Darul Uloom permits the use of alcoholic sanitizers at mosque premises

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slamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband has issued a fatwa saying it is possible to use alcohol-based sanitizers to clean the mosque premises. “The use of alcohol-based sanitizers in mosques is no wrong. Even it can be spread on the walls and floors of the mosque to sanitize the place of worship, “read the fatwa (edict) issued Thursday evening by Darul Uloom in Muzaffarnagar. It has come in response to a question made by a Karnataka resident.

“The alcohol used in medicinal products and sanitizers is made from vegetables, sugarcane juice etc. So it’s usable. Even if there is a high amount of alcohol in the sanitizer, it is true too. It can be used to sanitize mosques and even after the Vazu — the ritual of washing one ‘s face, hand and feet in front of namaaz — this sanitizer can be used on hands, “read the fatwa.

A senior cleric based in Deoband, Mufti Asad Qasmi, also said, “There are two different kinds of alcohol. One is used to make drugs or sanitizers while the other is used to produce liquor which is not permitted in any way. “Darul ‘s spokesman, Ashraf Usmani, said,” Several mosques are now reopening. So they released the fatwa to dispel any doubt.

It comes only three days after Dargah Aala Hazrat-a revered shrine of Barelvi-asked followers and heads of the mosque to stop using sanitizers dependent on alcohol.

“If an alcohol-based sanitizer is used to clean the premises a mosque will become impure. We can’t make the house of God impure. Unable to give Namaz at an unclean spot. I have called on Imams of mosques and mosque committees to refrain from using alcohol-based sanitizers, “said Dargah Aala Hazrat, Mufti Nashtar Farooqi of Sunni Markaz Darul Ifta.

Farooqi also offered an alternative to save the “sin” followers “Muslims should wash their hands properly and the mosque campus with soap, detergent powder and shampoo,” said the cleric.

The government had asked all the religious places in its guidelines to sanitize the premises with alcohol-based sanitizers. Some temples had objected to it in Mathura too.

From some news agency