The Islamic seminary in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district, about 450 km from here, has so far issued more than seven lakh “fatwas” since its inception, according to officials of the institution.

“There could be more famous Islamic seminaries in other countries but they lag far behind Darul Uloom, Deoband, in terms of the number of fatwas issued,” they said.

The seminary’s Darul Ifta (department of fatwa) said it receives, on an average, 90 to 100 questions from Muslims across the world seeking guidance on a variety of issues in the light of shariat (Islamic laws).

“Although the seminary gets questions from several countries, the maximum number of questions are received from UP while from among the foreign countries, majority of queries come from Canada, the UK, Pakistan and the USA,” the clerics pointed out. “Fatwas are always issued in response to the queries. The learned clerics consider the replies in accordance with the shariat. These replies apply to all adult Muslims.”

Darul Ifta is perhaps the busiest department of the seminary. The clerics said that earlier the muftis associated with Darul Uloom used to issue the “fatwas” along with discharging their duties. However, when the questions started flooding the seminary, a separate department for this purpose was established.

The Darul Uloom was established in 1866 and Darul Ifta came into existence 26 years later in 1892. The “fatwas” issued by the seminary have been subject of intense debates and discussions in the country. Many of its “fatwas” were also sharply criticised by progressive Muslims and other social organisations.

Some most discussed “fatwas” issued by the seminary included asking Muslims to avoid cow slaughter, declaring that Islam does not permit killing of innocents.