Omar Abdullah and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq slam J&K Waqf Board move to 'standardise' Friday sermons

Srinagar: Political leaders across the spectrum, including Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have criticised the J&K Waqf Board, led by BJP leader Darakhshan Andrabi, over its decision to introduce uniform topics for Friday sermons at shrines and mosques in the Union Territory.

Terming the move as “BJP’s interference in the religious affairs” of Muslims, they demanded that the Waqf Board be brought under the control of the elected government.

The political backlash followed a recent meeting of the J&K Waqf Board, chaired by Andrabi, at which it was decided to constitute a core committee of Muftis, Imams and Khateebs to identify and finalise common topics for Friday sermons at shrines, jamia masjids and other religious institutions associated with the board.

The meeting was attended by several scholars, including Abdul Rashid Dawoodi, Dr Ghulam Haleem, Syed Mohammad Hussain Haqani and others. Andrabi said the initiative aimed to "address social evils and other issues from the pulpit". However, she later denied issuing any formal order, stating that the community-focused initiative was entirely "driven by Imams, Khateebs and Muftis".

“This is an unacceptable attempt by the BJP to interfere in the religious affairs of Muslims and will not be accepted under any circumstances. The BJP-appointed chairperson must immediately halt this misplaced attempt to please her masters,” Abdullah wrote on X.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU), an amalgam of around 50 religious organisations across Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh led by Mirwaiz Farooq, termed the move a “devious agenda” and “a forcible state intrusion into the religious sphere, which is against law and principles of freedom of religious practice”.

“The state or government cannot assume for itself the authority to determine religious discourse and scripted speech to be delivered, or interfere in matters of faith and religious practice,” the MMU said in a statement. It urged the Waqf Board to restrict itself to its administrative responsibilities of management, maintenance and protection of Waqf properties, "rather than come up with such a devious agenda and unnecessary controversy."

Former chief minister and PDP president Mehbooba Mufti said Kashmir was being treated as a laboratory to test the limits of Muslim tolerance, warning that such measures could eventually be extended to other parts of the country.

“Imposing a uniform template on these sermons disregards the diversity of local realities and the role of religious scholars in guiding their communities… BJP cannot use Waqf institutions to interfere in religious affairs or prescribe what should be preached from the pulpit,” Mufti said.

Drawing parallels with the proposed Uniform Civil Code, she argued that uniformity cannot not be imposed on a diverse society without disregarding its distinct religious practices, customs and traditions. She also said the administration of Waqf affairs should be handed over to an elected government rather than used as an instrument to regulate religious expression.

Awami Ittehad Party spokesperson Inam un Nabi said that “the pulpit of a mosque is not an administrative desk and an imam is not a spokesperson required to read out an approved script”. “We will oppose any attempt to turn the Friday pulpit into a controlled platform. If the proposal is intended to make sermons compulsory and uniform, the board must withdraw it and place the complete guidelines in the public domain… the pulpit cannot be reduced to an instrument of official messaging,” Nabi said.