Darulifta-Deoband.com is a bilingual (Urdu and English)

fatwa A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist i ...

website maintained by the Online Fatwa Department of

Darul Uloom Deoband The Darul Uloom Deoband is an Islamic seminary (darul uloom) in India at which the Sunni Deobandi Islamic movement began. It is located in Deoband, a town in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh. The seminary was established by Muhammad Qasim ...

. As of 2016, it is the world's largest bilingual fatwa website. About 15,000 fatwas are sought in Darul Uloom Deoband every year, of which 6 to 7 thousand are online. In January 2022, India's

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is an Indian statutory body established by an Act of Parliament, the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005. The Commission works under the aegis of Ministry of ...

recommended the government to shut down the website, citing its content as violating the country's laws.

History

Darul Uloom Deoband started their institutional website journey in 2002 after the arrival of internet facility to towns and cities of India. After the launch of the website and email communication, Darul Uloom Deoband's fatwa department or Darul Ifta started answering questions from the world over the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

. Thus, due to the increase in online queries and other requirements, Darul Uloom Deoband established Online Fatwa Department in 2005 and a bilingual (Urdu and English) website named Darulifta-Deoband.com was launched in 2007. As of December 2016, the website has about thirty thousand selected fatwas in Urdu and English sections, making it the world's largest bilingual fatwa website. As of January 2022, the website has 9,181 fatwas in the English section and 32,812 fatwas in the Urdu section. The number of respondent muftis is 9,

Habibur Rahman Khairabadi Habībur Rahmān Khairābadi (also known as Mufti Habībur Rahmān; born 11 August 1933) is an Indian Muslim scholar and jurist who serves as a Mufti at the Darul Uloom Deoband. He is an alumnus of Darul Uloom Mau, Mazahir Uloom and the Aligar ...

is the Chief.

Criticism

Considering a complaint under 13 (1) (j) of the Protection of Child Rights Act, The

(NCPCR) said that the explanations and answers given on Darul Uloom Deoband's fatwa portal were not in accordance with the laws and regulations of the country. Such comments violate children's rights and harm them with free access to the Internet, the commission claimed. They have recommended to the

Government of Uttar Pradesh The Government of Uttar Pradesh (ISO: Uttar Pradesh Sarkār; often abbreviated as GoUP) is the subnational government of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh with the governor as its appointed constitutional head of the state by the President of I ...

to ban access to the website until such content is removed. The Students Islamic Organisation of India referred to this as "another attempt to undermine the madrassa". Abul Qasim Nomani, VC of Darul Uloom Deoband said in response to the complaint that, those who seek fatwas in the light of the Sharia are only answered in the light of the Sharia. There is no obligation here. It was banned in India on 7 February 2022.

References

{{Reflist Darul Uloom Deoband Internet properties established in 2007 Sunni Islamic websites Deobandi websites Indian websites Islamic websites Fatwas Question-and-answer websites

History

Criticism

See also

References