Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani. File
Hyderabad-based Islamic scholar Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani succeeded the late Maulana Syed Rabey Nadw as president of the influential All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). In an interview with The Hindu, he speaks about the challenges ahead for the AIMPLB, including the continuance of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, the issue of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the bogey of ‘love jihad’ and ‘bhagwa love trap’.
Excerpts:
What are the challenges which the AIMPLB is facing now?
A crucial challenge is the law (Places of Worship Act, 1991) that stated that the position of places of worship as was in 1947 remains unchanged. Our country is huge, with people of different faiths. If people begin to stake a claim on different (religious) structures and stir up their histories, then the whole country will face massive testing times. The big challenge for the AIMPLB is to ensure that this law remains. We are exploring all possibilities, including approaching courts, meeting leaders of minorities, and Opposition leaders.
What are the other challenges?
Another important issue is the UCC. It isn’t only an issue of the Muslims, but also of other faiths. The personal laws of tribes too are different. The spirit of the Constitution is to permit communities to follow their respective religion. This should be maintained. To have the country represented by one religion, instead of secularism should not be allowed.
What is your response to the alarm being raised over ‘bhagwa love trap’?
The way this issue, that of Muslim women going with non-Muslim men, is being projected is not correct. We live in the very same society. If we look into our families and society, such incidents are few and far between. This kind of propaganda is being done by the Sangh Parivar. Some of our emotional orators spice up their speeches with this, which is harmful for Muslims. If something like this does happen, then it is due to co-education and workplaces where there are both men and women working, and this has happened in the past too. The Hindutva forces have cooked up the tale of love jihad. They do not propagate their agenda on the grounds of humanity, but oppression.
How do you perceive the issue of the Internet being used for shrill debates over sects in Islam and over maslak (schools of thought)?
The city has a lot of state-of-the-art hospitals, but is it possible to have no sick people here? To assume that everybody in the community will be right-thinking is an impossibility. But, you will indeed see that before 1972 many sects and schools of thought would not usually come together. Now, the scenario is different. They are all coming together to talk about issues connected to religion, education, politics, and society. This gives a lot of hope.