Inside the real Tablighi Jama’at

In reply to last week's Guardian article purporting to give a glimpse "behind the scenes" at the supposedly secretive Tablighi Jama'at, Emdad Rahman posts his observations:

Paul Lewis’ article contained a number of factual errors. Tabligh is not influenced by Wahhabism, and Saudi Arabia is one of the countries that does not support the effort, either morally or financially. Tabligh is not a formal organisation and amazingly there is not one paid member or participant anywhere in the world. The bedrock of the effort is based purely on the participant utilising their own health, wealth and time in the pursuit of moral and spiritual development. For many years some Muslims in the UK and abroad have accused Tablighis of being too passive and being out of touch with reality (with regards to current affairs) because of their shunning of all forms of politics.
The Thursday evening gatherings mentioned have been taking place in the UK since the 1950’s and this is not a new phenomenon by any stretch of the imagination. The number of attendees and the popularity of the activities of the effort have increased ten fold, but the peaceful message of self rectification ant the call towards good remains very much the same.

Well worth reading (hat tip: Islamophobia Watch.)