LAHORE: Tableeghi Jamaat emir Haji Abdul Wahab passed away here on Sunday morning after a protracted illness. He was 96.

The third emir of the global movement for preaching Islam was admitted to a private hospital on Canal Bank for treatment of dengue fever around a week ago. He was put on ventilator after developing asthma and other respiratory problems.

His namaz-i-janaza, led by Maulana Nazrur Rehman, was offered at Raiwind Tableeghi Markaz after Maghrib prayers. He was laid to rest at the Tableeghi Markaz graveyard.

PM, politicians and ulema offer condolences

People belonging to various walks of life and from across the country attended his last rites as PIA operated a special flight from Karachi for those who wished to join the funeral.

Traffic jam on the Ravi toll plaza of motorway prevented scores of people from attending the funeral prayers. A disappointed follower told Dawn by phone that he had left Muridke at 4.30pm and couldn’t make it to Raiwind even at 7pm because of extraordinary rush of vehicular traffic on the motorway.

Born to a Rajput family in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh (India), in June 1922, Haji Wahab graduated from the Islamia College, Lahore, and joined the revenue department as tehsildar. In 1944, he met Maulana Ilyas Kandhalvi, the founder of the Tableeghi Jamaat, and resigned from the revenue department to devote his life for preaching Islam. After Partition, his family moved to Burewala in Vehari district from India. Soon, he moved close to Raiwind Markaz to give maximum time to the cause he had taken up in a young age.

In 1992, he was made emir of the Jamaat on the demise of then chief Haji Mohammad Bashir.

He was ranked 10th among 500 most influential Muslims in the world due to his position in the Jamaat. His name hit headlines late in 2013 when Pakistani Taliban had suggested including him in the committee formed by the government to hold peace talks with the militants.

Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed grief and sorrow over the demise and said that Haji Wahab’s services as a religious scholar would always be remembered.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri and In­­formation Minister Fawad Chau­dhry also expressed deep sorrow over Haji Wahab’s death. Punjab Governor Chau­dhry Sarwar and Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chau­dhry Pervaiz Elahi, former premier Nawaz Sharif, ex-CM Shahbaz Sharif, MMA president Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Jamaat-i-Islami emir Sirajul Haq, Pakistan Awami Tehreek’s Dr Tahirul Qadri, JUP’s Shah Awais Noorani, Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed and others expressed their deep grief and sorrow over the demise of Haji Abdul Wahab.

Meanwhile, traffic police deployed five DSPs and over 300 wardens to regulate traffic in the Raiwind area as a large number of people came to join the funeral. Elaborate security arrangements were also made to avert any ­untoward ­incident.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2018