LAHORE, Oct 27: The four-day Tableeghi moot concluded at Raiwind on Sunday morning with a grand prayer attended by hundreds of thousands of people.
A large number of people came from Lahore before the morning prayers to attend the grand prayer. Tableeghi Jamaat Amir Maulana Zubair led the prayer after which the caravans of the people started leaving the venue of the congregation driving in thousands of vehicles, buses, motorcycles, scooters etc to their respective destinations throughout the country.
Foreign delegates who had come from about 60 countries waited at Raiwind to clear the routes to the 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. Very few people had come from India because of the ban on air traffic from India and the border situation as there was no rail and road services from that country. Ulema and some others from India came via Dubai.
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. The Lahore traffic police had made special arrangements to clear the 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 moot ended every body was trying to get the vehicle and it was with great difficulty 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 the Lahore bypass on way to the motorway. The Pakistan Railways had provided special train services for various destinations besides a special hourly shuttle service from Lahore to Raiwind and back.
During four days of the congregation about a dozen ulema from Pakistan and India delivered sermons urging the Muslims to spread the message of Islam throughout the world by joining the Tableeghi teams. Thousands of such teams were formed as the people volunteered themselves to associate themselves with the mission. The teams have stayed back to get necessary instructions from the organizers and they will start leaving for their assigned destinations on Monday. Ulema who addressed the congregation included Jamaat amir Maulana Zubair, Raiwind Markiz amir Maulana Abdul Wahab, Maulana Jamshed Ahmad, Maulana Muhammad Ahmad, Maulana Ahmad Lat, Maulana Tariq Jameel, Maulana Muhammad Saad.
Special arrangements had been made for the foreigners and interpreters provided to render the Urdu sermons of the ulema into their respective languages.