The Tablighi Jamaat Shura is the highest authority within Tablighi Jamaat and makes the key decisions of the movement on a Global Level. Its members consist of senior elders from India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. The Shura’s most recognized gatherings are the yearly Mashwaras (conferences) after Raiwind Ijtema and Tongi Ijtema, which usually take place in November (for Raiwind Ijtema) and January (for Tongi Ijtema). Amongst Tablighi Jamaat adherents, the Shura is commonly referred to as “Aalami Shura”.
The establishment of the Shura matches the vision of Maulana Ilyas (Founder of Tablighi Jamaat):
In the future, this effort will function under the supervision of a Shura
Source: Maulana Yaaqub’s Letter, Last letters of Maulana Ilyas.
* Quotations here are translated as closely as possible to the meaning of the original. For the exact words, refer to the original text.
Tablighi Jamaat had 3 Ameers (Leaders) before the Aalami Shura became the highest authority from 1995 until today.
Current Tablighi Jamaat Shura Members / Aalami Shura List as of 2025
Up to the present day (2025), the members of the Tablighi Jamaat World Shura are:
- Maulana Ibrahim Dewla (India)
- Maulana Ahmed Laat (India)
- Maulana Zuhair Ul Hasan (India)
- Haji Farooq Ahmad (India)
- Maulana Nazrur Rahman (Pakistan)
- Maulana Ubaidullah Khurshid (Pakistan)
- Maulana Zia ul Haq (Pakistan)
- Maulana Ahsan Ul Haq (Pakistan)
- Maulana Ahmed Batla (Pakistan)
- Maulana Qari Zubair (Bangladesh)
- Maulana Rabiul Haque (Bangladesh)
The Shura’s own letter confirms this list:
These Aalami Shura members have passed away:
- Haji Abdul Wahab (Pakistan) - Passed away on the 18th of November 2018. His vacant position was replaced by Maulana Ahsan Ul Haq.
- Maulana Yaqub (India) - Passed away on the 16th of February 2019. His vacant position was replaced by Haji Farooq Ahmad of Bangalore.
- Maulana Abdul Rehman (Pakistan) - Passed away on 17th October 2020, age 80 at the time of death. His vacant position was replaced by Maulana Ahmad Batla, who is the son-in-law of Maulana Nazrul Rahman.
These members were invited to join the Shura and did not accept.
- Maulana Saad (India)
- Wasiful Islam (Bangladesh)
History of the Tablighi Jamaat Aalami Shura
The Tablighi Jamaat Shura, also called the Aalami Shura, was formed on the 14th of June 1993 by Maulana Inaamul Hasan (The third Amir of Jamaat) at Nizamuddin Markaz, two years prior to his demise. The appointed members were: (1) Maulana Saeed Ahmad Khan, (2) Mufti Zaenal Abidin, (3) Haji Afdhal, (4) Haji Abdul Muqit, (5) Haji Abdul Wahab, (6) Maulana Izharul Hasan, (7) Maulana Umar Palanpuri, (8) Maulana Zubair Ul Hassan, (9) Miyaji Mehrab Mewati, and (10) Maulana Saad.
The Aalami Shura was formed to look after the work alongside Maulana Inaamul Hasan, who was the Amir of Tablighi Jamaat at that time. When Maulana Syed Ahmed Khan asked him about it, Maulana Inaamul Hasan said that if he was not there, the Faisal (deciding chairperson) would rotate amongst them.
Source: Dakwah wa Tabligh Azhim Mehnat ke Maujudah Halat, Page 16
On the 12th of June 1995, after the demise of Maulana Inaamul Hasan, the Aalami Shura decided that the work would continue under the current Shura, with a rotating Faisal (deciding chairperson) in their Mashwaras. No new Amir (leader) was to be appointed and Bay’ah (Oath of Allegiance to a person) was to be stopped in Nizamuddin Markaz.
The agreement was signed by all members of the Aalami Shura including Maulana Saad. Maulana Saad, however, treacherously violated this agreement in 2014, which resulted in the Tablighi Jamaat Split (Ikhtilaaf).
On the 16th of November 2015, as there were only 2 members left in the Tablighi Jamaat Shura (due to members passing away), 11 new members were appointed to the Aalami Shura following a Mashwara (meeting) that took place at Raiwind Ijtema. Haji Abdul Wahab was the Faisala (deciding chairperson) of the Mashwara. The new appointees were:
- Maulana Ibrahim Dewla (India)
- Maulana Yaqub (India)
- Maulana Ahmed Laat (India)
- Maulana Zuhairul Hasan (India)
- Maulana Nazrur Rahman (Pakistan)
- Maulana Abdur Rehman (Pakistan)
- Maulana Ubaidullah Khurshid (Pakistan)
- Maulana Zia ul Haq (Pakistan)
- Maulana Qari Zubair (Bangladesh)
- Maulana Rabiul Haque (Bangladesh)
- Wasiful Islam (Bangladesh)
The appointment was signed by all the participating members except Maulana Saad and Wasiful Islam
Source: World Shura Appointment Letter 2015
Letters/statements issued by Elders of Tablighi Jamaat on Maulana Saad
Letters and statements issued by the Elders of Tablighi Jamaat about their separation from Maulana Saad:
- Haji Abdul Wahhab Sahab’s Statements
- Maulana Ibrahim Dewla’s Letter (The most senior Elder of Nizamuddin, teacher of Maulana Saad)
- Maulana Yaqub’s Letter (The most experienced senior elder, teacher of both Maulana Saad and Maulana Saad’s Father, Maulana Harun)
- Joint letter from Elders (Senior elders)
- Choudhry Amanatullah’s detail explanation on what really happened in Nizamuddin (Shura of Delhi, Nizamuddin Madrasa Shura)
- Dr Khalid Siddiqui’s Letter (Senior Elder)
READ: Full Tablighi Jamaat History and how the split happened
Tablighi Jamaat Shura vs Maulana Saad Offshoot
Almost 95% of all the senior elders are with the Shura. Maulana Saad, although very famous, is relatively new and has not spent even 40 days in the Path of Allah as testified by Haji Abdul Wahab and Chaudhry Amanatullah (Shura of Nizamuddin Madrasah).
The following is the list of Elders:
| Tablighi Jamaat Shura | Maulana Saad |
| Defacto Leader Haji Abdul Wahab Ml Ibrahim Dewla *, ** | Leader Maulana Saad |
| Indian Senior Elders Ml Ahmad Laat * Ml Yaqub ** Ml Zuhairul Hasan* Bhai Farooq* Dr Khalid Siddiqui Ml Ismail Godhra Ml Usman Kakosi Ml A Rehman Ruyana Ml Altaf Prof Sanaullah Ml Ahmad Mewati Eng Shameem Bihar Ml Abu Bakar Bijapur ** Prof Nadir Ali Khan Aligarh Iqbal Nayar Bihar Prof Munawar Pasha Chennai Prof A Rahman Chennai Bhai Sanobar Bhai Parveez Kashmir C Amanatullah Mewati Ml Shahid Saharanpuri Ml Shuhaib Ml Ubaidullah Khan Shakeel Bhai Mumbra A Rehman Yamuna Nagar Muhsin Utsmani Lucknow | Indian Senior Elders Ml Mustakim Bhai Mushtaq |
| Indian Elders (Lesser) Dr. Farahim Aligarh Bhai Chaudry Rafiq Ml A Hussain Ghodrea Ml Ahmed Bahawalpur Haji Mumtaz ** Ml Kurshid Bhay Sanobar Ml Zahid Az-Zahiri Ml Akbar Shareef Mufti Shafeeq Ahmad Bhai Gulfam Dehradun Bhai Mumraaz Ml Khubaib Ml Fareed Ghodrea Dr A Mannan Aligarh Bhai Yaqub Dehradun Bhai Bahar Dehradun Bhai Ayub Ghaziabad Bhai Ismail Khan Khurjawale Dr. Shakeel Ayyub Sahab Ghaziabad Bhai Hashmat Ali Ml Yunus Palanpuri | Indian Elders (Lesser) Ml Shamim |
| Pakistan Elders Ml Ehsan Ml Abdur Rahman Ml Nazrur Rehman * Ml Zia ul Haq * Ml Ubaidullah Khursheed * Ml Ahsaanul Haq * Ml Ahmad Batla * Bhai Yameen Dr. Ruhullah Ml Jameel Ahmed Ml Ahmad Bahawalpuri Ml Fahim | Pakistan Elders (N/A) |
| Bangladesh Elders Ml Rabiul Haque * Ml Qari Zubair * Mufti A Shafi Mufti A Malek | Bangladesh Elders Wasiful Islam |
| Indonesian Elders Pak Muslihuddin Jafar Ustadz Luthfi Al-Banjary Kiyai Ahmad Mukhlisun Pak Aminuddin Noor Pak Suaib Gani (Sulawesi) | Indonesia Elders Pak Cecep Firdaus |
| Arab Elders Sh Umar Al Khateeb Jordon Sh Ghassan Zarey Madinah Sh Fazil Basiyoni Jeddah Sh Yusuf Al Masari Jeddah Sh Taha Abdus Sattar Egypt Sh Hasan An Nasr Egypt Sh Rashed Al Haqqan Kuwait Sh Saleh Muqbil Yemen | Arab Elders |
| Others: Ishaq Patel UK Ml Sulaiman Khatani SA Cheikh Younes France Hj Arshad Malaysia AR Pattalung Thailand Sh Motaz Australia Ahmad Bhiku New Zealand | Others: Haji Bostan UK Cheikh Wissam France |
* Member of Current Shura
** Teacher of Maulana Saad
Notes:
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The current Shura members for India are these ten:
- Maulana Ibrahim Dewla
- Maulana Ahmad Laat
- Maulana Zuhair
- Hj Farook Ahmad
- Dr Khalid Siddiqui
- Prof Sanaullah
- Maulana Ismail Ghodra
- Maulana Usman Kakusi
- Maulana Altaf
- Bhai Sanobar
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Maulana Zubair Ahmed, also called Qari Jubayer, from Bangladesh is considered the most senior leader of Tablighi Jamaat in Bangladesh because of his age, being older than Maulana Rabiul Haque. He was born in 1945, which made him 78 in 2023.
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Haji Mumtaz became the foster father of Maulana Saad after his own father, Maulana Haroon, passed away. He raised Maulana Saad and took him everywhere as a child. Haji Mumtaz became one of the vocal critics of Maulana Saad and strongly objected to him in the historic 2015 Raiwind Mashwara.
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Maulana Yasin Mewati was the Khadim (personal assistant) of Maulana Saad for seventeen years, from 1996 to 2013, and accompanied him throughout. His testimonies include ‘Maulana Saad has not spent any time in Jamaat (the path of Allah)‘ He was one of the main targets of the Ramadhan 2016 Nizamuddin Bloodshed.
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Maulana Shamim is one of the key supporters of Maulana Saad. He travels all over the world coercing people to accept Maulana Saad as the Ameer. He was 73 years old in May 2025.
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Bhai Mushtaq passed away on the 10th of April 2018. He was from Bombay and one of only two Senior Elders known to support Maulana Saad.
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Sheikh Rashed Al Haqqan (Kuwait) passed away 20th of May 2020.
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Sheikh Umar Al-Khateeb of Jordon despite being with the Aalami Shura, facilitates Jamaats from Maulana Saad’s Group as long as they do not talk about the differences.
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Sheikh Fadil Basiyoni from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, passed away as a Shaheed in the path of Allah in Indonesia on the 5th of April 2020.
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In 2023, Pak Muslihuddin Jafar was the only original Shura of Indonesia still alive. All other original Shura of Indonesia members have passed away. Five of the six Shuras of Indonesia are with the Aalami Shura; the exception is Pak Cecep Firdaus.
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Hj Arshad was one of the 13 original Shuras of Malaysia that was appointed by Maulana Inaamul Hassan (the Third Amir of Tabligh). He and his family were forced to vacate both the Markaz in Sri Petaling (Kuala Lumpur) and their house despite being the oldest Shura there. He passed away on the 11th of November 2021.
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Cheikh Dr. Wissam Tabara (Lebanese origin), resides in both France and Lebanon. He is one of the few Arab-speaking elders who is strongly supporting Maulana Saad. Lebanon itself, however, is strongly with the Aalami Shura, and so is France, like most other Western countries.
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Maulana Fahim (Raiwind) was the Khadem of Haji Abdul Wahab Sahab for 25 years. He wrote “Meray Haji Sahab”, a biography of Haji Sahab. He passed away of cancer on 11 January 2024, aged 65.
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The key original Shura members of Australia and New Zealand, among them Sh Motaz, Sh Abdullah and Ahmad Bhiku, are with the Shura.