An Indian-origin cleric who was the leader of Tablighi Jamaat sect in Britain and Europe, and who played an important role in the creation of Markazi Mosque, the European headquarters for the movement, has died aged 92.
Thousands on Sunday turned out for the funeral of Hafiz Yusuf Patel who died in Drewsbury, West Yorkshire, on Thursday. Mourners came from across the UK and flew in from European countries including France, Germany, Spain and Portugal. Patel had been invited from India in the 1960s by Gujarati Indian Muslims who wanted a religious guide for the movement. “He was a pioneer, a visionary when it comes to the Islamic identity and the place of the Muslim community in Britain,” Ishtiaq Ahmed, of the Bradford Council for Mosques, told The Huddersfield Daily Examiner.
Patel, who was the leader in Britain and Europe of Tablighi Jamaat sect, was instrumental in the creation of the Markazi Mosque in Dewsbury in the late 1970s. The mosque is now the European headquarters for the Tablighi movement.