Srinagar : Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board Chairperson Dr Darakhshan Andrabi on Tuesday said imams and religious scholars were free to decide the topics of their Friday sermons, asserting that the board had issued no directions mandating mosques to address specific subjects.
Addressing a press conference, Andrabi said the initiative to discuss common social issues was taken by imams and scholars themselves to address concerns such as drug abuse, youth distress and other social evils. She said discussing such issues through religious discourse could help raise awareness and bring positive change in society.
“Dr Darakhshan Andrabi does not decide these matters. Our scholars, preachers and imams decide religious matters,” she said, adding that religious leaders were free to determine what they wished to discuss in their sermons.
Rejecting allegations that the initiative reflected the agenda of the BJP and RSS, Andrabi said there was no political motive behind the move and urged political leaders not to politicise efforts to address social proble
“No directions were issued,” she said, maintaining that imams could independently decide whether to speak about drug abuse and other social issues.
Her remarks came amid a political controversy over the reported move to coordinate topics for Friday sermons in mosques associated with the Waqf Board. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah had called for the decision to be halted.
