The Tablighi Jamaat has come under focus following the death of one of its well-known members, Junaid Jamshed.

The pop singer-turned-preacher was a familiar figure in Pakistan and abroad and his tragic death in the plane crash has sparked a renewed interest in his life and times. Many hidden aspects of his once colourful life and the subsequent complete change in his lifestyle are being revealed and discussed. His philanthropy and his interest in public service are being highlighted by his colleagues during his singing career and his partners in Tablighi work.

Many people have come to know for the first time that Junaid Jamshed, or JJ as his friends referred to him, actively took part in the street cleaning and garbage collection campaigns in his native Karachi and was part of the effort to erase the wall-chalking that has turned walls and sign-posts ugly in Pakistan’s biggest and richest city.

Attention is also being given to the Tablighi Jamaat that has managed to turn around the lives of so many people over the years. Its working isn’t a secret, but the movement’s organisers deliberately stay away from the media, the government and the political parties to remain apolitical and neutral. The Tablighis want Muslims to return to the basics of Islam, reform themselves and then preach to others as part of ‘Dawah’ teams. It is a kind of spiritual reformation aimed at becoming better Muslims. The movement’s adherents are Sunnis, though the Deobandis dominate it and the Barelvis avoid it.

Junaid Jamshed was among the scores of famous people who joined the Tablighi Jamaat and quickly became its public face. The 89-year old Islamic proselytising and revivalist movement has benefited immensely when prominent figures join it and take active part in its activities. More people start taking interest in the Tablighi Jamaat and some eventually become part of the religious movement termed as the most influential in 20^th century Islam. Famous religious scholars, artistes, sports and business figures, intellectuals and retired senior civil and military officers have become Tablighis and devoted their time and resources to the movement.

When retired army general Lt. General Javed Nasir, who once headed the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), recently visited a mosque in a gated community in Peshawar Saddar, a number of Tablighis and others came to meet and listen to him. Among the Tablighis were several retired military officers, who say they have found a meaning in life and want to devote the rest of their lives to preaching. In fact, the former soldiers have given a soldierly passion to the Tablighi work. The presence of people like Lt. Gen. Javed Nasir creates an added interest in the Tablighi Jamaat and attracts more devotees to join it.

There are many other military officers who became Tablighis during service or after retirement. Among them is another former ISI chief Lt Gen (R) Mahmud Ahmad, who had played the key role in the 1999 military coup that led to the ouster of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and brought General Pervez Musharraf to power.

The showbiz and the sports world are also fertile ground for the Tablighi Jamaat to seek adherents. Many artistes and sports figures turning to the Tabligh Jamaat have one thing in common. They were mostly inspired by Maulana Tariq Jamil, arguably the most popular Tablighi leader due to his inspiring speeches and sermons. His audio cassettes sell like hot cakes and his TV shows are widely watched. The physician-turned-preacher received and blessed a host of artistes, cricketers and other celebrities to take them away from the world of fun and frolic to an austere life committed to learning and preaching Islam. Be it Junaid Jamshed, Veena Malik and others, they credit Maulana Tariq Jamil for the change in their life.

As we know by now, Junaid Jamshed had gone to Chitral on the invitation of another famous Tablighi, former cricketer Saeed Anwar, who was already there on a preaching mission. In Tablighi terms, this is called ‘nusrat’ and means showing solidarity and giving company to a fellow member of the movement. Junaid Jamshed, accompanied by his second wife Nahya Jamshed, had spent a week in Chitral and was flying back to Islamabad when the Pakistan International Airlines’ ATR plane crashed in the mountains near Havelian in Abbottabad. Both were killed along with 45 other passengers and crew members on board.

As explained by Mohammad Ayub, the Tablighi Jamaat head in Chitral, Junaid Jamshed stayed in the mosque along with other men in the group while Nahya Jamshed was lodged at his house as part of the female preachers who nowadays accompany their husbands on such Tablighi missions. One has seen Pakistani couples travelling on such preaching missions in faraway places like Mauritius, Gibraltar and Bangladesh all spending their own money and devoting long periods of stay away from home to a cause in which they firmly believe.

Cricketer Saeed Anwar, one of the finest opening batsmen Pakistan has produced, was reportedly influenced by his brother, who also preached to another Test cricket player Yousaf Youhana and made him convert from Christianity to Islam. Yousaf Youhana, who became Mohammad Yousaf after his conversion, is now an active preacher like fellow cricketers Inzimamul Haq, Mushtaq Ahmad and Saqlain Mushtaq. Others like Shahid Afridi gave time occasionally to Tablighi work. The move by the Pakistani cricketers to prostrate on the ground to thank Allah after victory or on scoring a century began during this period of time when the Tablighi influence in the team had peaked.

Though the Tablighi movement was started in undivided India in 1927 by Maulana Mohammad Ilyas, it apparently has more adherents now in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The members of Tablighi Jamaat are now spread all over the world, including in the West, but the majority live in South Asia and travel to other countries on preaching missions. The biggest annual Tabligh congregations in the world take place in Tongi near Dhaka, Bangladesh and in Raiwind sited close to Lahore, Pakistan. The three-day Raiwind gatherings, held every November, had become so big that these were split into two events organised with the gap of some days for better management and security.

The last day of these ‘ijtimah’ (gatherings) is reserved for long collective prayers led by the elderly Hafiz Abdul Wahab, the head of the Tablighi Jamaat in Pakistan, and attended by more than a million people. Politicians both from ruling and opposition parties and celebrities are conspicuous by their presence on these occasions and are accommodated at the tented camp for the ‘khawas’ or important guests. Such people are especially courted by the Tablighis as they are convinced their movement would get a boost if famous persons from different walks of life join the Tablighi Jamaat.

Junaid Jamshed was one such person, but there are many others busy in spreading the message of Tabligh and influencing others.