Muzaffarnagar: In another controversial edict, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has issued a fatwa asking Muslim women to not wear bangles from men at bangle shops. They have called the age-old tradition "wrong and a big sin".
The fatwa was issued on the query of a resident of Deoband town who asked whether it was correct for Muslim women to let strange men touch their arms in order to help them wear bangles.
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In response, the renowned seminary said the women can bring bangles from the shops run by men and wear them on their own. "But if they let the male shopkeeper touch their hands, it is not good and 'haram' (prohibited)," the fatwa read.
Muslim scholars in Deoband town also supported the fatwa. "It is correct that women can't talk to strangers or meet them as per sharia. In that light, letting male shopkeepers touch their arms to help them wear bangles is wrong," Mufti Tariq Qasmi, a cleric in the town, said.
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Last week, Deoband ulemas (clerics) had issued another fatwa stating that buying life insurance policy or getting property insured is un-Islamic. In response to a query put across by a Ghaziabad-based man, a bench of ulemas had stated, "Life and death are in the hands of Allah and no insurance company can guarantee a man's longevity. On the contrary, these insurance companies invest the premium paid by the purchaser of the policy and earn interest on the same, later distributing some of it among their clients. And any income earned through interest is 'haram'."
Several fatwas have been issued by Deoband ulemas since the new year began. Recently, another fatwa issued by them stated that women wearing designer and body-hugging burqa is 'haram' and not allowed in Islam at all. A bench of muftis had after religious deliberations issued a fatwa, stating, "Veil and burqa are supposed to protect a woman from prying eyes. So, a woman wearing designer burqa or body-hugging outfit is strictly not allowed in Islam."
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In yet another development, Deoband ulemas had criticised 15-year-old Alia Khan of Meerut for reciting slokas of Bhagwad Gita at a contest organised by the state government in Lucknow. She later won a prize at the contest.