Representational image | Photo Credit: PTI

Lucknow: In a big twist to the Ayodhya land dispute case, the Ram Temple issue has now gained ‘international’ dimensions with Iraq's top Shi'ite cleric Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani issuing a fatwa stating that properties belonging to the Waqf Board cannot be given away for construction of a temple or any other shrine.

Al-Sistani is revered by Shi’ites across the world and he leads one of the most revered Shia seminaries in Najaf, Iraq. He issued the fatwa in response to a question from Kanpur-based educationist, Dr Mazhar Naqvi.

The fatwa mainly targeted Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi who has suggested on numerous occasions that the disputed land where Babri Masjid once stood be donated for the construction of Ram Temple.

In the fatwa, the Iraq cleric said that the Waqf property belonged to the Shi’ites as the Babri Mosque was built by a Shi’ite ruler. Rizvi has slammed the fatwa, calling it a conspiracy to internationalise the issue. “It hasn’t been told (to the Iraqi high-cleric) that there was a temple which was razed for the construction of the mosque,” the UP Shia Waqf Board chief argued.

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Rizvi said the Ram Temple matter is an issue of faith for the Hindu community. He added that Hindus should be given their right and Muslims should not create roadblocks. He went on to say that the Shia Board would not budge from its stand even if all the Muslims of the country oppose their stand.

As part of the hearing in the Ayodhya Land dispute in the Supreme Court, the Uttar Pradesh Shia Waqf Board had suggested that the Ram Temple be constructed at the disputed site in Ayodhya and a mosque in a nearby Muslim-dominated area.