Critical review of Jamaah Tabligh

[razor75]

سلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته brothers and sisters,

My purpose of writing this essay is to asses whether jamaah tabligh (tabligh movement) teaches the right or wrong things. I found this statement on the internet which stated the following:

“They act upon weak ahaadeeth (narrations of Prophet Muhammad). Rather, they act upon fabricated ahaadeeth and those that have no basis”[1]


Therefore, to prove this problem statement right or wrong, one needs to understand the history of jamaah tabligh and characteristic of this movement. I myself have been with jamaah tabligh as a member in the 1990s and have found this criticism and praise about them:

My criticism:
1. They quote ahadeeth without giving a reference from which book they quoted it.
2. They do the work voluntarily which makes it unorganized and difficult to gauge its success.
3. The stress importance of remembrance of Allah, Quranic reading and living the lifestyles of prophet when in fact Islam has so many other things than just this.
4. The usually use only a few books in their da’wah (preaching) activities. For example, the main tablighi book is Fazail-E-Amal [2].

What I like about jamaah tabligh:
1. I feel a sense of brotherly love within the group which makes you feel wanted.
2. They make an effort for face to face meeting which has strong da’wah qualities.
3. While joining them, we feel our iman and taqwa in Allah s.w.t growing.


So back to the problem statement quoted about them using weak ahadeeth, the only way to know if this is true is by going over their history and characteristic of this movement.

Jamaah tabligh started in India among the Meos Indian Muslim and their initial goal of the movement was to purge those Meos Muslim of unislamic belief [3]. For your information, the Meos Indian Muslim live in area that constitute of gurgaon, bharatour, and alwar districts of Rajasthan of India.

The Meos Muslim did not adhere strictly to Islam. It was noted they practiced many Hindu rituals and followed the caste system even after embracing Islam [4]. Jamaah tabligh formation was created to address this issue. Besides this, there was a series of socio-economic mishap during this time created by the British and land owners which further added fuel to the movement. During the 1920s, Hindu preaching effort led by the Shuddhi and Sangathan movement was also the impetus for the movement work [5]. In 1933, a rebellion broke out among the Meos Muslim against British and land owners. With this rebellion, jamaah tabligh started their work in full force in the Meos Muslim areas.

To be continued in part 2-next week.

This essay is the copyright work of the author. If you wish to use parts of it, please email me for approval.

Reference:


1. Al-’Allaamah Muqbil Ibn Haadee al-Waadi’ee. Issues of Criticism concerning Jamaa'atut-Tableegh. 2007 [cited 2010 2-7-2010]; Available from: http://www.**********/index.php?opti...399&Itemid=337.
2. Zakariyya, M.M., Fazail-E-Amal. 2009: Adam Publishers & Distributors.
3. Ali, J.A., ISLAMIC REVIVALISM: A STUDY OF THE TABLIGHI JAMAAT IN SYDNEY, in Department of Sociology. 2006, University of New South Wales: Sydney. p. 280.
4. Aggarwal, P., Caste Hierarchy in a Meo Village of Rajasthan, in Caste and Social Stratification Among the Muslims in India, I.Ahmad, Editor. 1978, Manohar: Delhi. p. 141-157.
5. Ahmad, M., Islamic Fundamentalism in South Asia: The Jamaat-i Islami and the Tablighi Jamaat of South Asia, in Fundamentalisms Observed: The Fundamentalism Project (Volume I), M.M.a.R. Appleby, Editor. 1991, The University of Chicago Press.: Chicago. p. 457-530.

The link for ref 1 is being blocked by sunniforum. Please search on goggle for the title " Issues of Criticism concerning Jamaa'atut-Tableegh" or go to this homepage and search there.

[ibn Mikael]

1. Just because a hadith is weak doesn't mean one cannot gain knowledge from it or benefit from it as long as the hadith is in line with the teachings of the Prophet . It's mainly in issues regarding aqidah and fiqh in which weak hadiths are ignored.

2. I really don't see how one could get upset with them for stressing spriritual betterment. I am assuming you dissapointment with them stems from their lack of desire to involve themselves with politics or such issues. However, groups such as TJ are exactly what is needed in order to better society. Allah doesn't change the condition of a people until they change what is in their hearts.

3. If they charged people for their services, then they would just be a business.

4. Using fewer materials can be seen as either a positive or a negative. In terms of what it is they're trying to do, I view it as a positive. Giving somebody a nice pamplet or something like that is much smarter than giving them 6-7 books to read or something. Most people don't even read one book once within a year, let alone multiple books. However, a pamplet isn't daunting to your average person. It might take them 20-30 minutes to finish. This is what you want--a compact text that wakes your reader up so that he or she themselves will take the initiative if they want to explore more.

[Sulaiman84]

Quite a few of those criticisms can be clarified with information from this very forum. maybe I can dig some stuff up tomorrow.

[Sulaiman84]

Oh snap ibn Mikael, you done took up part of the task.

[Usman]

erm , erm..... did the writer of the essay ever happen to read Fadhail-e-Aamal properly? The one I had in Pakistan and the one I have right now in "Chicken biryani" actually explains the sanad as well as the reliablity. It's in Arabic, if you're a Mujtahid and feel so confident about criticizing a jama'ah , please learn arabic.

[maneatinglizard]

The amount of love for Islam and the Sunnah that Jama`at Tabligh creates in people is something I have never seen accomplished by any other group, and may Allah reward the elders and all those involved greatly. Ameen.

The Iman in many Tablighi brothers is so strong, one can feel it in their words and gestures.

[xs11ax]

through my own experiences, i would say that the greatest criticism against the tabligh jamaat of today is the mentality of it's members that tabligh jamaat is the only way to attain salvation and that all other efforts are futile and inferior and are looked down upon by tablighi members.

[abdul_ahad]

erm , erm..... did the writer of the essay ever happen to read Fadhail-e-Aamal properly? The one I had in Pakistan and the one I have right now in "Chicken biryani" actually explains the sanad as well as the reliablity. It's in Arabic, if you're a Mujtahid and feel so confident about criticizing a jama'ah , please learn arabic.

assalaamu alaikum W R W B,

how far is "Chicken biryani" from where i live ???

wassalaam

[SASLAMS]

through my own experiences, i would say that the greatest criticism against the tabligh jamaat of today is the mentality of it's members that tabligh jamaat is the only way to attain salvation and that all other efforts are futile and inferior and are looked down upon by tablighi members.

I cant agree more. & you not in the path of Allah until you go with them. I was told to go on atleast 40 before going to study for 2 years over sea. I said why, he said to be in the path of Allah, i said well i will be for two year now I want to be with the family, he said its not the same if you dont spend atleast 40 days sacrifice. hallo two years in a village without the normal lux.

[Antivirus]

Some people has (and still is) criticizing TJ from every angle possible but show me any other group which has had a better impact on the betterment of the lives of muslims as a whole than them?

May Allah safeguard TJ and the efforts of the people involved in this dawah movement. Ameen!