Darul Uloom - more than 150 years old seminary in Deoband - has backed the fatwa issued by Saudi Arabian clerics which terms the practice of using Quranic verses (ayats) as ringtone in mobile phones as un-Islamic.

“The phone caller may be in the toilet at the time the call is made. In such a state, hearing Quran ayats and azaan (call for prayer) as ringtone or caller tune is quite un-Islamic. Whether it is Arabia, India or any other part of the world, Islam is the same everywhere, so a fatwa issued in Arabia is no less important here,” The Times of India quoted Mufti Arif Qasmi of fatwa cell at Darul Uloom.

The fatwa echoes a similar diktat issued by a Kanpur-based organisation Jamia Ashraf-ul-Madaris. In 2009, the organisation’s cleric Ghyasuddin had declared using Quranic verses as ringtone un-Islamic as the phone could ring in a toilet as well which would be a sin.

Qasmi also expressed similar reservations. “If a person is in the toilet and heard Quranic ayats after the mobile phone rang, it would be a sin. Besides, most of the time, people answer calls midway, leaving the verses incomplete, which is again un-Islamic as an incomplete verse, sometimes, has a completely different meaning,” he said.

Qasmi also added that the fact that Hindu people using shloka and bhajans as ringtone does not concern Islam. “I can’t comment about other religions. But as far as Islam is concerned, using verses as ringtone goes against the sacred nature of the Quran,” he added.