Supreme Court Dismisses Waseem Rizvi's PIL Against The Quran As 'Absolutely Frivolous', Imposes Fine
By
New Age Islam Staff Writer
12
April 2021
It
is Curtains Over The Controversy Raised By Shia Politician Waseem Rizvi's PIL
Filed In The Supreme Court of India. The Court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000
on Waseem Rizvi for filing such a 'frivolous' petition.
Important Points
1. According to Waseem Rizvi, 26 verses of the Quran promote hatred and violence against non-Muslims.
2. Waseem
Rizvi divided the verses of the Quran under two categories. One, those verses
that are positive and promote brotherhood, tolerance, forgiveness and harmony
and , two, those that are negative and promote hatred and violence against
non-believers.
3. Waseem Rizvi advocate RK Raizada stated that his
submission was confined to the regulation of madrasa education as the teaching
of the literal interpretation of aforesaid verses in the madrasas can lead to
religious extremism among children.
----
Waseem Rizvi, former Chief of the Shia Waqf Board
(File Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
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Its
curtains over the controversy raised by Lucknow-based Shia politician Waseem
Rizvi's PIL filed in the Supreme Court of India on March 13, 2021 seeking order
to remove 26 verses of the Quran which according to his understanding promoted
hatred and violence against non-Muslims. A Supreme Court bench headed by
Justice R F Nariman dismissed his petition stating, "This is an absolutely
frivolous writ petition". The Court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on
Waseem Rizvi for filing such a 'frivolous' petition.
Appearing
for Waseem Rizvi advocate RK Raizada had stated that his submission was
confined to the regulation of madrasa education as the teaching of the literal
interpretation of aforesaid verses in the madrasas can lead to religious extremism
among children. Raizada stated:
"My
submission is that these preachings advocate violence against non-believers.
Children are kept at captivity at madrasas at a tender age. Students are not to
be indoctrinated. These preachings cannot be in the market place of ideas. I
have written to the central government for action but nothing has
happened."
The counsel
on behalf of Waseem Rizvi argued that due to the presence of these 26 verses in
the Quran, the religion of Islam was drifting away from its basic tenets and
was nowadays identified with violence, terrorism, fundamentalism and extremism.
The
petition refers to the following verses:
Verse 9 Surah 5; Verse 9 Surah 28; Verse 4
Surah 101; Verse 9 Surah 123; Verse 4 Surah 56; Verse 9 Surah 23; Verse 9 Surah
37; Verse 5 Surah 57; Verse 33 Surah 61; Verse 21 Surah 98; Verse 32 Surah 22;
Verse 48 Surah 20; Verse 8 Surah 69; Verse 66 Surah 9; Verse 41 Surah 27; Verse
41 Surah 28; Verse 9 Surah 111; Verse 9 Surah 58; Verse 8 Surah 65; Verse 5
Surah 51; Verse 9 Surah 29; Verse 5 Surah 14; Verse 4 Surah 89; Verse 9 Surah
14; Verse 3 Surah 151; Verse 2 Surah 191
Waseem
Rizvi's argument for removal of the aforesaid verses was that after the demise
of the holy Prophet pbuh there was a dispute regarding the genuineness of some
the verses and the caliphs wrongly added those 'controversial' verses in the
Quran.
In his
plea, Waseem Rizvi divided the verses of the Quran under two categories. One,
those verses that are positive and promote brotherhood, tolerance, forgiveness
and harmony and , two, those that are negative and promote hatred and violence
against non-believers.
Waseem
Rizvi's plea raised concerns on the madrasa education system. His plea states:
"There
are many madrasas all over the world where young children are taught Islam and
the holy Quran is explained to the Islamic students who are working for
terrorist activities. ....It is like poison in the raw minds of young children
in the name of the message of Allah which leads them to a radical mindset and
from their early age when they become young men they hate people of other religions
because of their mindset."
Waseem
Rizvi's plea also states that the Article 29 and 30 of the Constitution
guarantees religious institutions to teach with liberty but they do not have
liberty to teach or preach anything illegal that violates the law of the land
or the Constitution.
The Supreme
Court judgment in principle upheld the judgment of Calcutta High Court given in
May 1985 on a similar petition filed by Chandmal Chopra. Dismissing the
petition, the Calcutta High Court had stated:
" We
hold that the courts cannot sit in judgment over the Koran or the contents
thereof in any legal proceedings. Such adjudications of the religion itself is
not permissible. Similarly, the courts cannot and will not adjudicate on
theories of philosophy or of science or scientific principles.
Last month
the National Minority Commission had issued notice to Waseem Rizvi asking him
to withdraw his statement and apologise unconditionally within three weeks. The
NCM had observed that the petition was a well thought move to promote hatred between
communities.
Both Shia
and Sunni communities had condemned his move and had declared him an apostate. He
was threatened and abused by Muslims and he was ostracised. FIRs had also been
filed against him for his remarks against the Quran.
The
judgment has come as a great relief to the Muslims just before the onset of the
holy month of Ramazan in which the Quran was revealed.
It remains
to be seen what step Waseem Rizvi will now take as he had vowed to fight this
battle till his last breath. He had said that the day he will realise that he
had lost the battle, he will commit suicide.
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-politics/supreme-court-dismisses-waseem-rizvi/d/124683
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