Shaban, 19, to be next Jama Masjid Imam. (Source: Express archives) Shaban, 19, to be next Jama Masjid Imam. (Source: Express archives)

Questioning Delhi Jama Masjid Shahi Imam Ahmed Bukhari’s decision to anoint his 19-year-old son, Shaban Bukhari, as the Naib Imam or the “deputy Imam”, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla has said there is no provision under the Wakf Act for hereditary appointment of the Imam of a mosque. Such appointments are the prerogative of the state Wakf Board, she said.

Hitting back at her, Bukhari said the minister had become “senile”.

Speaking to The Sunday Express, Heptulla said, “It is true that there is nothing in the Wakf Act that condones hereditary appointment of Imams. Under the Act, it is the prerogative of the State Wakf Board to appoint the Imam of a mosque. The Imam draws his salary from the board too. I will talk to Mateen Ahmed (former Delhi MLA and former chairman of the Delhi Wakf Board) about this. We are also having a meeting of clerics from all over the country. Let us see if somebody raises this matter there.”

When contacted, Bukhari said, “I do not feel the need to react to what Najma Heptulla says. Let her talk rubbish as she wants to. She has become senile. It is time that she stayed at home.” His family said it is a tradition that has been going on for 14 generations.

Ahmed made it clear that the anointment does not have the sanction of the State Wakf Board, but said the law does not bar such appointments. Ahmed said the Wakf Act does not have a provision for such appointments and as a former chairman of the Delhi Wakf Board he does not agree with the decision either. He said he has therefore decided to skip the anointment ceremony on November 22.

“There is no provision under the Wakf Act for such an appointment — by a father of his son. But to be honest, the law does not explicitly bar it. The Shahi Imam does not need our permission to do it. But I do not agree with the principle of it. That is why I will not attend the function,” he said.

The issue of Jama Masjid’s status as Wakf property is long and complicated. It first came up when Ahmed Bukhari was anointed as his father’s Naib Imam in 1973. Though Bukhari has always contested it, the Delhi Wakf Board’s records list it as a Wakf property.

Earlier, Bukhari found himself at the centre of a row, as he announced that he had invited Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for the ceremony but did not feel the need to call Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His move was criticised by many within the Muslim community but Bukhari stuck to his stand. He claimed he did not feel the need to invite Modi, because he did not reach out to Muslims after he assumed office.

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