Encyclopedia of Islam

Further reading: Hanna Batatu, Syria’s Peasantry, the 

Descendants of Its Less Rural Notables, and Their Roles

(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1999); 

James Gelvin, Divided Loyalties: Nationalism and Mass 

Politics in Syria at the Close of Empire (Berkeley: Univer-

sity of California Press, 1998); Raymond Hinnebusch, 

Syria: Revolution from Above (London: Routledge, 2001); 

Hugh Kennedy, The Great Arab Conquests (Cambridge, 

Mass.: Da Capo Press, 2007), 66–97; Tabitha Petran, 

Syria (London: Ernest Benn Ltd., 1972).

K  650  

Syria

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651

AF

J:

taawiz

  See 

amulets

 

and

 

talismans

.

taaziya

  See a

shura

; m

uharram

.

Tablighi Jamaat

The Tablighi Jamaat is a transnational Muslim 

reform movement founded in the early 20th cen-

tury in colonial i

ndia

. Although it is one of the 

largest of such organizations in the world, its lack 

of institutional hierarchy and structure makes 

systematic study of the Tablighi Jamaat’s member-

ship and program quite difficult. The picture that 

emerges from the small body of literature that does 

exist is that of a “revivalist” movement looking to 

precipitate societal reform through a 

hadith

-based 

program of personal piety, and a program of tabligh

(offering guidance) to wayward Muslims. What dis-

tinguishes the Tablighi Jamaat from many Islamist 

movements, which often also base programs of 

reform on a mythico-historical community of 

Muhammad (d. 632) and his Companions, is that 

state power is anathema to the Tablighi program.

The Tablighi Jamaat, however, is not at all 

apolitical—in fact, the movement’s central prin-

ciples are themselves political in that they deal 

with issues of 

aUthority

 (God versus the material 

state). While many scholars confuse a rejection of 

the modern state with a lack of political vision, 

the Tablighi Jamaat’s political outlook is simply a 

rejection of modern political organization. This is 

particularly true internationally. Although many 

of its scholars understand the Tablighi Jamaat to 

be apolitical, the movement’s aversion to state 

affairs stems from the tension between two vastly 

different political visions.

The Tablighi Jamaat seeks the creation of a par-

allel authority to the state that does not entail any 

direct involvement with it, including active or open 

opposition. Avoiding the state-centered identity that 

is characteristic of modern political organization, 

the Tablighi Jamaat preaches fealty to Islam above 

all else—being Muslim trumps all other identities, 

including family and nation-state. In this sense, the 

principles that govern the Tablighi Jamaat resemble 

those of 

al

-q

aida

. The Tablighi Jamaat, however, 

offers an alternative vision of how transnational 

revivalist movements can work toward reform. In 

light of the tremendous amount of attention given 

to “Islamist” and “Jihadist” movements, which are 

not limited to al-Qaida, the Tablighi Jamaat points 

to an important alternative, nonviolent method of 

political organization and authority.

See also 

reneWal

 

and

 

reForm

 

movements

; 

terrorism

.

Caleb Elfenbein

T

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