The first phase of annual congregation of Tableeghi Jamaat in Raiwind concluded on Sunday afternoon with the final prayers calling upon Muslims to purge themselves of mundane pursuits and devote more time to ameliorate their infinite life in the world hereafter by total submission to Allah Almighty.
The participants, estimated one million, most of them sobbing and crying during the concluding prayers, sought Almighty Allah's forgiveness for their ignorance towards the eternal life and over indulgence in the trifles of this temporary world.
The prayers leader urged the participants to first purge themselves of the sins and then reach out to more and more people to convey the message of Allah Almighty, which is obligatory upon the followers of the Holy Prophet (SAW). He prayed to Allah Almighty to bless the entire world with His final message so that the entire mankind could succeed in the eternal life.
He urged upon the participants to inculcate among themselves a strong belief that all praise and powers is for Allah Almighty without Whose will nobody could succeed, be humble to fellow human beings, be kind to all particularly with the relatives and neighbours and lead a simple life following the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet (SAW). In this way, their lives would become successful, he said.
During the three days of the congregation (first phase), over a dozen ulema from Pakistan, UK and other countries delivered sermons. Thousands of such teams were formed as the people volunteered themselves to travel to the remote places to spread the message of Allah Almighty. The teams have stayed back after the congregation concluded to get necessary instructions and itinerary from the elders. They will start leaving for their assigned destinations on Monday.
Prominent Ulema who addressed the congregation included Jama'at Amir Maulana Abdul Wahab, Maulana Zubair, Raiwind Markiz Amir Maulana Khurshid, Maulana Jamshed Ahmad, Maulana Muhammad Ahmad, Maulana Ahmad Lat, Maulana Tariq Jameel and Maulana Muhammad Saad, grandson of Tableeghi Jama'at founder Maulana Muhammad Ilyas who spoke for the first time.
A large number of foreign guests and dignitaries also attended the gathering for whom special arrangements were made and interpreters provided to render the Urdu sermons of the ulema into their respective languages. Known figures like former pop star Junaid Jamshed, cricketers Saeed Anwar, Saqlain Mushtaq, and Saeed Ahmad were also present on the occasion.
A large number of people kept coming from Lahore before the morning prayers to attend the grand prayer and continued even when the concluding prayers were held. A traffic jam was observed at the venue as millions of people left the congregation driving in thousands of vehicles, buses, trucks, pick ups, motorcycles, scooters etc to their respective destinations throughout the country. Eight special trains were also run from Raiwind to upcountry and down to facilitate the large number of devotees, which is known to be the second largest gathering of Muslim pilgrims after Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Foreign delegates who had come from about 60 countries waited at Raiwind to clear the routes to Lahore airport. Some of them had chartered flights while others travelled by PIA and air services for which they had made booking in advance. Special arrangements had been made by the PIA both at Raiwind and the airport to provide necessary facilities to their passengers. Pakistan Railways had provided four special trains for various destinations besides a special hourly shuttle service from Lahore to Raiwind and back.
There was heavy traffic congestion on all roads leading to Raiwind which had been closed before the prayers and opened one way from Raiwind to Lahore and other cities after the prayers. Lahore traffic police had made special arrangements to clear vehicular traffic in the shortest possible time. Both lanes of the road had been reserved for their vehicles. It had made arrangements for the parking of about 15,000 vehicles at about a dozen parking lots at Raiwind.
As the congregation ended, everybody was trying to get to the vehicle and it was with great difficulty that the vehicles were taken out from the parking lots. Then on the roads, there was a long beeline of vehicles moving at a snail's pace. The vehicles with their destinations outside Lahore were not allowed to enter the city to avoid traffic jams and they were diverted from Thokar Niaz Baig to Lahore Bypass on way to the motorway.