Members coming out of Tablighi Jam’at Markaz in New Delhi after area was declared a Red Zone
This is in response to “Tabligh & Covid-19: Where Have We Gone Wrong?” by Dr Afroz Ahmad Shah which I read in Kashmir Observer. It appears the author has done no research on the subject but has only reproduced the views of Kunwar Khuldune Shahid, a Pakistan based journalist who calls himself a progressive and moderate Muslim and often writes for the cause of weaker sections of Pakistani society like Ahmadia community etc. The author has outrightly blamed Tablighi Jama‘at for spread the disease in the Muslim world.
It appears to be part of the wishful and well calculated Islamophobia campaign, which has been there from last so many years. Such interests have been responsible for the widespread myths against Islam and the Muslims besides the extremist Islamists and the so called progressive and moderate Muslims have also added fuel to the fire. A fake notion is being promoted that since Muslims happen to have more social contacts, most probably referring to their obligatory congregational prayers, they are proving to be the most vibrant carriers of the disease.
For some days now, the world media is being fed with the unfounded propaganda that Tablighi Jama‘at, which operates at the world level, is responsible for the spread of the Covid-19 across the Muslim world. There is no doubt that the Tablighi Jama’at is an international Da‘wah movement, very active in the field. With interaction among its members being very instantaneous, they could prove fatal for themselves and others as well, it is being said. But the world history vis-à-vis the present crises is altogether different in light of which the bias behind such baseless theories projected in the name of journalism can be gauged simply by understanding the origin and spread of Covid-19 across the world.
In addition to maligning the Tablighi Jama‘at with respect to the spread of Covid-19 the author has also tried to spew venom against this movement by projecting it as hub of illiterate and rigid religious people who have no knowledge of religious sciences.
The author of this write-up has worked on the major Islamic movements including the Tablighi Jama‘at as part of his academic engagements. Therefore, he considers it his academic obligation to clear some confusions been created in the media in view of the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic vis-à-vis the role of Tablighi Jama‘at in its spread and also, the nature of this world wide Islamic Da‘wah movement.
The Tablīghi Jamā‘at is totally apolitical. Its strong non-political approach has helped it to operate freely all over the world without getting suspected by political rulers.
Muslims all over the world are attached to the Tablīghi Jamā‘at. Its adherents hail from all over the world especially South East Asia.
Tablighi Jama‘at does not belong to a particular maslak (school of jurisprudence) nor does it restrict its activities within a particular school of thought. While in the Indian sub-continent almost all the Muslims belonging to the Hanafi School of jurisprudence, excluding a very small number of Muslims belonging to Ahli Hadith movement are attached to this movement , elsewhere in the world people belonging to other schools like Shafi‘i, Hanbali, and Maliki are associated with the Jama’at. In fact the movement has always been very cautious with respect to the jurisprudential differences among the various schools of the Muslims. However, since Mawlana Ilyas, the founder of movement, was himself a religious scholar from Dar al-Ulum Deoband, and most of the Deoband ulama have been guiding the movement. Common people generally understand that it is a movement upholding the Deoband thought. However,this general notion carries weight in as far as the sub-continent is concerned as only a negligible number of people belong to other schools of thought have been among its members here.
Is Tablighi Jama‘at responsible for spreading the corona virus?
According to a data compiled by the U.S. based Johns Hopkins University, Covid-19 emerged in Wuhan, China last December, and has spread to the whole world now. The total number cases have surpassed 660,000, including more than 30,500 faculties. Over 139,000 patients are reported to have recovered. The history of the spread of this disease from China to the other parts of the world reveals that from China the virus spread to other countries including Iran where it was brought by a merchant from Qom who had travelled to China.
Spread of the virus in Italy has been linked to Champions League Match, held in Bergamo, which the local media dubbed Game Zero, was held two days before the first case of locally transmitted Covid-19 was confirmed in Italy. According to Bergamo Mayer Giorgio Gori, the virus had already been there circulating in Europe in January as a result probably 40,000 Bergama chi in the stands of San Siro, all together, exchanged the virus between them. (Business Today)
According to an Aljazeera report, Italy, China, Iran and Spain continue to be the most affected countries.
Kyrgyzstan borders China, where the outbreak first began in December. It confirmed its first Covid-19 case as three citizens tested positive after arriving from Saudi Arabia.
Covid-19 reached Gaza through labourers who had just returned from Israel.
In Pakistan the spread is attributed to pilgrims returning from Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In India the virus spread when 39 of the first 50 patients came from Italy, Iran, Saudi Arabia and China. The analysis of the updates issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare shows a majority of those infected since the infection was first detected in India on 30 January had an international travel history. So, most of the Coronovirus cases in India originated abroad rather than being transmitted within the country, according to an analysis data by ThePrint.
According to an India Today report India’s poor testing rate may have masked coronavirus cases. In now, most of the people in the country are not following the directions of the authorities and are badly violating the lockdown.
In Kashmir the virus came first from Saudi Arabia through some pilgrims while in Ladakh it was traced to those who had returned from Iran. And then so many followed after a Covid-19 positive case was given entry into the Valley and the situation is unfortunately worsening day by day.
However, as already mentioned, the Tablighi Jama‘at socially very interactive, danger of spread of the disease through it can be very high. But no sooner did the government in India announce a complete lockdown in the whole country than the Jama‘at also did stop its movement.
Few years back the Jama‘at was divided into two factions because of some methodological issues between Mawlana Sa‘d and some elders of the Jama‘at and some conceptual differences between Darul Ulum Deoband and Mawlana Sa‘d. One faction is controlled by a consultative body (Shura), comprising mostly the elders who have worked with Mawlana Muhammad Yusuf, the second amir of the Jama‘at also son of Mawlana Ilyas, while the other faction is headed by Mawlana Sa‘d Kandehlawi, the grandson of Mawlana Yusuf. Whereas the Shura faction has its markaz (center) at Fayd Ilahi Masjid, Turkman Gate, Delhi, Mawlana Sa‘d headed faction has its center at Nizamuddin, Delhi.
In Kashmir, majority of the members of the Jama‘at belong to the Shura group headed by Amir Ahmad Khan, commonly known as Parvez sb who has been heading the Jama‘at since the time of Mawlana Muhammad Yusuf. The main markaz of the Shura faction is at Baramulla.
It sounds motivated and malicious on part of a section of media which says the Muslims world has been infected by Tablighi Jama’at.
Other side of the story
As the risk of Covid-19 grew at the international level differences surfaced on how to deal with the crisis in each country depending upon their different systems, health care, degree of spread of the virus and religious beliefs of the people. The differences were mainly between the administrations and the religious leaders. Some Muslims decreed that the mosques shall remain open but only for a few persons, including the imam and the muadhin who can offer congregational prayers there. The Arab world took lead in this and closed all the mosques, especially the two sacred mosques of Makkah and Madinah. Although some scholars differed with this decision in the Arab world itself arguing that the mosques should not be closed completely, but since the decision had been taken by the governments in consultation with the religious scholars, everybody had to follow the ruling.
The religious scholars of the sub-continent, especially India, did not decree in earnest to close down the mosques because even the government did not announce a strict lockdown. But later when the Indian government announced complete lockdown, the Islamic scholars in unequivocal terms told their followers not to go to the mosques for congregational prayers. So the Muslims generally responded to the threat reasonably. Even then some people who followed the Saudi government’s decree heavily lashed out at the religious scholars of India in particular for not being as prompt as those of the Arab world. Let me clear one misunderstanding here. In the Muslim lands, when the Ulema differ in such conditions like that of Covid-19, their differences end when their governments intervene and take decisions themselves. Unlike this, let’s see Pakistan where initially the Prime Minister himself assured people that the mosques would not be closed.
Let’s take a look at the other parts of the world where although religious people showed somewhat irresponsible attitude against the orders of their governments. For example, South Korea became the second country in terms of the infections with Covid-19. More than half of all infected include members of the Chenchongi Church, a small Christian community. It happened “due to the insistence of a religious leader to attend the mass in the church and not to observe the warnings of the authorities.” This resulted in the widespread of the virus across the country so much so that the church had to apologize to the Korean people.
As some of the modernist Muslims, including some literalist conservative Muslims, lashed at the common believers for “not having a rational understanding of Islamic teachings” and could not maintain a balance between faith and reason, the US president Mr. Donald Trump called for a National Prayer Day.
In the present scenario let’s all join together to fight this calamity and work for the welfare of humanity. Let’s not lampoon each other; let’s desist from creating confusion and schism in the society to serve the cause of others and just for settling our scores.
Dr Nazir Ahmad Zargar
Assistant Professor of Comparative Religion
Central University of Kashmir
[email protected]
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