Tableegi Jamaat is an organisation of preachers founded in 1926 in India by the scholar Muhammad Ilythaas Al Kandlawi. It was established with the purpose of reviving Islamic religion in its true and pure form. The slogan of the society is, “Become True Muslims”. The Tableegi Jamat now operates across the world with centers in almost every country, especially in Asia.
The main focus of the Jamaat is not to convert people to Islam; rather, it is to guide Muslims to follow their own religion in its proper form, as it was practised by Prophet Muhammad [SAW]. This is known as Dawaa, that is, proselytising Muslims to nurture their own faith. The Tableegi Jamaat wants to spread peace across the world and simultaneously prevent the spread of hate and ill will. It emphasises on the way of life that our beloved prophet (peace be upon him) exemplified. This is the reason why Jamaat members live a simple life and wear simple dress, keeping a long beard. Their food is absolutely simple and during the period of Dawaa, they stay in mosques and cook food on their own. They mobilise the Muslim community for practising their religion in letter and spirit.
The Tableegi Jamaat does not have a rigid structure; rather, it is flexible and simple in its constitution. The head of the Jamaat is called Ameer, who is currently Maulana Saad. There are also Ameers for every district. The Jamaat is like other revival movements which focused on practicing religion in pure form, like the Shuddhi movement, Rama Krishna mission, Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, etc, who during the British era tried to revive and purify their religion. These movements criticised irrational rituals, religious orthodoxy and social dogmas. These movements ended religious exploitation by preaching the religion in its original form and even interpreted religious texts from a scientific perspective. They contributed in the overall development of the nation in a time of crisis when India was passing through a vicious exploitative age of British imperialism.
The philosophy of Tableegi Jamaat is refining of religion as well as refinement of its followers. The society preaches respect for all religions and religious tolerance across the globe. Its focus is the youth of the nation, which is why they approach youths and encourage them to grow morally and spiritually. The Jamaat inculcates ethics in the young generation. The Jammat has no political affiliation in any country and strictly forbids violence and terrorism in any form. The Jamaat is open for all age groups. It deserves all out support so that it contributes in eradicating the vices that plague our society in present times.

—The writer is from Kulgam and has an MA in Philosophy. [email protected]

MUSHTAQ AHMAD BHAT