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| Source: AMU. Maulana Shaukat Ali Qasmi addresses the floor at the Muslim Personal Law and Constitution of India seminar. |
The Faculty of Theology,
Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has organised a national seminar on
Muslim Personal Law and Constitution of India which has shared views about personal law and the country's constitution in the light of calls to institute a
uniform civil code.
AMU Vice Chancellor Lieutenant General Zameer Uddin Shah (Veteran) noted that India is a secular country, where people follow various faiths and personal laws. "Therefore, following a personal law of a particular religion or the common civil law in certain matters like marriages and divorces is entirely personal to any citizen," he said.
The Director of the seminar, Professor Abdul Khalique,
Dean, Faculty of Theology, AMU, added that all communities want to live in
peace and harmony, while safeguarding their personal laws, rituals and
practices.
Maulana Shaukat Ali Qasmi from Deoband pointed out that India is a secular democracy and that a uniform civil code is against the ethos of the country. He urged people who are demanding such a code to research Islam and the
Quran. "If Muslim personal law is modified, it will divert Muslims from the principles of Islam," he said.
The Chief Guest, Professor Shamim A Ansari, Dean, Faculty of Social Science urged Muslims to consider views of the ulama' (Islamic scholars) in terms religious duties and solutions to problems related to Muslim marriages, divorces and property distribution in Muslim families among other issues. He added that the solutions to these problems have been explained in religious texts.
