Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs has denounced the Tablighi Jamaat, calling on mosques to allocate the next Friday sermon to warning against the group’s “misguidance, deviation and danger”.
“Dr Abdullatif Al Al Sheikh directed the mosques' preachers and the mosques that held Friday prayer temporary to allocate the next Friday sermon 5/6/1443 H to warn against (the Tablighi and Da’wah group) which is called (Al Ahbab)” the ministry tweeted.
His Excellency also directed that the sermon include the following topics:
— Ministry of Islamic Affairs 🇸🇦 (@Saudi_MoiaEN) December 6, 2021
1- Declaration of the misguidance, deviation and danger of this group, and that it is one of the gates of terrorism, even if they claim otherwise.
2- Mention their most prominent mistakes.
The sermon should include a declaration of the “misguidance, deviation and danger of this group” and note that it is one of the “gates of terrorism, even if they claim otherwise,” it directed. In addition, it should mention their “most prominent mistakes”, that they are a “danger to society” and issue a statement that “affiliation with partisan groups, including (the Tablighi and Da’wah Group) is prohibited in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
3- Mention their danger to society.
— Ministry of Islamic Affairs 🇸🇦 (@Saudi_MoiaEN) December 6, 2021
4- Statement that affiliation with partisan groups, including (the Tablighi and Da’wah Group) is prohibited in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Saudi religious leaders have long viewed the Tablighi Jamaat as “deviants”, with former grand mufti Abdul Azeez ibn Baaz saying in 2012 that it was not permissible to “go out with them” for the same, except to disapprove their activities.
In 2011, WikiLeaks documents said Al-Qaeda had used the Tablighi Jamaat as a guise to obtain visas to travel to Pakistan and participate in the Soviet-Afghan war.
The group came into the spotlight in India in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when its members were accused of holding an illegal gathering in Delhi. The Centre at the time blamed the group for the spike in cases, after its members were found to have travelled across the country.
However in December, 36 foreign nationals associated with the group were acquitted of charges including violating their visa norms and COVID-19 guidelines.
