Marriage of actor turned politician, TMC lawmaker Nusrat Jahan Ruhi with business man Nikhil Jain has stoked a massive row in Deoband. Saying that Muslim girls should only marry Muslim boys, Deoband clerics have issued a fatwa against the newly-elected MP.
Cleric Mufti Asad Wasmi said, “After investigation, we got to know that she married into the Jain religion, Islam says that a Muslim can only marry a Muslim.”
The Deoband cleric further added:
“Second, I want to say that Nusrat Jahan is an actor and these actors do not care about religion. They do what they feel like doing. This is what she showcased in Parliament.” He said.
Islamic cleric also took aim at the sindoor and mangalsutra, and said it was a waste of time to talk about those. He also said that this is just the message according to Shariyat( Islamic religious law).
Nusrat Jahan was dressed in a saree and also wore sindoor during her oath-taking. Many extremists had taken objection to her attire during the ceremony. She took the oath in the name of ‘Ishwar’ and ended by saying, “Jai Hind, Vande Mataram, Joi Bangla, Thank you.”
The way she ended her oath-taking with Vande Mataram among other slogans was in sharp contrast to Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq’s controversial remarks during his oath-taking. “Jahan tak Vande Mataram ka taaluq hai (as far as Vande Matram is concerned), it is against Islam we cannot follow it,” he had said. Many other MPs had chanted the Vande Mataram slogan after taking oath as members of the lower house of the Parliament. Rahman’s remark hinted at how certain elements assume the right of dictating terms to a specific religious community. It should be the right of every individual to decide upon something as personal as faith and no one has the moral right to determine what is in accordance with or opposed to a particular faith.
This Fatwa by Islamic Cleric was preceded by hate attacks on the newly elected MP. Certain trolls seemed absolutely enraged about how Nusrat Jahan embraced the Hindu culture and the way she ended her oath with Vande Mataram. Some extremists from a particular community seemed particularly offended by her and targeted her by labeling her as an anti-Muslim. Some of the users hurled unspeakable abuses at her. Along with these hate-filled remarks and abuses, some of these social media users tried to remind her about Islamic values and teachings. This showcased how a few extremists from a particular community lost their cool because an individual supposedly crossed the line arbitrarily set by these extremists.
Defending Nusrat, BJP leader Sadhvi Prachi lashed out at maulvis who issued the fatwa, she added: “If a Muslim woman marries a Hindu and wears bindi, bicchwe, mangalsutra, the Muslim clerics call it haraam. I feel sorry for their intellect but many Muslim men trap our Hindu daughters in the name of love jihad and ask them to wear burqa, then that is not haram. That is justified for them.”