A Muslim cleric based in Deoband, Uttar Pradesh has issued a fatwa ahead of Diwali. Maulana Abdul Waqeel Qasmi has issued a fatwa saying that bursting firecrackers in un-Islamic and any profit earned from the business of firecrackers is ‘haram’.
Maulana Abdul Waqeel Qasmi, who has declared firecrackers as haram through a fatwa is the state-secretary of Ittehad Ulema-I-Hind.
Read: Muslim clerics issue fatwa to stone Nida Khan if she doesn’t leave the country within 3 days
Maulana Qaseem said, “What others are doing is none of our concern, but for Muslims, it is certainly haram. Bursting crackers is nowhere mentioned in our religious texts. To burn crackers is like burning your own money. This money can be used for better things like education”.
Interestingly, this fatwa comes only days before Diwali, perhaps in a bid to ensure that Muslims stay away from participating in the Hindu festival.
Firecrackers also form a large part of Shab-e-Barat celebrations. Shab-e-Barat is what the Muslims celebrate once a year to seek forgiveness from their God. After staying up all night, it is often followed by sweets and the bursting of firecrackers.
The Ittehad Ulema-I-Hind has a long history of pronouncing fatwas. Recently, the Vice-President of Ittehad-Ulema-I-Hind had targeted Nusrat Jahan, the TMC Member of Parliament who married into a Hindu family.
The cleric slammed Nusrat for celebrating Durga Puja and said that it was un-Islamic for her to do so. In fact, the cleric also said that Nusrat Jahan should change her name and religion because while being a Muslim, she cannot participate in Durga Puja.
