Zafaryab Jilani, convenor of Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC) and All India Muslim Personal Law Board executive member, has called the proposed mosque to be built at the government allotted land in Dhanniur of Ayodhya as “against Shariat”. The Mosque Trust had recently released the blueprint of the proposed mosque.
Jilani talked to Times of India, where he said that as per the Waqf Act, mosques and land for the mosques could not be bartered, making the proposed mosque against the Act. Also, as the Waqf board is based on Shariat, the mosque is against the Sharia Law, claimed Jilani.
Yogi Adityanath-led Government of Uttar Pradesh allotted the 5-acre land of the proposed mosque in August at Dhannipur Village. It is approx 25 KM away from Ram Janmabhoomi. The land was allotted as per the November 9, 2019 order of the Supreme Court of India where the Ram Janmabhoomi site was given to the Hindus to build a Ram Temple and the state government was asked to allot 5 acres of land for the Muslims to build a mosque.
The issue was raised in the AIMPLB October meeting
On October 13, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board’s executive committee held a meeting where Asaduddin Owaisi had raised the issue. All the members present at the meeting had reportedly shared the same view that the mosque on alternate land will be against the Waqf Act. SQR Ilyas, executive member, AIMPLB, said, “We have already rejected the proposal to accept land for the mosque at any other place. As we lost the title suit we don’t need any land for a mosque.”
Ilyas alleged that the Sunni Central Waqf Board is working under the pressure of the government. “The Muslims have rejected the land at Dhannipur in Ayodhya. The mosque trust constituted by the Sunni Central Waqf Board is only symbolically making the masjid there,” he added.
Jilani deemed alternate land against Sharia in November ’19
This is not the first time Zafaryab Jilani has spoken against the mosque on an alternate land. In November 2019, after SC’s judgment, Jilani had said that the judgment is not final. He said, “Others do not need to give their opinion on the matter. The proposal to replace five acres of land for the mosque is against the Sharia… Islamic Sharia does not allow this. The Waqf Act also says the same. The Supreme Court cannot change the mosque land. According to Article 142, it cannot go against any institution.”
Supreme Court had rejected all review petitions in December ’19
In December 2019, the Supreme Court of India had rejected all 18 review petitions. The Supreme Court, which conducted an in-chamber hearing of a bunch of review petitions filed against the Ayodhya ruling, rejected them after finding no merits.
“Mosques are places for offering namaz, it cannot be deemed wrong” – Ayodhya Mosque Trust
Athar Hussain, secretary, Ayodhya Mosque Trust, was not in sync with the views that the land is against Sharia or Waqf Act. He said that as Supreme Court had mandated the land, it cannot be deemed as illegal. “Different people use to define the Shariat in their own ways. Mosques are places for offering namaz. What is wrong if we are building a mosque,” he added.