Intelligence agencies who have discovered the close synergy between the Dawood Ibrahim gang and the ISI-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba say that consequent to the "merger" with the jehadi group, most members of the underworld outfit have embraced the Ahle Hadees sect."We are not saying that all Ahle Hadees adherents are terrorists or D-Company members. But it is a fact that now an overwhelming number of DawoodÂ’s gang members subscribe to the Ahled Hadees sect," a senior security official told TOI on Friday. The Times of India had on March 28 reported how the D-gang is now a part of LeT.
The Markazi Jamiat Ahle Hadees was founded on December 22, 1906 with a view to "propagating pristine Islamic message among Muslims in a systematic way and to motivate Muslims to adhere to the pristine monotheism (Tawheed)". Its fundamentalist outlook is backed by Wahabi Islamic scholars of Saudi Arabia which is known to fund such religious activities.
This sect suffered badly during the 1947 partition since most of its main centres were located in Pakistan. In 1952, its leader Maulana Abdul Wahab held a conference in UP to revive the movement and significantly it was attended by the then Saudi ambassador to India.
Ahle Hadees is so fundamentalist that it enjoins its followers to stop going to dargahs , do away with taweez (amulets) and stop listening to even religious qawwalis .
Its face, rabble rousing Hafeez Sayeed, spews venom against other faiths, calling upon his followers to ensure the global domination of Islam.
Prior to the coming together of Lashkar and D-Company, members of DawoodÂ’s gang were split among diverse Islamic sects with only a section following Ahle Hadees. In fact, these differences did not bother Dawood who never showed any inclination towards religion. But now most D-gang members believe in the Ahle Hadees teachings and are highly-motivated by them. "This makes it easy for the ISI-backed LeT to indoctrinate and train the gang members in terror activities. They are no more fighting for money, but for a larger cause which guarantees them a place in heaven," a security official observed.