Many forces are desperately working in their own ways to convert India, a Hindu-majority country with people of various faiths, into a Shariah-governed Islamic state. Some, such as PFI (now banned), set deadlines for the same for the year 2047, while others set a deadline of 2050. In the midst of ongoing conspiracies, Tauqeer Ahmad, a Tablighi Jamaat Maulana, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to convert to Islam.
In an interview with TimesNow Navbharat, Maulana claimed that since 2014, over 20 lakh non-Muslims have converted to Islam. Inviting PM Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath to Islam, the Mualana claimed that a lot of things would improve if they accept Islam. Maulana Tauqeer Ahmad openly admitted that his and the Jamaat’s aim is to bring Sharia law to India. He cited the example of how the Taliban imposed Sharia there after driving the American forces out.
“My sole aim is to give Dawah to more and more people and I would invite CM Yogi and Modi ji to accept Islam. I would say Modi and Yogi ji should sit and I will make them understand what Deen and Islam are. Inshallah they will become Muslims. If they convert, a lot of things will improve. 20 lakh people have become Muslim since 2014 in India. Our goal is to implement Sharia law. Inshallah, Sharia will come just like in Afghanistan, where America was driven away,” Tauqeer said.
He added that Tabilighi Jamaat is involved in 99 per cent of instances of religious conversion to Islam. He also mentioned the Da’i people of the Jamaat. It is notable that Da’i are the Muslims who give Dawah or call upon non-Muslims to convert to Islam. Tauqeer Ahmad delved into how the Da’i target non-Muslim youths and teach them about Quranic verses (Ayats), Hadiths, and prophets.
Moreover, the Tablighi Maulana said that Dawah giving people (Da’i) narrate the stories about Islamic prophets and how people who did not listen to them had to face punishment.
According to Maulana Tauqeer’s religious book, Allah had taken a promise from the first man of the world, Adam and his people, to worship him only and not indulge in Butparasti (idol worship). Maulana described idol worshippers as misguided and stated that they must be brought to the path of Allah.
The Maulana also claimed that the Tablighi Jamaat is undertaking Dawah activities across the country, to bring in as many non-Muslims into the fold of Islam as possible. He also informed that the Jamaat’s conversion network is operated by Maulana Saad, his son and one Kaleem Siddiqui who was recently released from jail.
It is worth recalling that Tablighi Jamaat’s congregation in March 2020 became a Covid super spreader. A case was also registered against him by Delhi Police, under sections 304, 308, 336, 188, 269, 270, 271 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, Section 14-B of the Foreigners Act 1946, Section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and Section 51/58 Disaster Management Act 2005.
When asked if the Jamaat receives any sort of funding to carry out its Dawah activities, Maulana Tauqeer Ahmad said that funds are received from Arab countries, Afghanistan and other countries. He also detailed how these funds are utilised to financially assist the new converts after they are disowned by their non-Muslim family for abandoning their original faith and accepting Islam.
“Like if a Hindu converts to Islam and performs five-times namaz, their family thrashes them or expels them from their home, so in such cases, we use the fundings we get to help them,” Tauqeer said.
Ironically, the Tablighi Maulana was heard boasting about the imposition of Sharia law in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover. However, given the country’s current plight, which includes widespread poverty, skyrocketing inflation and unemployment, and deteriorating human rights, what he sees as an achievement is nothing more than the destruction of Muslims, with non-Muslims largely driven out or killed. Under Sharia-governed Afghanistan, over 34 million people are living in poverty.
Nizamuddin Markaz and coronavirus outbreak in 2020
In the last week of March 2020, hundreds of Tablighi Jamaat attendees were found living inside the Markaz, many of which were in violation of their visa rules. Many of the attendees were found to be covid-19 positive and despite showing symptoms had continued to stay there or move to interiors of the country without getting themselves tested. Subsequently many were moved to quarantine centres to ensure treatment and arrest the spread of the virus. However, even then, many Tablighi Jamaat attendees had attacked healthcare workers and even created a ruckus at quarantine centres.