THE ISSUE OF FATWA APPLICATION
In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, clashes frequently occur between the army and militant groups. In such situations, militants have been known to seek shelter in religious buildings and operate from within them. As a result, firing takes place from both sides, and the religious buildings naturally suffer damage. This situation has been ongoing for a long time in the Valley, affecting madrasas, mosques, shrines, and similar places.
In view of this situation, the Indian Army has long been running a campaign in Kashmir known as the “Sadbhavana Operation.” They receive funding from the Government of India. With this funding, they repair damage to mosques, madrasas, and khanqahs and try to restore them. This work has been ongoing in Kashmir for many years.
In June 2007, a conference of religious scholars was held in the Rajouri Kadal area of Srinagar. About 350 religious leaders of Kashmiri Muslims participated in the conference. There, in the form of a fatwa or statement, they unanimously passed a resolution. It stated that getting a mosque repaired by non-Muslims is forbidden in Islam. Therefore, this work under the “Sadbhavana Operation” amounts to interference in religion, and the Government of India should immediately stop it.
This fatwa or statement is completely baseless. It is an attempt to use Islam for political purposes and has no connection to Islamic teachings. In Islamic history, and in India itself, mosques have repeatedly been built or repaired with the cooperation of non-Muslims, yet scholars have never described this as wrong.
The greatest example in this matter is the Kabah itself, which may be regarded as the representative of all mosques. As is well known, the Kabah, or the House of God, was built in Makkah four thousand years ago by Prophet Abraham. The Prophet of Islam e was born in 570 CE. At that time, the structure of the Kabah there was according to the Abrahamic construction.
History shows that before the mission of the Prophet of Islam e, the Abrahamic structure of the Kabah collapsed due to rain. At that time, the people of Makkah rebuilt the Kabah. These people were not believers; they were idol worshippers. Thus, at the time of the Prophet’s mission, the Kabah in Makkah had been built by polytheists. Yet the Prophet of Islam e never objected to it. Even in the eighth year after the Hijrah, when Makkah was conquered and full authority came into his hands, the Prophet did not demolish the Kabah built by the polytheists and rebuild it through the believers.
History further tells us that at the time of the conquest of Makkah, the covering placed over the Kabah had also been made by the polytheists, using the wealth of idol worshippers. Yet despite the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet of Islam e did not replace this old covering. Later, due to a woman’s mistake, the covering caught fire. Only then did he have a new covering prepared and placed over it. Thus, the covering was changed only when this change became an unavoidable necessity.
There are many such incidents in history that clearly show that seeking the cooperation of non-Muslims in a mosque or madrasa is entirely permissible. There is nothing objectionable about it. Calling such an act interference in religion is completely wrong; rather, it is mischief, because it can unnecessarily damage relations between Muslims and non-Muslims.
The building of a mosque or a madrasa is not the worship performed in the mosque or the religious education obtained in the madrasa; it is only their outward structure. A mosque is essentially a place of worship, and a madrasa is essentially a place of religious education. Fatwas or statements of this kind about outward structures seriously harm the spirit of Islam. They shift the emphasis unnecessarily to the structure, whereas the correct approach is to emphasize worship and education. The real focus should be on better worship and better education. Speaking in this way about structures distorts people’s thinking, and distorting the mind is regarded as a serious wrongdoing in Islam.
Why has such a negative mindset developed among Muslims? There is one primary reason: Muslims have lost the temperament required to convey God’s message in the present age. Other communities are no longer seen as people to be informed of this message; instead, they are seen as rivals and competitors. This change in outlook has led to the undesirable outcomes mentioned above.
For a Muslim, the correct religious temperament is what may be called a dawah-oriented temperament. In contrast, the prevailing temperament among Muslims today is a communal or national temperament, not a dawah-oriented one. Dawah means conveying to other human beings the eternal message of mercy from their Creator. Such a mission naturally makes the caller sympathetic and well-wishing toward others. It generates feelings of love for fellow human beings and makes a person gentle and compassionate in dealing with them. A communal or national temperament, on the other hand, produces the opposite kind of attitude.
A communal or national temperament creates a sense of rivalry toward others. Such a temperament is always shaped by material interests. In this mindset, there is room for complaints against others, not for sympathy or goodwill toward them. Today, this communal temperament has generally come to dominate among Muslims. This is why they have developed a negative psychological attitude toward others. This negative mindset is the real root cause of all their problems. (Al-Risala, October 2007)
