Why J&K Waqf Board’s push to uniform Friday sermons triggered a political storm | Explained

The Story So Far: The J&K Waqf Board, headed by senior BJP leader and chairperson Darakshan Andrabi, held a meeting on October 11 at its office in Srinagar. It was attended by imams (prayer leaders) and khateebs (preachers) of hundreds of mosques and shrines affiliated with the Board. Ms. Andrabi informed the meeting about the creation of a core committee of Islamic scholars and preachers to decide on a uniform topic for Friday sermons in Jammu and Kashmir. Ishtiyaq Mohi-ud-Din, an Executive Magistrate at the Board, disclosed that the Board was pushing the idea for the past one month and a directive was already in place “to broach only one topic in sermons”. He also sought views from the religious persons on incorporating non-Waqf mosques under the new uniform sermon. J&K has both Waqf-affiliated and non-affiliated mosques and shrines. Ever since Ms. Andrabi took over the reins of the Board in March 2022, scores of family-run shrines were also taken over by the Board like Ziyarat Shareef Rayil Gund, Dargah-e-Faiz Panah, Mir Syed Taj-ud-Din Hamdani, Ziyarat of Hazrat Sultan-ul-Arfeen, Seer Hamdan Shrine etc. Both the management and financial control were taken over of such shrines across the Union Territory (UT), in a rare bid.

Why does Andrabi want uniform sermon?

Ms. Andrabi suggested the need for a uniform Friday sermons was to “forcefully and unitedly” raise concerns of the society, which included waywardness, late marriages, drugs etc. She argued that the pre-selected topics by the core committee of Islamic scholars will be an impactful way of addressing social issues plaguing the community. This is a departure from the history of mosques in J&K. All mosques and shrines in the past were free to decide on topics to be touched upon in Friday sermons, which has two parts: one that deals with local and contemporary issues and two, where sermon delivered by Prophet Muhammad is recited, ahead of the congregational noon prayers attended by thousands of worshippers every Friday. Traditionally, these sermons would touch upon both political and social issues in Kashmir. Mosques and shrines in Kashmir also have a history of rallying political movements. In 1931, the speech by Abdul Qadeer Khan at the Shah-e-Hamdan Shrine resulted in an upheaval against the Dogra rule in Kashmir. The Jama Masjid in 1964 turned into the platform to mobilise people over the theft of holy relics from the Hazratbal shrine. In the 1990s, anti-India rallies were held from most of the shrines in Kashmir. Ms. Andrabi’s bid is seen by many as an attempt to de-politicise religious places in Kashmir, which saw three decades of armed conflict, and limit their role to social issues, which the core committee of the Board will pre-approve. BJP legislator R.S. Pathania supported the move of the Board’s religious leaders.

Who is Darakshan Andrabi?

Ms. Andrabi, 52, is one of the senior members of the BJP in Kashmir. She has been a loyal worker to the party even though she has not won any elections in the UT. In 2016, Andrabi was first appointed as a member of the Central Waqf Council by the Ministry of Minority Affairs. She was later also appointed as chairperson of Education and Women Welfare Committee of the Union Ministry of Minority Affairs and Member of the Maulana Azad National Education Foundation. In 2019, as the Centre ended special status of J&K, the J&K Waqf Board was brought under the Central Act. In 2022, the Union Minority Affairs Ministry appointed Ms. Andrabi as chairperson of the Board under clause (a) of sub-section (1) of section 14 of the Waqf Act-1995 for five years. The Central Act brought the legal and administrative framework governing the Waqf “in alignment with the applicable national framework”. According to the Board, preservation of religious places in J&K carries a responsibility far greater than maintaining physical structures; it means protecting the spiritual environment and religious traditions that have shaped communities for centuries. She ended “Dastabandi (turban fastening)” of political leaders and removed the families traditionally associated with the shrines. Prior to 2019, the Chief Minister of the State would be the ex-officio Chairman of the Board and, if he happens to be a non-Muslim, an eminent Muslim from the Council of Ministers, was to be appointed as the Chairman. Currently, the elected government of Omar Abdullah has no role in the affairs of the Board.

Why are J&K regional leaders riled up over uniform Friday sermons?

Most regional parties and top religious leaders have criticised the move of the Board to introduce a system of uniform Friday sermons. J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah termed it as “an unacceptable attempt to interfere in the religious affairs”. He said the BJP-appointed Chairperson must “immediately halt this misplaced attempt to please her masters”. Kashmir chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, also head of a pan-J&K conglomerate Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulema, said the State or the government cannot assume the authority to determine religious discourse and script speech to be delivered, or interfere in matters of faith and religious practice. This amounts to forcible State intrusion into the religious sphere, which is against law and principles of freedom of religious practice, he said. Kashmir’s grand mufti Naser Ul Islam objected to the Board’s move, saying “religious sermons are an integral part of Islamic guidance and must be approached with due regard for Shariah, the principles of Islam, and the religious responsibilities of Imams and Khateebs”. He said matters concerning Islamic teachings and religious guidance must not become instruments of political influence. “The autonomy of religious institutions and the dignity of the pulpit must be respected,” he added. Former J&K Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti said it was a bid to push the BJP agenda on the lines of Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in J&K. Leaders of the J&K Peoples Conference (JKPC), Awami Ittehad Party (AIP) and J&K Apni Party also opposed the move.

What is the status of the Waqf initiative?

Ms. Andrabi denied any interference in religious affairs or issuing any formal order. She ruled out any role of the Chairperson or Waqf officials to decide on the Friday sermons. She said it was on the suggestions of the religious scholars and preachers that the subject came up for discussion. She said the Board will have a core committee of scholars and preachers and they will get to decide and not politicians on sermons. Though there is no formal order, the creation of a Board-appointed core committee of scholars to choose the topics for Friday sermons has the ball rolling. Maulana Raiyaz Ul Haq Noorabadi, senior cleric who heads the Hazratbal shrine, backed the narrative of Ms. Andrabi and denied “any government circular or agenda behind the meeting of religious scholars”. He reiterated that Islamic scholars would decide sermon topics in consultation with each other, “keeping in view the prevailing circumstances and social issues”. However, there are many religious leaders in the Jammu province who publicly opposed the Board’s move to thrust down uniform sermons “without consultations and against the provisions in Islam”.