Two Conceptions of Da'wá in India : Jam?'at-i Isl?m? and Tabl?gh? Jam?'at / Deux conceptions de la da'wá en Inde : la jam?'at-i Isl?m? et le tabl?gh? jam?'at - article ; n°1 ; vol.87, pg 115-133

Christian W.Troll

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Archives des sciences sociales des religions - Année 1994 - Volume 87 - Numéro 1 - Pages 115-133
El presente trabajo intenta comprender le da'wa (Invitación al Islam, Misión islámica) que sustenta los programas y las actividades del Tabl?gh? Jam?'at y el Jam?'at-i Islam?. Se trata de un análisis de las ideas fundamentales, instrucciones y estatutos de ambos movimientos en el piano normativo. Estos movimientos se focalizan, sobre todo, en Sud-Asia y en la India. El Jam?'at-i Islam? propone directamente el cambio de las estructuras sociales, en otras palabras, el establecimiento de un estado islámico. Por el contrario, en el caso del Tabl?gh? Jam?'at los muslim deben ser convencidos a través de una práctica regular e intensiva de oraciones rituales y de una prâctica fiel de los « cinco pilares del Islam ». Sin embargo, teniendo en cuenta las condi-ciones de la minoría musulmana en India, el Jam?'a i Islam? ha modificado sus programas para dar prioridad a la continuación de los diálogos pacificos, los sermones y las actividades de publicación.
The present paper looks at the understanding of da'wa (invitation to Islam, Islamic mission) that underlies the programmes and activities of the Tabl?gh? Jam?'at and of the Jam?'at-i Islam?. It confines itself to an analysis of the relevant ideas, instructions and programmatic statements of both movements on the normative level. It, furthermore, focusses on South Asia - and for the time since the Partition of 1947 - on the Republic of India. The Jam?'at-i Islam? aims directly at changing to socio-political structures of society, in other words, at establishing an Islamic state. In the Tabl?gh? Jam?'at, in contrast, Muslim individuals have to be brought back by persuasion to the regular and intensive practice of ritual prayer and the faithful practice of the 'five pillars of Islam'. However, in the context of Muslim minority status in India, even the Jam?'at-i Islam? has modified its attitude and programme towards giving priority to the pursuit of irenic dialogue, preaching and publication activities.
L'article scrute la signification de la notion da'wa (invitation à l'islam, mission islamique) qui sous-tend les programmes et les activités du Tabl?gh? Jam?'at et ceux du Jam?'at-i Islam?.. Il s'en tient à l'analyse des idées les plus pertinentes, des instructions et des lignes programmatiques émises au niveau normatif au sein de l'un et l'autre mouvements. L'analyse est centrée sur l'Asie du Sud - depuis la partition de 1947 - et la République indienne. Le Jam?'at-i Islam? vise au changement des structures socio-politiques de la société, c'est-à-dire à l'établissement d'un Etat islamique, tandis que pour le Tabl?gh? Jam?'at , le musulman doit être amené, par les voies de la persuasion, à une pratique régulière et intense de la prière rituelle et à l'observance fidèle des cinq piliers de l'islam. Pourtant, compte tenu du statut minoritaire de l'islam dans le contexte indien, le Jam?'at-i Islam? a dû modifier son attitude et son programme en accordant la priorité à la poursuite d'un dialogue serein, à la prédication et au travail éditorial.
19 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Archives-des-sciences-sociales-des-religions
• Publié le: 01 janvier 1994
• Nombre de lectures: 20
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Christian W. Troll
Two Conceptions of Da'wá in India : Jamā'at-i Islāmī and
Tablīghī Jamā'at / Deux conceptions de la da'wá en Inde : la
jamā'at-i Islāmī et le tablīghī jamā'at
In: Archives des sciences sociales des religions. N. 87, 1994. pp. 115-133.
Citer ce document / Cite this document :
Troll Christian W. Two Conceptions of Da'wá in India : Jamā'at-i Islāmī and Tablīghī Jamā'at / Deux conceptions de la da'wá en
Inde : la jamā'at-i Islāmī et le tablīghī jamā'at. In: Archives des sciences sociales des religions. N. 87, 1994. pp. 115-133.
doi : 10.3406/assr.1994.1458
http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/assr_0335-5985_1994_num_87_1_1458Abstract
The present paper looks at the understanding of da'wa (invitation to Islam, Islamic mission) that
underlies the programmes and activities of the Tablīghī Jamā'at and of the Jamā'at-i Islamī. It confines
itself to an analysis of the relevant ideas, instructions and programmatic statements of both movements
on the normative level. It, furthermore, focusses on South Asia - and for the time since the Partition of
1947 - on the Republic of India. The Jamā'at-i Islamī aims directly at changing to socio-political
structures of society, in other words, at establishing an Islamic state. In the Tablīghī Jamā'at, in contrast,
Muslim individuals have to be brought back by persuasion to the regular and intensive practice of ritual
prayer and the faithful practice of the 'five pillars of Islam'. However, in the context of Muslim minority
status in India, even the Jamā'at-i Islamī has modified its attitude and programme towards giving
priority to the pursuit of irenic dialogue, preaching and publication activities.
Résumé
L'article scrute la signification de la notion da'wa (invitation à l'islam, mission islamique) qui sous-tend
les programmes et les activités du Tablīghī Jamā'at et ceux du Jamā'at-i Islamī.. Il s'en tient à l'analyse
des idées les plus pertinentes, des instructions et des lignes programmatiques émises au niveau
normatif au sein de l'un et l'autre mouvements. L'analyse est centrée sur l'Asie du Sud - depuis la
partition de 1947 - et la République indienne. Le Jamā'at-i Islamī vise au changement des structures
socio-politiques de la société, c'est-à-dire à l'établissement d'un Etat islamique, tandis que pour le
Tablīghī Jamā'at , le musulman doit être amené, par les voies de la persuasion, à une pratique régulière
et intense de la prière rituelle et à l'observance fidèle des "cinq piliers de l'islam". Pourtant, compte tenu
du statut minoritaire de l'islam dans le contexte indien, le Jamā'at-i Islamī a dû modifier son attitude et
son programme en accordant la priorité à la poursuite d'un dialogue serein, à la prédication et au travail
éditorial.
Resumen
El presente trabajo intenta comprender le da'wa (Invitación al Islam, Misión islámica) que sustenta los
programas y las actividades del Tablīghī Jamā'at y el Jamā'at-i Islamī. Se trata de un análisis de las
ideas fundamentales, instrucciones y estatutos de ambos movimientos en el piano normativo. Estos
movimientos se focalizan, sobre todo, en Sud-Asia y en la India. El Jamā'at-i Islamī propone
directamente el cambio de las estructuras sociales, en otras palabras, el establecimiento de un estado
islámico. Por el contrario, en el caso del Tablīghī Jamā'at los muslim deben ser convencidos a través
de una práctica regular e intensiva de oraciones rituales y de una prâctica fiel de los « cinco pilares del
Islam ». Sin embargo, teniendo en cuenta las condi-ciones de la minoría musulmana en India, el
Jamā'a i Islamī ha modificado sus programas para dar prioridad a la continuación de los diálogos
pacificos, los sermones y las actividades de publicación.Arch de Sc soc des Rel. 1994 87 juillet-septembre 115-133
Christian TROLL
TWO CONCEPTIONS OF DA WA IN INDIA
JAMA AT-I ISL AND TABL GH JAMAJAT
Preliminary observations da wa mission and proselytism
Websters New Collegiate Dictionary defines the term proselytism as to
make proselytes to recruit members especially by the offer of special in
ducements In Urdu or in Arabic for that matter there does not exist an
exact equivalent of this term Related yet much more comprehensive in mean
ing is the Arabic term wa wat in Urdu which signifies literally call
invitation demand and immediately will remind the Muslim of the anic
passage
Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and godly exhortation
and argue with them in the best manner possible Surely your Lord knows best
him who has strayed from His path and He also knows best who are the right-
guided. al-Nahl 16 125
God is the subject of wa His call has to be obeyed His messenger
to be followed Each messenger practised wa by conveying wa
The content of the wa never changed it is islâm self-surrender the only
true religion din in the sight of God Imran 19 Thus it was
too to repeat the the invitation to Islam faith
fully and definitively and to establish the umma as the effective bearer of
wa in all times to come
After the death of Muhammad the understanding and practice of wa
evolved The umma was conscious of being sent to call to but soon
it proved to be more opportune to call the opposing party immediately to
political submission and the payment of tribute One could especially when
dealing with ahi al-kitâb people of the Book) refer to At-Tawba 9:29
Those who do not believe in Allah and the Last Day even though they
were given the scriptures and who do not hold as unlawful that which Allah and
His Messenger have declared to be unlawful and who do not follow the true
religion- fight against clatilu them until they pay tribute with willing hand
and are in state of subjection.
Non-Muslim opponents were offered choice of one of three alterna
tives Acceptance of Islam Submission and payment of tribute Decid-
115 ARCHIVES DE SCIENCES SOCIALES DES RELIGIONS
ing battle At the end of process of formative development the institution
of wa had become an integral element of the body of the It formed
part of the classical doctrine of jihad Hock 1990 pp 12 13f.
How then did Islam expand actually in history In earliest times military
conquest preceded conversion at least as far as the heartlands of Islam are
concerned The military campaigns of the first Islamic century aimed primarily
at the expansion of the Muslim Arab empire and the dominance of the umma
rather than at directly increasing the number of Muslim believers What even
tually brought about so many conversions was not or at least not primarily
the missionary engagement of Muslims individually or as groups It was
rather within the context of the newly created and rapidly expanding domain
of Islam- the genesis of an Islamic milieu with all its social religious and
political institutions It was this milieu that furthered process of what can
be termed social and this finally led to the gradual slow erosion
of the non-Muslim religious communities
Islam spread beyond the Islamic heartlands e.g into South and Southeast
Asia and into equatorial Africa normally by way of peaceful witness and
preaching through intermarriage and not least through the liberation of pris
oners of war who accepted the offer of being freed from the state of slavery
by conversion to Islam An outstanding missionary role was played by holy
men and women Often they were adepts of Sufi order and not rarely they
acted as religious guides and experts helping merchants and seafarers The
role of the Sufi orders in projecting Islam effectively to new regions and
populations can hardly be overestimated However their activity hardly ever
was described in terms of wa an indication of the fact that it was not
perceived as such Hock 1990 15)
Organized mission work comparable to that of the Christian mission
movement of modern Europe and North America in Islam developed only
from the very end of the nineteenth century onwards first mainly in South
Asia Here wa was reinterpreted if not changed under the influence of
and in response to the lively activities of the various Christian missionary
orders and mission societies to whom Muslims were eventually exposed in
all parts of the world mostly under the aegis of colonial rule)
The transformation of wa has been threefold
wa was rendered dynamic today it comprises beyond mere pro
clamation tablîgh missionary engagement of varied kinds and includes the
witness to Islam by way of organized works of
wa was spiritualized Freed from its functionalization as juridi
cal and juridico-political institution it now assumes as call and admoni
the character of testimony to the faith
wa was institutionalized in new way as an important element
of organized Islamic internationalism it came to assume the character of ecu
menical and reforming engagement within the umma and of interreligious
opening towards the world outside the umma without thereby losing its
essential trai