It is a time of sorrow for the family of YouTuber Danish Zehen, who died just days ago in a car crash in Vashi. Instead of helping them to process their grief and pray for his departed soul, just a day after the funeral, two maulanas visited the family and denounced the youth's lifestyle. Shockingly, the priests asked Danish's mother to upload a video on his social media accounts, to warn other youths against following his path.

Already devastated by Danish's sudden death, his family is now reeling under an onslaught of hate on social media for the Internet sensation. At the time of his death, Danish had 1.2 million followers on Instagram and over 3.7 lakh subscribers on YouTube. He was also a contestant on the reality TV series Ace Of Space. However, several Internet trolls posted comments stating that Danish's career choice was against Islam, as it involved singing, dancing and performing in public.



Danish Zehen

Threats of damnation

The family was even more shaken when they received an unpleasant visit from a couple of Muslim clerics. Danish's brother, Gufran Mullah told mid-day, "The maulanas told my mother that what my brother was doing was a sin. They told us, 'Hamare Ulema uss par lanat bhej te honge (Our priests must be cursing him to damnation)'. I asked him how he could know that, because as far as I know, in Islam only god knows what happens after death. I was angry, as the priests wanted my mother to record a video and upload it on social media."



Gufran Mullah, Danish's brother

Hacking attempts

Gufran said of his brother, "He was an innocent 21-year-old. How is the life he chose a sin as per our religion? If my brother did anything wrong, I can only pray that Allah may forgive him. But people talking s**t about him on social media are just jealous of his fame. I remember Danish used to say, 'Bhai tu nahi jaanta mere saath kya kya hota hain'. Today I understand what he meant. There is a video on YouTube in which he was beaten up a few months ago by a group of people who always picked on him."

The family is also distressed about hackers trying to break into Danish's social media accounts, which comprise his life's work. "There are people trying to steal his social media accounts. Right now, I have his iPhone, and I am getting hundreds and hundreds of emails for password reset for his Facebook, Tiktok account, YouTube and email addresses. His Instagram account has already been deleted, and we have given a complaint to the Cyber Cell about this," said Gufran.

He added, "There are lot of people saying lot of things about my brother on social media. I would only request then to let him rest in peace. My brother was innocent, he lived his life the way he wanted, and he always helped others."

Expert speak

Mufti Manzur Ziyaee, an Islamic scholar well-known from his participation in TV debates, said, "As per Islam, we should not taunt departed souls. One should always pray for people who are no more. Always remember the good in them, and pray for them. Using words like lanat (damnation) for a person who is dead is perhaps not Islamic."

Also read: Tragic death! Internet star Danish Zehen was supposed to meet cousin before crash

Catch up on all the latest Mumbai news, crime news, current affairs, and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates