Saharanpur: In a fresh fatwa,
Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deboand has said that Islam does
not permit celebrating birthdays.
Responding to a query posed by a woman, the country's
biggest Islamic seminary observed that the tradition to
celebrate birthdays was started by the Jews and Christians,
but Islam does not permit this practice.
The Darul Uloom Deoband has in recent days issued
edicts declaring that working in banks and opting for an
insurance policy was against the tenets of Islam, sparking a
debate. The seminary had also decreed that it was illegal
according to the Sharia or Islamic law for a woman to work and
for a family to accept a woman's earnings.
Leading Islamic body Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind's spokesman
Abdul Hameed Nomani had maintained that fatwas should not be
generalised and should be seen in the context in which
they have been issued.
"People must read between the lines and not generalise
the fatwas," Nomani had said.
PTI
First Published: Monday, May 17, 2010, 18:29