The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday took serious note of an alleged diktat issued by a Muslim Jamath at Seydunganallur in Srivaikuntam Taluk of Tuticorin district against 11 families for not following the Hadith (words and deeds of Prophet Muhammad).
The First Bench comprising Chief Justice H.L. Gokhale and Justice G.M. Akbar Ali said that two of the eleven resolutions passed by the jamath on August 19 were "objectionable." The judges ordered notice to the secretary of Muhaideen Jamia mosque to reply to a public interest litigation petition filed by one of the victims.
During the course of arguments, the Chief Justice said that the jamath could not pass an order preventing members of the eleven families from using a burial ground attached to the mosque. He also wondered what the jamath meant by stating that those who ignore Prophet Muhammad should be "eliminated."
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Petitioner’s counsel R. Alagumani claimed that the jamath had also ordered its members to sever all kinds of ties, with the eleven families, such as visiting their houses and inviting them to public gatherings. The Chief Justice said: "If somebody says we will not maintain any relationship with the other, then we cannot force them."
The petitioner, A.C. Muzammil (42), said that he and a few other families in the village belonged to a sect called ‘Submitters to God Alone.’ They believed only in Quran, the holy book, and not the Hadith which was recorded and handed down by disciples of the Prophet to be followed by the succeeding generations.
Irked over such a stand, the secretary of the mosque N.K.J. Mohamed Ali issued a notice to the families on July 9 giving them 30 days time to accept the Hadith and "revert to the righteous religious path." Thereafter, the general body of the mosque met on August 19 and passed the eleven resolutions imposing social boycott.
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