Several Muslim clerics have slammed the fatwa against films and acting issued by the Darul Ifta, part of Deoband’s Darul Uloom.
LUCKNOW: Several Muslim clerics have slammed the fatwa against films and acting issued by the Darul Ifta, part of Deoband’s Darul Uloom, which provides online answers to questions relating to the Muslim faith posed by people from all over the world.
The latest fatwa has been sparked by a simple query: Is working in cinema permissible?
The edict issued in response to this poser (fatwa no. 193) reads: "The cinemas are centres of sins and other unlawful things which are either basically unlawful or co-operation on unlawful [sic] and both these things are haraam in Shariah; the Quran says: But help ye not one another in sin and rancour, fear Allah, for Allah is strict in punishment and Allah (Subhana Wa Ta'ala) knows best."
Says Nadeemul Wajidi, mufti at the Darul Ifta: "When Islam does not permit making pictures of living things itself, then any kind of activity related to film-making is haraam for a Muslim as per the Shariah [Islamic law], whether it is production of films, watching them or working in them.
" He points out that the Darul Ifta's fatwa (no. 221) clearly states that "the pictures of living beings, whether still or moving, are unlawful".
Another mufti, Maulana Irfan, ups the ante further, saying: "Islam clearly prohibits earning from singing and dancing. So earning from acting in films is not halaal
for Muslims."
Islam prohibits but parasti (idol worship), and fatwa (no. 1232) says: "Photography of animals and human being is not allowed without any exigency and pressing need, while photography of things other than living being is allowed."
According to fatwa no. 1867, the pictures of living beings are prohibited for two reasons: (i) it leads to polytheism; and (ii) it resembles the creation of Allah. "These two reasons are present in every picture whether they are worshipped or not," it says.
However, Muslim clerics have pooh-poohed the latest fatwa. Eminent Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad points out that Arab TV channels broadcast live five-time salawat as well as the tarawih prayers from Mecca.
"Some Maulanas and muftis are out to make a mockery of our religion. I beg them to put an end this frivolity and do something constructive for the faith," he told DNA.
Says film actor Raza Murad: "Such fatwas are meaningless.”
Asks an angry Maulana Yasoob Abbas: "What about photographs on passports which every Muslim needs for Haj, and what about the contribution of legends like Dilip Kumar, Meena Kumari and Naseeruddin Shah to Indian cinema.
Are we going to put all that in the dustbin? If we continue to be so thick-headed, our faith will become a laughing stock."
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