-3 (SI), 2010

European Journal of Economic and Political Studies

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 Jam at 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 Jam at 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.

University of Western Sydney, Australia. Jan.Ali@uws.edu.au

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Introduction
In 1927, Muhammad Ilys, a Deoband educated Muslim scholar found the

Tablgh Jam at (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 Jam at 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 (18851944) 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 Muha mmad 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 H azrat 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 Ah
mad Gangoh. When Gangoh passed away, Ilys found a
new teacher Mawln Khall Ah
mad under whose guidance he completed the levels of

sul k ( Sf mystic journey to God) (Azzam, 1964) and became a follower of the
Naqshbandiya Sf order. Subsequently, he went to D r 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 Moh
ammad Qsim
Nanautv and Rashd Ah
m ad 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. D r 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 H anaf
jurisprudential school of Islamic thought. Its members strictly follow Islamic orthodoxy
and have always taken inspiration from Saudi Arabian based Wahh bi (a Muslim
revivalist movement founded by Abdl Wahhb 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
H
adths 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 lim s (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
Barelw s. 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,
Barelw s 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 Nizm-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 Maz hirul 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 sociocultural 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 Jam at 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. Shah dah (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 Jam at 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 selfreformation. 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 wrongdoing 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) tajw d (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 s alt (prayer), the third on virtues of dhkr
(remembrance), the fourth on virtues of tablgh, and the fifth on virtues of Ramadn
(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 tajw d. 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 khus s
 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 jam at (group) during mushwara (discussion) when

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

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Jan A. Ali

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 mut kallim (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: shah dah (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-w qt (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 bay n
especially if the gathering is meagre in size. In the bay n 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 Nizmud-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.

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

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European Journal of Economic and Political Studies

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 mud-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 H adths, 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
sh r (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 sh r 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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Jan A. Ali

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 Nizm-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 Jam at 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 S f 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 Jam at 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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Jan A. Ali

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 Jamat s 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 Jam at 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 Tabl gh Jam  at 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, Tabl gh Jam  at 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 Jam at 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 Jam ats 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 panIslamic 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 Jam at?
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
transformation (2007: 30).

and

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 Jam at 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 Jamat s 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 Yus f (1917-65), the son of Mawln Muhammad Ilys, who took the reign
of the movement in 1944 after his fathers death. Like his father, Muhammad Yus f
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 Muhammad Yus f 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 Jam at.
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 Nizm-ud-dn in Delhi (Roul, 2009).
Tablgh Jam ats 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

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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; MohammadArif, 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 Jam at (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 paraprofessionals 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

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active participation in dawah work (Ahmad, 1991: 515-516). This kind of missionarypreaching approach has placed the Tablgh Jamat in stark contrast to its counterparts
such as Al-Ikhwn al-Muslimn (Muslim Brotherhood) and Jam at-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 Jam at 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 Jam at 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 Jam at
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 j hilyah
(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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