Backlash in Kashmir over proposal for uniform Friday sermons across mosques

A  projected determination by the Waqf Board successful Indian-administered Kashmir to present azygous Friday sermons astatine mosques crossed the portion has drawn backlash from politicians and spiritual leaders, who person accused the authorities of trying to asseverate power implicit Muslim spiritual spaces.

The Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board is headed by Darakshan Andrabi, a section person associated with the Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose authorities stripped the portion of its erstwhile semi-autonomous presumption successful 2019. Jammu and Kashmir was besides partitioned into 2 federally governed territories, alternatively of functioning arsenic a full-fledged authorities arsenic it utilized to.

The board, which oversees Muslim spiritual endowments arsenic mandated by Islamic laws, announced the arguable determination past weekend, prompting a governmental contention arsenic the region’s apical Muslim scholars slammed the connection arsenic “irresponsible interference into the spiritual affairs of Kashmiri Muslims”.

While defending the imposition of the azygous sermons, Andrabi told a starring Indian paper that a projected committee formed nether the board’s auspices “will beryllium solely liable for identifying the contented regarding the azygous sermon … [This step] is indispensable to woody with issues successful the [region], particularly societal evils, including cause abuse.”

Andrabi told the media that spiritual scholars volition o.k. Friday sermons with nary relation for immoderate authorities authoritative successful the decision.

Kashmiri Muslim devotees commune connected the past Friday of the Islamic beatified fasting period of Ramadan astatine the Hazratbal Shrine successful Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, connected March 28, 2025 [Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto via Getty Images] 

‘Brushed speech our concerns’

On Sunday, the Waqf Board had summoned astir 1500 apical scholars and preachers from the Kashmir region. While immoderate leaders were contiguous astatine the venue, others from distant areas attended the gathering virtually.

A student from the mountainous Rajouri district, immoderate 180km (110 miles) from the region’s biggest metropolis of Srinagar, who had attended the gathering online, told Al Jazeera that Andrabi had passed instructions stating that lone a pre-approved sermon drafted by a committee of senior-most scholars would beryllium uniformly recited astatine the mosque pulpits connected Fridays.

He said they were not told precisely who would beryllium portion of this committee.

“When we objected, saying that we won’t adhere to the directives if the sermon was recovered to beryllium violative of Islamic teachings, she brushed speech our concerns and didn’t fto america speak,” the student said connected information of anonymity arsenic helium feared reprisals by the authorities. “She [Andrabi] said that their determination was last arsenic it had been 4 years successful the making.”

A disputed portion claimed by India and Pakistan, Kashmir has been astatine the centre of governmental turmoil for 4 decades. Years of peaceful demands for a referendum, to find which state the Kashmiris would choose, transformed into an equipped uprising against Indian regularisation successful 1989 successful effect to allegations of predetermination fixing.

In 2019, India scrapped the semi-autonomous presumption of Kashmir, imposing nonstop national rule. The elections did not hap until 2024, erstwhile the section authorities was re-elected, albeit with a restricted mandate. De facto authorization inactive rests with the New Delhi-appointed administrator.

The peculiar conditions afforded nether the erstwhile presumption had protected onshore and residency-related privileges portion allowing Kashmiris to marque their ain laws.

One effect of the 2019 determination was that Indigenous ineligible arrangements that governed the absorption of waqf, the charitable bequests that Muslims perpetrate for the larger communal welfare, were replaced by those prevailing crossed India.

Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board Chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi speaks during a property league astatine Hazratbal Shrine successful Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, connected September 5, 2025 [Firdous Nazir/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

‘Trying to undermine spiritual freedom’

The caller strategy gave wide powers to the federally controlled bureaucracy successful the absorption of section spiritual boards specified arsenic waqf.

Since then, the Waqf Board has been accused aggregate times by the section Kashmiri leaders of trying to undermine their spiritual freedoms oregon interfering with however the accepted spiritual practices person continued for generations.

“Centralised khutba oregon sermons utilized to instrumentality spot successful the sanction of a sultan oregon khalifa (Islamic caliph) during the medieval times. But that had sanctity due to the fact that Kashmir was [then] an Islamic state. Today, we are expected to beryllium surviving successful a secular state,” Nayeem Akhtar, a elder person who served arsenic Kashmir’s acquisition curate during the erstwhile elected government, erstwhile its peculiar presumption was inactive operational, told Al Jazeera.

“As agelong arsenic helium has an audience, each cleric has state to talk astir immoderate taxable of his choice. This state is enshrined successful the precise fundamentals of law,” helium added.

Akhtar said the caller instructions were coming from an bureau bearer associated with the BJP, which is wherefore the latest determination had provoked furious responses. “The board’s occupation is conscionable managerial. It is exceeding its remit by trying to preach oregon usher the clerics connected however they indispensable bash their job. Can a Muslim governmental enactment successful India ever dictate however a Hindu pujari indispensable behaviour prayers oregon however a Christian pastor indispensable present a sermon connected Sunday?”

On Tuesday, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the region’s apical Muslim spiritual leader, cautioned that specified a determination would magnitude to “direct interference”.

The Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema, a associated assemblage of respective spiritual organisations that helium leads, said “determining sermon contented was the work of Islamic scholars and not of an administrative body.”

The condemnation was besides shared by Omar Abdullah, the region’s elected caput and subordinate of the National Conference enactment that supports accession to India, albeit with the autonomous powers that New Delhi nullified 7 years ago.

Following the backlash, the Waqf Board caput Andrabi retracted her connection and said it had been near to the discretion of “independent scholars, preachers (and) sermonists” to speech astir societal issues specified arsenic rising suicides, intelligence trauma, substance maltreatment and more.

Chief cleric of Kashmir Mirwaiz Umar Farooq present sermons wrong the Jamia Masjid oregon Grand Mosque connected the archetypal Friday of Ramadan [Faisal Bashir/SOPA/Getty Images]

‘Exerting power connected spiritual institutions’

This is not the archetypal clip that the BJP-led medication has been accused of trying to exert power implicit section spiritual institutions.

Earlier successful January, Kashmiri Muslim scholars accused the authorities of discriminatory practices aft the constabulary distributed a four-page signifier titled “profiling of mosques” which sought intrusive details astir the imams, muezzins and khatibs (preachers) of the mosques crossed the disputed region, including their biometric information.

For years, Muslim groups successful the portion person faced assorted restrictions connected prayer, with Srinagar’s 600-year-old Jamia Masjid often being unopen for important spiritual events specified arsenic Eid prayers oregon Laylat-al-Qadr, the astir venerated nighttime of the Islamic calendar, which falls successful the period of Ramadan.

The medication argues these restrictions are imposed to guarantee peace, but spiritual leaders importune that specified prohibitory measures signifier a “systematic battle connected the spiritual identity, dignity, and cardinal rights” of Kashmiri Muslims.

Farooq, the main scholar, himself has been often subjected to specified restrictions connected his mobility, preventing him from giving Friday sermons connected occasions erstwhile helium is expected to talk connected matters specified arsenic Israel’s genocide successful Gaza.

Previously, the Waqf Board has besides sought to prohibit the signifier of distributing yellowish atom wrong the compound of the large shrines successful the region, a centuries-old contented tied to the Sufi missionary councils that promoted Islam successful Kashmir.

A Kashmiri Muslim cleric delivers sermon earlier the congregational Eid al-Adha prayers wrong the shrine of 11th period sufi preacher Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani connected May 27, 2026 successful Srinagar, India [ Yawar Nazir/Getty Images]

Religion has been a origin of governmental mobilisation

In 2022, the committee besides banned the age-old signifier of collecting voluntary nazr-o-niyaz donations offered by devotees to the spiritual peers, mujawirs (attendants of a shrine) and khadims (caregivers). It cited the recently applicable national laws arsenic a crushed for taking nonstop power implicit each fiscal collections and installing caller donation boxes wherever each offerings went to the board.

Noor Ahmad Baba, a seasoned Kashmiri governmental idiosyncratic and historian, said religion had ever been a origin for governmental mobilisation successful Kashmir, which is wherefore attempts to manipulate oregon alteration the accepted spiritual arrangements evoke governmental outrage.

“The benignant of governmental dispensation that we person and the benignant of authorities it has had with respect to Muslims is what makes the full workout suspicious,” Baba told Al Jazeera, referring to the BJP. “If the standardisation had come, for instance, from clerics with nationalist acceptability, it wouldn’t person go an issue. No 1 tin contradict the request for spiritual leaders to speech astir topics specified arsenic cause addiction, precocious marriages, clime change, societal harmony and more.”

A Srinagar-based governmental expert who has written astir the struggle successful Kashmir for 4 decades said specified decisions reflected attempts to pre-emptively incorporate protests successful Kashmir amid the rising question of Hindu nationalism successful India.

“A spate of caller mosque demolitions successful cities specified arsenic Ujjain and Saharanpur successful Uttar Pradesh showed however vehemently the far-right strains wrong India’s ruling apparatus were resurfacing,” the expert told Al Jazeera, speaking connected information of anonymity for fearfulness of retribution. “This renewed communal posturing by the Modi authorities was capable to provoke reactions successful a spot similar Kashmir. The attempts to asseverate power implicit mosques indispensable beryllium seen successful airy of that.”