By TCN News,
New Delhi: President of Zakat Foundation of India Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood has said that offering namaz on road causing inconvenience to others is against the true spirit of Islam. “As good Muslims we should appreciate that causing inconvenience to others while offering namaz ba-jama’at particularly on Friday is against the true spirit of Allah’s religion,” Dr Mahmood said.
He further said that this is “a general problem all over the country. We need to go deeper into the issue and try to find long term solutions.”
Muslims offer Juma prayers on the road near Patna Junction Masjid
Dr Mahmood said: ‘We should honestly identify spaces in the vicinity or in the same locality which remain vacant and an attempt can be made to persuade those who own or control those spaces to allow these to be used for Friday prayers. These may include educational institutions administered by Muslims or big landed properties owned by them.”s
Another such category may include wakf properties including those which are controlled by the Archeological Survey of India. Sachar Committee has recommended that there should be a permanent coordination mechanism of representatives of Central Wakf Council and ASI officers which should review every quarter the list of wakf properties under the control of ASI in order to decide which of these need to be restored back to the state wakf boards, Mr Mahmood added.
Zakat Foundation of India has appealed to Indian Muslims to let it know by email [email protected] the names and addresses of the masjids where the problem exists and the number of namazis spilling over the road or others’ property during Friday prayers. The organization has also sought suggestion about practical alternatives.
After receiving useful information from fellow Muslim citizens “ZFI hopes to further consider the matter towards a logical conclusion. ZFI also appeals to those Muslims who own or control big spaces to voluntarily offer these, for the sake of pleasing Allah, for Friday congregations.”
[Photo by Aftab Alam Siddiqui]