The proposal of the J&K Waqf Board to decide common Friday sermons in mosques and shrines has triggered a backlash from political and religious circles in the Union Territory. Chief minister Omar Abdullah and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti termed it an attempt by the BJP to interfere in the religious affairs of Muslims. Amid the criticism, the Waqf later clarified that no order had been issued so far.
The Waqf Board, led by its chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi, who is also a senior BJP leader, had on Saturday reportedly announced the constitution of a core committee of religious scholars to finalise “common themes” for Friday sermons at mosques, shrines, and other religious institutions under its administration. The proposed committee was asked to “identify sermon topics in advance and communicate them” to religious scholars associated with Waqf-managed institutions across J&K.
“This is an unacceptable attempt by the BJP to interfere in the religious affairs of Muslims and will not be accepted under any circumstances. The BJP-appointed chairperson must immediately halt this misplaced attempt to please her masters,” CM Omar Abdullah said on X.
Former CM and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said, “J&K is a Muslim-majority state. Who are they to decide what sermon our moulvis and imams will deliver on Fridays? Who will decide this? Will our minority affairs minister, who is a non-Muslim, decide it?”
“BJP has no concern for Muslims. Common sermons on Fridays won’t be accepted. This interference in our religion won’t be accepted,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}“BJP has no concern for Muslims. Common sermons on Fridays won’t be accepted. This interference in our religion won’t be accepted,” she said.
{{/usCountry}}The Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), a representative amalgam of leading religious and socio-religious organisations of Jammu and Kashmir, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said that even the suggestion that a statutory body could determine or regulate what is to be preached from the pulpit is ridiculous. It will never be accepted by the Muslims of J&K, it stated.
The Awami Ittehad Party lambasted the J&K Waqf Board over the move. Former Srinagar mayor Junaid Mattu called it an assault on “religion and culture”.
However, J&K Waqf Board chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi on Tuesday evening clarified that the board had issued no order making uniform Friday sermons mandatory in its affiliated mosques. “What was discussed on Saturday was that all mosques, shrines, or imams would talk on a common issue, particularly drug abuse or suicides, so that it would have a collective impact on society. It is the prerogative of imams what they will deliver and how they will deliver it for the betterment of society,” she clarified.