How did Biswa Ijtema start and why in bangladesh?

 

Bishwa Ijtema

What is Biswa Ijtema?

'Ijtema', an Arabic word means public gathering. Ijtema has been held every year in Bangladesh since 1967 on the bank of the river turag near Tongi. The Ijtema at Tongi is now known as the Biswa Ijtema (world congregation). It is an annual meeting place of Muslim pilgrims from various countries of the world for special prayers. Its main objectives are to inspire Muslims of the world to follow the norms of islam and encourage them to lead a life that conforms to the tenets of Islam as depicted in the quran and hadith. 

How did Biswa Ijtema start?

Maulana Ilyas Al-Kandhalavi (1885-1944) founded the Tabligh Jamaat in 1926. It is noted that the Tabligh Jamaat emerged as a response to the Shuddhi movement of Arya Samaj founder (Swami) Dayananda Saraswati (1824-1883), from Deoband in response to the problem of Muslims becoming Hindus. A movement was organized to teach the basics of Islam to non-practicing Muslims. The Deoband Dal called this move Tabligh. Maulana Ilyas was an early activist of the Tabligh movement. Over time the Tabligh movement spread throughout the subcontinent. Maulana Ilyas organized regional Jamaat or Ijtema soon after establishing the 'Tabligh Jamaat' movement in his own area. Ilyas left his teaching profession at Madrasa Majahir Uloom in Saharanpur and became a servant of Islam. He moved to Nizamuddin near Delhi, where the movement was formally launched in 1926. The movement achieved phenomenal results in a relatively short period of time and the annual conference at Mewa in November 1941 was attended by about 25,000 people.

Why in Bangladesh?

Tabligh work started in Bangladesh in 1944 through Maulana Abdul Aziz. When the work of Tabligh Jamaat expanded, Maulana Ilyas (RA) started regional conferences of Tabligh Jamaat followers. After partition in 1947, joint Ijtema initiative was taken in both Pakistan and India. Ijtema was decided at Kakrail in Bangladesh, Bhopal in India and Raivend in Pakistan. Due to religious, social and other environmental reasons, the size of Ijtema in Bangladesh was larger than the other two countries from the beginning. As a result, it gradually gained prominence and took the form of world ijtema.

History of site selection:

The Tabligh Jamaat movement started in the territory of Bangladesh in the 1950s in the Kakrail Mosque of Dhaka with a few followers in the presence of Maulana Yusuf. Later in 1954, a large congregation of Tablighi Jamaat was held at the Hajj camp in Chittagong. A large number of people began to be attracted to Ijtema. The next Ijtema was held in 1958 at Siddhirganj in Narayanganj. The Ijtema was held in 1960, 1962 and 1965 at the Ramna Racecourse in Dhaka. Ramana proved too small to accommodate the growing fan base. As a result, a large open area at Pagar village on the banks of the Turag near Tongi was selected for the next Ijtema in 1966. Many devotees from abroad joined the Ijtema that year. Since then the Biswa Ijtema at Tongi was launched as an annual Tabligh Jamaat in the then East Pakistan. In 1967, Tongi became the permanent site of Bishwa Ijtema when the then government of Pakistan granted permission to use the land along the Turag River. Later Bangladesh government allotted 160 acres of land in the same place. Biswa Ijtema is being held at this place as an annual event. Apart from Tongi, Ijtema is now held in Rivend, Pakistan and Bhopal, India. But in terms of crowd, Tongir Ijtema is the largest among these congregations.