Tablighi Jama't Pakistan (تبلیغی جماعت پاکستان)
"And whose words can be better than his, who calls (people) towards Allah, and performs good deeds. and says: 'I am one of those who submit to Allah!'"
—Qur'an, sura 41 (Fussilat), ayah 33
"0 Muslims! there must be a group among you who would invite people to Good; and would command them to do good deeds, and would prevent them from forbidden things; and these are the people who will attain salvation."
—Qur'an sura 3 (Al-i-Imran), ayah 105
Tablighi Jama’t is a religious movement which was founded in India. The movement primarily aims at Tablighi spiritual reformation by working at the grass roots level, reaching out to Muslims across all social and economic spectra to bring them closer to Islam.
Beliefs and objectives:
Tablighi Jama't's inception is believed to be a response to the deteriorating values and negligence of fundamental aspects of Islam, which were considered a threat to Muslims. It gradually expanded from local to national to a transnational movement. As of 2008, the organization had a presence in nearly 213 countries and a total following of between 100 and 150 million people. By some measures this made Tablighi Jama't the largest Muslim movement in the world. The FBI believes that nearly 50,000 members of Tablighi Jama't are active in the United States.
Tablighi Jama't maintains a non-affiliating stature in matters of politics and fiqh(jurisprudence). No particular interpretation of Islam has been endorsed since the beginning of the movement since the Quran and Hadith from which various denominations derive their authority and sanctity is one and immutable.
Tabligh Jama't has largely avoided electronic media and has emphasized a personal communication for proselytizing. The teachings of Tabligh Jama't are mainly basic in approach and the Six Principles put forward by Muhammad Ilyas influence most of their teachings. The method adopted by Muhammad Ilyas was simple. It was to organize units (called jama'ts, Arabic: جماعت٠meaning Assembly) of at least ten persons and send them to various villages. This unit jamaat, would visit a village, invite the local Muslims only to assemble in the mosque and present their message in the form of Six Principles.
These six principles are:
*Kalmah: An article of faith in which a Muslim accepts that there is no god but Allah and the Prophet Muhammad(Sallallaho Alahi Wa Aalihi Wassallam) is His Last messenger". Yet it is not as simple as proclaiming tawheed, rather it also has to do with having conviction that every single thing is done by the will of Allah. Moreover, the fact that not a leaf can fall from the tree yet it has been decreed by Allah. The means of bringing this conviction in one's life requires one to follow the Sunnah (way) of the Prophet Muhammad(Sallallaho Alahi Wa Aalihi Wassallam).
*Salah: "Five daily prayers that are essential to spiritual elevation, piety, and a life free from the ills of the material world" The notion that through one's salah, one can directly attain from the treasures of Allah. However it is not simply praying salah, but praying it in the manner of the Prophet Muhammad(Sallallaho Alahi Wa Aalihi Wassallam), i.e. With concentration and devotion.
*Ilm and Zikr: "The knowledge and remembrance of Allah conducted in sessions in which the congregation listens to preaching by the emir, performs prayers, recites the Quran and reads Hadith as is described in the books like "Tabligi Nisaab' comprising of Fadhaa'il Aa'mal' and other books
*Ikraam-e-Muslim: "The treatment of fellow Muslims with honor and deference" To Like for other what you like for yourself.
*Ikhlas-e-Niyyat: "Reforming one’s life in supplication to Allah by performing every human action for the sake of Allah and toward the goal of self-transformation"
*Dawt'o' Tableegh(Dawah): "The sparing of time to live a life based on faith and learning its virtues, following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad(Sallallaho Alahi Wa Aalihi Wassallam), and taking His message door-to-door for the sake of faith. "
Tabligh Jama't encourages everyone to fulfill the Islamic requirement of da'wa even if the person falls short of strong religious intellect. This was different from the other Islamic movements which were mainly ulama-led and extended their leadership roles to the religious erudite. Tabligh Jama't also negated the prevailing idea that the highest standards of Islamic scholarship and ethical standards were pre-requisites for proselytizing; and promoted da'wa as a mechanism of self-reform.
The only objective of Tabligh Jama't, overtly stated in most sermons, is that Muslims adopt and invite for the Islamic lifestyle, exemplified by Muhammad, in its perfection. They encourage Muslims to spend time out of their daily routine in the tablighi activities so that the rest of routine could be harmonized with Tablighi lifestyle, though the Tabligi's want follow the preachings and teachings of the prophet, yet in the Daa'wah tours emphasis is laid on books like 'Tabligi Nisaab', comprising of books like 'Faadha'il Aa'mal' etc. They insist that the best way of learning is teaching and encouraging others, with the books prescribed by Tabligi Jama't Movement in the light of Quran and Sahih hadith.
Views:
"peaceful and apolitical preaching-to-the-people movement."
—Graham Fuller, a former CIA official and an expert on Islam, (author of The Future of Political Islam)
"completely apolitical and law abiding."
—Olivier Roy, a prominent authority on Islam at the French National Center for Scientific Research
"an apolitical, quietest movement of internal grassroots missionary renewal"
—Barbara D. Met-calf, University of Michigan, (While comparing its activities to the Alcoholics Anonymous for the efforts to reshape individual lives)
Dry-dock parable:
Man is a ship in trouble in tumultuous sea. It is impossible to repair it without taking it away from the high seas where the waves of ignorance and the temptations of temporal life assail it. Its only chance is to come back to land to be dry-docked. The dry-dock is the mosque of the jama't.
— from the book Travelers in Faith
