Darul Ilm
Darul Ilm
Darul Ilm
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

Darul Ilm


 
HomePortalLatest imagesRegisterArcadeLog in
Imaam al-Shaafi’i Rahimahullaah said: ‘There is nobody except that he has someone who loves him and someone who hates him. So if that’s the case, let a person be with the people who are obedient to Allaah `Azza Wa Jall.’

 

 Tongi Ijtema - Unknown to the Western Media

Go down 
AuthorMessage
Guest
Guest




Tongi Ijtema - Unknown to the Western Media Empty
PostSubject: Tongi Ijtema - Unknown to the Western Media   Tongi Ijtema - Unknown to the Western Media Icon_minitimeWed Feb 10, 2010 1:06 am

AS MANY AS five million people go quiet and not a breath of wind stirs. The astonishing display of devotion and discipline rivals only the Hajj in Mecca for the Muslim faithful.

They are everywhere, on boats, bridges, rooftops, and in tents that merge with the horizon.

Jeremy Hunter, the Unesco-award winning photojournalist is just back from filming an event at Tongi in Bangladesh that very few Westerners even know about, let alone visit.

IJTEMA (pronounced Istema) is a half-Sanskrit, half Arabic word that describes the annual coming-together in Bangladesh of Muslims of the Tablighi Jama'at sect, seeking the divine blessings of Allah, in an Islamic gathering that is several times bigger even than the Haj to Mecca.

It takes place at Tongi, an industrial township near Dhaka on the banks of the River Turag.

An official Saudi website says that the hajj – obligatory pilgrimage that is one of the five pillars of Islam - attracts 1.7million a year.

Yet Ijtemas in Bangladesh now attract 2 million – and at the final blessing, five million, according to police estimates, making it the biggest gathering of Muslims on the planet.

Yet it goes unreported by the Western media. This miracle of faith and order has been taking place in Bangladesh since 1946, and at Tongi since 1966, known only to themselves and a few academics.

Said Jeremy, a former producer for Channel 4’s Cutting Edge: ‘It was absolutely awesome. I was the only non-believer there and I was treated with absolute kindness and consideration by police and congregants.’

The event features instruction on how to pray, sermons on the fundamental issues of Islam, life in the after-world, and it also provides the opportunity for mass dowry-free marriages to be solemnized.

Its obscurity is indicative of how the West's understanding of Islam has been skewed by reportage of its own preoccupations with and implication in the Middle East – which accounts for just 20 per cent of the world’s Muslims.

http://blog.lapidomedia.com/unknown-to-western-media
Back to top Go down
 
Tongi Ijtema - Unknown to the Western Media
Back to top 
Page 1 of 1
 Similar topics
-
» Western teen/Awliya
» ''To the Western People" by Sheikh Usama
» Cow urine drink to rival Western sodas
» Western troops accused of executing 10 Afghan civilians, including children

Permissions in this forum:You cannot reply to topics in this forum
Darul Ilm :: Main :: Current Events-
Jump to: