LAHORE: At least 50 clerics have issued a fatwa (religious decree) against Islamic State’s act of banning observance of Eidul Fitr in Iraq.

The Tanzeem Ittehad-e-Ummat Pakistan claimed in a statement here on Tuesday that the fatwa was issued on its request. It said by banning offering of Eid prayer the Daesh committed an act of infidelity because “offering of Eid is wajib (an obligation) and preventing someone from offering a wajib is the severest atrocity… and in the light of Shariah Daesh stands expelled from Islam.”

The statement demanded that the Iraqi government in collaboration with other forces should make foolproof arrangements for offering of Eid prayers in Mosul, a city of Iraq presently in control of Daesh.

Referring to a previous fatwa, the statement said the Jihad methodology of Daesh was un-Islamic.

The clerics who issued the decree included Maulana Raghib Naeemi, Mufti Muhammad Khan Qadri, Mufti Muhammad Siddiq Hazarvi, Imran Hanfi, Haseeb Qadri, Naeem Javed Noori, Pir Qutbuddin Fareedi, Pir Karamat Shah and Pir Mohibullah Noori.

Published in Dawn ,July 15th, 2015

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