Issued by muftis Maulana Habibur Rahman, Maulana Abdullah Kashmiri and Maulana Mehmood Bulandshahri, the fatwa said for Muslims to sing Vande Mataram, was going against Islam. The love for the country and worship for the country are two different issues, they ruled.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Minister of State for Primary Education Ravindra Shukla said as Vande Mataram was sung as a mark of respect to the motherland, there was no question of withdrawing the decision. All those opposed to it, he said, were acting against the Constitution.

``They do not object to their children studying in convents singing hymns in praise of JesusChrist,'' Shukla said, ``but are against the recitation of Vande Mataram in schools.'' He clarified that he had received no protest letter from either Deoband, Nadwa or Bareilly, but added that in reply to a minority institution's protest letter, it was informed that Vande Mataram was not compulsory for minority institutions.

The Deoband School is the most widely respected school of Islamic thought in the East but its fatwas are not necessarily binding for the entire community which is divided into several dozen sects.

According to columnist Arun Shourie who has authored a detailed book on fatwas, a fatwa is like a court ruling and can be an opinion, an award or a decree.

The Deoband School has handed out several lakh fatwas since its inception in 1866. These have dealt with theological issues as well as problems facing people in their daily life including property disputes. In fact, the load was so heavy that the Deoband School set up a separate department in 1892 to dealwith fatwas.