Fatwa against Hindi film actress Shabana Azmi

[mohabbat]

Fatwa against Shabana Azmi

Syed Amin Jafri in Hyderabad

Film actress Shabana Azmi has earned the wrath of the mullahs in Hyderabad because she tonsured her head for her role in the controversial film, Water.

Five city-based Islamic seminaries have termed the action “as a violation of Islamic doctrine and abominably inadmissible.” They want Azmi to renew her faith.

The fatwas [religious edicts] these institutions issued declare that Muslim film stars performing acts of polytheism on screen should also renew their faith. One termed it as an “atheistic act and a mortal sin” while the others defined it as “transgression.”

It was a Hyderabad-based journalist, Syed Fazil Hussain Parvez, who sought edicts on these issues in the wake of the controversy raging on in the Muslim community over Azmi tonsuring her head. The issue was hotly debated in the local Urdu press.

“I posed two questions to the religious institutions after the Urdu press was flooded with queries and protests about Shabana Azmi’s outrageous act. I sought a fatwa on whether actors from Muslim families or having Muslim names are committing sacrilege by performing the rites of other religious groups on the screen,” Parvez told rediff.com.

“I also cited the instance of Shabana Azmi, who not only performs puja on screen but also got her head tonsured for portraying a character in Water. I wanted to know whether her act is permissible in Islam or whether she is liable for excommunication,” he said.

Another query he posed to the religious scholars was whether Muslim film stars, who offer namaz and go for Haj or Umra in real life but commit polytheistic acts on the screen “under professional compulsions” should be condoned for their sacrilegious acts, which constitute “unforgivable sins.”

The queries were sent to Al Mahada-Aali-ul-Islami, Darul-Uloom Sabil-ul-Islam, Darul-Uloom Rahmania, Darul-Uloom Hyderabad and Hyderabad’s oldest Islamic university, Jamia-e-Nizamia.

The institutions responded promptly. Darul Uloom Rahmania’s Mufti Ghiyasuddin issued the edit on February 24, followed by Al Mahada’s Mufti Khaled Saifullah Rahmani on February 25, Darul-Uloom Sabil-ul-Islam’s Mufti Mustafa Miftahi and Jamia-e-Nizamia’s Mufti Ibrahim Khaleel-ul-Hashemi on February 26, and Darul Uloom Hyderabad’s Mufti Mohammed Jamaluddin Qassimi on February 27.

According to the edict from Darul Uloom Rahmania, offering worship to the deities would be tantamount to paganism or infidelity. If a Muslim woman tonsures her head, it would be a violation of the Shariat and Islamic doctrines.

Jamia-e-Nizamia, which is one of the oldest Islamic universities in India, has termed all acts of polytheism as “atheism”.

Al Mahada said that terming such acts of polytheism as professional compulsion was an excuse which was worse than the sin itself. If a Muslim, even while knowing that due to these acts a Muslim loses his faith, goes ahead with it then he is committing infidelity. Hence, all film stars who call themselves Muslims must renew their faith.

The Darul Uloom Sabil-ul-Islam declared that it was unlawful for Muslims to act in films. If a Muslim, while sticking to his religious faith, still acts in a film, it would amount to transgression.

[Asif]

Yes..the ulama are right. I have always wondered why Muslim actors agree to do pooja of idols etc. on screen when such acts are not allowed in Islam. Surely they must get clauses in their contracts to say that I will not do any acts which will lead to my going out of the pale of Islam (like idol-worshipping)...

[NYAhmadiX]

Yes.. she should be made into a ground meat. Is there any Fatwa against Amithab for acting in a Muslim role?

[BombayKid]

No we can't have a fatwa against any Hindu actor doing Muslim roles....that would "expose our secular mask" and the world would know that Indians are fanatics !!

On a serious note, should these people be even taken seriously ? Where are our so called secular parties now -- Congress, Janata Dal as well as the hard core anti-national parties like CPI and CPI(M) ? I don't see anyone crying fundamentalism now !

[mohabbat]

Shabana Azmi, better be ready for some more fatwas, and this time more "serious" ones too. May be the fatwas this time will come not only from India, but also Bangladesh.

The reason for all this premonition: Go to rediff.com. There's a pic of Shabana with Taslima Nasreen (fatwa-ed Bangladeshi author) releasing the Marathi version of "Lajja (Shame)" in Mumbai. Taslima Nasreen has been staying in India for few months and is now in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

Good luck Shabana. I appreciate your conviction and courage. May God doom the obscurantists!

On other note another fatwa ed Indian Salman Rushdie has come and settled in New York and will be shuttling between Delhi and New York. He has been dating a young South Indian model Padma Lakshmi whi is good Indian cook too.

[BombayKid]

I don't know what Taslima Nasreen has written. But if she has deliberately tried to malign Islam, then I think it's plain wrong. But basically I feel that artists should have some sense of responsibility. But I am totally against any sort of ban imposed on them. Personally I feel that Shabana Azmi has never come out strongly against Muslim fundamentalists in India. But in her case I must say that she has done some real good work in social causes like the Aids awareness campaign, so I guess it evens out. I hope things work out well for her in the future. Hopefully the shooting of "Water" will start at the earliest.

[mohabbat]

``Writing is not only to please (readers), but to arouse anger,'' said Taslima Nasreen, the rebel writer from Bangladesh, at a literary meet in Mumbai on Monday.

She emphasised the need to guard the creative freedom of artistes and writers as zealously as possible. Pointing out that the concepts of majority and minority had no relevance in the context of religion, Nasreen said: ``Being a sufferer at the hands of fundamentalists in my country, I am determined to fight all the forces of evil all my life.''

The literary meet was hosted by Akshar Prakashan, Communalism Combat and the Progressive Urdu Writers' Association to mark the release of a Marathi translation of her latest Bengali novel, Shodh. The Marathi translation is by Ashok Shahane.

The function was held amid tight police security in view of the strident opposition to the writer's Mumbai visit from several Muslim organisations. These included the Raza Academy, the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, the All India Muslim Mahaz and the Samajwadi Party. Several activists of these organisations were prevented by the police from taking out a procession.

Nasreen defined fundamentalism as a strident effort, marked by violence, on the part of one group to thrust its religious and cultural ideas on another. Such groups have to be resisted, not by violence, but by arguments and reason,'' she said, adding,The handful of crazy people will sooner or later listen not only to their own voices, but also to the voices of others.''

Speaking about her concerns as a writer, Nasreen said she was deeply stirred by the plight of ordinary people, particularly women, whose will to live and add content to their lives was often weakened by religious forces and age-old patriarchy. ``My books were banned in Bangladesh and I went into hiding for 60 days. Later, I was hounded out of the country,'' she told the gathering.

Expressing solidarity with director Deepa Mehta, who is currently battling opposition to her film, Water, from the Bajrang Dal and the Shiv Sena, Nasreen said that she shared Mehta's angst and frustration, having herself faced the ire of the fundamentalist lobby in Bangladesh.

Nasreen described India as a colourful mosaic'' of various linguistic and religious groups.India is a country where democracy and liberalism flourish. To me, India is a beacon light.''

[2PaK]

Why won't those @!!@!($! issue me a fatwa?

[This message has been edited by DeSiMuNdA (edited March 08, 2000).]

[mohabbat]

Just when some Hindu fundamentists were enrages with Deepa Meht'a shooting of Water in Varanasi, some Muslim fundamentalists mad at Shabana Azmi for portraying Hindu widow and with Taslima Nasreen's Marathi translation of her book and some Secular Indians were mad at portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in Kamal Hassan's Hey Ram' we have the Christian Anglo Indian community mad at Ismail Merchant's Cotton Mary starring Madhur Jaffrey and Neena Gupta

New Delhi, March 7: Anglo-Indian community is up in arms against the latest film made by acclaimed director Ismail Merchant, saying it shows their women as obsessed with Britain and white men.

Gillian Hart, a leader of the community and a legislator in West Bengal said she was trying to get the government to ban the film Cotton Mary. The film, starring James Wilby, Greta Scacchi and Indian actress Madhur Jaffrey, revolves around a BBC correspondent living in India shortly after the country's independence from British colonial rule in 1947.

The journalist is seduced by an Anglo-Indian woman, while his wife is slowly dominated by another who tries to pass herself off as dyed-in-the-wool English and uses her position as a housemaid in a British home to gain the respect of her peers.

Hart said the Anglo-Indian community was shocked by the film, the latest offering from the producer-director team of Merchant and American James Ivory.

"I was outraged. I could not believe what I was seeing. The whole film is pointless and makes a mockery of us and our women. Even the name of the main character Cotton Mary is ridiculous. Nobody is called anything like that."

Hart said she had written to the Culture Minister of West Bengal Buddhadev Bhattacharya requesting that the film be banned.

"Just because we are a minority community, we don't have to take such nonsense. I will bring up the matter in the state Assembly this week."

Similar protests have been registered by Anglo-Indian community leaders in the rest of the country.

Conrad Matthews, an Anglo-Indian music teacher, said the film was for him "the waste of a perfectly good evening.

"It should be banned immediately. They show us as subservient, spineless and totally lacking in character. In one scene a girl is in church and instead of listening to the sermon, is eyeing some British swains from a mirror," Matthews said.

"It makes fun of our accent and our ways. It is a continuation of the traditional stereotype -- the Anglo-Indian living in isolation, pining for 'home' and constantly looking at a coronation photograph of the queen which occupies the pride of place in the drawing room."

Merchant has reacted to the criticism by arguing that the depiction of one character did not serve as a reflection on the entire community.

Recalling a scene where an Englishwoman remarks that Anglo-Indians embody the worst characteristics of the Indians and the English he said: "Three English memsahibs, who anyway play sort of mischievous roles in the movie, have commented about the Anglo-Indians and it does not in any way reflect on the community.

"There are many eccentric characters in all religions -- Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and among Parsis. So what is the big deal in her being eccentric," he said, referring to the central character Cotton Mary.

Veteran Indian actress Sharmila Tagore backed Merchant. "Ismail Merchant is an asset to world cinema and is a sensitive human being. He would never hurt anybody's sentiments willingly.

"If the Anglo-Indians have been hurt inadvertently, they should highlight their notable contributions and achievements in several fields. We are entertainers and we portray individual characters, not an entire community."

[mohabbat]

How does one introduce Shabana Azmi? Daughter of Urdu poet Kaifi Azmi and wife of another poet, Javed Akhtar? An international actress who's won five National awards? A Muslim who's roused communal ire by shaving her head? A Parliamentarian who's always raising her voice for the freedom of expression, slum dwellers, and women?

``I'm all this rolled into one,'' says Shabana, the role model of a contemporary woman with multiple identities. She was speaking at the Meet the Artist programme organised by Seher at Habitat Centre on the eve of the Women's Day.

As Kaifi Azmi's daughter, she grew up in the presence of Josh Malihabadi, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Firaq Gorakhpuri and Begum Akhtar. And yet, her one regret in life is ``I did not learn Urdu when I learnt Hindi, Marathi, English and French.'' That's because Queen Mary's in Bombay did not admit any child whose parents did not speak English.

This indirectly led Shabana to start acting' in real life sinceAli Sardar Jafri's wife Sultana posed as my mother and Munish Narayan Saxena acted as Kaifi Azmi.'' Once this facilitated her admission,the impersonation continued until, in class X, my Hindi teacher attended a mushaira.Kaifi Azmi looked different!' she said. I promptly replied that he was suffering from typhoid!''

The Muslim identity was never hurled at me until the Babri Masjid demolition,'' Shabana recalled.Religion did not enter our family where Id, Diwali, Holi and Christmas were all celebrated, as cultural festivals, not as part of religion.'' This, the actress maintains, is the reality of every Indian. ``Which is why Kashmiri Hindus and Muslims have more in common than Muslims from Kashmir and Kerala.''

Likewise, in cinema too, Shabana has not confined herself to a narrower identity of either commercial or art cinema. I realised that as a star in commercial cinema, I might get a bigger audience for the other films.'' On the other hand, it was films like Arth and Paar which helped her grow into an activist for human and women's rights.They helped me to understand the deserted woman, and the slum dweller whom I'd so far observed only to perfect my performance as an actor.'' Trained to constantly observe, an actor in mourning also learns ``how the jaw of the dead drops.'' But once she identified with the struggle of the persona she portrayed, she found other women repose their trust in her.

That is why Shabana Azmi enjoys being a Parliamentarian. I entered with trepidation. But when you are where policies are being framed, you can influence the policies.'' And if there is one policy she'd oppose tooth and nail, it's the attempt to reduce the multiple identities of every Indian into a narrow, strait-jacketed one of either a Hindu or Muslim.It's a political agenda and being used by both communities,'' she warns.

[zman]

I dont believe this. Why does anyone care ? You will be asked to answer for your sins and not others at the same time it does not give anyone the right to pass judgements on others. These Mullah's need to mind their own business. If all the muslim actors / actressess walked the fine line of religion then there would be no Muslim filmstars.

later on
Zman