Muslim Coming Close To Tripple C, Control, Contraceptive and Condom

Deoband Issues Conditional Fatwa Supporting Condom

SIDDHARTH KALHANS

Lucknow

BIRTH CONTROL among muslims has got many new ssupporters now.The triple C, Condom, Contraceptive Pills and Control( read birth control) is no more a taboo for themuslim community in Lucknow. The recent fatwa by the Darul Uloom Deoband, allowing muslims to use condoms under certain circumstances has carried forward the debate the birth control should be adopted by muslims.

The movement initiated by vice-president of All India Muslim Personal Law Board(AIMPLB) has many takers now among the muslims. Whileleaders in the Sunni sect are divided lot, the Shiaswho dominate minority community community are unitedwith the issue of birth control.The President of All India Shia Personal Law Board(AISPLB) Mirza Maulana Mohammad Athar has stated thereis no harm in using condom and contraceptive pills.While talking to The Indian Express Maulana Athar saidthe Prophet as well as the Allah too has said that onemust look into the needs of the children and ensurethat they get proper food and medical assistance. `Thealmighty God has given you mind to thinks about thewelfare of your family and children’, says MaulanaAthar. According to him the vasectomy and any otherform of operation which disturbs the natural shape ofa man or women is prohibited in Islam but no where itis written that one cannot go for birth control.Noted Shia cleric and executive member of the AIMPLB,Maulana Kalbe Jawad too echoed the same and said thatbirth control is not prohibited in the religionprovided the body is not operated upon. While talkingto Indian Express, Maulana Jawad said that use ofcontraceptive pills or condom is not banned in Islamand one must look into the affordability factor whiledeciding the size of the family. `What is the point inincreasing numbers of members in the family when youcannot afford their basic needs such as education andmedicines’, said Maulana Jawad.Maulana Yasoob Abbas of Shia National Front goes astep forward and says that it is the duty of theclerics to teach muslim community on birth control.Talking to ENS he said that there should be a check onthe number of children as education and medicalassistance is a major issue. ` Four wifes and dozensof children are not at all allowed in Islam unless youafford it and one must learn that by not keeping yourchildren and family happy you are annoying thealmighty’, says Maulana Yasoob.The rector of Madarsa Sultania, Maulana Ahmad Warsisays that birth control is not permitted is notpermitted in Islam but one must ensure that he keepshis children happy and provided them all the basicneeds.

State Govt Grabbing Shia Waqf Properties
Siddharth Kalhans
Lucknow


Guess who is the biggest land mafia, grabbing Shia waqf properties ? It is none other than the state government.
There is a total number of 8032 properties registered in the name of Shia Auqaf (Waqf). More than 80 per cent of them are encroached and some are fully grabbed by land mafias. In Lucknow alone there are around 400 Shia waqf properties and almost all of them barring a few Imambadas are grabbed.
Housing over two dozens of government department the buildings of Jawahar Bhawan, Indira Bhawan and even the prayer house of Parsis has been built over the 11 bighas of land which belong to `Waqf Agha Mir’. The main Imambada of Agha Mir was demolished after the government acquired this land and started construction of these buildings. The law enforcing agency Lucknow Development Authority which has been given powers to prevent illegal encroachment and grabbing of land is not far behind. A majority of buildings in the Imambada Sibtainabad, Hazratganj are in the possession of LDA.
In Faizabad the Maqbara of Bahu Begum, where the famous film Umrao Jaan was shot and as per the story the one of the greatest Tawaif of the yesteryears had lived in her childhood, is being fully encroached. In Meerut the `Waqf Mansabia’, has been sold by none other but its custodian.
According to Maulana Kalbe Jawad, member of the Shia Waqf Board, Imam-e-Juma and noted Shia cleric, the government is the biggest grabber of waqf properties. The waqf properties under the control of DM and commissioners are not being spared and no action was taken against the land grabbers. `Samajwadi Party leader Anna Mahraj has taken over the Shahi Masjid in Daliganj, Lucknow and charging rent from the shopkeepers but no action has been taken’, said Maulana Jawad while talking to ENS.
He said that even Ulema cannot be pardoned as they too played a major role in selling waqf properties. The Waqf Minister in the Mulayam Singh Yadav’s cabinet, Shakir Ali, too opines the same but he says that Shia Waqf Board is equally responsible for promoting the land grabbing. While talking to ENS minister said that at present Shia Waqf Board is in the hands of clerics and that is why the incidents of encroachment and land grabbing is increasing. `Waqf Board has destroyed the properties and ulemas played a major role in it. I never knew that these Maulanas are biggest enemy of waqf properties’, said the minister.
Shakir Ali said that he is preparing a proposal to strengthen waqf department and make government intervention possible in the Aauqaf (waqf properties). `Very soon a proposal in this regard would be tabled in the cabinet as it has become necessary to clip the wings of waqf boards’, said Ali.
It may be mentioned that for the last many years Maulana Jawad had been writing to the union, state government as well as other authorities to save waqf properties but to no avail.
Maulana Kalbe Jawwad finally take the plunge by launching an agitation, called Tehrik-e-Tahuffuz-e-Auqaf (Save Auqaf Movement). The movement was started in 1992 but gained momentum from 1998 onwards. His long pending demand for handing over the Hussainabad Trust, one of the biggest Shia Trust in India, to Shia clergy was never fulfilled.
The Husainabad Endowment Fund was created by Mohammad Ali Shah, king of Awadh (1837-1842) to support Husainabad Imambara which he had built in 1838. Initially, the king invested 1.2 million rupees in a single British Government promissory note at 4% interest and executed a deed which pledged that the capital would always remain invested in government papers. The original endowment later swelled to a 3.85 million by a further donation of 2.4 million by Mohammad Ali Shah in the form of government papers and 0.25 million by the trustees.Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, who himself is a progeny of the nobles of Avadh, draws his lineage from Maulana Dildar Husain Naqvi of Sabzwar, Iran, who was the first Imam-e-Juma appointed by Nawab Asaf-ud-Daula (1774-1798). He voices his grouse over the government’s attitude.
A desecendent of Awadh’s last Nawab, Wajid Ali Shah, Mirza Asif echoed the right sentiments as there has been a criminal silence over embezzlement of properties, lands, buildings and huge Imambaras by people steeped in corruption. Throwaway prices were officially realised (while millions exchanged hands in under the table deals) by selling properties dedicated as waqf (trust) for the welfare and upliftment of buildings and the community. There was not a single movement to check these huge assets being drained as probably every multistoried building which stands under the sun in Lucknow confirms its antecedents to some waqf, and which could never have had materialsied without the active connivance of Waqf authorities, ministers and Waqf Board itself.