Tablighi Jama'at in Britain

The Tablighi Jamaʿat is an influential spiritual revivalist movement in contemporary Islam. Founded in British India approximately 100 years ago, it today has a grassroots presence in Muslim communities across the globe. Its goal is simple: to increase the faith (īmān) of ordinary Muslims and encourage greater observance of Islamic ritual practice by emphasizing daʿwa, or Islamic preaching. Its modus operandi revolves around the constant formation and dispatch of small groups of Muslims - called jamāʿ'ats - who embark on mosque-based daʿwa retreats (called khurūj) for stipulated periods of time, ranging from a weekend to a year. Though the movement's name translates as "The Preaching Party," Tablighi Jamaʿat does not focus on converting non-Muslims to Islam but instead works to rejuvenate the faith of existing believers. Its ethos is strictly apolitical and bottom-up, favoring a back-to-basics message of door-to-door religious renewal over technological innovation or political campaigning. Tablighi Jamaʿat maintains a loose organizational structure with no formal registration. Despite its global spread, its strongest support bases remain in South Asia and within South Asian diaspora communities. While the movement has a female wing, called mastūrāt, it is more frequently men who participate in its activities via a global network of mosques and dedicated centers called marākiz (singular: markaz). This entry describes the historical development of the Tablighi Jamaʿat in Great Britain as part of processes of mass economic immigration from South Asia from the 1970s onward.