Deoband issues fatwa: Chanting 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' un-Islamic

Saharanpur: Joining the debate over chanting ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai', prominent Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband yesterday issued an edict asking Muslims to refrain from raising the slogan as it is ‘akin to idol-worship', which is against the tenets of Islam. The fatwa states that only a human can give birth to a human, so how can the country be called mother.

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat had initially stirred the controversy with his remark. File pic

"We received thousands of queries on the issue so Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a ‘fatwa' saying ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai' is not in consonance with Islam and we will not say it. But we love our country immensely and we can raise slogans like ‘Hindustan Zindabad' and ‘Madre Vatan'. It is not allowed in Islam to represent the country as a Goddess' idol and raise slogans hailing her," said Ashram Usmani, public relations officer of the seminary.