Tablighi Jama'at and other movements in Islam

Raziuddin Aquil 

The Tablighi Jama'at is being attacked left, right and centre by people who know nothing about what was going on at its headquarters over the past couple of weeks, in consultation with the police and administration on how to deal with the lockdown. This has unfortunately communalised the pandemic unleashed by the dreaded Coronavirus, which has caused havoc in large parts of the ugly new world.

The attack on the Jama'at, for all its faults, is not only irresponsible and communal, but it's also complicated by the warriors within Islam fighting on behalf of their own firqas, maslaks and mazhabs. They have taken the opportunity to attack a large popular movement within Sunni Islam, which seeks to steer clear of anything crudely political (though I have myself been arguing that their seemingly apolitical approach has strong political implications). A reformist and revivalist movement started by a motley group of well-meaning intellectuals in Delhi who took upon themselves to reform people into strictly following the ways of the Prophet, with their work in Mewat and base in a mosque in Nizamuddin area in South Delhi, has become a major international movement during these past 70 years. The mosque serves as its markaz, centre or headquarters, where at any given point of time over two-three thousand people, including large numbers of foreigners, stay before branching into smaller jama'ats or parties going around preaching their practice of Islam within India and abroad.

With both the headquarters and mosques all over having been locked down and people complaining about foreigner-jama'atis being spotted in their neighbourhoods, not only in Delhi but several other places, meant they could be suspected as possible carriers of the virus. Early results of those being picked up were being found Corona-negative. Communal and sectarian politics demands that all of them can be easily condemned for bringing Corona to the country. This is similar to reports occasionally filtering out of foreign tourists facing horrible times even in a tourism hub like Goa, since the extended lockdown was announced and implemented overnight.

So, where will these people go? Quarantine wherever they are. This is what the Jama'atis were also doing, reporting all movements or the lack of it to Nizamuddin police station and through it to the higher authorities in Delhi. This is not the time for maslak-war; this is not the time for communal politics. Remember, all of us will die one day, sooner or later.

I am writing all these as someone who has grown up in an environment which was traditionally Sufi-oriented (Barelwi or whatever term they may like to use to condemn it), in which educated members were getting attracted to political Islam of the Jama'at-i Islami kind, and poor uneducated or semi-educated neighbours were increasingly escaping into Tablighi Jama'at. All groups hated or disliked each other. All of them also disliked Shias and other fraternities in Islam. All of them also indulged in what we like to call fatwa-wars on the basis of blind conformity, taqlid, to juridical schools or mazahib in Islam - Hanafi, Shafi'i, Maliki and Hanbali kind - or complete disregard to traditional practices in Islam, ghayr-muqallad. 

Most communities of such people also believe in disgusting zaat-biradri of upper-castes/lower-castes distinctions in which they have divided themselves or historically forced to do so. These caste-based social differentiations and stratifications are only slightly better than the evil of caste that keeps pulling down the country for over two millennia or more, in terms of rigidity in notions and levels of violations, punishments or recompense. All these go on in a context in which the right-wing Hindu mob, of the kind that was unleashed during last month's pogrom in Delhi, does not distinguish between various shades of Muslims who are struggling to survive.

Hoping the Jama'atis will be quarantined in safer locations where social-distance is possible. The Jama'at should have suspended its activities back in February only. They could have succeeded in avoiding falling into this kind of terrible situation and malicious trap. But then this is a wretched time when few people are able to retain their sanity; it is too much to expect from a religious cult to think rationally.

For God's sake, it must also be kept in mind that this organisation has nothing to do with the Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, where people pray for peace and well being of all sections of society across caste and religion.

I take refuge in Corona-threatened lockdown.

Stay safe!