Avoid Offering Namaz on Road, Prayer Should Not Cause Inconvenience to Others: AIMPLB Member

In Hathras, some Hindutva organizations had also objected to namaz on roads.

New Delhi: All-India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahli on Sunday said the prayers offered on the roads should not cause inconvenience to anyone. “Namaz is a prayer before Allah. It is not right to offer the prayer by causing inconvenience to anyone,” said Farangi Mahli.

Offering namaz on roads was not a daily affair and is seen only on Friday, said the AIMPLB member. He added, “In some mosques, when there is no space left for people, they offer prayers on the road on Friday. But if anyone has any objection to it, then the namazis should make an extra effort to reach the mosque in time for it.”

On the other hand, the general secretary of the AIMPLB Maulana Wali Rehmani said that according to the Shariat,  it was not wrong to offer namaz at an open place. When told that roads are not open spaces, Rehmani refused to elaborate on it. He instead said, “Let people read into what I have said,” adding that it had become a habit of some ‘saffron-clad people’ to behave in an arbitrary manner against Muslims.

In Hathras, some Hindutva organizations had objected to namaz on roads and had organized the recital of Hanuman Chalisa outside the Hanuman temple in Sikandararau area and had said it should be done every Tuesday. In Aligarh too, some right-wing Hindutva organizations had decided to recite Hanuman Chalisa but the district administration took prompt action and banned all religious activities on roads.

Besides, Farangi Mahli condemned the alleged incidents of people being forced to chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans in the recent times. Mahli said, “As far as Hinduism is concerned, there is no scope of force. Lord Ram has not said anywhere that his followers should forcibly get slogans raised for him.”

“Lord Ram is a maryada purshottam. How can anyone behave in an undignified manner in his name,” he asked adding, “Those who are behaving in this manner need to read more about Lord Ram so that they could know more about the one in whose name they are doing such things.”

(With inputs from PTI)