The five-day Biswa Ijtema has ended today through Akheri Munajat following the extension of the congregation by a day due to inclement weather that disrupted the sermons of Indian preacher Maulana Saad followers, reports BSS.

Delhi’s Maulana Muhammad Shamim conducted the Munajat from 11:47am to 12:02pm on Tuesday, (Feb 19), Bangla Tribune’s Gazipur Correspondent reports from Tongi. Thousands of people joined the Munajat seeking peace, happiness and well-being of the Muslim Ummah.

Tabligh Jamaat’s Mahfuzur Rahman told Bangla Tribune that Delhi’s Maulana Hafez Iqbal Nayar started his sermons following the Fajr prayers until 7:30am. His sermons were translated into bangle by Bangladeshi Maulana Osama Bin Wasif.

On Sunday, Indian Islamic preacher Maulana Muhammad Saad Al Kandhalvi followers began their A’m bayan (general sermons) after Fajr prayers.

After the beginning of the bayan, heavy shower and thunderbolt disrupted the rituals of the devotees prompting the authorities to extend the ijtema by another day.

The time has been extended so that Islamic scholars from home and abroad can deliver their sermons properly, State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Rasel told BSS.

Indian Islamic scholar Md Iqbal Hafiz administered the A’m bayan while Bangladeshi maulana Abdullah Mansur translated it in Bangla.

Maulana Saad followers entered the Ijtema ground on Saturday after another faction of Tabligh Jammat led by Maulana Zubair Hasan, imam of the Kakrail mosque in Dhaka, left the ground after performing Akheri Munajat in the morning on that day, Gazipur Metropolitan Police (GMP) assistant commissioner Ruhul Amin Sarker told BSS.

Hefazat-e-Islam Ameer Shah Ahmad Shafi joined the munajat of Zubair followers.

Senior Islamic scholar of Kakrail mosque Hafez Mawlana Mohammad Zubaer led the prayer both in Bangla and Arabic languages.

From Sunday, Syed Wasiful Islam, who leads the other group that follows Indian preacher Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, is supervising the ijtema on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday.

Several lakh devotees from home and abroad are taking part in the Biswa Ijtema. Though the Ijtema used to be held in two phases since 2011 to accommodate a large number of devotees from home and abroad, it is being arranged in a single phase this year.

On January 24, the government announced the schedule of Ijtema following a meeting with two factions of Tabligh Jamaat.

On December 1, the two factions of Tabligh Jamaat were locked into infighting on the Ijtema ground in Tongi that resulted in deferring the Ijtema from January 11 to February 15.

Tabligh Jamaat has been organising the Ijtema at the venue since 1967 while the Ijtema is being held in Bangladesh every year from 1946.