Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami


Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. It emerged from the East Pakistani wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan in 1979. It is one of the two contemporary mainstream political parties in the country, alongside the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
The origin of the party lies in the Jamaat-e-Islami movement founded by Sayyid Abul A'la Maududi in 1941 in British India. Its predecessor, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan, opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the dismemberment of Pakistan.
Following the independence of Bangladesh, the party was banned along with all other religion-based parties in 1972 by the government. The ban was lifted in 1976, and its leaders were allowed to participate in political activities after 1979, and the current Bangladeshi faction of Jamaat-e-Islami was formed. It actively participated in the pro-democratic mass uprising against the government of Hussain Muhammad Ershad in 1990. Following the 2001 Bangladeshi general election, the party joined the coalition government led by the BNP and two of its leaders received ministerial positions in the government.
From 2010, the Awami League government began to prosecute Jamaat leaders for the war crimes committed during the 1971 war under the International Crimes Tribunal. By 2012, eight leaders from Jamaat were charged and three were convicted of war crimes. In August 2013, the Bangladesh Supreme Court cancelled the registration of the party. In early-August 2024, with the surge of the July Revolution, the party was again banned by the Awami League government. However, after the fall of the government, the decision was reversed by the newly-established interim government in late-August of that year, and in June 2025, the ban on the party was officially lifted and its registration was reinstated by the Appeliate Division of the Supreme Court.
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History

In British India (1941–1947)

Jamaat-e-Islami was founded in British India by Maulana Syed Abul A'la Maududi at Islamia Park, Lahore on 26 August 1941 as a movement to promote social and political Islam. Jamaat opposed the creation of a separate state of Pakistan for the Muslims of India. It also did not support the Muslim League, which was then the largest Muslim party in the 1946 elections. nor did it support "Composite Nationalism" of the Jamiat Ulama e-Hind. Maulana Abul Ala Maududi, the founder of Jamaat-e-Islami, actively worked to prevent the partition of India, arguing that concept violated the Islamic doctrine of the ummah. Maulana Maududi saw the partition as creating a temporal border that would divide Muslims from one another. He advocated for the whole of India to be reclaimed for Islam.

In Pakistan (1947-1971)

After the creation of Pakistan, Jamaat-e-Islami divided into separate Indian and Pakistani national organisations. When East Pakistan became independent as Bangladesh, the East Pakistan wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan became Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.
Jamaat-e-Islami participated in the democratic movement in Pakistan during the Period of Martial Law declared by Ayub Khan. An all-party democratic alliance was formed in 1965. Jamaat head of East Pakistan branch, Ghulam Azam was a member of the alliance, which also included Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
During the late 1960s, Jamaat‑e‑Islami strongly resisted the rising socialist programs promoted by leaders such as Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in West Pakistan and Maulana Bhashani in East Pakistan. The party actively campaigned against these agendas, and it organized a large coalition of Islamic scholars and clerics, over a hundred ulema, who issued statements denouncing the Pakistan Peoples Party's socialism as "atheistic" and "anti‑Islam".
As the Six-Point Movement gained momentum in East Pakistan from 1966 onwards, Jamaat-e-Islami adopted a firm stance against it. The Six-Point Movement, put forth by the Awami League, demanded for extensive autonomy for East Pakistan and was viewed by Bengali nationalists as a charter for self-rule. Jamaat-e-Islami's pan-Islamist ideology emphasized the unity of Pakistan based on Islamic principles. The party viewed the Six-Point Movement as a divisive, secessionist agenda that threatened the solidarity of the Muslim nation and the integrity of Pakistan.
In the 1970 general election, Jamaat‑e‑Islami invested significant effort and resources by putting forward 151 candidates but managed to secure only four seats in the National Assembly and another four in the provincial assemblies.

Bangladesh Liberation War (1971)

In 1971, Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan opposed the independence of Bangladesh and the dismemberment of Pakistan. Ghulam Azam, who was the then head of Jamaat-e-Islami East Pakistan, delivered several speeches after 25 March 1971, excerpts of which were regularly published in the party's mouthpiece, The Daily Sangram. On 30 June in Lahore, while speaking to journalists, Azam stated that his party was making every effort to suppress what he described as the activities of "miscreants" in East Pakistan, and that many Jamaat workers had been killed by these elements as a result of their efforts.
Jamaat-e-Islami played a key role in organizing pro‑Pakistan collaborationist bodies. On 4 April 1971, twelve pro‑Pakistan leaders, including Nurul Amin, Ghulam Azam, and Syed Khwaja Khairuddin, met General Tikka Khan of the Pakistan Army and assured him of their cooperation in suppressing the independence movement. Following a series of meetings, they announced the formation of the East Pakistan Central Peace Committee, which initially included 140 members, among them 96 Jamaat‑e‑Islami members who began training at an Ansar camp on Khanjahan Ali Road in Khulna. The Peace Committee was also alleged to have been involved in recruiting Razakar paramilitaries to assist the Pakistan Army.
On 12 October 1971, Yahya Khan declared that elections would take place between 25 November and 9 December. Jamaat‑e‑Islami East Pakistan decided that the party would participate in the local elections. According to a government declaration issued on 2 November, 53 candidates were to be elected without contest, and Jamaat‑e‑Islami secured 14 of these uncontested seats.
On 2 December 1971, according to a report in The Daily Ittefaq, Ghulam Azam held a one‑hour and ten‑minute meeting with President Yahya Khan in Rawalpindi. After the meeting, Azam addressed a press conference where he urged the public to give their full support to the armed forces in dealing with the ongoing crisis. He again described the Mukti Bahini as an enemy force and stated that the Razakars were sufficient to confront them, further calling for an increase in the number of Razakars.

In Bangladesh (1971–present)

Jamaat was banned after the independence of Bangladesh in December 1971, and its top leaders fled to West Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the first president of Bangladesh, also cancelled the citizenship of Ghulam Azam, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami who moved to Pakistan, the Middle East and the UK. Azam first fled to Pakistan and organized "East Pakistan Recovery Week". As information about his participation in the killing of civilians came to light "a strong groundswell of resentment against" East Pakistan JI leadership developed and Azam and Maulana Abdur Rahim were sent to Saudi Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, Azam and some of his followers successfully appealed for donations to "defend Islam" in Bangladesh, asserting that the Hindu minority there were "killing Muslims and burning their homes."
Then-President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in August 1975 by a group of officers of Bangladesh Army. post-Mujibur governments were immediately recognized by both Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, and Jamaat-e-Islami resumed political activities in Bangladesh. Ziaur Rahman also allowed Azam to return to Bangladesh as the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami.
After the end of Ershad's regime in 1990, mass protests began against Ghulam Azam and Jamaat-e-Islami, The protests were headed by Jahanara Imam, an author who lost her elder son, Shafi Imam Rumi, in the Bangladesh War of Independence. Azam's citizenship was challenged in a case that went to the Bangladesh Supreme Court, as he only held a Pakistani passport. Absent prosecution of Azam for war crimes, the Supreme Court ruled that he had to be allowed to have a Bangladeshi passport and the freedom to resume his political activities.
Bangladesh Police arrested Jamaat-e-Islami chief and former Industry Minister Motiur Rahman Nizami from his home in Dhaka in a graft case on 19 May 2008 and was charged with war crimes in 2009. He was hanged to death on 11 May 2016. Earlier, two former Cabinet Ministers of the immediate past BNP-Jamaat led coalition government, Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan and Shamsul Islam were sent to Dhaka Central Jail, after they surrendered before the court.
As a result, in the parliamentary elections of December 2008, Jamaat-e-Islami garnered fewer than 5 seats out of the total 300 that constitute the national parliament. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party was concerned as Jamaat-e-Islami had been their primary political partner in the Four-Party Alliance.
On 27 January 2009, the Bangladesh Supreme Court issued a ruling after 25 people from different Islamic organisations, including Bangladesh Tarikat Federation's Secretary General Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri, Jaker Party's Secretary General Munshi Abdul Latif and Sammilita Islami Jote's President Maulana Ziaul Hasan, filed a joint petition. Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mujaheed and the Election Commission Secretary were given six weeks time to reply, but they did not. The ruling asked to explain "why the Jamaat's registration should not be declared illegal". As a verdict of the ruling, High Court cancelled the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami on 1 August 2013, ruling that the party is unfit to contest national polls because its charter puts God above democratic process.
On 5 August 2013, the Supreme Court rejected Jamaat's plea against the High Court. The chamber judge of the Appellate Division Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury Manik while rejecting the Jamaat's petition seeking stay on the High Court verdict, said that the Jamaat could move a regular appeal before the Appellate Division against the verdict after getting its full text.
In February 2013, following the verdict by the International Crimes Tribunal and the announcement of death sentence of Delwar Hossain Sayidee, supporters of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir were involved in anti-Hindu violence; law enforcement killed 44 protesters and wounded 250. More than 50 temples were damaged, and more than 1,500 houses and business establishments of Hindus were torched in Gaibandha, Chittagong, Rangpur, Sylhet, Chapainawabganj, Bogra and in many other districts of the country, By March 2013, more than 87 people had been killed by law enforcement agencies. Jamaat-e-Islami supporters called for the fall of the Awami League regime. Jamaat-e-Islami supporters have been accused of murdering opponent political party activists and instigating religious riots by spreading fraudulent news.
As a result of Jamaat-e-Islami and Shibir's support for the Bangladesh student quota protests, Hasina's regime decided to fully ban the party on 1 August 2024. However, it was reversed on 28 August 2024 and the ban on Jamaat—Shibir and its affiliated organisations was officially lifted. On 1 June 2025, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami regained registration after a order by the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court.

Ideology

Maintaining a right-wing to far-right position, the party has been variously identified with Islamism, neo-Islamism, conservatism, and reformism. It's incumbent deputy leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher rejected calling his party "conservative", and instead described it a "moderate Islamist force".
Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and publications claim the party to be Islamic democrat. It's incumbent leader, Shafiqur Rahman, described his party to be a "modern, liberal democratic party, whose ideal is Islam". According to a JI publication titled An Introduction to Bangladesh Jamaate Islami, the party aims to turn Bangladesh into an "Islamic welfare state". It also runs charities that provide religious, social, food, and medical services at the local level, which helped the party build a strong network at the grassroots. In its "Policy Summit 2026", the party emphasized on "reformism" focusing on economic issues like reducing VAT, interest-free loans, and anti-corruption — standard conservative populist platforms.
Traditionally, Jamaat's goal has been based on it's founder Syed Abul A'la Maududi's visions for a sharia-based totalitarian state, inspired by Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, where democracy, freedom, individualism, and equal rights for people would be non-existent, and all non-Muslims would enjoy "inferior" rights as Dhimmis, obligated to pay jizya.
In 2012, Jamaat-e-Islami had to amend some fundamental principles of its constitution to meet the conditions for the registration of parties set by the Election Commission, as the previous version allegedly conflicted to the "democratic and noncommunal structure" of the Constitution of Bangladesh and Representation of the People Order, 1972. After the amendments, the party replaced the establishment of an "Islamic system" with the "democratic system" as it's stated goal. Likewise, "efforts to establish Islam as given by Allah and shown by the Messenger" was replaced with "to establish a society based on equality and justice through a democratic system and to achieve the pleasure of Allah Almighty" as main objective.
Following the execution and imprisonment of senior leaders convicted of involvement in the 1971 genocide, Jamaat experienced internal fragmentation. The reformist factions proposed ideological moderation and democratic participation, while hardliners insisted on maintaining traditional Islamist aims. Multiple splinter groups emerged, some more radical, some abandoning formal politics.
In recent times, the party has become open on female-related issues, such as right to work outside and freedom of clothing. Similarly, the party also expressed support to the rights of religious minorities and protection of their properties. The party also retracted from it's stated goal of the establishment of a sharia-based state, and focused on the creation of an "honest people's government". Shafi Md Mostofa claimed that the party is rebranding itself in the aftermath of the July Revolution by putting itself in the "Islamic left". Despite these initiatives, the party still officially rejects female leadership and continues to uphold its traditional philosophy of introducing sharia through "electoral process".

Voter base

A June 2025 conducted survey by the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling on the Bangladeshis aged between 15 and 35 found that the Jamaat's projected vote share was comparatively high among the young males, comparing with the young females of the country. The survey found that 22.21% males and 20.57% females intended to vote the party in 2026 general election. The survey also found that 21.45% youths overall in the country intended to vote the party.

Leadership

Emirs

The Emir of the Jamaat is the title of the head of the party. Following is the chronological list of emirs since formation of the East Pakistani wing of Jamaat-e-Islami:

Secretary Generals

The Secretary General of Jamaat is the chief administrative officer of the party. The following is the chronological list of Secretaries General since the formation of the East Pakistani wing of Jamaat-e-Islami:

Controversies

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has been the subject of extensive controversy since the country’s independence, largely due to its documented opposition to the 1971 Liberation War, convictions of its senior leaders for war crimes, allegations of violent extremism, repeated involvement in political violence, and sustained criticism from human rights groups, international observers, and the Bangladeshi public. According to Ankita Sanyal, though the incumbent party cheif Rahman reportedly sought "unconditional apology" multiple times for the mistakes committed since 1947, it's leaders continue to indulge in historical negationism related to 1971.

Allegations of militant links and ideological extremism

Bangladeshi security agencies have repeatedly reported ideological ties between Jamaat, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, and extremist organizations such as Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami. Historically, the Islami Chhatra Shibir has frequently been labeled one of the most violent student organizations in South Asia. Although Jamaat denies institutional ties, extremism investigations have reported overlaps in recruitment patterns, ideological messaging, and activist networks.

Violence and human rights abuses

Following the war-crime verdict by ICT, Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir engaged in violent street movements, including arson attacks, clashes with police, vandalism, and shutdowns of transportation networks during 2013–14 violence. Jamaat–Shibir activists were widely reported to have engaged in firebombing, destruction of public property, and violent attacks on security forces.
Activists from Jamaat and particularly Islami Chhatra Shibir have been implicated in violent attacks, hacking assaults, extortion, and intimidation of rival student groups and journalists. Reports by Human Rights Watch document repeated incidents in which Jamaat–Shibir supporters engaged in election-period violence, intimidation, and attacks on minority communities during political unrest.

Ideological opposition to liberalism and secularism

Critics argue that the party espouses an "anti-liberal" philosophy. Jamaat's ideology promotes an Islamic state structure based on Sharia, opposing Bangladesh's constitutional secularism. Scholars argue that its ideological vision conflicts with the principles of the Constitution of Bangladesh, pluralism, and gender equality. The High Court decision barring Jamaat from elections found multiple clauses of the party charter unconstitutional.
Though the party has espoused minority- and women-friendly rhetoric in recent times, critics downplay these shifts as "cosmetic" rather than ideological.

Controversial NGO and institutional networks

Jamaat historically maintained extensive networks of Islamic charities, schools, and social organizations, including madrasas and welfare foundations.
Critics argue these institutions were used to disseminate Islamist political ideology and build long-term party influence. Investigations have found cases of irregular funding and ideological indoctrination within Jamaat-linked schools and NGOs.
The government subsequently shut down several Jamaat-affiliated organizations for violating NGO regulations and spreading extremist ideas.

International condemnation and public perception

Jamaat's wartime role and ideological positions have attracted global criticism. Pakistan and Turkey condemned executions of Jamaat leaders, while India supported the war-crimes trials. Western governments expressed due-process concerns but acknowledged the severity of the crimes associated with Jamaat leadership.
Public perception of Jamaat declined sharply after the rise of the Shahbag movement in 2013, in which millions demanded a ban on the party and harsher punishment for convicted war criminals.

Affiliated organisations

Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir

Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir functions as the de facto student wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, with numerous former leaders advancing to hold prominent leadership roles within the party. The organisation has significant presence at many colleges and universities of Bangladesh, including the Chittagong College, Government Bangla College, Dhaka College, Government Titumir College, University of Chittagong, University of Dhaka, Rajshahi University, Islamic University, Begum Rokeya University, Carmichael College etc. It is also influential in Madrasahs. It is the successor of East Pakistan Islami Chatra Sangha, the East Pakistani wing of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba. It is a member of the International Islamic Federation of Student organizations and the World Assembly of Muslim Youth.

''Kishore Kantho''

Kishore Kantho is a monthly youth-oriented magazine published since 1984. The magazine has been linked to Islami Chhatrashibir.

Bangladesh Chasi Kalyan Samiti

Bangladesh Chasi Kalyan Samiti is a non-governmental organization and peasant wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. It was established in 1977 by Jamaat leader AKM Yusuf. It and other Jamaat-linked NGOs were under pressure due to crackdowns launched under the Awami League regime from 2018—2019 and 2024.

Bangladesh Islami Chhatri Sangstha

Bangladesh Islami Chhatri Sangstha functions as the female student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, being established in 15 July 1978.

Bangladesh Mosque Mission

Bangladesh Mosque Mission functions as the mosque wing of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. It is also registered as a social welfare organisation and non-governmental organisation.
Officially established on 25 November 1973, the organisation was registered with the Department of Social Services in 1976.
It also manages three educational institutions, including:

Other organisations

Election results

Jatiya Sangsad elections

YearResults
1973Party banned because it was involved in the 1971 genocide. Though, they claim it was since they were an Islamist party and so was a threat to Secularism
1979Party legalized under the name "Islamic Democratic League"
Together with larger Muslim League won 20 seats.
198610 seats.
199118 seats.
19963 seats.
200117 seats.
20082 seats.
2013The Bangladesh Supreme Court declared the registration of the Jamaat-e-Islami illegal,
ruling that the party is unfit to contest national polls.
2024Supreme Court lifted the registration ban.