Serious allegations have been raised against a radical Islamic organization named ‘Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith’ announcing a cash award for converting Hindus into Islam.
An ‘X’ account named ‘Voice of Bangladeshi Hindu’ in a post said, “Bangladesh Hindu Cyber Team hacked an Islamic Facebook group and found it from there. They will get more money if they convert Brahmin girls and Indian Bengali girls”.
In a similar post, another ‘X’ account named Treeni said, “Trap a Hindu girl, and win up to 3 lakhs; get 5 lakhs for converting a Hindu family” – Sinister Islamist plan exposed! Bangladesh Cyber Team hacked a Facebook page run by Islamists of Bangladesh. Shocking facts emerged out after it, a reward of Rs 3 Lakhs Taka has been put for converting a Hindu Brahmin girl. A reward of Rs 2 Lakhs Taka for an Indian Bengali girl, and Rs 5 Lakhs for converting a Hindu family”.
It may be mentioned here that Ahl-Al-Hadith or Ahl-e Hadith is a religious movement that emerged in northern India in the mid-nineteenth century. It maintains deeper ties with Tablighi Jamaat while in recent decades, it has expanded its presence in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, and has drawn both inspiration and financial support from a number of Middle Eastern nations, including Saudi Arabia. Following withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, Ahl-Al-Hadith or Ahl-e Hadith began expanding its presence in the country by availing patronization of the Taliban as well as other radical Islamic militancy outfits such as Haqqani Network.
Ahl-e Hadith – meaning the people of hadith, is a radical Islamic movement that emerged in northern India in the mid-nineteenth century.
In recent decades, the Ahl-e Hadith movement has expanded its presence in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, and has drawn both inspiration and financial support from Saudi Arabia.
Terrorist organizations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Hizbul Mujahedin (HuM), Al Qaeda in Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) and Ansar Al Islam (AAI) has recruited followers of the Ahl-e Hadith movement in the past. It was reported in the media that members of Lashkar-e-Taiba were planning to attack the US and Indian missions in Dhaka on November 26, 2009 – several weeks before the general election.
Ahl-e Hadith movement in Bangladesh made its presence noticeable through Muhammad Asadullah Al-Ghalib, a former Rajshahi University Arabic professor. He is the founder of Ahle Hadith Movement Bangladesh (AHAB) which came into being on September 22, 1994. He is also the founder of an Islamic research journal, monthly At-Tahreek.
While forming the AHJS, Muhammad Asadullah Al-Galib argued that they needed to engage in Jihad against Islamic fallacies including the shrine culture to bring an Islamic rule in the country.
In February 23, 2005, Asadullah Al-Ghalib was arrested along with three of his closest aides on charges of their involvement in terrorist activities.
The Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB), founded in 1998, and its militant wing Jagrata Muslim Janata Bangladesh (JMJB) became active in the early 2000s and was inspired by the ideology of Wahhabi-inspired Ahl-e Hadith Movement. JMB chief Abdur Rahman and Asadullah Al-Ghalib were well-known to each other. Abdur Rahman studied at Madina University in Saudi Arabia on Ghalib’s recommendation and after completing his course, he joined Ahle Hadith.
According to its Facebook page, ‘Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith’ is described as “non-political religious organization”. It is located at Jamiyat Bhobon [Jamiyat building], 79/Ka/3, North Jatrabari, Dhaka 1204. Mobile: +88 01933 355 901-910, Dhaka, Bangladesh. This organization also has a LinkedIn account and account on X. It also runs a channel on YouTube through which it is continuing radical Islamic propaganda. It also maintains a number of newspapers, which are playing the role of its propaganda machines. Website of ‘Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith’ organization is down.
The “letter” which has been circulated by ‘Voice of Bangladeshi Hindu’ and subsequently by several accounts of ‘X’ could not be verified. But the activities of ‘Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith’ is extremely suspicious. Moreover, as this organization maintains connections with Tablighi Jamaat, it is not unlikely that ‘Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith’ is running such religious conversion projects.
It may be mentioned here that Bangladesh authorities are extremely reluctant in investigating any such allegations. For example, in July 2022 in an article titled ‘New jihadist factory inside a madrassa in Bangladesh’ detailed information was provided about a massive madrassa named ‘Jamia Rashidia Koranic madrassa’, which is being run by Mufti Shahidullah, a disciple of Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi. According to information Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi also knows as Mufti Rashid Ahmed, who died in February 2022 was a heavily radical Pakistani clergyman who founded the Al Rashid Trust and the Jamia Tur Rasheed in Karachi, Pakistan.
It is further learnt Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi was also a prominent supporter of the Afghan Taliban, and after he returned with “extremely positive impressions” from Afghanistan and wrote a book as advice for the Talibans, titled Obedience to the Amir and composed in 1998 or 1999, Mullah Omar was so impressed that he distributed Pashto and Dari versions of it to the visitors, saying it perfectly represented the Talibans’ ideology, while Barnett Rubin states that this “manual on how to run a militant organization” helped the Taliban “devise an organizational model that suppressed tribalism and patronage network more effectively than any other organization in Afghanistan”.
Another source said, Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi had established direct communication with Osama bin Laden and few other key leaders of Al Qaeda. Most of his disciples are followers of radical Islam and jihad.
A Western intelligence source said, following 9/11 jihadist attacks on the US soil, Rashid Ahmad Ludhianvi was put on sanction list amongst many other Al Qaeda men.
It is alleged that a large number of students of this madrassa are sent to Afghanistan and Pakistan under the guise of the members of Tablighi Jamaat.
Most suspicious part is, although Jamia Rashidia Qawmi madrasa requires over US$200,000 every month for providing food and other basic amenities to its students and teachers, there is no shown source of income of this organization. Journalists, right activists and even members of the diplomatic missions are not allowed within the compound of this jihad factory.
Similarly, activities of ‘Bangladesh Jamiyat Ahl-Al-Hadith’ are extremely suspicious. It requires proper investigation and wider exposure in the media.
