Hafiz Patel

Hafiz Mohammed Patel (1926 – 18 February 2016) was a British Asian Muslim religious leader known for his role in establishing the Tablighi Jamaat movement in the United Kingdom and for founding the Dewsbury Markaz mosque, the headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat in Europe.[1]

Biography

Patel was born in Gujarat in 1926 and moved to Karachi following the partition of India in 1947. In his youth, he undertook the Hajj to Mecca, where he met Muhammad Yusuf Kandhlawi, the leader of Tablighi Jamaat, a Deobandi missionary organisation. Kandhlawi was reportedly so impressed with Patel's faith that he prayed in front of the Kaaba to ask Allah to make Patel "the instrument for winning the whole of Britain to Islam".[2]

Patel subsequently emigrated to England, working in factories in the North and Midlands, until the Gujarati Muslim community in the West Yorkshire town of Dewsbury invited Patel to serve as their imam. He founded the Markazi Masjid in Dewsbury,[2] one of the largest mosques in Europe and the European headquarters of Tablighi Jamaat,[3][4][5] as well as its adjacent school, one of the two main Islamic seminaries in Britain.[3][6] At the same time he worked to establish Tablighi Jamaat nationally and maintain its links between the British and international movement, travelling frequently and leaving a legacy of a "nationwide institutional infrastructure that allowed the faith to root itself decisively in British soil".[2]

Patel died on 18 February 2016.[1][2] His funeral was attended by more than 20,000 people.[7][8][9][10] One of his sons is the principal of the seminary he founded in Dewsbury.[2]

References
  1. "Hafiz Patel, influential British Muslim leader, dies at 92". BBC News. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  2. Timol, Riyaz (2016). "Obituary: Hafiz Patel (1926–2016) – A Spiritual Giant in an Age of Dwarfs". On Religion: 35 – via Academia.edu.
  3. "Markazi Masjid". Archived from the original on 8 February 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  4. Michael Emerson Ethno-religious Conflict in Europe 2009 p.123 "3.1 Non-political religious groups Tablighi Jamaat Britain is the current locus of Tablighi Jamaat in the West, with the Dewsbury Central Mosque in West Yorkshire serving as its European headquarters, although the group is highly decentralised."
  5. Wainright, Martin (29 May 2008). "The name's Dewsbury". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 October 2010.
  6. Werbner, Pnina (February 1996). "The Making of Muslim Dissent: Hybridized Discourses, Lay Preachers, and Radical Rhetoric among British Pakistanis". American Ethnologist. 23 (1): 102–122. doi:10.1525/ae.1996.23.1.02a00060. JSTOR 646256.
  7. Shaw, Martin (2016-02-19). "Thousands attend funeral of Hafiz Mohammed Patel in Savile Town, Dewsbury". YorkshireLive. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  8. "Up to 20,000 mourners gather for British Muslim leader's funeral in Dewsbury". Wakefield Express. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  9. "Tributes pour in for influential Muslim leader, as thousands attend his funeral". Asian Sunday. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
  10. "20,000 people expected at Dewsbury man's funeral". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2016-02-19. Retrieved 2020-06-10.
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