The Hindu : Kerala News : IUML washes its hands of `fatwa'

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Sunday, Mar 06, 2005

Kerala

Kerala

IUML washes its hands of `fatwa'

By Our Staff Reporter

MALAPPURAM, MARCH 5. The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) has distanced itself from a `fatwa' issued by the controversial Islamic cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi, that was quoted in a pamphlet circulated by a local unit of the party in the district. That fatwa, against Communists, had been attributed to the IUML in a section of the media.

The fatwa, highlighting the atheistic philosophy of Communism, had been an attempt to contrast Communism and Islam. If a Communist is an atheist, then he has no place in Islam. He should not be given a Muslim woman in marriage; his funeral should not be conducted as per Islamic rites; and he would have no right to his parents' property. That was the gist of the fatwa issued by the Qatari scholar more than two decades ago.

K.P.A. Majeed, district secretary of the IUML, told The Hindu today that the party had nothing to do with the fatwa. "The League has no fatwas," said Mr. Majeed, emphasising that the party was a political entity, not a religious one.

"We do not exhort the Muslim community either to follow that fatwa or to reject it," said Mr. Majeed, explaining the stand of the party. However, the IUML leader welcomed the controversy that the pamphlet has kicked up. He said it would give an opportunity for the party to engage in a debate with the practitioners of Communism about their stand on the fundamentals of Islam.

The Islamic scholar and general secretary of the Sunni Yuvajana Sanghom (SYS), Alikutty Musliar, also dismissed the brouhaha over the matter. "It's not a matter of whether you belong to the Communist party or not. What matters is whether you are a believer in God or not," said Prof. Alikutty Musliar. Other Islamic scholars who came across the pamphlet too expressed dismay over the way an old fatwa was twisted by some people to kick up a row.

Dr. Yusuf al-Qaradawi's fatwa on communism has been published in Malayalam. It appeared in the `Qaradawi's Fatwas', a book brought out by the Islamic Publishing House (IPH), a Kozhikode-based publisher, in 1987. Translated by V. Kamaluddin, it has a preface by E.N. Mohammed Moulavi, Professor of Islahiya College, Chendamangallur.

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