International Islamic gathering ends in central India

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI, India (AA) - The three-day 70th annual International Islamic Congregation -- Aalami Tablighi Jamat Ijtema -- concluded in central Bhopal city on Monday with a grand mass prayer for world peace and prosperity.

The congregation is considered by some media analysts to be the third-largest for Muslims after the Hajj gathering in Mecca and another similar congregation in Bangladesh.

An estimated 1.2 million people participated on the final day of the congregation in Bhopal.

A tent city spreading over 285 acres had been set up on the outskirts of Bhopal to accommodate over a million participants from India and abroad.

Jamaats (Groups) from Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the U.S., Canada, Morocco, Jordan, Brunei, Iraq, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, Kuwait, U.A.E., Yemen, Thailand and other countries participated in the gathering to discuss Islam.

Iqbal Ahmed said he had attended the congregation for the second time in his life.

“It is necessary for us to know about our religion. We have learnt a lot about Islam during these three days of the congregation.

“Our life is nothing without our religion,” Ahmed said.

Tablighi Jamaat is a religious movement founded in India in 1927.