Will invite Yogi Adityanath to open public facilities at mosque in Ayodhya’s mosque: Trust

No ritual for foundation laying, inauguration in Islam, clarifies official.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be invited to inaugurate the public utility facilities coming up next to the mosque in Dhannipur village in Ayodhya.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will be invited to inaugurate the public utility facilities coming up next to the mosque in Dhannipur village in Ayodhya . But there will be no ritual for laying the foundation stone of the religious structure itself, the Trust mandated to construct the mosque has said.

Mr. Adityanath would be invited as the head of Uttar Pradesh.

Lessons from mediating Ayodhya

“I am hopeful he will come and even contribute [funds] towards it,” Athar Hussain, secretary of the Indo-Islamic Cultural Foundation told

The Hindu on Friday.

However, there were no plans to invite Mr. Adityanath for the inauguration of the mosque because, as per Islamic tradition, there was no question of having such a ritual, said Mr. Hussain.

Advice of scholars

There was no precedent for a ritual for laying the foundation stone of a mosque in any of the four Islamic schools of jurisprudence, Mr. Hussain said. “I spoke to scholars of all four schools,” he added.

Mr. Hussain’s remarks come in the backdrop of Mr Adityanath’s comments that he would not visit any ceremony for the mosque in Dhannipur due to religious reasons if invited.

Speaking to a private television channel ABP on August 5 after attending the bhoomi pujan (foundation stone laying) ceremony for the Ram temple at Ayodhya, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mr Adityanath also stressed that he did not expect to be invited.

Hindu sentiment

“If you ask me as a CM, then I have no inhibitions towards any sect, faith or community. If you ask me as a Yogi, I will definitely not go. I will not go because I am a Hindu,” Mr. Adityanath said. He had the full right to express and practice his method of worship as a Hindu, he added.

When pressed further by the interviewer, Mr. Adityanath sarcastically said: “The day they invite me, the secularism of many people will come under threat.”

The construction of the mosque in Dhannipur village, 25 km west of the site where the Babri Masjid stood, is yet to take off nine months after the Supreme Court verdict in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title suit. The Supreme Court had directed the government to provide alternate land for Muslims to build a mosque while permitting the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site.

Apart from the mosque, the Trust will also construct a centre showcasing Indo-Islamic culture of several centuries, a centre for research and study of Indo-Islamic culture, a charitable hospital, a public library and other public utilities on the five-acre land.

Little progress

The nine-member Trust is still waiting to open a bank account even as it is receiving verbal commitments about donations.

The mosque will be built through crowd-funding, Mr. Hussain said, adding that many people wanted to contribute towards the mosque anonymously. The plan for the cost structure and the size of the mosque are yet to be chalked out but the Trust has been receiving proposals from architects, he said.

“The priority would be the mosque, as it would be as per the court verdict and also the aspirations of Muslims,” Mr. Hussain said.