Former chairman of the Shia Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh, Waseem Rizvi, is in the news for his controversial statements again. However, this time, the member of the board took a step further by urging the Prime Minister to officialize his “version” of the “new Quran”.
The issue got heated up after Rizvi claimed to have made a “new Quran” by removing 26 verses from it, which according to him encourage violence. He also alleged to align the rest of the verses in a “proper sequence” following the removal of the others.
The man, who has long been slammed by many Muslim clerics and people in general, requested PM Modi to authorize his version of the holy book to bring it in use in all madrasas and Muslim institutions across India. He went ahead to claim that his copy is the “right Quran”, sparking massive outrage from all Muslims.
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“I appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to include this new Quran in the education curriculum of various madrasas and Muslim education institutes across the country. This redacted version of the Quran is the right Quran and it will soon be available in the market for people to buy,” Rizvi said.
This isn’t the first time when he attempted to tweak the holy book as earlier this year, Rizvi had approached the Supreme Court by filing a PIL to remove 26 verses from Quran. He alleged the verses promoted jihad and terrorism. He also claimed that those were used as a justification by so-called Islamist Terrorist Groups for their attacks on non-believers and other civilians.
The top court refused to entertain his absurd claims and pay heed to his ideologies as it termed the petition “absolutely frivolous”. SC also fined Rizvi Rs. 50,000 for filing the PIL.
In the PIL, Rizvi said that though Islam’s foundation has concepts of forgiveness, equity, equality and tolerance, people are allegedly shifting away from the values. It is due to these 26 verses of Quran that Islam is being linked to militant agendas, fundamentalism, terrorism and extremism, he added.
Several FIRs were lodged against Rizvi after he filed the PIL. He also claimed that he got death threats over the matter, although nothing was proved.
The Shia and Sunni communities have unitedly slammed Rizvi for “deliberately” trying to divide the two sectors and invoke hatred between them. Many clerics stood up to call out Rizvi and his actions. One of them was Shia cleric Maulana Kalbe Jawwad who said that Rizvi was ‘an enemy of Islam’ and had nothing to do with the Quran.
Another Maulana Yasoob Abbas strongly condemned the former Shia board chairman’s acts on behalf of the All-India Shia Personal Law Board. “Claiming to even edit or rewrite the Holy Quran is nothing short of blasphemy. It is an attempt to divide the nation. Muslim can never accept any change in the Holy Quran,” he said.
Meanwhile, 3 social activists from Muzaffarnagar, former counsellor Mohammad Faisal, Dilshad Ansari and Shahzad Qureshi, registered a police complaint and sought the cops to begin criminal proceedings against Rizvi after he posted an “inflammatory and distasteful” social media post.
The “repeat offender” is again trying to “desecrate the holy Quran”, is aimed at “inciting riots and to cause misunderstanding between India and other nations”, the complaint said. A video showing Rizvi using “objectionable language against the holy book” was posted on Saturday on social media.
“This man has been repeatedly trying to desecrate the holy Quran. He should be booked and sent to jail,” said Faisal.
