bdnews24.com :
The Bishwa Ijtema has formally started on the banks of Turag river in Tongi, overcoming a feud within Tabligh Jamaat.
The second largest global congregation of Muslims started through the Aamboyan sermon on Friday after the Fazr or dawn prayer.
Moulana Ziaul Haque from Pakistan began Shoolboyan in Urdu which was interpreted by Noakhali’s Moulana Nurur Rahman in Bangla, said Md Mahfuzur Rahman, a senior in the Ijtema Organising Committee.
The main sermon is in Urdu, but is translated to 24 languages at once.
Around hundred thousand of people attended the Jummah prayer at the Ijtema premises at 1:30 pm with Moulana Md Zubayer from Kakrail Mosque leading it.
The Ijtema arena has been divided into 50 parts for people arriving from 64 districts in the country. Muslim devotees of different age group have poured into the arena since Thursday.
A large number of people from Gazipur and its surroundings began to walk to Tongi to attend the Jummah prayer on Friday.
The Jummah prayers at Ijtema are usually attended by ‘VIP’ guests from government including
ministers, parliamentarians and private sector leaders, the organisers said.
Tabligh Jamaat is the largest organisation of Sunni Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. The Bishaw Ijtema is called as the second largest congregation of Muslims as hundreds of thousand people attend the gathering.
Islamic pundit Iliyas Kandhalvi initiated the reformation movement of Tabligh Jamaat in the 1920s. Over the years, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu words were added to the working language repertoire of the organisation.
The literal translation of the word Tabligh is to disseminate. The overall goal of the movement is to disseminate the basic principles of Islam. And Ijtema means to gather for disseminating and teaching religious values.
The first Ijtema was held at Nuh Madrasa near the Nezamudin Mosque in Delhi in 1941 with 25,000 people participating in it. The first ever Ijtema in Bangladesh was held at Kakrail Mosque in 1946.
The following Ijtmas were organised at the Haji Camp in Chattogram in 1948 and in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj in 1958. The venue of the annual conference was shifted to the bank of river Turag since 1966 as the number of participants continued to rise.
Later, the government permanently allocated 160 acres of land beside the river Turag for Ijtema.
Every year the Bishwa Ijtema takes place in January in Tongi but this year it was deferred as the leaders in Tabligh Jamaat were at loggerheads.
The dissension began over the leadership of the organisation between Moulana Mohammed Saad Kandhalvi, grandson of the Tabligh founder Moulana Iliyas and the followers of Zuhayrul Hasan, son of Deoband leader Moulana Zubayer.
Saad was confronted by his opposition when he came to guide the Akheri Monajaat in the Bishaw Ijtema last year. Later, the government mediated and he had to leave Dhaka without participating in the Ijtema.
The two factions announced two different schedules for Bishwa Ijtema in January this year escalating the tension. Violent clashes between the factions over the Ijtema left a 70-year-old man dead and more than 200 others injured.
State Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah announced the fresh date for Ijtema following a meeting with leaders from both factions of the Tabligh on Jan 24. Changes were made in arrangements since the leaders could not come to an agreement.
The local administration is looking after the Ijtema arrangement this year although it is the seniors in Tabligh Jamaat who traditionally do it.
Over the past few years, the 64 districts in the country have been divided into two groups to hold the Ijtema in two phases.
This year, a four-day Ijtema comprising of two phases has been arranged. But the schism in the organisation is visible. The Deoband followers will have their Ijtema on Friday and Saturday. Saad’s followers will attend on Sunday and Monday. The Akheri Monajat will be done on two days-Saturday and Monday.
Police, RAB and Ansar members are working to secure the Ijtema premises, said Dewan Mohammed Humayun Kabir, district commissioner of Gazipur.
Police and RAB have installed watch towers and control rooms. The law enforcement agents in plainclothes are positioned throughout the premises.
Special management of traffic has been adopted for the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway to allow easy access to the Bishwa Ijtema.
Traffic will be banned on the street between Abdullahpur and Bhogra By-pass and from Mirer Bazar to Station Road from 10:00 pm on Feb 15 to 8:00 pm of Feb 16 and from 10:00 pm on Feb 17 to 8.00 pm on Feb 18.
All trains will make a stop at Tongi from Feb 16 to Feb 18 and some trains will do the same on Feb 19, said Tongi Railway Junction Master Halim Uzzaman. A total of 120 trains including 11 pairs of special trains will make stops at Tongi, he added.
Gazipur City Corporation, Hamdard, Ibne Sina, Islamic Mission, Jamuna Bank Foundation, Zahirul Islam Medical College Hospital, International Medical College Hospital, Hafezi Huzur Sheba Sangstha, Homeopathic Welfare and other organisations are providing free medical service to people at the Ijtema ground.
The Bishwa Ijtema has formally started on the banks of Turag river in Tongi, overcoming a feud within Tabligh Jamaat.
The second largest global congregation of Muslims started through the Aamboyan sermon on Friday after the Fazr or dawn prayer.
Moulana Ziaul Haque from Pakistan began Shoolboyan in Urdu which was interpreted by Noakhali’s Moulana Nurur Rahman in Bangla, said Md Mahfuzur Rahman, a senior in the Ijtema Organising Committee.
The main sermon is in Urdu, but is translated to 24 languages at once.
Around hundred thousand of people attended the Jummah prayer at the Ijtema premises at 1:30 pm with Moulana Md Zubayer from Kakrail Mosque leading it.
The Ijtema arena has been divided into 50 parts for people arriving from 64 districts in the country. Muslim devotees of different age group have poured into the arena since Thursday.
A large number of people from Gazipur and its surroundings began to walk to Tongi to attend the Jummah prayer on Friday.
The Jummah prayers at Ijtema are usually attended by ‘VIP’ guests from government including
ministers, parliamentarians and private sector leaders, the organisers said.
Tabligh Jamaat is the largest organisation of Sunni Muslims in the Indian subcontinent. The Bishaw Ijtema is called as the second largest congregation of Muslims as hundreds of thousand people attend the gathering.
Islamic pundit Iliyas Kandhalvi initiated the reformation movement of Tabligh Jamaat in the 1920s. Over the years, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu words were added to the working language repertoire of the organisation.
The literal translation of the word Tabligh is to disseminate. The overall goal of the movement is to disseminate the basic principles of Islam. And Ijtema means to gather for disseminating and teaching religious values.
The first Ijtema was held at Nuh Madrasa near the Nezamudin Mosque in Delhi in 1941 with 25,000 people participating in it. The first ever Ijtema in Bangladesh was held at Kakrail Mosque in 1946.
The following Ijtmas were organised at the Haji Camp in Chattogram in 1948 and in Siddhirganj, Narayanganj in 1958. The venue of the annual conference was shifted to the bank of river Turag since 1966 as the number of participants continued to rise.
Later, the government permanently allocated 160 acres of land beside the river Turag for Ijtema.
Every year the Bishwa Ijtema takes place in January in Tongi but this year it was deferred as the leaders in Tabligh Jamaat were at loggerheads.
The dissension began over the leadership of the organisation between Moulana Mohammed Saad Kandhalvi, grandson of the Tabligh founder Moulana Iliyas and the followers of Zuhayrul Hasan, son of Deoband leader Moulana Zubayer.
Saad was confronted by his opposition when he came to guide the Akheri Monajaat in the Bishaw Ijtema last year. Later, the government mediated and he had to leave Dhaka without participating in the Ijtema.
The two factions announced two different schedules for Bishwa Ijtema in January this year escalating the tension. Violent clashes between the factions over the Ijtema left a 70-year-old man dead and more than 200 others injured.
State Minister for Religious Affairs Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah announced the fresh date for Ijtema following a meeting with leaders from both factions of the Tabligh on Jan 24. Changes were made in arrangements since the leaders could not come to an agreement.
The local administration is looking after the Ijtema arrangement this year although it is the seniors in Tabligh Jamaat who traditionally do it.
Over the past few years, the 64 districts in the country have been divided into two groups to hold the Ijtema in two phases.
This year, a four-day Ijtema comprising of two phases has been arranged. But the schism in the organisation is visible. The Deoband followers will have their Ijtema on Friday and Saturday. Saad’s followers will attend on Sunday and Monday. The Akheri Monajat will be done on two days-Saturday and Monday.
Police, RAB and Ansar members are working to secure the Ijtema premises, said Dewan Mohammed Humayun Kabir, district commissioner of Gazipur.
Police and RAB have installed watch towers and control rooms. The law enforcement agents in plainclothes are positioned throughout the premises.
Special management of traffic has been adopted for the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway to allow easy access to the Bishwa Ijtema.
Traffic will be banned on the street between Abdullahpur and Bhogra By-pass and from Mirer Bazar to Station Road from 10:00 pm on Feb 15 to 8:00 pm of Feb 16 and from 10:00 pm on Feb 17 to 8.00 pm on Feb 18.
All trains will make a stop at Tongi from Feb 16 to Feb 18 and some trains will do the same on Feb 19, said Tongi Railway Junction Master Halim Uzzaman. A total of 120 trains including 11 pairs of special trains will make stops at Tongi, he added.
Gazipur City Corporation, Hamdard, Ibne Sina, Islamic Mission, Jamuna Bank Foundation, Zahirul Islam Medical College Hospital, International Medical College Hospital, Hafezi Huzur Sheba Sangstha, Homeopathic Welfare and other organisations are providing free medical service to people at the Ijtema ground.
