46 Assam Muslim clerics issue fatwa against 16-year-old singer Nahid Afrin who sang against IS

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

Assam Muslim clerics issue fatwa against 16-year-old singer Nahid Afrin who sang against Islamic State terrorism
The leaflets were distributed across Hojai and Nagaon districts in central Assam. The fatwa read that Nahid is scheduled to perform "against the Sharia" on March 25.


Assam, Mar 15: As many as 46 Assam Muslim clerics have issued a fatwa against 16-year-old Nahid Afrin who sang songs against Islamic State terrorism and asked her to perform in public. The up-and-coming singer was also a runner-up in one of the musical reality TV shows in 2015. Police have started an investigation into the matter and whether the fatwa was a reaction to Nahid recently performing songs against terrorism, including the Islamic State terror group. Police said that Nahid and her family would be provided security.

“We are looking at this angle as well,” ADG (special branch) Pallab Bhattacharya said, reported TOI. As per the reports, leaflets bearing the fatwa by the 46 clerics were distributed in Assam on Tuesday.

The leaflets were distributed across Hojai and Nagaon districts in central Assam. The fatwa read that Nahid is scheduled to perform “against the Sharia” on March 25 programme at Udali Sonai Bibi College in Lanka, Assam.

“If anti-Sharia acts like musical nights are held on grounds surrounded by masjids, idgahs, madrassas and graveyards, our future generations will attract the wrath of Allah,” the fatwa read.

16-year-old Nahid Afrin is a Class 10 student lives in Biswanath Chariali, Assam. As per the reports, she broke down after hearing the news of the fatwa that was issued against her by the Muslim clerics.

“I am speechless. I think my music is God’s gift to me. I will never bow down to it (such warnings) and never leave singing,” she said. Her mother added, “The organisers of the musical night told us that the programme on March 25 will not be cancelled.”

Nahid made her Bollywood debut with the 2016 Sonakshi Sinha film Akira and rose to fame across country after she participated in a TV reality show.


http://www.india.com/news/india/ass...sang-against-islamic-state-terrorism-1925594/

 

[Skull and Bones]

Progressive.

 

[Indika]

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/gallery/sandeep-adhwaryu-cartoons-in-mail-today/1/15597.html

says it crystal clear.

 

[doe33]

GUWAHATI: Forty-six Muslim clerics in Assam have issued a fatwa against up-and-coming singer Nahid Afrin, who was the first runner-up in the 2015 season of a musical reality TV show, asking her to stop performing in public.

Police said they were investigating whether the fatwa was a reaction to Nahid recently performing songs against terrorism, including the Islamic State terror group. "We are looking at this angle as well," ADG (special branch) Pallab Bhattacharyasaid.

Leaflets bearing the fatwa in Assamese and the names of the clerics were distributed across Hojai and Nagaon districts in central Assam on Tuesday. According to the fatwa, a March 25 programme at Udali Sonai Bibi College in Lanka, Assam, where Nahid, 16, is scheduled to perform is "against the Sharia".

"If anti-Sharia acts like musical nights are held on grounds surrounded by masjids, idgahs, madrassas and graveyards, our future generations will attract the wrath of Allah," it said.
The young singer, a Class X student who lives in Biswanath Chariali, broke down on hearing news of the fatwa. "I am speechless. I think my music is God's gift to me. I will never bow down to it (such warnings) and never leave singing," she said.

Her mother added, "The organisers of the musical night told us that the programme on March 25 will not be cancelled." Police said Nahid and her family would be provided security cover.

Nahid, who made her Bollywood debut singing for Sonakshi Sinha in the 2016 film 'Akira', first rose to stardom after her successful innings on reality TV . Her beautiful renditions of songs written and composed by the Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankardeva have made her especially popular in Assam.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...fatwa-against-singer/articleshow/57641175.cms

 

[The BrOkEn HeArT]

Not surprising at all .

 

[Gothic]

that's appalling

 

[Indiran Chandiran]

Progressive.

Extremely progressive .More power to the mullahs in Assam.

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

those 46 mullahs can move to a place where their stone age sharia laws work.

this is India and every individual has right to select what he or she wants to to do with their lives.

more power to the Young Girl

I am speechless. I think my music is God's gift to me. I will never bow down to it (such warnings) and never leave singing," she said.

 

[Robinhood Pandey]

i get confused with these religious fundoos.

first they issue fatwas on such things saying its against their religious believes and in the second breath cry about isolation and non integration in the society.

bloody hypocrites.

 

[Jugger]

These mullas are ISIS and vise versa, I have opined before that these filthy people are the real enemies of civilization and the greatest threat to south Asia especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh where there are sizable Muslim populations.
They just can't wait for Armageddon to happen and death and destruction to kill billions.
They preach hate amongst the gullible masses. ISIS supporters should be tracked down and held before they cause damage, hopefully they can be deradicalized.

 

[doe33]

those 46 mullahs can move to a place where their stone age sharia laws work.

this is India and every individual has right to select what he or she wants to to do with their lives.

more power to the Young Girl

These are the reasons they are preferring Hindu extremists in power..They love freedom..
More power to her..

 

[GodToons]

Shhhhhh
India of India would be danger

 

[Dem!god]

Very tolerant. Impressed.

 

[ranjeet]

BJP came to power in Assam last year and now this, wherever BJP comes to power intolerance rises.

 

[The_Showstopper]

The ‘fatwa’ against Assam singer Nahid Afrin that never was
While there was a pamphlet campaign to shut down the event at which the 16-year-old was to perform, a top Assam cleric says there is no fatwa against it.

Facebook/Nahid Afreen


Nahid Afrin is an over-achiever by all standards. At 16, she has been a playback singer in a mainstream Bollywood film, finished second in the country’s most high-profile musical reality show and has won so many awards in singing competitions across the country that she doesn’t even bother to count them.

Not that it is very consequential, but she also got promoted to Class 10 this year.

So, when news broke that a fatwa had been issued against her by some 46 Muslim clerics, warning her to stop singing as it was “against the Sharia”, there was, understandably, an outrage. Enough outrage for even national news channels to take notice and Assam’s chief minister to tweet condemning the “fatwa” and assuring the young woman of his government’s commitment to protect her freedom of speech and safety.


Follow
Sarbananda Sonowal

✔@sarbanandsonwal
We strongly condemn putting restrictions on performance by young talented singer Nahid Afrin by some organisations.

11:54 PM - 14 Mar 2017

• https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=841716804951134209
  
• 
  336336 Retweets
  
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  637637 likes

Follow
Sarbananda Sonowal

✔@sarbanandsonwal
Freedom of artists are essence of democracy. Spoke to Nahid and reiterated our Govt's commitment to provide safety and security to artists.

11:55 PM - 14 Mar 2017

• https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=841716921338855426
  
• 
  195195 Retweets
  
• 
  438438 likes

Even Taslima Nasreen tweeted out, expressing support and solidarity for Afrin.


Follow
taslima nasreen

✔@taslimanasreen
After getting fatwa from 46 mullahs in Assam,16 yrs old Nahid Afrin said she'll never bow down and will never leave singing. Bravo girl!

10:13 AM - 15 Mar 2017

• https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?in_reply_to=841872567405297664
  
• 
  771771 Retweets
  
• 
  1,3831,383 likes

According to a report in the Times of India, the Assam Police was also looking to investigate an Islamic State angle to the episode.

All extremely heartening, expect for that fact there may not have been a fatwa at all. The primary evidence of the supposed fatwa is a leaflet signed by 46 Muslim men, which was distributed in the districts of Hojai and Nagaon.

While the leaflet does categorically mention that the March 25 programme at Udali Sonai Bibi College in Lanka in Hojai district, where Afrin was scheduled to perform was “against the Sharia”, it does not as much as even mention Afrin’s name. The leaflet, which is headlined Guhari(translates into request/appeal), asks people not to attend the March 25 event. “If anti-Sharia acts like musical nights are held on grounds surrounded by masjids, idgahs, madrassas and graveyards, our future generations will attract the wrath of Allah,” it reads.

Referring to a magic show that was recently held in the venue, the pamphlet proclaims that magic, drama, theatre, dance, etc. are intrinsically against Sharia. “If we don’t keep our children away from such things, Allah will not spare any of us,” it says. In context of the musical show that was to be held on March 25, the pamphlet warns that such an event so close to religious places would “definitely anger Allah”.

“We humbly request you to restrain not only yourself from attending such an event but also encourage others to do the same,” it concludes.

The 46 signatories of the pamphlet include office bearers of the Assam State Jamiat Ulama and teachers from various madrassas around the state.

Afrin, too, told Scroll.in that she only got to know about the so-called fatwa, when “a few media people called up my father last night.” The controversy has, however, left Afrin highly perturbed. “I didn’t even know what a fatwa means,” she said. “For a few minutes, I thought I had done something wrong and I should give up singing.”

What fatwa?
A fatwa is a non-binding but authoritative legal opinion or learned interpretation that a qualified jurist or mufti, can give on questions pertaining to Islamic law. The secretary of the Assam State Jamiat Ulama, Maulvi Fazlul Karim Qasimi, stressed that no fatwa has been issued in this case and blamed the media for spreading misinformation. “Is this how a fatwa is issued? On a piece of paper?”

The venue in question, Qasimi said, was in close proximity to religious and educational institutes and there have been instances of people creating a ruckus during similar shows in the past. “The appeal simply states that people might as well avoid the event since there have been instances of people getting drunk and vitiating the atmosphere in the past,” he claimed.

The Maulvi insisted that the community was proud of Afrin – and the notice had nothing to do with her in particularly. “It is just that she was performing in that particular venue.”

That may, however, not be strictly true. According to Afrin, a few local clerics had also objected to her participating in the reality show where she finished second. “They had dissuaded people from voting for me, saying it was a gunah [a crime] to do so as it was against the Sharia,” she said.

While there is little doubt that Afrin has been at the receiving end of bigotry more than once as a result of her singing, the outrage about a fatwa appears misinformed at best.


https://scroll.in/article/831852/the-fatwa-against-assam-singer-nahid-afreen-that-never-was