B’desh Tabligh Jamaat torn apart by internal dispute:

by Chowdhury Akbor Hossain in Dhaka Tribune, Nov 15, 2017
Tabligh Jamaat, an Islamic non-political organisation based in Bangladesh, is being ripped apart by a long standing internal dispute among its top leaders.
The dispute over establishing dominance reached a new height after two factions of the organization engaged in a violent clash on the premises of Kakrail Mosque in Dhaka on Tuesday.
According to sources from the Tabligh, scuffle between the two factions is quite a regular occurrence.
Seven people are leading the Bangladesh chapter of Tabligh Jamaat as Faisal (Ameer). Syed Wasif Islam is one of the ameers and also a Majlis-e-Shura member of the organization.
A senior Tabligh leader named Professor Mushfiq Ahmed and his followers had a long standing dispute with Syed Wasif; after they accused him of misusing power. However, following Mushfiq’s death in 2015, his followers became isolated inside the organization.
Sources said the Nizamuddin Markaz of Delhi is considered the international headquarters of Tabligh Jamaat and Maulana Saad Kandhalvi is one of the leading influential leaders there.
Maulana Saad Kandhalvi however is also a religious leader known for making controversial statements, which caused uproar in India on several occasion.
He received harsh criticism for speaking against taking money for religious teachings and claiming that prayers cannot be offered if the devotee carries a mobile phone with a camera.
According to sources, among the faisals of Bangladesh Tabligh Jamaat, Maulana Muhammad Jubayer, Maulana Rabiul Haque and Maulana Omar Faruq have protested against the upcoming visit of Maulana Saad Kandhalvi to the country.
Qaumi Alems of Hefazat-e-Islam have also demanded cancellation of Maulana Saad’s visit.
Madrasa students locked in a clash and carried out acts of vandalism following the heated exchange between the top leaders, which later lead to the violence in Tabligh Jamaat’s Kakrail Markaz last Tuesday.
Later, police arrived at the scene and brought the situation under control.
The Shura Council members of the Tabligh held a meeting on the same day and agreed upon some terms to help resolve the ongoing dispute.
The leaders agreed that in future meetings, every decision must get approval after receiving two-thirds of the vote from the members. Disputes will also be resolved in council meetings.
It was also decided in the meeting that no one will be allowed to carry weapons at any Tabligh programme.
On the issue of inviting a guest from abroad, the leaders agreed that they will follow a decision made in a previous meeting attended by the home minister.
The agreement was signed by Maulana Muhammad Jubayer, Syed Wasif Islam, Maulana Rabiul Haque, Khan Muhammad Shahabuddin Nasim, Maulana Omar Faruq, Mohammad Mosharraf and Mohammad Hossain.
When approached, son of Syed Wasif Islam Maulana Osama Islam admitted to the incident. He said future disputes will be resolved in a civil manner through council meetings. www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2017/11/15/tabligh-jamaat-torn-apart-internal-dispute/