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| January 20, 2006 | Friday | Zilhaj 19, 1426 |
Sania dismisses fatwa
MELBOURNE: Indian tennis star Sania Mirza dismissed reports conservative Islamists had issued a fatwa criticising her on-court clothing on Thursday after she was dumped out of the Australian Open.
The 19-year-old Muslim said she had no knowledge of the fatwa, or religious ruling, that Islamic cleric Haseebul Hasan Siddiqui reportedly issued last September.
In it he accused her of being a corrupting influence because her on-court attire “leaves nothing to the imagination”.
“I’ve not heard of it now, so I guess it’s over,” Mirza told reporters when asked about the fatwa, saying “times have changed” since Nirupama Vaidyanathan became the first professional Indian women’s tennis player in the 1990s.
Sania, who has previously expressed frustration at the fixation on her Muslim faith, preferred to talk about tennis, rueing missed opportunities in her 6-3, 7-5 second round loss to Michaela Krajicek of the Netherlands.
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