Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband, has issued a fatwa against people of the Muslim community chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ on Friday, according to media reports.
The seminary has said that they are not against the nation, but they believe that there is only one god.
By chanting, the seminary said, it does not want to give the status of god to a country, as it is against their religious belief.
BJP minister from Fatehpur, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, reacting to the fatwa, said:
This shows disrespect to the martyrs of the country. It shows the fundamentalism of Islam. Number of people have given up their life chanting Bharat Mata Ki Jai. People of such mentality should think where they live. They don’t live in Pakistan, they live in India.
Another BJP minister Giriraj Singh called the fatwa “an international conspiracy to break the country”.
Fight Over Bharat Mata Ki Jai
The fatwa has come weeks after Asaduddin Owaisi, leader of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) party refused to chant the slogan in response to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Mohan Bhagwat’s comment.
AIMIM MLA Waris Pathan was suspended from Maharashtra Assembly for refusing to say ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’.
Not the First Fatwa
This is not the first incident in reaction to the chant, which Bhagwat believes the youth needs to be told about.
Also read: Youth Must Be Told to Chant ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’: RSS Chief
Another Islamic seminary, Jamia Nizamia, has also issued a fatwa against the chanting of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ on Tuesday, 22 March.
Founded by Muslim Personal Law Board secretary Maulana Khalid, the seminary called the chant “un-Islamic”.
Also read: ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai Is All Jumla’, Muslim Clerics Hail Fatwa
Mufti Muhammad Azeemuddin, cleric at the seminary that issued the fatwa, said that it is impossible for a country to be a mother, as only humans can concieve.
The fatwa by the Hyderabad-based seminary read:
For a Muslim chanting ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ is not permissible as the land of Hind (India) is not a goddess. Every Muslim loves the country and is willing to sacrifice his or her life for it, but prostrates only before Allah. For Muslims, only Allah must be worshipped.
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