Allahabad HC Denies Pre-Arrest Bail To Muslim Scholar Who Allegedly Issued Fatwa To Kill Waseem Rizvi for Religious Conversion

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Synopsis

During an interview with a YouTube channel, the accused allegedly said that since Tyagi had changed his religion from Islam, therefore, his murder would be just as per Holy Quran and Islamic jurisprudence.

The Allahabad High Court recently denied anticipatory bail to Maulana Syed Mohammad Shabibul Husaini, a Muslim scholar accused of issuing a Fatwa to kill Jitendra Narayan Singh Tyagi formerly known as Waseem Rizvi.

An FIR had been registered by Tyagi on March 18 this year alleging that Maulana Husaini had given a statement on INN Channel on YouTube that Tyagi's killing is desirable (“Katl Wajib Hai”) while referring to the Fatwa issued against the author Salman Rushdie.

Tyagi had alleged that since he had changed his religion and accepted Sanatan Dharm, he had been repetitively getting threats of life, and after the aforesaid video was uploaded on YouTube, he was again being threatened.

Seeking a pre-arrest bail, the counsel for Maulana Husaini submitted that he is a scholar of the Shia community only concerned with academics.

The counsel contended that the interview in question was taken when Maulana Husaini was returning after finishing some academic activities at New Delhi and he had replied to certain questions asked by a journalist regarding Narayan Tyagi.

The counsel stressed that Maulana Husaini had not issued a fatwa as he has no authority to do so rather he had merely answered some questions in light the provisions/sermon of the Holy Quran and Islamic jurisprudence.

Court took note of the transcript of Maulana Husaini's interview held on YouTube. Court noted that the meaning and purport the interview was that Islam has supremacy over all it is a religion, which does not tolerate, does not accept.

Court pointed out that as per the transcript of Maulana Husaini's interview, he had stated that punishment for Murtade Fitri (one who though being born to Muslim parents, rebels against Islam and becomes a Kafir) is only and only murder and no one has the right to forgive him.

Further, the court highlighted that in the interview, Maulana Husaini had also reinforced his stand with the fatwa issued by Imam Khomeini to kill the author Salman Rushdie.

He justified the murder of Wasim Rizvi since he was a Muslim but adopted the Kufr, court stated. 

Moreover, court expressed concern over the fact that in the affidavit filed before the court also, Maulana Husaini had tried to justify his statements made during the said interview. 

"…the applicant has justified his statements and has stated on oath that ‘he had given the statement according to Islamic Jurisprudence (Shia-Jafri) based on many books, wherein it is written that according to Jafri or Imami school, the Male apostates must be executed, while female apostates must be held in solitary confinement until they repents and return to Islam. Apostasy from Islam is considered a crime," noted the court. 

Importantly, court pointed out that though it had been claimed by Maulana Husaini that he had only referred to the provisions/sermon of the Holy Quran and Islamic jurisprudence, he did not refer to a single verse specifically.

Therefore, while noting that Maulana had stated in the interview that it is just to murder Muslims who accept other religions, court denied to give him any relief. 

Case Title: Maulana Syed Mohammad Shabibul Husaini v State of UP