This past weekend in Bangladesh, tens of thousands of Muslims from around the world participated in what is fast becoming the largest Muslim pilgrimage event in the world. Next weekend, the event will continue. It is the annual gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat—and its popularity is starting to get noticed as a unique challenge to the West's relationship with Islam.
Here is Reuters's initial report on the gathering:
"It is organised by the World Tabligh Council, a group of mainly Bangladeshi Muslim scholars who preach the teachings of Islam and its Prophet Mohammad, as well as Bangladesh's religious affairs ministry.
"The three-day event focuses on prayer and meditation, and includes lectures from Muslim scholars about the faith.
"This year, an estimated 2 million Muslims are expected to attend — nearly the same number of pilgrims who go to Saudi Arabia to perform the annual haj pilgrimage."
So why would such a gathering portend anything troubling?
Timothy Furnish, an analyst of Islamic movements, has an article in the current issue of the Journal of International Security Affairs explaining what all the fuss is—and should be—about. The Tablighi Jamaat, originating on the Indian subcontinent early in the 20th century, is neither radical/extremist nor moderate, Furnish points out. Thus, because it is so difficult to classify, Western officials aren't quite sure how to deal with it.
One of the reasons the West needs a strategy toward the group is because of its unique evangelical approach, inducted into the group's methodology at its official founding in 1934. This approach held that spreading the word of Islam was not simply the obligation of leaders, but of each and every individual.
"In countries with a majority, or substantial, Muslim population, TJ's target list starts with the ulama, then moves to the intellectuals and professionals, followed by influential merchants and, finally, hoi polloi," Furnish writes. "This approach obviously has worked, since TJ is now, according to the few experts on the group, the most followed Islamic program on the planet; indeed, it may well be the most influential transnational Islamic organization, bar none."
Furnish explains that the group's strict adherence to Islamic law and Mohammadan tradition (following the example of how the prophet did basic acts unconnected with religion) puts it at odds with many of the prevailing Islamic authorities in countries where TJ operates, especially those in Africa. It is building a structure of youthful Islamic rigor, and therefore, Furnish writes, many Islamic scholars see its precincts as not-so-subtle training camps for future jihadists.
This trend presents most clearly in Tanzania, especially Zanzibar. Two of those indicted in the 1998 attack on the U.S. embassies in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi were Zanzibari members of TJ who then went on to work with al-Qaeda. "It would seem that in Tanzania—or at least in Zanzibar and Pemba—TJ is fulfilling the alarmist prophecy of providing at least some of jihad's willing legionnaires, if not quite legions, as some have posited," he writes.
The reason for this is that TJ preaches a literalist reading of the Quran—and through the concept of abrogation, Quranic verses preaching violent jihad supersede any previous verses, be they peaceful or otherwise.
"Thus, when some learn about Muhammad leading armies in battle or ordering the execution of theological and political opponents, they may decide that the jihadist groups are more faithful followers of their prophet than TJ itself—and so make the transition," Furnish writes. "Thus, the key issue is not whether TJ is actively inculcating jihadist thought, per se. What is more important, and disquieting, is that the organization is instilling Quranic literalism and Muhammadan emulation, both of which are also staples of violent jihadist groups."
But this also presents an opportunity. TJ's popularity makes it an authority to quite a sizeable portion of the world's Muslim community. Therefore, the rifts that exist between TJ and other Islamic groups should be exploited, Furnish writes. Particularly because it is deemed too Sufi for more violent Wahhabi/Salafi sects, it could be presented as a more peaceful—but just as authoritative—alternative. And TJ's anti-Shiite beliefs could make it a candidate to counter Iranian influence, especially in Africa.
"The key to a constructive approach, then, lies in understanding what makes TJ tick—and thereafter harnessing it as a tool to promote American interests," Furnish concludes.
http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1237/what-everyone-should-know-about-tablighi-jamaat
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