42 clerics in Assam issue fatwa against 16-year-old singer Nahid Afreen

Pic courtesy: ANI

Guwahati: 42 clerics in Assam have issued a fatwa against upcoming singer Nahid Afreen asking her to stop performing in public.

The 16-year-old girl had earlier sung songs against terrorism, especially the dreaded Islamic State.

The fatwa was distributed in Hojai and Nagaon districts in Assam.

The fatwa asks the girl not to perform at a programme in Udali Sonai Bibi College on March 25. The clerics think that performing at stage was "against the Sharia".

The venue where the event is scheduled to take place is in the vicinity of a mosque and a graveyard.

The fatwa said if musical programmes are held at places near mosques, madrassas and graveyards, our next generation will attract the wrath of Allah.

Meanwhile, reacting to the fatwa, Afreen said, “I was shocked and broken from inside at first, but many Muslim singers gave me inspiration to not quit music; will never do so.”

“My singing is gift of God, I believe it must be properly utilised, otherwise it would be like ignoring God,” she added.