Fatwas and the real picture

A poster on the wall outside the office of the Vice Chancellor of the Darul Uloom in Deoband...

A poster on the wall outside the office of the Vice Chancellor of the Darul Uloom in Deoband, inviting people to attend a qawwali competition between two singers, a man from Delhi and a woman from Banaras, was the centre of attraction for at least two days after the event. Students and shopkeepers stopped to look at the photographs and argued over who was the better singer. But everybody missed the real picture: a fatwa against photographs issued by the Darul Ifta, the infamous 4-member fatwa department of the seminary, in response to a query by Assam-based clerics claiming to be associated with the Darul Uloom.

The Darul Uloom and its 8216;fatwas8217; have always made news, with the media accusing it of being ignorant to newer realities. But as the poster showed, the Darul Uloom and its fatwas weren8217;t fully understood. When asked about the fatwa on photographs, the Ulema at Darul Uloom didn8217;t deny the edict but claimed they had 8220;not endorsed8221; it.

As a seven-year-old girl stopped for a photograph right outside the office of Maulana Marghoob-ur-rehman, the 100-yr-old Vice Chancellor, students said the Darul Uloom8217;s fatwas were open to criticism8212;and they usually did face criticisms from within.

But heads of departments at the Islamic seminary said that while they didn8217;t mind criticisms, accusing the Darul Uloom of pulling back the community wasn8217;t right. They said the seminary churned out muftis every year and the institution can8217;t be held responsible for their actions or the fatwas that each of them issue.

One of the Muftis had an analogy to offer, 8220;Just because a doctor who passed out of AIIMS hands out a wrong prescription, the institution cannot be held responsible. Following the prescribed medicines and treatment is, after all, the patient8217;s choice.8221;

As long as the government is unable to set up 8220;modern8221; schools for Muslim children, there will be many such 8220;incompetent Muftis8221;, clerics say. Darul Uloom accounts for 4,000 boys and other madrasas for girls in Deoband account for about 2,500 students.

Vice-Chancellor Maulana Marghoob-ur-rehman claimed the Darool Uloom8217;s interpretation of Islam has always been 8220;moderate8221; and secular. 8220;Islam does not allow one to go against the law of the land and we respect the democratic structure and feel we are an important part of it.8221;

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Mufti Habib-ur-rehman, head of Darul Ifta, offers the biggest sign of change at the seminary. He insists that while Muslims have to follow the Shariat, 8220;refraining from an act or belief where the law of the land does not allow it is equally important according to Islam.8221;