Saharanpur/Deoband: Darul Uloom Deoband, the world renowned Islamic seminary, on Saturday strongly condemned the circulation of “fake news” that the institution had issued a fatwa directing Muslims not to vote for BJP in Kairana and Noorpur bypolls. It is planning to move court seeking action against a section of media.According to acting vice-chancellor of the university, Maulana Khaliq Madrasi, “It has almost become a trend for anyone with a skullcap and beard to issue a statement which is promoted by a section of media as one originating from the university. But every Deoband-based cleric is not associated with Darul Uloom; neither does he reflect the Islamic university’s point of view.”Madrasi was reacting to some “fake viral news” in which Darul Uloom was associated with a statement made by Deoband-based treasurer of Jamiat-Ulema-I-Hind, Maulana Hashib Siddiqui.“The entire country is troubled by the current government and Muslims must not waste giving their votes to BJP,” Siddiqui had said on Friday. He had even appealed to Muslims to vote for Tabassum Hasan, the grand alliance’s candidate for the Kairana bypoll.“If BJP is to be defeated then Muslims must exercise their right to vote and wholly support Tabassum,” Siddiqui had said.Later, many media channels and portals ran the news stating Darul Uloom had issued a fatwa directing Muslims not to vote for BJP.Reacting sharply to this, Madrasi said, “First of all, one needs to understand the meaning of fatwa. It is a suggestion provided on a query related to religious matters in the light of Islamic Sharia. And election is not a religious matter. In fact, Darul Uloom does not comment on any issue other than religious and yet statements by many Deoband-based clerics are linked to the university unnecessarily tarnishing its image. Even the V-C cannot issue a fatwa and it is the prerogative of only a bench comprising muftis of a special department in the university.”University’s spokesperson Ashraf Usmani said, “Since V-C Maulana Abul Quasim Nomani is abroad currently, we cannot take legal action in this matter, but all our papers are ready and once he is back, we will move court against this mudslinging by a few TV channels who are doing it repeatedly.”

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