NEW DELHI, Oct 18: A day after movie stars Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor were married by a Mumbai magistrate under India’s secular Special Marriages Act, the country’s leading Islamic seminary — Darul Uloom Deoband — declared the wedding un-Islamic, saying the bride did not convert to Islam before the marriage, Indian Express reported on its website.

“According to the Muslim laws, since Kapoor has not converted to Islam, this marriage is anti-Islam,” Habibur Rahman, a senior cleric of the seminary, was quoted as saying.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor tied the knot on Oct 16. The couple got the marriage registered in Mumbai.

“Although there were rumours that a ‘nikaah’ was held, Kapoor’s close friend and fashion designer Manish Malhotra had said that there was a simple exchange of vows between the two actors, who have been dating for five years,” the Express said.

Saif, 42, son of former Indian cricket captain Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore, sealed his relationship with Kareena Kapoor, 32, at his residence in suburban Bandra through a registered marriage.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Nitin Gadkari addressed a rally in Deoband where he claimed his party would work for “social harmony”, without any discrimination on the basis of religion.

The BJP president also repeated his condemnation of the anti-Islam film that has provoked Muslim protests.

“The BJP believes in social harmony where there is no discrimination on the basis of religion or caste... We respect all religions. That is why the BJP condemned the anti-Islam film,” Gadkari said at the rally.

Like the party meeting at Surajkund, he skipped mention of Ram temple, Article 370 that gives special constitutional status to Jammu and Kashmir, which the BJP opposes and the common civil code.