DHAKA: With myriad devotees from home and abroad thronging the bank of Turag, the first-phase of Biswa Ijtema, billed second-largest Muslim congregation after the holy Hajj, will begin Friday with religious sermons delivered by Islamic scholars.Besides, a large number of people from the city and its adjacent areas will join Juma prayers on the sprawling Ijtema ground though the Ijtema get off to a formal start after Fazr prayers in the morning.
Breaking its decades-old tradition, this year for the third time the congregation is being held in two phases for the sake of smooth management and security arrangement for the mammoth Islamic congregation.
The Ijtema will formally begin with ‘Ambayan’ (general sermon) after fazr prayer Friday. During the Ijtema, noted Islamic scholars from home and abroad will address the religious gathering.
Local and foreign devotees from around the globe continued converging on the riverbank to join Ijtema for seeking divine blessings of Allah.
All the measures have been taken to issue arrival visas for 30 days and 40 days for special ground to facilitate the foreign devotees to attend the Bishwa Ijtema.
The congregations are scheduled to be held at the east bank of river Turag in Tongi, an industrial township, in two phases on January 11-13 and January 18-20 this year due to lack of adequate space.
A special bus service was also introduced between Dhaka Shahjalal International Airport and Tongi to carry out foreign devotees to the Ijtema venue.
Sources said around 25,000 foreign devotees from 100 countries, including India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Canada, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Thailand, Singapore, Morocco, Japan, The Philippines, Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, USA, England, Australia, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey, Italy, Germany, Denmark and Spain, are expected to join millions of Bangladeshi Muslims in the three-day Ijtema.
(Source: Banglanews24.com)
