Muslim leaders irk by VHP letter; say Muslims are son of soil

Dismissing as "irrelevant" and "illogical" a VHP letter seeking a fatwa declaring India as a friend of Islam, Muslim groups said the country does not belong to any particular community and Muslims are very much sons of the soil.

Dismissing as "irrelevant" and "illogical" a VHP letter seeking a fatwa declaring India as a friend of Islam, Muslim groups on Monday said the country does not belong to any particular community and Muslims are very much sons of the soil.

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"We have not received the letter yet and even if we receive, I don't see any reason to reply to this irrelevant letter," All India Muslim Personal Law Board Working Committee member S Q R Ilyas said.

VHP's Dharm Raksha Manch, a congregation of seers, issued the letter last week asking Muslim clerics to state clearly that Hindus are not "kafirs" and therefore "jihad" does not apply to the community.

Maulana Adbul Khaleque Madrasi, senior cleric and vice-rector at Islamic seminary Dar-ul-Uloom Deoband, termed the letter as "illogical".

"Who are they to ask us this illogical question? They should know we have launched a series of meetings across India condemning terrorism," Madrasi said.

Stating that the seminary has not received the letter yet, he said: "The door of Darul Uloom is open to all. They can come here if they have any doubts on the issue."

Islamic scholar and Jamiat-e-Ulema Hind spokesman Abdul Hamid Noami said that he has not seen the letter.

"I have not seen the letter. But what I can say now is such letters are illogical," he said.