By Tarique Anwar, TwoCircles.net
Patna: Imarat Shariah (Bihar, Jharkhand & Orrisa), one of the prominent Muslim institutions in the country, has denied that it issued any fatwa against MLA Jamshed Ashraf for his assuming the office of Registry and Excise Ministry.
The Imarat termed rubbish all media reports which linked such fatwa to it. The Registry and Excise Ministry deals with the trade of liquor that is prohibited in Islam.
Amir-e-Shariat Maulana Syed Nizamuddin issued a statement on 26th April condemning the allegation that Imarat Shariah had issued the fatwa.
To know Imarat’s stand on the issue and how the matter flashed in the media, TwoCircles.net caught up with Maulana Anisur Rahman Quasmi, general secretary and spokesperson of the organization, today. Asked how this matter came in the media, he clarified that once a mediaperson had asked Maulana Nizamuddin to give his personal opinion on whether Ashraf should have accepted this ministry which deals with the trade of liquor, Maulana said definitely not. Maulana’s statement was reported in the media as a fatwa. This is wrong because only Muftis of our Darul Qaza are authorized to issue any fatwa and it is always given in written, not orally, said Maulana Quasmi.
Maulana Quasmi, however, accepted that Imarat had raised voice against the new liquor policy of Bihar government but never asked Ashraf to refuse the portfolio.
When TCN asked how Qari Muhammad Usman, deputy rector, Darul Uloom Deoband, quoted in his statement that Imarat’s fatwa against Ashraf was based on Shariat, Maulana Quasmi said this part of the media report might have been fabricated like the one related to the Imarat.
When TCN sought his personal opinion on a Muslim assuming the office of such ministry which deals with haram, Maulana Quasmi did not comment, saying it is one’s personal matter.