Thousands of people from home and abroad sought forgiveness from the Almighty Allah and prayed for peace, progress and prosperity of the Muslims in the final prayers (Akheri Munajat) of the three-day second-phase Bishwa Ijtema that ended at Tongi in Gazipur on Sunday.
Maulana Jobaerul Hasan from Delhi, a member of the Tabligh Jamaat advisory committee and son of Maulana Enamul Hasan, a former amir of the World Tabligh Jamaat, conducted the Akheri Munajat that began about 01:04pm and continued for 18 minutes. Jobaer sought divine blessings for the Muslims who are being oppressed in different parts of the world.
The first phase of the Ijtema was held on January 13-15 and the second phase began on January 20. Devotees from 32 districts of the country took part in the second phase and those from the 32 other districts had joined the first phase of Tabligh Jamaat, said to be the second largest congregation of the Muslims after Hajj.
Several lakh devotees including women from different parts of the country joined the final prayers arriving to the venue on foot as vehicular movement on Dhaka-Mymenshing Highway was halted since Saturday midnight.
The bank of river Turag, the venue of Bishwa Ijtema, an annual event for the last four decades, turned into a vast sea of humanity spilling over to adjoining areas and roads.
Many people joined the prayer from roof tops of vehicles and boats and from nearby residences.
All roads led to Tongi since early morning and people on to
the venue and neighboring areas in endless stream. They used all
modes of transport to reach the venue of the prayer. Thousands made it on foot.
During the three days of Ijtema, Islamic thinkers and Tablig Jamaat leaders delivered sermons on Iman (faith in Allah), Akhlaq (manners), Practice and Dawat (invitation for Tablig). The sermons were delivered in different languages including English, Bengali, Malaya, Tamil, French, Hindi and Urdu.
A total of three devotees died on the venue due to heart failure
during the second phase till Sunday. With this, a total of 14 devotees died during the two phases of Ijtema this year. The devotees were identified as Alhaj Abdus Samad, 62, of Iswardi of Pabna, Keramat Ali, 75, of Gazipur, and Abdul Aziz of Jhalakhati district.
After the Akheri Munajat, people started leaving the venue for home by all modes of transport and thronged at the bus and railway stations and river ghats.
Bangladesh Railway arranged special trains yesterday on Dhaka-Tongi, Tongi-Mymensingh and Tongi-Bhairab lines. Besides, all inter-city trains stopped at Tongi station.
-With New Age input
