Ulema asks community not to post qurbani pix on social media

On Monday, Maulana Arshad Madani, president of one faction of the Jamiat Ulema e Hind, vice-president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, and principal of Deoband’s Dar ul Uloom, took to Twitter to talk about this

MUMBAI: On the eve of Eid al Adha, which involves the practise of qurbani or sacrificing of animals, Muslim religious leaders have asked the community to celebrate the festival with caution so as not to trigger negativity from other communities.

Thane, India - June, 27, 2023: As the bakri eid approaches, goats are seen for sale in the goat market at Thane Rabodi Area ,in Thane, in Mumbai, India, on,Tuesday, June, 27, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo ) (Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

On Monday, Maulana Arshad Madani, president of one faction of the Jamiat Ulema e Hind, vice-president of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, and principal of Deoband’s Dar ul Uloom, took to Twitter to talk about this. “In the current situation, it is necessary for Muslims to be careful while performing the qurbani on Bakri Eid,” he tweeted. “Do not share pictures of it on social media, follow the government’s rules and do not sacrifice animals whose slaughter is banned.”

Madani’s tweet was greeted with derision by some Muslims who chastised him for being a “sarkari/RSS maulana” and trying to scare the community. He was asked to direct his advice to the lynch mobs, who are trying to intimidate Muslims.

However, Madani’s advice has found full support from all sections of Mumbai’s ulema. On Tuesday, Urdu papers published an appeal to Muslims by the ulema to ensure that all norms of cleanliness and hygiene were followed during the sacrifice, to avoid performing it in open view, and to not move around with blood-stained clothes or uncovered meat after it was performed.

Maulana Mehmood Dariyabadi, general secretary of the All India Ulema Council, told Hindustan Times that they had been giving similar advice in their sermons even before the BJP came to power. “I have not seen pictures of the qurbani on social media, but people do post pictures of the animals they have bought,” he said. “That’s a kind of competition to show who’s paid more for the animal. Traders also post pictures of their animals, with absurd claims that their goat has the word ‘Allah’ on it.’’ Dariyabadi emphasised that all that the religious leaders desired was that no obstacles were put in the way of their worship.

Maulana Abdul Jaleel Ansari of the Ahl e Hadees sect remarked that qurbani pictures were amiss on two counts. “Showing off your acts of piety is not acceptable in Islam, and hurting the religious feelings of others is forbidden,” he said. “So in both respects, posting pictures of the qurbani is wrong.”

Islamic scholar Shoaib Koti also decried the tendency of people to live their lives on social media. “What do you gain from this?” he asked. “By posting such pictures, will the targeting of Muslims stop? Does our identity lie in posting pictures of sacrificed animals or in showing the world that we are good citizens who care for the sentiments of others and follow rules of cleanliness in our festivals?”

Maulana Aijaz Kashmiri, imam of Handiwala Masjid, revealed that he had in his Friday sermon given the very same advice as Madani had in his tweet. The advice had not been given out of fear, he remarked. “It’s because we don’t want to give an opportunity to anti-social elements to create riots,” he said. “Communal violence harms society as a whole; and both those who indulge in riots and those who provide opportunities to do so are responsible.”

Aslam Ghazi of the Jamaat e Islami reiterated that qurbani was an act of worship. “It’s between the worshipper and Allah,” he said. “Why should we post pictures of ourselves worshipping?”