Mumbai: A Muslim social organisation has demanded that only Maharashtrian imams should be hired in Mumbai’s mosques. In a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Masiha Foundation said that imams trained from madrasas of Maharashtra should be hired in the mosques of Mumbai.
Mumbai-based Masiha Foundation wrote to CM Fadnavis demanding that Maharashtrian imams should be preferably hired for imamat in Mumbai’s mosques. The letter stated that Mumbai has around 3,500 registered mosques and claimed that most of the imams at these places of worship are from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
The organisation has demanded that local imams should be chosen to impart Islamic education in madrasas situated across the state and the initiative should start from Mumbai. The letter highlighted that the scholars from Konkan, Khandeshi, Vidarbha and Marathwada should get employment in metropolitan cities like Mumbai.
The letter also mentioned Makhdoom Mahimi Sufi and said that he was a Maharashtrian maulana who received education from Konkan and his book is read in Arab countries today. Masiha Foundation suggested that prioritising local imams can help more such scholars show their abilities.
“Those who do not know the language of this place and do not know the culture of Maharashtra, such people are giving Islamic education to the Muslims of Maharashtra. There is a request to you that your government should take concrete steps in this regard and the Muslim Maulanas of Maharashtra will be able to get their rights,” said Asif Sardar, president of Masiha Foundation.
