What is the religious sanction behind a fatwa and how does the fatwa-issuing cleric ensure that the ruling is enforced? This is the question that arose when the country's oldest Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband recently issued a fatwa (religious edict) decrying modelling and acting by women as "unislamic" and a "serious offence" under Shariat Law.
A leading Islamic seminary on Monday opposed Centre's move to repeal a controversial section of the penal law which criminalises homosexuality, saying unnatural sex is against the tenets of Islam.
Women will have to wear hijab and have to be accompanied by a family member to enter the campus, according to the rules that came into effect on Friday.
The delegation led by Darul Uloom Deoband Vice Chancellor, Abul Qasim Nomani, presented a memorandum to the PM, highlighting some key demands like annulling the Central Madrassa Board proposal and exemption of Muslim mosques and educational and religious institutions from direct taxes code, among others, the representatives said.
"We have full confidence in the judicial system of the country. We appeal to the people to respect the verdict of the court and maintain peace and communal harmony in the country," the seminary's deputy vice-chancellor Maulana Abdul Khalique Madrasi said
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has said that wearing jeans or other tight-fitting clothes is not appropriate as per religious beliefs. In a posting on Tuesday, the seminary said wearing 'skin-tight' dresses is 'not lawful' and that clothes should be 'loose and simple'. In another controversial observation, it said a couple should first seek the opinion of a hakim or Unani practitioner before using contraceptives if needed for medical reasons.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Maulana Abdul Khalique said guidlines in "ahkame idul zuah (concept of sacrifice), an instruction book brought out by the seminary, say that Muslims should avoid slaughtering cows where ever it is banned."
A group of protesters, who were raising slogans against VC Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, disrupted classes and closed the main gate on Sunday evening, they said, adding two students were injured in the melee.
The Darul Ifta, the fatwa department of the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom of Deoband, has issued a fatwa against the chanting of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai'.
Islamic educational institution Darul Uloom Deoband has made this year's admission process more stringent by making police verification of the documents submitted by the applicants mandatory, the institute's management said on Friday.
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa against the appointment of Muslim women as receptionists, calling it illegal and against Sharia law. The fatwa was issued after a query on November 29 from a Pakistan-based company, asking if it could appoint a Muslim woman as a receptionist.
Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi expressed confidence in stronger India-Afghanistan ties following a visit to Darul Uloom Deoband, thanking the people for their warm welcome and indicating plans to send new diplomats to India.
In a fresh fatwa, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deboand has said that Islam does not permit celebrating birthdays. Responding to a query posed by a woman, the country's biggest Islamic seminary observed that the tradition to celebrate birthdays was started by the Jews and Christians, but Islam does not permit this practice. The Darul Uloom Deoband has in recent days issued edicts declaring that working in banks and opting for an insurance policy were against Islam.
The rape case made headlines as a local community panchayat passed a verdict that the woman should treat her husband as her son, triggering outrage among women activists.
Clerics at Uloom's Darul ifta, the body which issues fatwas, says contraceptives are permissible so that 'the children are properly nourished.'
Darul Uloom Deoband refutes claims of barring women journalists from covering Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's visit, following controversy over their absence at a press conference in Delhi.
In a potentially controversial decree, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has said that donation of blood and body parts was against the tenets of Islam, but observed that giving blood to save the life of a near and dear one was acceptable.
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband on Wednesday demanded that "controversial authors" be kept away from the Jaipur Literature Festival in the PinkCity.
In the statement issued on Thursday, the commission said the violation of any order or directive of the commission is a punishable offence under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code.
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has said that providing the photograph of a girl to the boy's family for marriage purpose is not allowed under Islamic law. In a fatwa issued on Wednesday, the seminary said providing the photo of a girl to the boy's family is against Shariat law.
Terming the Right to Education Act as an "attack" on the sovereignty of madarsas and other minority institutions, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband on Thursday said it will oppose it.
Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, the first Gujarati rector of the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband in Uttar Pradesh, is finding himself in the eye of the storm, barely 10 days after he appointed to the post. The Muslim community across the country has been up in arms against Vastanvi after his remark on 'prosperity of Narendra Modi's Gujarat'.
Amid controversy over his remarks on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Maulana Gulam Mohammad Vastanvi, who has announced his decision to resign as vice chancellor of Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, has said that people in Gujarat felt that development is happening in the state.
A woman, awarded post-doctoral fellowship on the novels of controversial author Salman Rushdie, has decided not to go ahead with it following objections from Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband.
Opposing controversial author Salman Rushdie's visit to India, Islamic Seminary Darul Uloom Deoband on Monday said the government should cancel his visa as he had hurt religious sentiments of Muslims in the past.
A fatwa has been issued by a leading Islamic seminary against modelling by Muslim women. Darul-uloom Deoband has said that exhibiting bodies by Muslim women while modelling is against the Shariat law. The fatwa, which describes modelling as 'un-Islamic', was issued by Mufti Habibur Rehman, Mufti Mehmood Hasan, Mufti Fakhrul Islam, Mufti Zanul Islam and Mufti Waqar Ali of the seminary on Monday.
A few words of praise for Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi have eventually cost Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi his coveted job as vice chancellor of Darul Uloom, Deoband, widely recognised as India's leading Islamic seminary.
Leading Islamic seminaries in the country on Tuesday responded differently to the fatwa issued by a North America-based Muslim body against full-body scanning for security checks with some endorsing the ruling and others opposing it.
Television is a tool of enjoyment and most widely used for 'prohibited' things and impossible to use 'without a sin,' says a fatwa by Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband, a view brushed aside by three influential Muslim organisations.
The scheduled visit of Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi to Agra has been cancelled. The cancellation was confirmed by officials, though no reason was provided. Muttaqi is currently on a six-day trip to India, the first such visit by a senior Taliban minister in four years.
A huge conclave of madrassas (seminary) from across the country, under the aegis of Asia's most revered Islamic seminary, Darul Uloom Deoband, on Monday declared that all acts of terrorism as 'unislamic'.
Despite the relaxations announced in the lockdown, religious and other large gatherings are still banned.
Chief Rector of Darul Uloom, Maulana Abul Qasim Nomani, has asked Saudi Arabia to rethink its decision, saying otherwise a wrong message may be conveyed to Muslims.
The two-day India visit by Islamic hardliner and Pakistan's Jamiat-ul-Islami chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman is believed to be aimed at reinforcing the anti-Vastanvi forces at the Darul-Uloom Deoband seminary in Uttar Pradesh, where the recently appointed vice chancellor Ghulam Mohammad Vastanvi had drawn much flak for praising Narendra Modi's governance in Gujarat.
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa against manufacturing and selling of firecrackers, saying it was against Sharia law.
Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, naib imam of Idgah and member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahli, the main pujari of the Ram Janambhoomi temple in Ayodhya, Acharya Satyendra Das Mahraj, and Mahant of Janki Ghat in Ayodhya, Janmey Sharan, have asked people respect the verdict of the court and maintain communal harmony
Criticising the Deoband's edict that Imrana, a woman who was allegedly raped by her father-in-law in Muzaffarnagar, cannot live with her husband, Islamic law expert Tahir Mahmood on Tuesday said the woman's fate cannot be decided by ancient law.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad leaders Ambrish Singh and B N Shukla, in a joint statement, also condemned the Darul Uloom for criticising the Madhya Pradesh government for making recital of 'Vande Matram' in government officials mandatory.
Editor of the Milli Gazette and former president of the All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawarat Zafrul Islam Khan tells rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa that this entire controversy is the result of a war between two factions of the Darul Uloom.
Stating the process to be a haram (sin), the fatwa said: "The child born out of husband's semen will be regarded Sabit-un-nasab (one's own descendant), when the husband himself inserts the semen into the uterus of his wife. Otherwise it is a haram to get it done by any doctor". Another Muslim organisation, Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind, said there is no need for the seminary to issue strict guidelines on the issue and it should be legalised if couples are not left with any choice.
