Fatwas not an order, but guidance: Darul Uloom Deoband

Darul Uloom Deoband has said fatwas issued by the seminary are meant for guidance and should not be enforced forcibly.

A fatwa is not an order but a guidance of principle and any one can abide by it or ignore it, in-charge of the fatwa department of the seminary Mufti Habibur Rehman told reporters last evening.

They are not to be enforced forcibly, he said.

On the issue of sacking of controversial Maulana Ghulam Mohammed Vastanvi, who had raised the hackles of conservatives by praising Narendra Modi, from the post of vice-chancellor, Rehman said that the step was taken in a democratic manner.

Vastanvi was removed in a democratic manner through the process of voting, he said.

The step was taken after Vastanvi refused to resign from the post, he added.

Maulana Vastanvi was removed from the post of Vice Chancellor by Majlis-e-Shoora (management body) of the seminary on July 24.

Vastanvi, an MBA, was elected vice-chancellor on January 10 following the death of his predecessor Maulana Marghoobur Rahman.

The moderate Maulana, who has a Facebook page in his name, had triggered a controversy soon after his appointment with his remarks praising Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's rule and his development policy.

Rehman, who was here to lay a foundation stone of a mosque at Shahpur village, appealed to the Muslims to regard all religions and work for the development of the country.