By TwoCircles.net staff reporter
New Delhi : All India Milli Foundation president Maulana Muhammad Ilyas has advised the media fraternity to keep their editorials unbiased and unprejudiced as editorially maligning a particular section of society is beyond the pale of healthy journalism. He was commenting on a recent editorial of the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, which chose to malign fatwa and advise Muslims to stay away from and openly oppose it, reports the Urdu daily Hindustan Express here Wednesday.
Turning the pages of Indian history, the Milli Foundation chief said there is no tradition in the country to malign others' religion and its beliefs as everyone here enjoys the Constitutional right to freely practise one's religion.
"Maintenance of religious traditions and communal amity has been the tradition of this country, and trampling each other's religious traditions and beliefs under the feet is tantamount to spreading hatred," he said.
Maulana Ilyas said fatwa is not one's personal opinion; every Shariah injunction having the sanction of the Qur'an and the Sunnah is fatwa.
"A Muslim asks an Aalim, verbally or in writing, the Shariah ruling on some specific issue or family dispute, and the Aalim answers the question in the light of Islamic scriptures. For this very purpose every big madrasa runs Darul Ifta (centre for issuing Islamic edicts). This is all about fatwa," he clarified.
Maulana Ilyas said he failed to comprehend why the Jagran chose to malign a purely Islamic affair and instigate Muslims against fatwas. "This is as if someone from the Muslim society comes to mobilise the Hindus against idol worship or visiting temples or reciting the Gita, etc. In this case, the Jagran would be perhaps the first paper to ask the Muslims to be within the limits," he said.
He further said those who malign others' religions and at the same time talk of peace in society in fact live in the fools' paradise. "It is they who prove instrumental in creating wide cleavage between Hindus and Muslims."
The Milli Foundation leader also appealed to Muslims to exercise patience and fortitude at this critical hour.