Kin call Jamaat chief ‘cult figure’ with ‘low profile’

Saad has an ancestral house in Kandhla’s Maulvian locality. A relative of Saad, Maulana Badrul Hasan, claimed 14-century ruler Muhammad Bin Tughlaq had gifted their family a tract of land in the town in Shamli district.

Maulana Saad, 55, the head of the Tablighi Jamaat that came under the spotlight after its headquarters in Delhi emerged as the single-biggest source of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Tuesday, is known to be a recluse who maintains a low profile.

Police personnel during a search operation for devotees who had recently attended the religious congregation at Tabligh-e-Jamaat's Markaz in Delhi's Nizamuddin area, in Prayagraj.(PTI)

A great-grandson of Jamaat’s founder, Muhammad Iliyas, Saad was born in Western Uttar Pradesh’s Kandhla town in May 1965. Saad received his early education from his father and he went on to get degrees from prominent Islamic seminary Darul Uloom in Deoband. He also studied at a Delhi seminary, his family in Kandhla said.

Saad has an ancestral house in Kandhla’s Maulvian locality. A relative of Saad, Maulana Badrul Hasan, claimed 14-century ruler Muhammad Bin Tughlaq had gifted their family a tract of land in the town in Shamli district.

Hasan called Saad a cult figure, who maintains a low profile during his regular visits to his hometown. “Within no time, big crowds gather to meet him. Therefore, he avoids meeting people here to stay in peace for a day or two,” said Hasan.

The Delhi police on Wednesday said Saad has been the run since a case was registered against him for flouting social distancing and allowing a gathering at the Jamaat headquarters in Delhi. Officials across the country have been trying to trace the people who attended the gathering at the headquarters that later emerged as an infection hotspot.

Shamli police superintendent Vineet Jaiswal said he had no information about Saad’s presence in Kandhalvi.

Hasan said Saad usually stays at Jamaat’s Nizamuddin centre in New Delhi and visits Kandhla for a day or two every month. He denied reports of his presence in Kandhla. Hasan insisted Saad is not a fugitive as suggested by a section of the media. He added Saad is in Delhi and supports every action and order of the government.

Hasan said Saad and other organisers of the gathering are yet to receive a copy of the First Information Repot lodged against him  He called for an end to Saad’s media trial.