The Biswa Ijtema

Authors

• Nina Björkman Åbo Akademi University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30674/scripta.67359

Keywords:

Transnationalism, Bangladesh, India, Bengal, Politics and Islam, Tablīghī Jamaʻāt, Pilgrims and pilgrimages -- Islam, Islam -- Missions, Colonialism and neocolonialism

Abstract

The Tablighi Jama‘at has not, until recently, been the focus of much research, despite its almost 80-year history.This article examines material about the Tablighi Jama‘at in Bangladesh and the Biswa Ijtema in particular. The material consists of academic literature and articles in local newspapers. Tablighi Jama‘at was founded by Mawlana Ilyas in Mewat as a reaction against the decline of Muslim political power in India and the increasing British influence on the subcontinent.The Biswa Ijtema is the annual congregation of the Tablighi Jama‘at, held in the district of Tongi, just outside Dhaka in Bangladesh. The term Biswa Ijtema (or Viswa/Bishwa Ijtema) translates as ‘world congregation’. The Biswa Ijtema works very much as the core of the Tablighi missionary work. Devotees come here to strengthen their faith, and when they leave, go out to spread the message.