Vol 10 Issue 8 August 19-25
PORTS OF CALL
Timeless in London
Learn English or else
Rabbicops
The Tour Commandments
The Santa Claws
Sports
Bangladesh booters taste defeat
SAF Football brought home disheartened booters and disappointed fans
by ZAHID RAHMAN
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SOUTH ASIA DESK
Another Terminal
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ANALYSIS
14 Party’s political protocol and Ershad’s dream
Replying to the government’s invitation has become a protocol issue within the 14 Party. And Ershad still dreams of becoming President.
by MARUF CHINU
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Ahle Hadith

New moves in religion-based politics

Ahle Hadith, hitherto a relatively unheard of Muslim group in Bangladesh, are now in the limelight following the arrest of their leader Dr. Ghalib. PROBE carries out extensive investigations to find out who they are, their beliefs, their leaders, the allegations of militancy brought about against them and more...

A PROBE report

Ahle Hadith movement has rather stealthily crept into the scene, remaining distinctly apart from the mainstream religion-based politics of the country. So long, the 2 crore 75 lac followers of Ahle Hadith in Bangladesh had been unobtrusive in their presence. However, all of a sudden at the outset of this year, Ahle Hadith became the centre of controversy. Accused of involvement in militant activities and terrorism, Dr. Asadullah Al Ghalib, the Amir of Ahle Hadith, was arrested.

Around the same time, terrorist leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman took up jihad to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh, in the name of Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). He too was an Ahle Hadith follower.

National politics is undergoing critical times, the stability of the sector being rocked by the spate of bomb blasts that have taken place in recent times. Bangladesh’s political crisis is discussed beyond the borders, in countries around the world, and Ahle Hadith has become a focal point of interest and suspicion. Is Abdur Rahman the protagonist of the bomb blasts or is Dr. Ghalib’s Ahle Hadith Andolan a part of this too? Neither the intelligence agencies nor the government itself has come up with any clear statement in this regard.

PROBE’s investigations have revealed significant information regarding Ahle Hadith. If the government errs in its decision and strategy, Ahle Hadith may well materialise as a new appendage in the country’s religion-based politics. It may even emerge as a full-fledged movement.

What is Ahle Hadith?

The literal meaning of Ahle Hadith is ‘Followers of the Hadith’. They claim to be the only group among the Muslim community that follows the Quran and Hadith in a correct and exact manner. They even differ from the Mazhab group in their practice of the religion. They have certain ideological differences. Ahle Hadith followers accept the Prophet Mohammed (SM) as the only imam. They follow his words in the Hadith.

Difference between Ahle Hadith and the Mazhab followers

Ahle Hadith followers are of the opinion that the four Mazhab groups – Hanafi, Maliki, Shafeyi and Hambli – pay more attention to the instructions of the imams than that of the Hadith. This, they feel, is wrong. During the early days of Islam, the Hadith was not available on a wide scale. That is why the imams would offer solutions outside of the Hadith to various problems. But at the same time they pointed out that when the Hadith would be available, then that was to be followed. Now at present, though the Hadith is available all over, the Mazhab followers still give more importance to the words of the imams. Ahle Hadith does not accept this. They feel that the Mazhab followers are not Muslims, they don’t follow the religion accurately and they will not go to Heaven.

Then, the Ahle Hadith followers also follow different rules and rituals in saying their prayers. They do not offer munajat at the end of the prayer, they do not perform niyat, they utter the word ‘Ameen’ aloud and they do not attend milads. They do not observe Shab-e-Barat. There many such differences in their religious rituals.

Ahle Hadith in Bangladesh

Ahle Hadith exists in about 40 districts of the country, their concentration mostly in Rajshahi and Khulna regions. They are about 2 crore 75 lacs in number. The areas of their influence are Satkhira, Khulna, Rajshahi, Comilla, Kushtia, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Gazipur, Chittagong, Chapainawabganj, Jamalpur, Jaipurhat, Jhenaidah, Thakurgaon, Dhaka, Dinajpur, Naogaon, Natore, Narsingdi, Nilphamari, Pabna, Panchagarh, Bogra, Bagerhat, Pirojpur, Meherpur, Mymensingh, Jessore, Rangpur, Rajbari, Lalmonirhat and Sirajganj.

Going back, it was Moulana Abdullahil Kafi Al Quereshi who, in 1946, founded the Nikhil Bangla Assam Jamiyat-e-Ahle Hadith In Haragachh, Rangpur. Upon his death in 1960, Dr. Abdul Bari became leader of the organisation. He remained in this post till his death in 2003. The present leader at the helm of Ahle Hadith is Shamsul Islam and Vice Chancellor of the Open University, Dr. Ershadul Bari. They have an office at 98 Nawabpur Road.

While Ahle Hadith do not demur in their criticism of Mazhab religious rituals, they have their fair share of flaws too. Ahle Hadith has several groups under several names. The faction under Dr. Ershadul Bari is called Jamiyate Ahle Hadith. Dr. Ghalib’s faction is called Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh. Their head office is in Nowdapara, Rajshahi. There is another group under Shahiful Islam. This is the Ahle Hadith Tablig-e-Islam. This was formed in 1983. Its office is at 198 Habib Market, Malitola, Bangshal. Dr. Ghalib’s Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh is said to be the mainstream Ahle Hadith in Bangladesh. The other factions are organisationally weak and do not have committees around the country.

Dr. Ghalib and his Ahle Hadith Andolan

Dr. Asadullah Al Ghalib is an Ahle Hadith by birth. He was born in the village Bularhati of Satkhira sadar thana. His father Ahmad Ali was an Ahle Hadith. Due to differences of opinion, he broke away from Jamiyat and formed Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh. As this was an active organisation, most of the followers are now with Dr. Ghalib’s Ahle Hadith Andolan. It has functioning committees in 41 districts of the country. It has three affiliated organisations – Ahle Hadith Mahila Sangstha for women, Sonamoni Sangathan for children, Ahle Hadith Jubo Sangha for students and youth. The followers have to go through tough rules and tests to qualify for membership. Ghalib’s wife Begum Taherunnessa is the head of the women’s group. SM Azizullah is the head of the Jubo Sangha. And Director of the children’s organisation Sonamoni is Shihabuddin. Ahle Hadith has a monthly magazine At-Tahreek.

Dr. Mohammed Sakhawat Hossain, Editor of At-Tahreek, tells PROBE, “Dr. Ghalib has been the leader of Ahle Hadith Andolan Bangladesh since its inception. Every two years the central advisory board, sura and working council are elected. Last October 13 and 14, the committee for 2005-06 was formed. Despite being in jail, Dr, Ghalib was elected again as Amir. However, Acting Amir at present is Dr. Muslehuddin.”

Dr. Sakhawat Hossain goes on to say, “The advisory board comprises five members. The Majlis-e-Sura has 27 members and the working council13. This working council basically runs the executive work of the organisations.

Ahle Hadith’s source of funding

Acting Amir of Ahle Hadith, Dr. Muslehuddin, tells PROBE, “The organisation runs on collections from the workers.” How much does this amount to annually? He skirts around the accurate amount, saying, “Each and every worker pays 2% of his earnings to Ahle Hadith. The followers abroad also send in funds.” He couldn’t specify the exact amount.

Ahle Hadith also has two more organisations – the Hadith Foundation and Tawhid Trust. The Hadith Foundation publishes all the publications of the organistaion. It is in Rajshahi. The Towhid Trust is an NGO and runs with foreign assistance. Donor funds are used to set up mosques and madrassas and for social work. One of their major donors is Saudi Revival of Islamic Heritage (Kuwait).

Dr. Sakhawat says that with funds for Heritage, they have set up over 600 mosques all over the country. Ahle Hadith also has five madrassas and orphanages under the Towhid Trust.

PROBE investigations reveal that the Towhid Trust in Uttara is now out of Dr. Ghalib’s hands due to inner conflict. Dr. Ghalib, Abdus Samad Salafi, Prof. Abdus Samad, ASM Habibur Rahman, Rezaul Karim, Mahmud Alam and Moulana Muslim are trustees of this trust. Moulana Muslim, though, has passed away. Rezaul Karim was Ahle Hadith’s Secretary General in 1998-99. Teacher of Bogra Azizul Huq College, Rezaul was at one time in charge of the Bogra district. In 2001, Dr. Ghalib expelled him for misappropriation of funds and 46 other allegations. And four of the six members of the Towhid Trust were for Rezaul. And so they took control of the Towhid Trust withdrew the 1 crore 2 lac taka from the bank account. The tussle over the Trust between Dr. Ghalib and Rezaul now lies with the court. Acting Amir Dr. Muslehuddin says that they were not receiving Heritage funds due to Dr. Ghalib’s arrest. As a result, the children of the orphanage are suffering.

PROBE’s inquiries reveal that the Ahle Hadith orphanage in Rajshahi has 304 children and that the institution is run on funds from Heritage. One thousand taka per child was paid every month. So Heritage’s annual grant amounted to Tk. 36 lac taka per annum.

The exact total amount received from Heritage so far could not be discovered. It is alleged that Dr. Ghalib has amassed resources worth crores of taka through Heritage and the Saudi organisation Hayatul Igada in the name of social welfare. However, two senior leaders of the organisation say that Heritage is a registered Kuwait government organisation and they carry out regular monitoring. There is no scope for misappropriation. They say that no such allegation against them has been proven. PROBE’s investigations, however, reveal that Heritage is not a Kuwait government organisation. Heritage provides grants mostly to Ahle Hadith followers in Bangladesh. Ahle Hadith even appoints khatibs in their mosques according to Heritage’s approval.

Ghalib in jail, accused of terrorism

It is alleged that at one point of time, militant JMB leader Shaikh Abdur Rahman was closely associated with Dr. Ghalib. Abdur Rahman’s father Abdullah Ibne Fazal was a leader of Ahle Hadith. He established the Ahle Hadith madrassa in Sarisabari, Jamalpur. Abdur Rahman is also Ahle Hadith by birth. It was alleged that Abdur Rahman and Dr. Ghalib jointly were involved in militant activities connected with madrassas in North Bengal. It was said that they were giving armed training to the madrassa students in order to usher in Islamic rule. Reports in this regard overflowed from the national newspapers and on February 23 this year, the government arrested Dr. Ghalib. Ten cases were filed against him. So far, four of these have been dropped due to lack of sufficient evidence. The remaining six cases are under trial.

Acting Amir Muslehuddin tells PROBE, “Dr. Ghalib was never a terrorist nor did he have connections with Abdur Rahman.”

Secretary General of Ahle Hadith Jubo Sangha Abdul Wadud says, “Abdur Rahman was always unruly. He was never with Ahle Hadith. And Dr. Ghalib has always opposed terrorism.”

Editor of the monthly At-Tahrik Dr. Sakhawat says, “We hope that Dr. Ghalib will soon be released from jail through legal process.” He complained that Dr. Ghalib was arrested without any proof of the allegations against him, despite being a respected person, a university teacher. He wasn’t given any division in jail. “This is not humanitarian,” he says. He also complained about one-sided newspaper reports against Dr. Ghalib.

PROBE investigations reveal that Rezaul Karim, teacher of Bogra Azizul Huq College, was the general Secretary of Ahle Hadith. He is closely associated with Shaikh Abdur Rahman. Rezaul Karim was Abdur Rahman’s associate when the latter was spreading the seeds of militancy in North Bengal in the name of jihad. Ahle Hadith leaders say that Rezaul Karim was expelled from the organisation in 2001 for anti-organisational activities. They say that he began spreading the false allegations against Ahle Hadith and Dr. Ghalib in retaliation. They also say he is a party to Abdur Rahman’s militant activities.

While the Ahle Hadith leaders deny Dr. Ghalib’s connections with Abdur Rahman, other sources claim they did have a connection. But Ghalib didn’t like Abdur Rahman’s extremism and militant attitude. That is why he severed ties with Rahman and began stressing at various gatherings that Ahle Hadith Andolan was not in favour of terrorism.

There are allegations against Dr. Ghalib that he travelled to India 12 times illegally and, despite being a teacher, was involved in forged passport business. Ahle Hadith leaders naturally deny this vehemently, saying that he travelled out of the country only once in the last four years, and that was to perform Hajj. They say the expelled Rezaul was in charge of arranging Dr. Ghalib’s passport and it was he who termed him as a ‘businessman’ in the passport instead of a ‘teacher’. How could a learned man like Dr. Ghalib, someone who followed the Quran and Hadith, accept this change of profession in his passport? How can one simply put the blame on an official under him? Ghalib can’t be absolved of blame in this instance. He is a conscious and educated man. How could he overlook such an error?

Ahle Hadith’s relationship with Jamaat

Ideologically speaking, Ahle Hadith does not believe in the prevailing system of politics. They have no political party, platform or forum. But they have 1 crore 50 lac voters among their 2 crore 75 lac followers. The voters support various political parties. Ahle Hadith, unlike Jamaat, does not control their votes. They vote for whoever they want, whichever party they want. But sources say that the majority of Ahle Hadith followers cast their vote in favour of Jamaat-e-Islami. In fact, the Jamaat leaders who became MPs in the last election had secured a lot of their votes.

Dr. Ghalib’s home is in Satkhira sadar constituency. There are 30 thousand Ahle Hadith votes there. Then Ahle Hadith voters are a majority in 25 seats of North Bengal. These votes go to Jamaat due to religious reasons. But these relations took a drastic downslide after the arrest of Dr. Ghalib. They feel that Jamaat had a hand in Dr. Ghalib’s arrest and that he remains imprisoned because of them.

PROBE has come up with interesting information in this regard. In a book named Teenti Motobad (Three Principles), Dr. Ghalib has strongly criticised Moududi, militancy and Jamaat. He would often visit areas of Ahle Hadith influence and speak against Jamaat and other Islamic parties. All this seriously irked Jamaat.

Jamaat was apprehensive about the countrywide spread of Ahle Hadith. “And that is why Jamaat had Dr. Ghalib arrested. They want to destroy Ahle Hadith,” says a senior leader of Ahle Hadith. He says that after Dr. Ghalib was arrested, they met with BNP leaders and requested that he be released. They had hoped Jamaat would lobby on their behalf, but quite to the contrary, Jamaat remained silent on this head and didn’t even meet with the Ahle Hadith leaders. Ahle Hadith followers were enraged at this attitude.

Ahle Hadith leaders are monitoring the entire matter. Their response to Jamaat’s conduct will be manifest in the next election. They are quite capable of ensuring that Jamaat candidates lose in at least 25 seats. They may not directly field their own candidate, but they will refrain from voting for Jamaat. And if they actually take to the field, says an Ahle Hadith leader, they will be able to wield their influence in a great many more seats.

He says, “Neither the 1991 BNP government nor the 1996 Awami League government persecuted Ahle Hadith. But this four-party alliance government is now harassing us at every step.” Ahle Hadith does not blame BNP for the situation, but they are suspicious about Jamaat. They say that they would be happy if Dr. Ghalib was released immediately. They demand his release under Section 494. If he is not released, this may have a detrimental effect on the next election results for the four-party government.

Known Ahle Hadith followers

Investigations reveal that many Ahle Hadith followers are established citizens of the society. They include Rajshahi’s Awami League leader Khairuzzaman Liton, Sardar Amjad Hossain, former Mayor of Dhaka Mohammed Hanif and Awami League’s former member of parliament Rahmatullah. They have their own differing politics, indicating that being an Ahle Hadith doesn’t necessarily mean that one is a militant. There are terrorists in all communities. Abdur Rahman is an Ahle Hadith follower as are many of his supporters. Though his group is named Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, its militants are Ahle Hadith members and they are very small in number. This minority cannot besmear the name of 2 crore 75 lac people. Ahle Hadith does not visualise an Islamic rule through violence, states Jubo Sangha Secretary General Abdul Wadud.

Mukhlesur Rahman, Secretary General of the central Shariah Board of Islamic Banks of Bangladesh, tells PROBE that it is not correct to term someone a terrorist without proof. He says, “The manner in which Ahle Hadith members are being harassed due to these allegations is bound to have repercussions. The matter should be properly investigated and the truth be made public.”

Islamic scholar Moulana Muhiuddin Khan says, “Abdur Rahman is a very low-level man. One cannot support what he is doing in the name of Islam. And one shouldn’t simply associate Dr. Ghalib’s name with Abdur Rahman. Ghalib doesn’t condone violence. He is a man of letters.”

Analysts feel that Ghalib’s arrest has been a wrong decision for the government. If he is released now, the oppositions will raise a hue and cry. It will also create a distance between Jamaat and BNP. And if he remains in jail, this will likely have a detrimental impact on the coming polls. Not only that, but where the Ahle Hadith followers had simply been engrossed in their own religious affairs so long, they may now take up a movement. They may come up with a political platform. This will just be another thorn in the government’s flesh.
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