Barelvi Ulema takes strong stand against Udaipur Killings accused, issues fatwa

|HT|

The Barelvi Ulema has taken a strong stand against the murder of a tailor in Udaipur for supporting the remarks of now-suspended BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma on Prophet Mohammed. The Barelvi sect from Uttar Pradesh’s Bareilly issued fatwa, a non-binding legal opinion in Islam, against the the beheading of the tailor, Kanhaiya Lal, by two locals who were said to be influenced by radical Barelvi Islam preachers of Pakistan-based Dawat-e-Islami. In the fatwa issued against the the killers of Kanhaiya Lal, the Muslim body ruled both of them criminals in the Sharia court. The fatwa cited the teachings of 19th-century Islamic scholar Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, commonly known as Aala Hazrat.

Maulana Shahabuddin Razvi, the national secretary-general of Barelvi Ulema, said Aala Hazrat has ruled that if a person kills someone under an Islamic regime “without the permission of the emperor, then such a person would be a criminal in the eyes of the Sharia” and would be punished severely. He further stated that under non-Islamic governments, such killings would be anyway deemed illegitimate according to the law of the land and the person would put his life in danger by committing such crime. Razvi stressed that the slogans calling for beheading of those who insult the Prophet were first given by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, a far-right Islalmic extremist political party in the neighbouring country, to fulfill their political ambition. The killers of Kanhaiya Lal were heard raising the slogan "Gustakhi e Nabi ki Ek Hi Saza, Sar Tan se Juda Sar Tan se Juda," (there is only punishment for insult to the Prophet, beheading) in a video in which the duo were boasting about the murder. Rajasthan police also arrested three people, including a cleric, in Ajmer for delivering a hate speech in which they allegedly called for beheading to avenge the insult to Prophet Mohammad.

“Muslims should not take the law in their own hands, complain to the government, it is the government's job to punish,” Razvi added.

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