Bishwa Ijtema 2nd global community of Muslime-Ummah. So it called 2nd Hajj of islam. The first meeting was reportedly held in 1946 at Bangladesh. it was initiated by an Indian savant named Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi. After 1946 Every year it hold on Bangladesh at first of year month January. forty-one years it has been arranged at Tongi of Bangladesh. Global community, we are at 2nd position after Arabi. 120 countres people are attend at this community.
it was arreng by tabligi jamate of bangladesh and world. this community hold only for prayers and supplication and does not allow political discussion. and this arranged for three days and is attended by over millions of Muslims. making it one of the largest congregations after the the gathering of Muslims in Karbala, The program concludes with the Akheri Munajat, or final prayer. Prayer is held for the spiritual adulation, exaltation and welfare of the Muslims community.
For this community Bngladeshi govt. place an area comprising 160 acres. but during some years over than 150 countries people are attend at this community.
So Last some years it's hold by two part. 1st part over then millions of
Muslims are attend at this community. and 2nd part also over then
millions of Muslims are attend. The Bangladesh Railway arranged special trains between Dhaka and Tongi,
Tongi and Mymensingh and Tongi and Bhairab for people to join the event
and get back home.
Bangladesh is a predominantly Muslim nation
with about 88% of her people being Muslims. That would translate about
114 million Muslims. Therefore, the ranking of Bangladesh would be the
fourth largest nation to have Muslims after Indonesia, Pakistan, and India.
Nonetheless, this nation does not behave like a Muslim Ummah
(community) because in terms of corruption and crime it heads the list.
If the people of Bangladesh had taken the religion Islam seriously, then the
crime rate and the rampant corruption would be way down. Consequently,
the nation would be spared from the shame of being known as the nation of
thieves and unscrupulous office workers and politicians. Therefore,
going to Bishwa Ijtema to receive blessing from Allah for Akherat or
afterworld does not make any sense. Period. That is the sole
reason why this scribe thinks that we should label the event simply as a
charade.
In the 1990s, money was pouring like
torrential rain. All the spigots of petro-dollars were turned fully.
The foreign currency from Middle East was finding their ways to come to Ijtema
ground. More and more people were coming in greater number. At one
time, the Tablig Al Jamaat used to host the program for five long days.
The Musullis, however, used to cut corners. Therefore, to boost
attendance, the Ijtema committee shortened the entire program squeezing it
into three days. This is encouraging development. Because in the
past, the entire week in which Ijtema used to be hosted the government would
shut down because of attendance problem; the business used to suffer and the
life in entire Dhaka city and the outlying areas used to come to a standstill
because of Ijtema.
Now let us focus to the sociopolitical side
of the story. This event of Bishwa Ijtema has become so big that
politicians of all color would head towards Ijtema ground. The
last big part – The Akheri Munazat – became so popular that most
politicians would go to the Ijtema ground to be a part of it. In
Islam, women are barred from going to mosque, but women in Bangladesh are not
paying attention to scriptural dictum. The Tablig Movement is also
encouraging Bangladesh’s women to take part in religious revival movement.
This scribe remembers very vividly reading in the Internet news dailies from
Dhaka that in the year 2001, both the seating PM Hasina Wazed and the leader
of the opposition Mrs. Khaleda Zia had attended the Akheri Munazat.
The only person who did not attend the ceremony in that year was the
ex-president Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed. The Tablig Al Jamaat was very
upset about it, though. We know that the present president Dr. Yazuddin
Ahmed is a religious person; therefore, we may see a photo of the VIP tent in
which the president of Bangladesh will seat in the front row. In all
likelihood, we will see the photos of two Prima Donnas of Bangladesh
politics offering their Munazat on the final day. This is for
sure. Think for a moment if you hear the news that President Bush or the
British PM Tony Blair had gone to attend a religious ceremony for two days.
How hilarious it may sound. However, for Bangladesh, it is a different
story altogether. The press and public alike would frown if the PM or
the President stays away from Ijtema ground.
Now that we are doing a short commentary on
Bishwa Ijtema, we should be asking the following questions: What has happened
to this tiny nation of Bangladesh? Why does the nation of Bangladesh
have become so religious-minded? Unlike other nations in the world those
who are marching forward to the drumbeats of science, technology, and good
sense, Bangladesh along with Pakistan is heading back. Our journey is
always in the backward direction. Our newspaper gloats over the
projection that 1-2 million devotees would join the Ijtema on the first two
days and the number would balloon to an astounding 2.5 to 3 million on the
last day. The newspaper reports and some editorial write-ups will be
putting so much emphasis to this number game that they think participation in
such religious meeting that promotes revivalism and fundamentalism is the
ultimate event at this time. One would expect that the erudite editors
of Dhaka would write more editorials on how to cope up in this worldwide
recessionary environment and how to improve the productivity of our work force
given that opportunities for export-oriented business are next to nothing.
However, these days, most newspapers will be filling their editorial page with
the inane running commentaries of this Bishwa Ijtema, which could make
some freethinkers' head reel.
Most government and semi-government news
organizations such as UNB or BSS proudly would report that the number of
devotees would swell this year over 2,5 million. However, they are quick
to point out that this is second largest Islamic congregation (only second to
Hajj ceremony). Last year I visited an official website of Saudi
government. They reported that about 1.7 million Muslims have attended
the Hajj ceremony. Therefore, it is quite wrong to say that Tongi’s
Ijtema is only second next to Hajj ceremony in terms of number of Muslims
attending a religious gathering. The math never lies. Therefore,
if 2.5 million Bangalees are attending the Ijtema venue on the first two days
and an estimated 4 million will be taking part on the day of Akheri Munazat,
then clearly, the Bishwa Ijtema had eclipsed the Hajj ceremony not for the
significance but by attendance. Nevertheless, not a single publication
from Bangladesh will ever come out and say that Bangladesh’s Bishwa Ijtema
is number one religious congregation in the Muslim world and the number of
attendees has clearly surpassed the Hajj ceremony that is revered by most
Muslims on earth.
Aside from
this number game, what else is so odd about this Ijtema? First, no
Muslim holy books or holy man had ever preached that Ijtema in Tongi is
a must religious event to be attended by all able-bodied Muslims.
Second, unlike the basic teachings of Islam that promotes egalitarianism, the Bishwa
Ijtema promotes separation of people based on money and status.
Therefore, the Tablig Al Jamaat authorities have erected separate tents for
foreign delegates and for government bureaucrats and politicians. The
ordinary folks have no way of getting into these tents. Is that what Islam
preaches?
The other odd thing about
our Musullis is that there is no lasting impression of the messages
that are being delivered at the Ijtema ground. The government
officials will forget the teachings of Islam by the time they would return to
Dhaka -- a journey of hardly an hour or two. They will practice
assiduously the art of bribe-taking no sooner they enter their offices.
Therefore, what is the importance of attending Bishwa Ijtema? Of
all things our folks in Bangladesh need more of self-control. Unless and
until they could achieve this, all this hard praying at the Ijtema ground
for three long days and being blessed by the supplication of Akheri Munazat
will turn up to be a great game of charade. Now, do we need this
charade to continue?
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