New Delhi/Nagpur: The fatwa against the slogan, being promoted aggressively by the BJP and its ideological mentor the RSS, was passed following a two-day long deliberation in Darul Ifta, an eight-member panel of Islamic scholars from all over the country.
Uttar Pradesh-based Darul Uloom seminary in Deoband has issued a fatwa against the chanting of the controversial nationalist slogan, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, saying there is only one God in Islam.
“We love our country, but it is not our god. In Islam, we believe in only one God and hence it is against the faith of a Muslim to chant the slogan,” the fatwa issued by the Deoband seminary said.
The fatwa against the slogan, being promoted aggressively by the BJP and its ideological mentor the RSS, was passed following a two-day long deliberation in Darul Ifta, an eight-member panel of Islamic scholars from all over the country.
“In the past too, a similar controversy emerged about the chanting of Vande Mataram in schools. That song was made mandatory for students. Now, Bharat Mata Ki Jai is being made compulsory. Both the issues are the same,” it said.
“India is without doubt our country. We and our ancestors were born here. We love our country, but we do not think it is our God,” Darul Ifta said in its statement.
Islam, unlike Hinduism, is a monotheistic religion, i.e. it believes in the idea of one God whose idol or picture cannot be made. “Bharat Mata, according to a section of Hindus, is a goddess and they worship her. For Muslims, participating in the worshipping of that goddess would be apostasy and against Islam,” it said in its resolution.
The resolution further says that the Indian constitution guarantees the right to freedom of religion to all its citizens. “No government or organisation can force such unlawful activities on other people if it contradicts their faith,” it said.
Recently, a lawmaker belonging to Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen was suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for refusing to chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Days before that, Owaisi himself had slammed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his statement that youngsters in India should be taught to chant the slogan.
