Shia Central Waqf Board chairman Wasim Rizvi has sent a video to media stating that the Muslims who keep beard without moustache are fundamentalists who have become the scary face of terror in India and the world. In a video shared by Times of India staffer Rohan Dua, the Shia Board chairman is seen saying that the fundamentalists are the same people who are creating fear in the hearts of people worldwide.
https://twitter.com/rohanduaTOI/status/1015831062445023233?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Rizvi has stated in the video that keeping a beard is ‘sunnah’ (way of life as prescribed in Islam), but not keeping a moustache is not. He added that the fundamentalists have made it a norm deliberately to create fear among people because a beard without a moustache make the face scary and is it ‘haram’ to create fear among people.
Rizvi further added that such fundamentalists then start interfering in the personal lives of the common public and issuing fear mongering fatwas that common traditional symbols like bindi or sindoor are haram. He added that sporting a traditional attire or harmless traditional symbol can never be haram, but creating an environment of fear among the people is haram.
Rizvi has further added that such fundamentalists should be booked under sedition and treason charges because nobody has a right to create laws and regulations apart from India’s law and constitution.
Wasim Rizvi went ahead to add that these Islamist fundamentalists are being inspired and encouraged by the occasional ISIS flags spotted in Kashmir and they are under the impression that they will be able to establish an Islamic fundamentalist regime in India too. He has added that these Islamist fundamentalists are leading towards causing major violence and bloodshed in the country and timely strict action needs to be taken against them.
It is notable here that the Shia Board chairman has been severely opposed by Sunni groups and has been very vocal against the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. He had earlier stated that mosques built over Hindu temples should be returned to Hindus. He had also been supportive of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. He has also stated in the past that madarsas are the breeding grounds for terrorists, for which a Muslim group had put a bounty of Rs 10 lakh on his head. There had also been threats to his life and in April, the Delhi police had arrested some suspected aides of Dawood Ibrahim over a plot to kill Rizvi.