In a significant step, Darul Uloom, the reputed Islamic seminary based in Saharanpur in west UP, has stated that if a person makes derogatory statements about Prophet Mohammed, the punishment in India should strictly be within the boundaries of the law in India.

This statement by what is regarded as the most respected authority on Islamic law in the sub-continent is crucial as it comes at a time when individual comments against the Prophet by some have invoked passion and led to social unrest.

Darul Uloom’s wing that decrees on fatwas, the Darul Ifta, in a response to a question has decreed that “punishing a criminal or a guilty is the duty of a Government and not individuals like we and you. In India, though we do not have an Islamic Government, we should try our level best to get such a perpetrator punished according to the Indian Constitution”.

The fatwa also says that the punishment for such derogatory remarks under Islamic law is death, but in India, it makes a clear case for individuals staying off the business of punishing those who make such controversial statements against the Prophet. This particular fatwa is significant at a time when Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen is being hounded by several known and unknown Muslim groups for her controversial statements against Prophet Mohammed (claiming to act in accordance with Islamic law, by posing a threat to her life). Also, cartoons published in a Danish newspaper had drawn considerable ire from the community. There was a lot of tension when a minister in the UP Government under Mulayam Singh Yadav, Yaqoob Qureshi, went as far as to offer Rs 51 crore for the cartoonist’s head last year.

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