LAHORE: The Jamia Naee­mia, a seminary aligned with the Sun­ni Barelvi school of thought, on Monday issued an edict dec­l­a­r­i­­ng “purchasing gifts from Tosh­­a­k­hana at reduced prices tan­ta­mount to breach of (public) trust”.

Religious scholars from the seminary also sought the intervention of Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial into the matter to help change the law pertaining to retention of foreign gifts.

A joint religious edict (fatwa) by four muftis — Dr Raghab Naeemi, Mufti Imran Hanfi, Mufti Nadeem Qamar and Mufti Arif Hussain — stated that To­shkhana is a public trust and it can only be spent on public welfare.

The scholars also referred to several sayings of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) discouraging retention of gifts by government functionaries.

Published in Dawn, March 14th, 2023