More support has come for senior Uttar Pradesh Minister Azam Khan who has demanded that the Taj Mahal be handed over to the Waqf Board. Noted Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has said the iconic monument should be declared a Waqf property and Muslims be allowed to offer ‘namaz’ inside the complex.
According to the seminary’s senior member Mufti Arif Qasmi, the Taj Mahal was built by a Muslim emperor and therefore it should be handed over to the Waqf Board and Muslims be allowed to offer ‘namaz’ five times a day.
Similarly, Maulana Naseer Akhtar Shah, head of Madarsa Jamiat-ul-Anwariya, said the Waqf Board should be allowed to manage Taj Mahal so that its proceeds could be used for the welfare of poor Muslims. It was also wrong to keep Muslims away from the mosque inside the Taj. They should be allowed to offer prayers every day instead of just Fridays, he added.
Prominent Lucknow-based cleric Khalid Rashid Firangimahali has stated that Muslims have a right to pray five times inside the monument.
Azam Khan, who also holds the portfolio of Waqf Minister in the state, has stirred a controversy by stating that since there are two mausoleums in the Taj Mahal complex, it should be handed over to the Waqf Board. He has also demanded that all earnings from the historic monument be spent on the welfare of Muslims.
