), in Indonesia also in 1952 (Noor, 2010), in Thailand in 1960s (Liow, 2009), and in the Philippines in 1980s

(Banlaoi, 2009). Muslims from this region have invested substantial amount of time

learning the rituals and practices of the movement by regularly going out on preaching

tours (khurjs) and many of them have studied in Tablighi madrassas in South Asia, sometimes acquiring the prestigious title of alim or maulana (Horstmann, 2009: 40). It

seems that the impact of the Tablgh Jamat has also been felt in Muslim minority countries in the region such as Cambodia, Mindanao, and southern Thailand. Here, the

presence of the Tablgh Jamat has given an impetus to the process of Islamization among the marginalised societies and produced great Islamic faith regeneration

among local Muslims.

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Given the fact that the Tablgh Jamat started in India, the movement is nowhere else as strong, prominent and popular as it is in the subcontinent. The movements

ijtim in Bhopal in India, in Raiwind in Pakistan, and in Tongi in Bangladesh brings hundreds of thousands of Tablghs together for three days each year. The TJs mass congregation, described as the Bishwa Ijtima [World Gathering], brings together

about three million members of the movement from 70 countries. It is the largest

gathering of Muslims [after hajj] outside Saudi Arabia (Riaz, 2009: 88). Whilst it is true that the Tablgh Jamat became a transnational Islamic revivalist

movement in the 1940s:

it was, however, with the substantial labor, student, and professional

migrations to Europe and North America, beginning in the 1960s, that a

network of support and a core audience for preaching appeared and

substantial Tablighi activity began (Metcalf, 1996b: 111-112).

In countries, especially in the West, where Muslims make up only a minority in

the form of diaspora communities without established Islamic institutions and sufficient

resources, the influence and popularity of the Tablgh Jamat is enviable. It proves a vitally important venue for Islamic learning and practices. It also fills in the many social

and cultural vacuums created by migration. This has benefited the Muslims in

acquiring the understanding of the fundamental principles of Islam and at the same

time helped the movement establish and intensify its preaching networks in these

countries. Though other networks for the purpose of dawah are regularly utilized, the

diaspora network happens to be employed more widely because of its broad and

significant effect.

In the diaspora network the Tablgh Jamat finds a special position because in the absence of all major Islamic institutions, the face-to-face and house-to-house itinerant

preaching becomes for ever more necessary and thus allows the movement to exercise

greater influence on Muslims. Therefore utilizing itinerant preaching method:

The Tablighi Jamaat has thus become an important religious

training ground for aspiring [Muslims] among the small-town

shopkeepers, school teachers, government clerks, artisans, and para-

professionals in the private sector (Ahmad, 1991: 515-516).

In this way the movement believes that the people will become good Muslims

not by reading books but by receiving the message through personal contacts and by


127

active participation in dawah work (Ahmad, 1991: 515-516). This kind of missionary-

preaching approach has placed the Tablgh Jamat in stark contrast to its counterparts such as Al-Ikhwn al-Muslimn (Muslim Brotherhood) and Jamat-i Islm (Islamic Association), whose Islamic faith regenration activities are based primarily on written

communication and speech-based congregational preaching. A direct approach with a

simple message and seeking a slow yet permanent transformation of self based on

reformist ideology, makes the Tablgh Jamat a pleasant and non-threatening organization for many Muslims from all structures of society.

Conclusion

The growth and development of the Tablgh Jamat as the worlds largest transnational movement of Islamic faith regeneration is attributed to its response

largely to the negative consequences of modernity or to the crisis situation in specific

local context. However, the rise of Tablgh Jamat is also in part due to its ability to negotiate through modernity rather than destroying it. Hence, although the movement

places no specific and clear emphasis on the importance and utility of modernity, it

uses its know-how and technologies to achieve its aims and purposes. In this sense, it

provides certain modern solutions and bases for geographically and socially mobile

Muslims. The Tablgh Jamat has something to offer: it provides Muslims an identity, a sense of purpose, and a meaning in life. It forges communities in which Muslims

experience self-satisfaction and a sense of fulfilment. The Tablgh Jamat provide important moral support and spiritual guidance in a fragmentary and complex world.

By joining the Tablgh Jamat Muslims from the edge of society are mobilised to the very forefront of globalized ummah. The movement offers to the oppressed and

marginalised masses the position of faithful members of the community of believers,

affording stature and psychological encouragement.

Islamic rituals and practices of worship are at the core of the Tablghs imagination whose agency is formed by the movements ideology and leadership. As

a religious movement, it can be perceived as a total institution and a disciplinary agent

which influence the consciousness and agency of the Muslims because Tablgh Jamat is about the creation of complete or total Muslims who must have distinct lifestyle to

project Islam in the right manner.

Most Muslims are seen by the Tablgh Jamat to be stuck in jhilyah (ignorance), spiritual decline, and bida(impermissible innovation) and its effort is to

eradicate these. Thus, with its itinerant preaching style which revolves around

rudimentary teaching and its Six Principles, the movement is moving around the world

entering local rural villages and mega cities turning Muslims into better Muslims.

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