Mumbai, India - The Union government's affidavit in the Supreme Court officially denying any legal sanctity to the fatwa has stirred a hornet's nest among the ulema.
While some members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said the move would delay justice for a lot of Muslims and was tantamount to interference by the government in minority matters, other clerics said those who refused to accept the Shariat weren't true Muslims.
Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, a AIMPLB member and a noted Islamic jurist, said Darul Qaza centres — or Shariat Panchayats — help legal courts by taking some burden off their shoulders as they were "alternative dispute resolution mechanisms" for Muslims entangled in personal wrangles such as marital discord and inheritance issues.
"Parties involved in a dispute voluntarily approach the Darul Qaza, giving an undertaking that they would abide by the decisions. But, they have the option to approach the courts of law if they do not wish to accept Darul Qaza decisions," Rahmani said.
The Centre had on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the SC saying that fatwas weren't legally binding. Clerics were furious about what they saw as interference in community matters.
"No Muslim worth his salt can ever think of defying a decision made under Shariat," said Taqi Raza Khan, head of All India Ittehad Council, Bareilly. Muslim clerics in Mumbai, however, welcomed the Centre's reply.
The ulema believed it would not discourage Muslims from approaching Islamic courts for justice. "Sharia court never had a legal sanction.
The Centre's reply has removed the doubts among those who alleged that we ran as a parallel legal system," said Mufti Abdul Ahad Falahi, qazi at Mumbai's Sharia Court.
UP Milli Council president, Gulzar Qazmi, disagreed saying: "Fatwa is an opinion based on the tenets of holy Koran and Shariat. Raising a question mark over its validity is unfortunate."