AIMPLB says inter-faith marriage not valid under 'shariat', presses for early marriage

Amid raging debate over 'love jihad' (Muslim youths marrying Hindu girls under false pretenses) and laws against religious conversion through deceit, force, allurement or any other fraudulent means or for the purpose of marriage, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, an apex body of the Muslims in the country, has termed inter-faith marriages 'un-islamic' and asked the Muslim parents not to delay marriages of their children.

In a seven point appeal to the community, the Board attributed the rise in the number of inter-faith marriages to "co-education, ignorance about religion and men and women working together at offices" and asked the parents to "keep a watch" on the mobile phones of their children.

The Board also asked the Muslim parents to admit their daughters in girls schools as far as possible and ensure that they did not spend much time out of home.

"The parents should impress upon their children that only a Muslim can be a good companion for another Muslim...they should also provide religious education to their children," Board's acting general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said in a release.

"The clerics should discuss these issues in their sermons after Friday prayers and appraise the community about the drawbacks of inter-faith marriages," he said.

The Board also said that the parents, teachers of Islamic schools and other senior members of the community should try to discourage Muslim boys and girls from marrying members of different faiths if they came to know that such a marriage was going to take place.

The appeal of the Muslim Board comes at a time when alleged 'love jihad' has been made a major issue by saffron outfits and has also triggered violence on some occasions.

Uttar Pradesh government had recently made a law to curb religious conversion that provides for a maximum of ten years imprisonment and fine to the violators. It put religious conversion under duress, force, allurement or any other fraudulent means or for the purpose of marriage under the category of an offence.