Date:06/09/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/09/06/stories/2006090606311300.htm

National

Moradabad Mufti condemns Deoband

Special Correspondent

LUCKNOW: Adding fuel to the fire in the dispute between the Deobandi and Barelvi (derived from Deoband and Bareilly) "maslaks" (sects) of the Muslims in India, the Mufti of Moradabad, Abdul Mannan Kalimi, on Tuesday said the teaching in Darul Uloom Deoband and Nadwatul Ulema, Lucknow, were not in `conformity with Islamic principles.'

The Mufti who belonged to the Barelvi sect said that as long as these institutions were present, there was no need to find a Salman Rushdie among the Muslims. The Moradabad Mufti even dubbed the Wahabis (another sect) as non-Muslims.

Mufti Kalimi was in the news recently for issuing a controversial `fatwa' against about a hundred people belonging to the Barelvi sect who participated in "Namaz-e-Janaza" (prayer for the dead) in Ahraula village in Moradabad district on August 11. Their only fault was that they stood in prayer that was led by a Deobandi.