New Delhi: The Ajmer dargah’s (shrine) spiritual head, who had earlier supported a ban on sale and consumption of beef and other bovine products, was on Wednesday “sacked” by his brother and declared a “non-Muslim.”
Syed Allauddin Alimi, brother of Syed Zainul Abedin, claimed that he took the extreme step with the support of the family. He has appointed himself the new ‘deewan’ or spiritual chief of the Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti mausoleum in Ajmer.
Alimi’s claim, however, has not been recognised by the dargah committee.
The post of ‘deewan’ is hereditary and belongs to heirs of the 12th-13th century Sufi priest Syed Moinuddin Chishti. ‘Deewan’ has no control over the management of the shrine but gets a monthly remuneration from the management committee.
“I am the new deewan. I have the support of the entire Chishti clan. Abedin is an apostate because he had spoken in violation of the Islamic law. Whatever he said is blasphemous. I am not interested in salary. Abedin can have the money. But I wont allow him to enter the shrine again,” Alimi told media on Wednesday.
On Monday, welcoming the Gujarat government’s move to enact a law with the provision of life sentence for those found guilty of cow slaughter, Abedin had said that the Modi government should declare cow as the national animal if the government wants to protect it.
“Cow is the symbol of religious belief. The government should declare cow as the national animal. Not only the government, but it is also the duty of every follower of the religion to protect them,” he said.
He urged the government to impose a ban on the slaughter of all bovine animals in a bid to promote communal harmony in the country.
“The government should widely impose ban on slaughtering of all bovine animals and sale of beef, which is one of the prominent reasons for communal hatred. Muslims should become an example by taking resolution to not consume beef in the interest of communal harmony in the country,” he had said.
Abedin also said that saying ‘triple talaq’ at one time for seeking divorce is not as per Sharia.
He had made these statements during the 805th annual function at the shrine, which was attended by religious heads of various shrines from different parts of the country.