LUCKNOW: Darul Uloom Deoband has directed Muslims to stay away from the New Year celebrations both on December 31 and January 1 calling it “un-Islamic”.
“Neither revelries nor cutting of the cake on New Year was allowed in Islam,” Maulana Mufti Tariq Qasmi, senior cleric of Deoband said.
“Even greeting each other on new year was un-Islamic. The birthday celebrations and greeting each other on Christmas was also prohibited in Islam,” he said.
The Mufti said in Islam, the new year starts from Moharram. “So those who believe in Islam and are Muslim should avoid participation in such celebrations keeping away from such practices,” he said.
The fatwa comes within days of the warning by the Hindu Jagaran Manch, a saffron outfit affiliated to the RSS, to missionary schools in the communally sensitive district of Aligarh, about 400 km from here, against forcing Hindu students to celebrate Christmas.
Agencies
