Imarat-e-Sharia, a Patna based Muslim organisation, has denied issuing a fatwa against Bihar's Excise Minister Jamshed Ashraf for being in charge of a department that deals with liquor and wine.
"We have not issued any fatwa against Jamshed Ashraf,"' Maulana Syed Nizamuddin, head of the Imarat-e-Sharia, told rediff.com on Saturday.
Nizamuddin said that he merely suggested to Ashraf that he should change his portfolio if possible. "I requested him to take charge of some other ministry because the Excise Ministry deals with liquor, which is not allowed in Islam. There is no question of issuing a fatwa against him," he said.
He dismissed the reports about such a fatwa being issued as 'baseless'.
Leading Islamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband has reportedly upheld a fatwa against Ashraf by the Imaret-e-Sharia.
However, Ashraf told rediff.com that he will continue as the state's Excise Minister. "I will not change my ministry over a baseless controversy created by some vested interest in my own party," he said.
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