For many mullahs, religion and religious institutions are simply tools to feather their own nests and to whip up the support of the credulous by projecting themselves as pious defenders of the faith, says Yoginder Sikand
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.
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.
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.
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.
The officer added the Saharanpur police has also reached out to its counterpart in adjoining districts to seek their support in the effort to nab the attackers.
The men sitting around me -- dressed, like the rest of the crowd, in white kurta-pyjama, and sporting unkempt beards and white skull-caps -- enthusiastically shook their heads in agreement. Like the maulvi-poet, they laboured under the burden of being forced to prove their patriotism, their anti-Pakistani credentials, and their opposition to terrorism -- an unenviable predicament they were compelled to share with the rest of their co-religionists
Jamat-e-Islami Hind on Friday backed the fatwa issued by the Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband against chanting of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai"
'We will teach them about our idol Mohammad Sahab and all the great men of other religions as well -- about Shri Ram, Krishna, Yeshu, Bhagwan Mahavir.' 'We want children from the madrasas to become doctors, engineers, scientists, soldiers and walk in the footsteps of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam.' 'That is why we have named the modern madrasas after Dr Kalam.'
On the recent decision allowing survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, Madani said, "We have no objection to the survey. We believe that if the survey is conducted honestly, nothing will come out of it."
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.
A bullet grazed Aazad's abdomen when unidentified assailants opened fire at his car in Saharanpur district's Deoband where he had gone to attend a ritual at a supporter's home on Wednesday evening.
The district officials named 306 other unrecognized Islamic education institutions in their report as illegal.
Uttar Pradesh BJP Minority Morcha President Kunwar Basit Ali has compiled 12 episodes of the prime minister's radio programme for the year 2022.
The vehicle used by the attackers of Dalit leader and Bhim Army chief Chandra Shekhar Aazad was recovered from a village in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district, the police said on Thursday.
Security forces killed five heavily armed foreign terrorists along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir on Friday and said it was the "biggest" infiltration bid to have been foiled since 2021, when India and Pakistan effected a ceasefire understanding.
The pressure on Delhi mellowed Lucknow's ruling dispensation's initial enthusiasm to try and draw electoral mileage from the developments in Afghanistan.
About 20 scholars had recently written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi complaining about the inclusion of the work of the two authors in the syllabus.
The BJP's bucket list this time includes districts such as Sultanpur, Aligarh, Firozabad, Deoband, Ghazipur, Basti and Mirzapur -- to rename a few. Virendra Singh Rawat reports.
With discussions on the UCC taking centrestage, he said the BJP government in the state will move towards implementing one law for all, "only after talking to all the parties".
Aditi Phadnis picks five key seats in the three states where assembly elections are being held today.
Most of the candidates of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen have not been able to cross the 5,000-mark in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, according to poll trends on Thursday.
With the Uttar Pradesh government set to conduct a survey of private madrassas, proprietors of the theological schools fear that their institutions may be declared illegal and 'run over by bulldozers'.
The two men arrested are Shahnawaz Ahmad Teli from Kulgam and Aquib Ahmad Malik from Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir.
The SP chief said no MLAs or ministers quitting the BJP will be taken into his party anymore.
A week after violence erupted in Uttar Pradesh over the remarks on Prophet Muhammad by a Bharatiya Janata Party leader, no untoward incident took place following the Friday prayers, an official said in Lucknow.
Despite the relaxations announced in the lockdown, religious and other large gatherings are still banned.
Saharanpur recorded a turnout of 71.13 per cent, Bijnor 65.91, Moradabad 67.26, Sambhal 62.87, Rampur 64.26, Amroha 71.98, Budaun 59.24, Bareilly 61.67 and Shahjahanpur 59.34 per cent, a statement issued by the election office said in Lucknow on Tuesday.
People pelted stones at police personnel in Prayagraj and Saharanpur and protests broke out after Friday prayers in at least four other cities in Uttar Pradesh over a non-suspended BJP leader's recent remarks on Prophet Muhammad.
The top clergy of Darul Uloom will meet in Deoband on Wednesday to decide the fate of seminary's Vice-Chancellor Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, who stirred a controversy by praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, amid speculation that he may be asked to quit.
Adityanath has of late earned the nickname "bulldozer baba", which helped the party create a narrative of tough administration in the state polls.
The nine meetings offer an interesting window into Shafi Armar's efforts to try and group together what after all were excitable keyboard warriors into an actual terror group, capable of handling weapons, organising recruits, cooking homegrown explosives, selecting safe training areas, safe houses and finally, committing strikes against Indian targets.
Polling across 55 assembly constituencies assembly in nine districts got off to sluggish start at 7 am due to the cold and fog at several places.
As many as 586 candidates are in the fray in this phase with the seats spread across Saharanpur, Bijnor, Moradabad, Sambhal, Rampur, Amroha, Budaun, Bareilly and Shahjahanpur.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday directed officials to speed up setting up of a commando training centre in Rampur and also form a skilled team of women commandos.
The BSP, which fielded nearly 100 Muslim candidates, won only four out of the 77 assembly seats dominated by Muslim voters.
The appeal, it hopes, will help Muslims forge better relations with Hindus.
After blood donation, firecrackers and even starlet Veena Malik, India's very own fatwa factory, Darul Uloom in Deoband has issued a new decree that terms "photography as unlawful and a sin".
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