Muslim cleric faces fatwa for participating in Ayodhya ceremony

The chief imam of All India Imam Organisation on Monday said a "fatwa" has been issued against him for attending the January 22 consecration ceremony at the Ram temple complex in Ayodhya. 

Talking to the media, Imam Umer Ahmed Ilyasi also said that from the day of the event, he has been getting abuse and "threats on phone calls" from a section of people. 

The ceremony took place on January 22 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi participating in the rituals, the occasion being attended by over 7,000 invited guests from various communities and walks of life. 

Ilyasi said the fatwa was issued to him by an individual "on social media" and his mobile phone number was mentioned in that and forwarded to all imams and mosque authorities, asking them to "boycott me". 

The fatwa also asks "me to tender an apology" and "resign from my post", he added. "...what prompted them to issue a fatwa, they only know.... Ram Janmabhoomi (temple) trust had sent me an invitation, which I accepted. "After that for two days, I kept thinking about what decision I should take, because it was the biggest decision of my life. 

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But then I thought for communal amity, for the country, and in the national interest, I took this decision and I went to Ayodhya," the imam said. The people of Ayodhya welcomed him. All sadhus and seers acknowledged him and expressed joy and the temple trust also welcomed him, Ilyasi said. 

"My aim was to send 'paigam-e-mohabbat', which I delivered there. In that message, the statement that I gave was that we belong to different castes, our way of worshipping may be different, our rituals may be different, our religion may be different, our faith may be different, but our biggest religion is of being human and humanity," he said. "Secondly, we live in India, so we are all Indians, and we all should together make India strong, and Indianess strong. The nation is above all. The moment I gave this message of love, it started coming up on social media and various channels. Since then, on my telephone, I started getting threats, abuse," Ilyasi said. 

The fatwa also takes exception to "my comments on insaniyat as the biggest religion" and that the nation is "above all", he added. The imam said he had done nothing wrong, so there was no question of him tendering an apology. He said no one has the right to issue such a fatwa. 

"This is India of 'sarva dharma sambhav', of unity in diversity," he said. He asserted that under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, India is rising. 

"India has landed on the Moon.... It is on the path of becoming Vishwaguru, and in this changing India, we will have to be united, be organised, and then it will become strong. As this is an India for all. That's why it's great," the imam added.