Tablighi Jamaat emir: “Satan is using this opportunity to lead us astray…This is the time to populate the mosques”
APR 8, 2020 1:00 PM BY ROBERT SPENCER
“The Satan is using this opportunity as it has always done to lead us astray from our religious duties in the name of precautions, treatment and protection.”
“This is the time to populate the mosques and to invite the ummah towards repentance.”
What could possibly go wrong?
“Tablighi Jamaat Emir Maulana Mohammad Saad Opposes Social Distancing During Coronavirus Epidemic, Says: ‘The Satan Is Using This Opportunity… To Lead Us Astray From Our Religious Duties In The Name Of Precautions, Treatment, And Protection,'” MEMRI, April 6, 2020:
Maulana Mohammad Saad Kandhlawi, the emir of Tablighi Jamaat, gave a series of speeches in which he told his followers to reject social distancing, a key recommendation by government officials and doctors worldwide to fight the spread of the Coronavirus epidemic. [1] His organization has attracted international headlines for transmitting the Coronavirus epidemic to different Indian states.
Tablighi Jamaat is a transnational revivalist Islamic movement that landed in controversy for organizing conferences in mid-March 2020 at its international headquarters in New Delhi. It appears that thousands of devout foreign and Indian Muslims who attended these conferences spread the Coronavirus across other Indian states. [2]
Maulana Mohammad Saad Kandhlawi, who took over as emir of the revivalist group in November 2015, was born on May 10, 1965, and has three children. The Tablighi Jamaat was founded by his grandfather Maulana Muhammad Kandhlawi in 1926 in Mewat, a region near Delhi. Maulana Mohammad Saad Kandhlawi completed his religious education at Madrassa Kashif-ul-Uloom, which is part of the Nizamuddin Markaz, the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat. [3]
According to one report, Maulana Mohammad Saad Kandhlawi “has roughly 100 crore [2 billion] followers in 214 countries. By some measures, this makes the Tablighi Jamaat the largest Muslim movement in the world. The majority of the followers of the Tablighi Jamaat live in South Asia.” [4]
Maulana Mohammad Saad Kandhlawi delivered three speeches on the Coronavirus epidemic at the Nizamuddin Markaz on March 20, 22, and 25. The Indian government had declared a national curfew on March 22 from 7 am to 9 pm and began a 21-day lockdown on March 25. Following are translations, produced by Delhi-based New Age Islam group, of the cleric’s three speeches.
Following are excerpts from the March 20 speech: [5]
“This Is The Time For Repentance And For Reciting The Koran And For Reverting Towards God; This Is The Time To Bring The Ummah To The Mosques, Not Of Leaving The Mosque”
“The point is that in the current situation every Muslim should think that Allah has directly put his hand on me. This should also be kept in mind that it can never happen that the wrath of God will inflict the Kafirs [unbelievers] and the Muslims will also be afflicted by it. Some people have got the wrong belief that the contagion was meant for the ‘others’ but Muslims fell prey to it. God directly deals with every momin [believers].
“In the light of faith and belief, we cannot subscribe to the idea that the wrath of God had descended on the ‘people of the world’ but Muslims also got trapped in it. The Koran says that, we know who will be afflicted by our wrath and who will not. All will not be afflicted by our wrath. However, if we bring our wrath on others as well, it is because we bring it as a warning to them and to drive them towards good deeds.
“Therefore, these circumstances inspire us to learn a lesson. But it does not mean that we should leave namaz [prayer] for some time or suspend other religious duties for some time and the calamity will be taken away. Oh really! (Recites a verse) In this verse of the Koran Allah says that, such contagions and calamities will not hold any lessons for these people. They don’t think that this is a transitory period and will pass on. So, let’s go ahead and do. Exhortations do not benefit such people.
“Even today many Muslims believe that this disease is a temporary affliction and will disappear soon. Allah says (recites a verse) that, we shall remove the calamity for a short period; we know that you will return to the sinful ways saying the calamity is over. Therefore, my friends, this is the time for repentance and for reciting the Koran and for reverting towards God. This is the time to bring the Ummah to the mosques, not of leaving the mosque. This is a matter of extreme perversion of faith and ignorance.”…
“Of course, precautionary measures are good, but leaving the mosque due to the belief that the calamity will intensify by going to mosques is against the injunctions of God, the routine of the rightly guided caliphs, the ways of the sahaba and the Sunnah of the holy prophets and Messengers. As for these holy men, they would consciously rush towards mosques in times of every calamity and every contagion, and here in this age we leave the mosques to ward off the calamity. It is a very wrong way of thinking. May God reward ‘ulema-e-Haq’ (Ulema on the right path meaning ulema of Tablighi Jamaat) who are steadfast in the opinion that in the current situation, there is no question of and justification for locking down the mosques.”
“The Satan is using this opportunity as it has always done to lead us astray from our religious duties in the name of precautions, treatment and protection. Whenever a calamity strikes, Satan makes the victims of calamity commit such acts which destroy their rewards and add to their woes. This is the time to populate the mosques and to invite the ummah towards repentance. As I have already said, this is the time to make our supplications effective. This is not the time to pay heed to false remedial measures….
“Muslims are the core of this universe. Muslims don’t need to think on what they should do in the current circumstances. Only those who don’t know the Supreme Being need to think how to defend [against] this calamity, this disease. It’s only the Kafirs who rely on the material remedies and resources. Muslims rely on Aamaal (religious deeds) and prayers. If Muslims too follow them then he will also say that the circumstances require us to abandon this and this duty for the time being.
“If you abandon your religious duties in view of the current calamity, it will only aggravate. The holy Prophet had brought the Muslims so close to the mosque that they did not find the solutions of any of their problems outside the mosque. Coming towards God is actually coming towards the mosque in the same way as going towards the lawyer means going towards his office and going towards a minister means going towards his ministry. Just imagine, if a non-Muslim had asked Muslims to leave mosques because he did not know what a mosque is. Where there is health and solace thanks to the descent of angels, they perceive disease there. It’s sheer blindness, it’s sheer blindness.”…
“My friends. Do fasting and chant God’s name abundantly. This is the only remedy for this calamity. As for the doctors’ advice and precautions, following them is not against the faith and Shari’a; rather if you suffer losses due to noncompliance of precautionary measures, only you will be blamed. Therefore, we should follow the doctors’ advice and take precautionary measures only to the extent that your religious duties are not sacrificed. If your Aamaal (religious duties) are sacrificed, God will leave you to the mercy of the doctors and pull His hand off you….
“Therefore, my advice to you is that you should follow the precautionary measures prescribed to you but at the same time I will reiterate my position that precautionary measures should be followed only to the extent that they do not cause suspension of your religious duties.
“If you abandoned any of your religious duties due to your zeal to take precautions, God will pull His hand off you. Your religious deeds are based on your faith. Remedial measures are not faith-based, religious duties are. Remedial measures are akin to precautions. And religious acts are based on faith. You should keep it in mind and pray at night. Instead of discussing the disease, remember God…. |
