Kerala BJP vice president KS Radhakrishnan on Monday condemned the statement of Sunni scholar Abdul Hameed Faizi Ambalakkadavu against Kerala Governor Arif Mahammed Khan by saying that he has "opened the door out of Islam by offering prayers at the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala as a believer."
Radhakrishnan said, "On what logical ground and theological faith, one can say that X should be excommunicated from a religion? There is no logic at all. That is why in the original Islam, there is no space for clergy. If there is clergy, of course, clergy can excommunicate a person. But here in the case of Islam, nobody is competent to excommunicate a person. So, the decree, or the fatwa made by the so-called Sunni religious expert is null and void according to the Quran and the Islamic faith."
Referring to Quran, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said there are verses that justify the belief in other faiths. He said one can argue for and against polytheism, ideal worship and the attitude of Islam against the other religion.
Radhakrishnan further said, "So, according to one thought on interpretations and revelations, there is nothing harm in praying in the place of worship of the other persons who believe in different faiths. That has been justified in the Quran verses. I would ask the Sunni clerk what is the mode of Islamic revelations which he depends on. If he depends on the revelations like that wherever you see the Jews and Christians, it is your duty to finish them and the idolaters should be slain then and there and if the clerk believes in such aspect, then he is a dangerous person."
"He should not be permitted in India. Because India is a multi-religious society. We believe in multitude. We believe that man himself is a multitude. So, every human being can be able to practise different sources of worship. So, I definitely ask the clerics in Islam to narrate their faith first. Whether they believe in the monolithic structure of the Islamic religion which demands the annihilation of other religious faiths. And if he believes in such faith, no doubt he is not competent to lead a peaceful life in India not only in India but also in any part of the world," stated the Kerala BJP vice president.
He further advocated for the plurality of ideological existences, customary practices and religious faith.
"I do not justify whether he goes to the temple or whether he paid a visit to Sabarimala. All these are aspects are related to the personal faith of Arif Muhammad Khan, Governor of Kerala. In a democratic polity, nobody has got any right to excommunicate someone from the social life or from the religious life. Who empowered the Sunni cleric to declare decrees on the current practice of Islam? It should be condemned," added Radhakrishnan.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan had visited Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala in April last year.
Earlier this month, Governor Khan had said that the Muslim cleric establishments of the country were upset with the current BJP government as it did not provide them with privileges and comforts like previous governments and were, thus, using every opportunity to create disturbances in the country.
His remarks came amid an ongoing Hijab row in Karnataka.
"The cleric establishments are upset with the current government because it did not provide them with comforts and privileges as it was done by previous governments. They were not elected by the community after the independence and did not face any elections. They claimed to be sole spokespersons of Islam and forced the previous governments to recognize them as such. They used the language of the pre-partition Muslim League," Kerala Governor had told ANI.
"But now, the present government does not give them any privileges. It also ensured that Supreme Court's judgement was honoured via the Triple Talaq law. Now, they are upset and feel like a 'fish out of water'. They want to use any possible opportunity to create disturbances in the country," he added.
Khan further said that the approach of the cleric establishments is to build walls in the society.
( With inputs from ANI )
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