Hyderabad seminary issues fatwa terming ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ slogan against Islamic faith

Hyderabad: The controversy over whether to chant the slogan Bharat Mata ki Jai [Victory for Mother India] refuses to die down; a prestigious Islamic religious seminary in Hyderabad, Jamia Nizamia, has termed it against “Islamic faith”.

“Muslims of the country love Bharat [another name for India], but chanting Bharat mata ki jai is against Islam and irrational”, the fatwa said on Saturday.

The fatwa, or religious decree, issued by Mufti Azeemuddin, head of the Centre for issuing fatwas at Jamia, stated: “Mother of a human is human. No piece of land and no animal and other object gives birth to human.”

“This is why calling the land of Bharat as mother is against the reason. The religion [Islam] also says the same thing,” it added.

The fatwa has come in the middle of a political controversy raging across the country after Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat called for the chant to be said to promote nationalism and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi refused to do so. This also led to the booking of many cases against Owaisi in several states.

One of Majlis’ MLAs, Waris Pathan, was suspended from Maharashtra Assembly after he refused to chant the slogan in the House as well.

Next, a Hyderabad-based Sufi sect leader, Syed Ghulam Samdani, looked for a religious opinion. However, while the decree says it is un-Islamic, it does not oppose those who want to chant the slogan.“…it is the person’s individual religious belief and that the person cannot force others [to do the same],” the fatwa said.

Meanwhile, Owaisi said that nowhere in the world do Muslims worship their country. “I don’t worship Saudi Arabia though two holiest shrines of Muslims are located there. I don’t worship the country, but I worship only Allah. But I am a loyal citizen of this country”.

Meanwhile, another case was booked against Owaisi at the III Town Police station in Karimnagar in Telangana on the complaint of Mahinder Reddy. The complainant alleged that the speech of Owaisi would create enmity between different sections of people.