Hyderabad: About a week ago, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia issued a decree banning the “Tablighi Jamaat”, calling it a “door of terrorism” and dictating to mosques across the country to give next friday sermon warn the public against the missionary movement.

The decision drew much criticism from various Islamic organizations and the ideological parent institution of the traditionalist movement, Darul Uloom Deoband, in Uttar Pradesh. Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminar founded by freedom fighter and Islamic scholar Muhammad Qasim Nanautvi and his colleagues.

Taking on the Kingdom, a former board member of the All India Mualim Personal Law Board and one of the most prominent clerics of the time, Maulana Salman Hussain Nadvi posted a 37-minute video criticizing the Saudi Arabia. He went on to reiterate that the kingdom has always been a “loyal puppet” in the hands of the “Zionist powers” and now he is slowly showing his true face to the world in delusion.

Maulana Salman Nadwi added that the kingdom supports and promotes the controversial Wahhabi ideology, which has often been linked to extremist groups, by order of the United States and that it is now burying the same on the orders of its Zionist masters. He also criticized Saudi Arabia’s promotion of entertainment and called it promoting “immorality and corruption”.

Another prominent Mumbai Islamic scholar and founder of an online Islamic university, Al Ilm Academy, Mufti Yusuf Asad said that Tablighi Jamaat’s century-old story is testament to the fact that she never did any harm to anybody. “This decision is proof that the Saudi government is a slave to the West. “

He told Siasat.com that 45 years ago the Kingdom placed restrictions on people who wanted to give Friday speeches or sermons independently and dictated what people could say at religious gatherings, and now their control over religious institutions is worsening. He alleged the movement was politically motivated.

Darul Uloom Deoband, who is also known as the ideological parent institution of the Tablighi Jamaat, in the press note signed by Rector Maulana Abdul Qasim Noumani on Sunday said the accusations were baseless and the role of the Jamaat was to spread the deen (faith) and asked Riyadh to reconsider the decision.

Jama’at-e-Islami Hind President Syed Sadatullah Hussaini also said it was an attack on the universally accepted human right to preach and propagate one’s religion.

A member of the Tablighi Jamaat who did not want to be named told Siasat.com that in times of spiritual corruption and degeneration, sticking to basic traditional principles is seen as an act of rebellion against society. “This is nothing new to people who call for good and forbid evil, it has always happened in history and will continue to happen until the end of the world. We are taught to persevere through them. trials and tribulations and that doesn’t bother us at all, ”he noted.

What is Tablighi Jamaat

The Tablighi Jamaat which roughly translates to “the society of preachers” or “the organization of preachers” was founded in 1926 by Maulana Ilyas Khandelwi. It aims for a spiritual reform of Muslim society.

Currently, Jamaat is believed to have around 400 million members worldwide and is spread across 150 countries. It has often been criticized by other groups for being too apolitical, however, researchers suggest that the secret to the continued growth and spread of the mission movement is to move away from politics. At present, Maulana Saad Kandelvi heads the Tablighi Jamaat in the Indian subcontinent.