"Vande Mataram is Anti-Islamic"

According to Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind
The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind on Tuesday let slip a rather flaming statement, condemning India's national song because it is anti Islamic. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rebuked the move, calling in anti national.

According to the Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind at Deoband seminary in Uttar Pradesh, the fountainhead of orthodox Islam, some of the lines of India's national song 'Vande Mataram' were "against the religious principles of Islam". The Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Hind at Darul Uloom Deoband supported a decree asking Muslims not to sing the national song. The Muslim clerics do not support the song because "Vande Mataram" means "Mother (India), I bow to thee!", which goes against their religion, since according to Moulana Muizuddin of the Jamiat, "We cannot bow before anybody other than the Allah. It is un-Islamic."

Home Minister P. Chidambaram was present at the convention, which was also attended by some Hindu priests. As per a recent poll conducted by a news channel, 17 per cent agreed that it was un-Islamic to sing Vande Mataram while 83 per cent disagreed. Maulana Kalbe Sadiq of the Muslim Personal Law board says that Vande Matarm simply means salutation, respect or homage. There is nothing wrong in it.

According to Muizuddin it is wrong to bow before the nation or our mothers and that Islam does not permit either. In fact, he said, Islam does not allow Muslims to bow before the Prophet. "Islam teaches us to worship only one God, Allah. We are Indians and there are other ways to express our feelings for the nation rather than bowing before it. Loving your country doesn't only mean worshipping it. We love our mothers. Islam doesn't even permit bowing before mother. We love the Prophet but we cannot even bow before him." he said.

Maulana Salman, who teaches at the Deoband seminary, said: "We are true Muslims and true Indians. There is no doubt about that. But we no longer remain Muslims when we offer our prayers to anybody else than the Allah. Patriotism is not only about singing songs. We are and will remain Indians without singing Vande Mataram."

The statement drew a lot of flak from the BJP which said that Islamic organisations should desist from issuing such fatwas that are against the nation's interest. "We oppose the fatwa and will not tolerate such religious decrees at any cost. They are against our national values," BJP national general secretary Kalraj Mishra told reporters "As such fatwas stand against national integrity, we all should stand united against them," he added.

The BJP also criticised the Congress for not taking a stance against a convention where the fatwa against the national song was issued. "Participation of Congress ministers like Home Minister P. Chidambaram is unfortunate. It clearly reflects approach of the Congress party that it doesn't mind compromising with anti-national organisations just to appease the minority community," said the BJP's state unit president Ramapati Ram Tripathi. "Interestingly, the Congress leaders are singing the national song since 1896 and had even organised a programme in 2006 on its 100th anniversary, but now it's truly shocking and surprising as they themselves are supporting anti-national organisations that are against Vande Matram," he added.