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MUZAFFARNAGAR: In another controversial edict, Darul Uloom Deoband said that it is un-Islamic to install CCTV cameras.

In response to a query made by a Maharashtra-based Muslim if it was okay to install CCTV cameras in a shop or a place where there is movement of a lot of people, a three-cleric panel of the fatwa department of the world-renowned Islamic seminary, said, “There are many other ways to ensure safety of a commercial establishment or a home. In Shariat, it is un-Islamic to shoot a picture. Consequently, even the CCTV is un-Islamic.”

The edict came in response to a question asked by Abdulla Majid, a businessman from Maharashtra.

Several controversial fatwas have been issued by the Deoband ulemas in 2018. Earlier, one fatwa issued by them stated that women wearing designer and body-hugging burqa is ‘haraam’ and not allowed in Islam at all. A bench of muftis had after religious celebrations issued a fatwa on the issue stating, ‘Veil and burqa are supposed to protect a woman from prying eyes. So, a woman wearing a designer burqa or body-hugging outfit is strictly not allowed in Islam.”

In yet another development, Deoband ulemas had criticised 15-year-old Alia Khan of Meerut for reciting Bhagwad Gita slokas at a contest organised by the state government in Lucknow. She won a prize at the contest.

After that, they issued another controversial fatwa, in which the seminary asked Muslim families to avoid marrying men or women working in banks as the money earned through interest is illegitimate in the eyes of Islam.