New Delhi: Two months after the spiritual head of Ajmer Dargah, Syed Zainul Abedin, announced his decision to give up beef and extended his support to overhaul the practice of instant talaq, a fatwa has been issued against him, calling for “social boycott” of the “ignorant Muslim”.

The fatwa issued by Sher Mohammad Khan, head of Darul Uloom Ishaqiya, Jodhpur, has criticised the views of Ajmer Dargah’s Dewan and has stated that “the words uttered by Syed Zainul Abdein were against the word of Allah.”

After the annual Urs ceremony in April at Ajmer Dargah, Abedin had announced his and his family’s decision to give up beef forever. He had also called out flaws in the practice of triple talaq and said that Sharia and Quran never permitted such a practice of divorce in one sitting.

Quoting verses from Quran, Darul Uloom Ishaqiya chief said, “The mention of divorce is there in Quran and the three-layered divorce is also mentioned. Though the practice of instant divorce is not an appropriate form in the eyes of the almighty, but still it is valid and you cannot deny it. By denying this, the Dewan has gone against the word of Allah. Such a person is completely unaware of his own religion and he should seek public repentance and forgiveness.”

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In April, when Abedin had called for a national law banning cow slaughter, his brother, Syed Alaudin Alimi, had issued a statement claiming that he was appointed the new Dewan of Ajmer Dargah by the family. Alimi had said Abedin was no longer a Muslim.

Soon after this, Abedin went ahead and christened his son as the successor of the post of the Sajjadanashin or the spiritual head of Ajmer Dargah.

However, Alimi stood by his ground and has written to Islamic scholars all over the country, seeking fatwa against the statements made by the Dewan and is hopeful that other scholars would follow the Rajasthan Darul Uloom decision.

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Taking to News18, Alimi said, “Such a person cannot remain the Sajjadanashin and after this fatwa, he should step down as the Dargah Dewan or should be made to do so.”

The fatwa stated that Abedin was no longer a “proper Muslim” and must be “socially boycotted”.

“The statement by the Ajmer Dewan on Triple Talaq is not correct and is against the spirit of the Quran. It is like going against the spirit of Islam... his statements are based on ignorance. The kind of views he holds matches that of the Wahabi sect and he demands to be socially boycotted as a Muslim. Fellow Muslims must stop acknowledging him as one among them, if he does not seek forgiveness,” read the fatwa by Sher Mohammad Khan.

Abedin has been the Dewan of the shrine since 1987, after the Supreme Court order recognised — under the Dargah Khwaja Saheb Act, 1955 — him as the most direct and eldest descendant of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti.