On Monday, Darul Uloom Deoband, the biggest Islamic seminary in India issued a fatwa warning the students against trimming their beards. The seminary stated that any student who would trim or shave his beard would be ostracized from the institution.
According to the reports, the notice was issued by Maulana Hussain Ahmad Haridwari, who oversees Darul Uloom’s education division. He mentioned in the notice that shaving or trimming of beard is a wrong practice as per Islam and that the students at the college shall never get their beards shaved.
The letter made it quite clear that any current student who shaves would be dismissed from the university. It added that any student attempting to enter the university for the next semester by shaving off his beard would not be admitted to the premises.
Reiterating that the students who shave beards would be ostracized, the notice stated that the university would not tolerate student disobedience. The fatwa further recalled that on February 6, four of the Darul Uloom Deoband students were dismissed for trimming their beards. Reports mention that the students had issued a letter of apology to the seminary, but the latter did not heed.
The fatwa issued by the seminary has been welcomed by the Ulema of Deoband, Maulana Mufti Asad Qasmi. Maulana Mufti Asad Qasmi of Madrasa Jamia Sheikhul Hind, who is also a former student of Darul Uloom said that everything that Hazrat Mohammad Sahib has adopted is Sunnat. “Every Muslim should spend his life by following Sunnat and Shariah principles. It is Sunnah to keep a handful of beards in Islam. If the beard growing more than this is cut, then there is no harm in it. But it should be maintained,” he said.
Earlier, the Ulema had issued a fatwa against Mulsim women and had barred them from taking “unnecessary photographs” and uploading them on social media. Also, Darul Uloom Deoband had issued a fatwa against the Mulsim women from shaping eyebrows or donning a haircut. The seminary had said that any woman who shapes eyebrows or gets a haircut is indulging in un-Islamic behaviour.
