Fatwa against Salman for Tussauds statue

A fatwa has been issued against the actor by Dehradun-based Mufti Darul Ifta Salim Ahmad Kasmi for going against provisions of Shariat, which terms installation of statue of a living person as haram or forbidden, reports Utpal Parashar.

Controversies and Salman Khan are never far apart. The Bollywood superstar who is known for his antics on and off the screen has found himself in another problem less than a week after unveiling his wax statue at Madame Tussaud's in London.

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A fatwa has been issued against the actor by Dehradun-based Mufti Darul Ifta Salim Ahmad Kasmi for going against provisions of Shariat, which terms installation of statue of a living person as haram or forbidden.

The ruling was given on a query by Dehradun resident Dr Sakhawat Khan, who asked for directions whether Islamic laws, which forbids idol worship, allows creation of a statue of Salman and installing it for public viewing.

"I came to know about the wax statue of the actor at Madame Tussauds after seeing newspaper reports. As Islam doesn't allow idol worship, I wanted to know if Salman had done the right thing by agreeing to the London firm's offer," said Khan.

On Sunday, five days after the actor unveiled his statue, Mufti Kasmi issued the fatwa citing the Shariat and Hadis and clarified that Islam forbids construction and demonstration of statues or paintings of living beings.

It is worth noting that apart from Salman, the popular museum also has wax figures of other Bollywood biggies like his former girlfriend Aishwarya Rai, fellow Muslim Shahrukh Khan and superstar Amitabh Bachchan.

"I had no idea that Shahrukh Khan's statue is also present at Madame Tussauds. If I had known it, I would have also included his name along with Salman's in my query to the Mufti," said Dr Khan.

In September last year, Bareilly-based Darul Ifta Manzar-e-Islam had issued fatwa against Salman for attending a Ganesh puja at the Lalbaugcha Raja Mandal in Mumbai where singer Sonu Nigam had performed aarti.

The fatwa had said that unless Salman reads the kalmas all over again, he would not be considered Muslim. The kalmas are the Islamic credo, constituting a declaration of belief that God is one and Mohammed is his prophet.