Tablighi Jamaat has been accused of spreading the coronavirus by its members’ unruly behaviour. It’s high time the Muslim community came clean about the accusations
The coronavirus pandemic has changed the contours of world politics. The outburst of US President Donald Trump against World Health Organization’s alleged mishandling of Covid-19 is loud and clear. Besides accusing WHO of hiding the outbreak and delaying decision to declare it a pandemic, Trump also blamed China for letting the virus travel around and ravage the world.
While China is leaving no stone unturned to gain supremacy in world hierarchy, Covid-19 has proved a hurdle in its path. Moreover, Islamic clerics have declared the Wuhan tragedy is a punishment for China’s sin against the Uyghur Muslims. When coronavirus afflicted dozens of Islamic countries, Islamists issued fatwa that mosques are the safest place against the virus.
Seen in this perspective, some Islamic clerics accused the Indian Government of plotting social distancing as a ploy to malign and weaken the Muslim community.
A transnational Islamist movement Tablighi Jamaat, by holding large gatherings in Malaysia, Pakistan and Indonesia caused the virus to export to multiple countries, from Southeast Asia to West and South Asia. Its four-day gathering of 16,000 at the Sri Petaling Mosque in Kualampur at the end of February spread the disease to six Southeast Asian countries. Its March congregation in Lahore attracted up to a quarter of million participants and ended up as the largest viral infection in the world.
The videos and audios doing the rounds showed Jamaat clerics say, “There is a virus but more than 70,000 angels are with me and if they cannot save me, who will?”
In Delhi, the Emir of Tablighi Jamaat, Maulana Saad, had slammed the lockdown and social distancing rules as a conspiracy against Muslims to gather for religious purpose. “This (lockdown) is a plan to end amity among Muslims, alienate them from each other. Social distancing is a conspiracy against Muslims,” the Maulana had said.
Some radical Islamic clerics believe the virus has been sent by Allah to punish disobedience and sins of mankind. Islamic State pointed out that Covid-19 is good for Islam. It also said if a natural calamity can cause this much harm, jehadis can cause destructions using man-made methods.
It seems the Islamists have turned a deaf ear to the teaching of Prophet Muhammad: “Cleanliness is half of the faith done... If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it; if the plague breaks out in place you are in, do not leave that place.”
Tablighi Jamaat has been accused of spreading coronavirus in India after it held a congregation in Delhi during the time the Kejriwal Government had imposed Section 144 restricting gathering to five persons at a place only.
Media reports claimed that many of the Tablighis were infected with coronavirus, but they hid information about it and sneaked into different parts of the country, thus increasing the Covid cases many times.
The moot question is, was it a deliberate attempt? Tracing Tablighi Jamaath history and its major activities for almost three decades, one finds mixed results. While it has not been found involved in anything illegal directly, the way the Tablighis defied the health instructions of the Government, it is clear that they did it intentionally.
Also, there are various reports which put Tablighi Jamaat in a bad light. The organisation exists in more than 150 countries with 60 to 70 million Muslim followers. In the British town of Dewsbury, Tablighi Jamaat functions as regional headquarters coordinating activities throughout Northern Europe. In Asia, Tablighi Jamaat has a great following in Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Thailand.
However, despite their ostensible pious Islamic works, some of their actions are hidden in the religious garb. They have been accused time and again. Secret US documents released by Wikileaks in 2011 revealed that some al-Qaeda operatives used Tablighis to get visas and fund their travel to Pakistan. Al-Qaeda used Tablighi Jamaat to facilitate and fund the international travels of its members. In nutshell, it created an amicable environment for the recruitment of jehadi.
Tablighi Jamaat was banned in five Central Asian states in 1995 to 97 for its involvement in terrorist activities.
As the world is struggling to find a solution to the Covid pandemic, it is high time authorities looked into the intension of the Tablighis because of whom the virus has affected many thousands in India. Also, onus is on the Muslim community and Islamic scholars to find out the truth and support the cause of the humanity.
(The writer is senior faculty member, MMH College, Chaudhary Charan Singh University, Meerut)