From Left to Right Shaban Bukhari, Shahi Imam Jama Masjid and Nawaz Sharif

Ahmed Bukhari is the 13th

Shahi Imam The Shahi Imam is the Imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, Delhi, Jama Masjid. History Mughal emperors, Mughal Emperor Shahjahan appointed Abdul Ghafoor Shah Bukhari, who originally came from Shah of Bukhara, Uzbekistan to be the first Imam of the Mosque ...

of the Jama Masjid, Delhi.

Ancestry and appointment

Ahmed Bukhari succeeded his father,

Abdullah Bukhari Abdullah Bukhari (; 1922–2009) was the 12th Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid, Delhi.

, on 14 October 2000 as Shahi Imam of the

Jama Masjid A congregational mosque or Friday mosque (, ''masjid jāmi‘'', or simply: , ''jāmi‘''; ), or sometimes great mosque or grand mosque (, ''jāmi‘ kabir''; ), is a mosque for hosting the Friday noon prayers known as ''jumu'ah''.* * * * * * * ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders ...

.Jama Masjid gets new Shahi imam on 14 October 2000
The Milli Gazette newspaper, Published 1 November 2000, Retrieved 18 May 2017 On 22 November 2014, his son,

Shaban Bukhari Syed Shaban Bukhari is the Deputy Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid, Delhi. He was appointed Naib Imam of Jama Masjid and is next in line to succeed his father. The ''dastarbandi'' ceremony took place in Jama Masjid. Marriage While pursuing Bachel ...

, was formally designated to be the next Shahi Imam.Syed Abdullah Bukhari, former Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Delhi passes away
The Hindu newspaper, Published 9 July 2009, Retrieved 18 May 2017

Controversy

In 2014, in an interview with ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', on being asked on his decision of inviting Pakistani Prime Minister

Nawaz Sharif Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif (Urdu, Punjabi: ; born 25 December 1949) is a Pakistani businessman and politician who has served as the Prime Minister of Pakistan for three non-consecutive terms. He is the longest-serving prime minister of Pak ...

and ignoring Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the anointment ceremony of the naib imam or the imam's deputy, Ahmed Bukhari defended his position saying, "Modi claims to be the Prime Minister of 125 crore Indians but conveniently and deliberately avoids addressing Muslims. He has shown he doesn't like us. He is the one who has been maintaining distance from the community. So, I too chose to maintain my distance." Though other Muslim leaders like Kamal Farooqi said that such acts gave the entire Muslim community a bad name and stressed that Bukhari didn't represent Indian Muslims. A criminal case was lodged against him along with Habib-ur-Rehman and Nafisa in 2001, after an incident on 3 September 2001, when a mob, led by Bukhari assaulted on-duty police and civic agencies officials trying to remove encroachments from near CGO Complex in Lodhi Colony. Warrants against Bukhari for this case have been issued repeatedly by the Delhi court. Delhi Police has been unable to arrest him because of communal tension for the past ten years. During 2015 U.P Assembly Elections, Bukhari wrote a letter to

Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (22 November 1939 – 10 October 2022) was an Indian politician, a socialist figure and the founder of the Samajwadi Party. In the course of his political career spanning more than six decades, he served for three terms as ...

criticizing him for not nominating Muslim candidates to Rajya Sabha. In response, U.P minister and senior Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan alleged that Bukhari was accusing the Government of not giving equal rights to Muslims because he wanted his brother and son in law Umar Ali Khan to get

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

Tickets. After the Dadri Lynching Case, Bukhari alleged that Azam Khan cannot go to the place of incident but was talking of going to

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

to hide his incompetence. He also called Azam ' nihayat badtameez Muslim wazeer'.Azam Khan denied the charge and accused him of being hand in glove with Hindu right wing organizations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukhari, Syed Ahmed Indian imams 21st-century imams Indian Quran reciters Indian Islamic religious leaders