Revision as of 18:27, 15 September 2016

Fatwas: legality of in India

Fatwas have no legal standing: SC

Dhananjay.Mahapatra New Delhi:

The Times of India Jul 08 2014

The Supreme Court ruled that fatwas issued by Sharia courts or muftis had no legal sanctity, saying the defiance of fatwas won't have civil or criminal consequences.

The court also said it would be illegal to impose these religion-based opinions on personal issues on ci tizens in violation of their fundamental rights.

“Whatever may be the status of fatwa during Mughal or British rule, it has no place in independent In dia under our constitutional scheme,“ a bench of Justices Chandramauli K Prasad and Pinaki C Ghose said.

“Any person trying to enforce a fatwa by any method shall be illegal and has to be dealt with in accordance with law,“ it added.

There have been bizarre fatwas across almost the entire spectrum of social life of Muslims -from banning a popular all-girls Kashmiri band to asking a woman in UP to treat her husband as her son after she was raped by her father-in-law. It was the mushrooming of fatwas, ranging from dissolution of marriage to dress code for women, which led advocate Vishwa Lochan Madan to file a PIL questioning jurisdiction of sharia courts, Dar-ul-Qaza (personal law courts) and Deoband muftis in dictating social behaviour of citizens and, in the process, virtually setting up a parallel judicial system on issues relating to Muslim personal law.

“A fatwa has no legal sanction and cannot be enforced by any legal process either by the Dar-ul-Qaza issuing that or the person concerned or for that matter anybody . The person or the body concerned may ignore it and it will not be necessary for anybody to challenge it before any court of law,“ said Justice Prasad, who authored the judgment.

“In case any person or body tries to impose it, their act would be illegal. Therefore, the grievance of the petitioner that Dar-ul-Qazas and Nizam-e-Qaza are running a parallel judicial system is misconceived,“ the bench said. The All India Muslim Personal Law Board had told the apex court, “Establishment of a network of judicial system throughout the country to help Muslims get their disputes settled by qazis may not have police powers but shall have the book of Allah in hand and Sunnat of the Rasool and all decisions should be according to the book and the Sunnat. This will bring Muslims to Muslim courts. They will get justice.“ But the bench was not amused. It said, “The object of establishment of such a court may be laudable but we have no doubt in our mind that it has no legal status.“

Wigs during prayers

The Times of India, Aug 09 2016

Sandeep Rai

No wigs during prayers: Darul

Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has now advised Muslims against wearing wigs while offering the namaz. In a new fatwa, the seminary has ruled that namaz is “incomplete“ if performed while wearing a wig or artificial beard.

Darul Uloom Deoband spokesperson Ashraf Usmani said wigs and artificial beards interfere with the two religious requirements for performing namaz, which are `vazu' (mandatorily washing one's hands, face and head before prayer time) and `gusl' (cleaning the entire body). “The wig impedes water from reaching the scalp. This defeats the purpose of `vazu' and `gusl' as the body remains impure,“ he added. Howe ver, Usmani did suggest “a way out“.

“If wearing a wig (during namaz) is important, one should take it off while performing `vazu' and `gusl' and put it back on during the prayers,“ he said.

The fatwa, Usmani said, did not apply to those who had undergone hair transplant. “This is because they (hair transplants) are like natural hair and water can easily reach the scalp,“ he said.

Changing lifestyles often create a lot of confusion among Muslims, who seek guidance from the seminary for a way out. “We receive a lot of letters, after which scholars try to find a solution. A fatwa is issued when all agree on a solution based on the teachings of the Quran and the Hadith,“ Usmani said.

Cow urine items

The Times of India, Aug 24 2016

Pervez IqbalSiddiqui

Darul Uloom fatwa on cow urine items  The use of cow urine products is `najayaz' (inappropriate), leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has said. “If it is declared or established that a product has cow urine in it, then its use is not allowed. However, if one is sure that a product of the same brand does not have cow urine in it, then such a product can be used,“ a panel of experts at the seminary has said in a fatwa.

The fatwa was issued in response to a question whether Muslims should use products of brands like Patanjali, which contain cow urine in them. It said any product with cow urine contravenes religious tenets.

Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamat had in January 2016 issued a similar decree that prompted Patanjali to state that cow urine is used in five of its 700 products.

Haj

Clear all debts before embarking

The Times of India Feb 03 2016

Bareilly, Feb 3: A Sunni cleric in Uttar Pradesh has issued a new fatwa directing Muslim community people to clear all types of debts before heading for Hajj.

Sunni cleric Mufti Mohammed Salim Noori of dargah Aala Hazrat in Bareilly passed the fatwa. According to him, taxes like house, income tax, water tax are also come under debt.

'You go for Haj to meet Allah there, so one should carry any kind of debt on him,' said said Mufti Mohammed Salim Noori, reported the Times of India.

Noori added, 'The different forms of taxes levied on residents by the government are also considered debt. Therefore, pilgrims wishing to go on Haj should pay taxes before starting their journey. Also, as per Islam, people should first perform their day-to-day duties honestly and then focus on completing religious duties.'

'Apart from clearing their debts and taxes, people should leave enough money at their home so that their wife and children do not face any financial crisis when they are out performing Haj,' said Noori.

Ration card in woman's name

The Times of India

Mar 18 2015

`Ration card in woman's name is un-Islamic'

Priyangi Agarwal

The food security law decrees that fresh ration cards be issued in the name of the eldest woman of a family. Offended by this depiction of women as the head of families, “which goes against Indian culture and Islamic law“, Sunni Barelvi Markaz of Dargah Ala Hazrat has issued a fatwa telling followers to keep away from ration cards.

“We have asked our followers to not apply for ration cards,“ said Mufti Mohammed Saleem Noori.

“In both Indian and Islamic culture, the male is regarded the head of family . Women should concentrate on creating an environment of heaven in the house,“ Noori added. He said some clerics will meet PM Narendra Modi to ask him for an amendment to the Act. Priyangi Agarwal