Expansion[edit]

Bishwa Ijtema in Bangladesh

The group began to expand its activities in 1946. The initial expansion within South Asia happened
immediately after the partition of India in 1947, when the Pakistan Chapter was established in the
hinterlands of Raiwind town near Lahore, Pakistan. The Pakistan Chapter remained the largest till
Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan in 1971. Today, the largest Chapter is Bangladesh
followed by the second largest in Pakistan. Within two decades of its establishment, the group
reached Southwest and Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America.[30] The Tablighi Jamaat's
aversion to politics, and also its lack of any direct and practical economic-political-social viewpoints,
like the occupation of Palestine, helped it enter and operate in societies, especially western
countries and societies where politically active religious groups faced restrictions.[11]
Foreign missions[edit]
The first foreign missions were sent to the Hejaz (western Saudi Arabia) and Britain in 1946.[31] The
United States followed and during the 1970s and 1980s the Tablighi Jamaat also established a large
presence in continental Europe.[28] In France it was introduced in the 1960s, and grew significantly in
the two decades following 1970.[32]
In Europe Tablighi Jamaat focused on marginalized populations — "migrant workers deprived of any
cultural access to European society, `lost` teens, drug addicts". It peaked in popularity and numbers
in Europe between the mid-1970s and mid 1980s, and declined thereafter (in France it reportedly
started to decline around 1989[28]) as young people from Muslim families, educated in Europe, began
to seek "a more intellectual framework for their faith", and moved toward Salafi Islam.[33] In France,
as of 2004, it was represented on the French Council of the Muslim Faith.[28] During the first half-
decade of the 21st century Tablighi Jamaat went through a major revival in France, reaching
100,000 followers by 2006.[1] However, the United Kingdom is the current focus of the movement in
the Europe, primarily due to the large South Asian population that began to arrive there in the
1960s.[34] By 2007, Tablighi Jamaat members were situated at 600 of Britain's 1,350 mosques.[35]
After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the movement made inroads into Central Asia. As of
2007, it was estimated that 10,000 Tablighi Jamaat members could be found in Kyrgyzstan,[2] that
was largely driven by Pakistani members initially.
The FBI estimates that nearly 50,000 members of Tablighi Jamaat are active in the United
States.[3] As of 2008, according to one estimate the organization had a presence in nearly 200
countries and a total following of between 100 and 150 million people. By some measures this made
Tablighi Jamaat the largest Muslim movement in the World. The majority of the followers of the
Tablighi Jamaat live in South Asia.[3][10] Another source (Pew Research Center’s Religion and Public
Life project) estimates there are between 12 and 80 million adherents, spread across more than 150
countries.[9]
An attempt at Salafist expansion among the Muslim Chams in Vietnam has been halted by
Vietnamese government controls, however, the loss of the Salafis among Chams has been to be
benefit of Tablighi Jamaat.[36]

Beliefs and objectives[edit]

Members of Tabligh Jamat are allowed to follow their own fiqh as long as it does not deviate
from Sunni Islam.[17][34] Tablighi Jamaat defines its objective with reference to the concept
of Dawah, the proselytizing or preaching of Islam. Tablighi Jamaat interprets Dawah as enjoining
good and forbidding evil only and defines its objective within the framework of two particular Qur'anic
verses which refer to this mission.[37] Those two verses are:[38]
Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to Allah, works righteousness, and says, "I am of
the muslims (those who submit to Allah) "?

— Qur'an, sura (chapter) 41 (Fussilat), ayah (verse) 33[39]

Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and
forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity.

— Qur'an sura (chapter) 3 (Al-i-Imran), ayah (verse) 104[22]

Tablighi Jamaat encourages everyone to fulfill the Islamic requirement of dawah even if the person
falls short of strong religious intellect. This was different from the other Islamic movements which
were mainly ulama-led and extended their leadership roles to the religious scholars. Tablighi Jamaat
also disagree with the prevailing idea that the highest standards of Islamic scholarship and ethical
standards were prerequisites for proselytising, and promote dawah as a mechanism of self-reform.[40]
Like Salafists, Tabligh seek a "separation in their daily life from the `impious` society that surrounded
them". The only objective of Tabligh Jamaat, overtly stated in most sermons, is that Muslims adopt
and invite for the Islamic lifestyle, exemplified by Muhammad, in its perfection. This involves a
detailed orthopraxy: "followers must dress like the Prophet, sleep as he did on the ground, on one's
right side";[41] enter bathrooms leading with the left foot, but put pants on leading with the right foot;
do not use a fork when eating, instead use your index finger, middle finger and thumb; men shave
their upper lips, but let their beards grow; their pants or robes should be above the ankle "because
the prophet said letting clothes drag on the ground is a sign of arrogance".[32] The movement
encourages Muslims to spend time out of their daily routine in the tablighi activities so that the rest of
routine could be harmonised with Tablighi lifestyle. Adherents are also encouraged to enroll in
Deobandi madaaris (found around the world) to deepen their faith.[41]
The method adopted by Muhammad Ilyas was to organise units (called jamaats, Arabic: ِ‫جماعات‬
meaning Assembly) of at least ten persons and send them to various villages or neighborhoods to
preach. These outings, Dawah tours (see below), are now organized by TJ leaders.[41] In these tours,
emphasis is laid on "A hadith about virtues of action" (imitating Muhammad). In the ahadith (reported
sayings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad) of fazail (virtues) these has been called Eemaan (faith)
and Ihtisab (for the sake of Allah) and TJ believes this is the most vital deriving force for reward
in akhirah (afterlife). TJ founder Ilyas preached that knowledge of virtues and A'amalu-Saliha (Good
Deeds and Actions) takes precedence over the knowledge of Masa'il (jurisprudence). Knowing
jurisprudence detail (Fara'id (mandates) and Sunan (traditions) of Salat) is useful only if a person is
ready to perform rituals such as offering Salat.[42] They insist that the best way of learning is teaching
and encouraging others, with the books prescribed by Tabligi Jamaat Movement in the light of Quran
and Hadith stories of Prophets, Sahaba (Companions of Prophet) and Awlia Allah ("Friends of
Allah").[16] [Note 1] Even though there are publications associated with the movement, particularly
by Zakariya Kandahalwi, the emphasis has never been on book learning, but rather on first-hand
personal communication.[16][44] A collection of books, usually referred as Tablighi Nisaab (Tablighi
Curriculum), is recommended by Tabligh Jamaat elders for general reading. This set includes four
books namely (Hayatus Sahabah, Fazail-e-Amaal, Fazail-e-Sadqaat and Muntakhab Ahadith).[45]
Tablighi ethic discourages social engagement or participation with some non-orthodox customary
and ceremonial rituals which are usually extravagantly followed in South Asia. For example,
marriages are performed en masse at annual congregations and other similar mass meetings, so
that the costly celebrations common in South Asia are avoided.[46]
In its early days and in South Asia, the Tabligh movement aimed to return to orthodoxy and "purify"
the Muslim religio-cultural identity of heterodox or "borderline" Muslims who still practised customs
and religious rites connected with Hinduism. Especially to counteract the efforts of Hindu
proselytising movements who targeted these often recently converts from Hinduism.[47] Unlike
common proselytising movements, has TJ mostly focused on making Muslims 'better and purer' and
ideally "religiously perfect", rather than preaching to the non-Muslims. This is because (it believes)
dawah to non-Muslims will only be effective (or will be much more effective) when a Muslim reaches
"perfection".[47][48]
Six principles[edit]
TJ visits a village or neighborhood, invites the local Muslims to assemble in the mosque and present
their message in the form of Six Principles. These six principles were derived from the lives of the
companions of Muhammad. It is stated in one narration, "My Sahabah (companions) are like
[guiding] stars, whosoever follows [any] one of them will be guided."[26] Muhammad Ilyas articulated
six demands in the form of Six Principles which are quintessential to Tablighi Jamaat's teachings.
These six principles are:

1. Kalimah: "Imaan - An article of faith in which a Muslim accepts that there is no worthy
worship but Allah and Muhammad is his last messenger".
2. Salat: "Prayer - Five daily prayers that are essential to spiritual elevation, piety, and a life
free from the ills of the material world"
3. Ilm and Zikr: "The knowledge and remembrance of Allah - conducted in sessions in which
the congregation listens to preaching by the emir, performs prayers, recites the Quran and
reads Hadith from the books comprising Riyadhu As-Salehin", Muntakhab Ahadith
(Collection of authentic Ahadith without commentary), Hayatus Sahaba and Fadhaa'il-e
A'maal Vol 1 & 2[42] among other books.[43]
4. Ikraam-e-Muslim: "Honoring a Muslim - The treatment of fellow Muslims with honor and
deference"
5. Ikhlas-e-Niyyat: "Sincerity of Intention - Reforming one’s life in supplication to Allah by
performing every human action for the sake of Allah and toward the goal of self-
transformation"
6. Dawat-o-Tableegh (Dawah): "Inviting and Preaching - The sparing of time to live a life based
on faith and learning its virtues, following in the footsteps of the Prophet Muhammad, and
taking His message door to door for the sake of faith. "[34]