Feature Image Credits: maharashtradesha.com
Leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi has courted trouble by stating that the planned Ayodhya mosque on the five-acre land is ‘haram’ or un-Islamic.
Owaisi’s statement immediately drew a rejoinder from the Mosque Trust on Thursday 28 January, which characterised his remarks as part of his political agenda, reports News18.
Owaisi was speaking at an event in Bidar in Karnataka, when he said that the Ayodhya mosque undergoing construction on the five-acre land allotted by the Supreme Court was ‘haram’ or un-Islamic. He went on to say that even offering prayers or donating for its construction is against the Islamic tenets.
Athar Husain, secretary of the Ayodhya Mosque Trust and Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation (IICF), criticized Owaisi and said that no piece of land where prayer was offered to the Almighty Allah could be ‘haram’.
“It’s possible his [Owaisi’s] ancestors never took part in the 1856 revolt against the British. We are from Awadh, which was the crucible of revolution, and are dedicating the IICF centre in Ayodhya in the memory of one of our greatest freedom fighters, Ahmadullah Shah, who liberated Faizabad from the British for at least a year,” Athar Husain said.
The Ayodhya mosque project was formally launched on Tuesday (26 January) with the unfurling of the tricolour and a tree plantation drive at Dhannipur, which is located around 24 km from the Ram Janmabhoomi.
The mosque’s trust, named as Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation, was constituted following the Supreme Court verdict in 2019 which ruled for the construction of a temple at the Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya.
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