Kolkata man who took on Sonu is not even an imam
UNHOLY ROW The priest of Khanka Sharif is a littleknown face in the Muslim community
He may have stirred a nationwide controversy by announcing a ₹10 lakh bounty for anyone shaving Bollywood singer Sonu Nigam’s head, but in reality, Syed Sha Atef Ali Al Quaderi is no imam or maulana, and has zero religious authority.
The head priest of the littleknown Khanka Sharif at Bagnan in Howrah district, Quaderi is a little-known face in the state’s Muslim community and has almost no influence. Muslim leaders say the bounty offer was also not a fatwa as he isn’t an Islamic scholar. “The media is wrongly portraying him as cleric, maulana and maulavi. We fail to understand why the media ended up giving so much importance to what he said,” an Islamic religious leader told HT but refused to be quoted “on a silly matter”.
Quaderi’s offer had come hours after Nigam tweeted against the Islamic call for prayer, azaan, and called the custom “forced religiousness”. The bounty was widely criticised and ridiculed, especially after Nigam got his head shaved and challenged Quaderi to pay up.
In fact, Quaderi’s perceived importance appears to rest on his self-declared connection with Prophet Mohammad. “I am the 35th descendant of the Prophet,” he told HT. His visiting card, too, claims the same. He also calls himself a spiritual leader and a social worker.
It requires a scholar in Islamic law to issue a fatwa — a legally non-binding decree on issues having no clear guidance from Quran or Hadith. But on Thursday when asked if he had the authority to issue a fatwa, Qaderi appeared to row back.
“I did not issue a fatwa in the first place. All I announced was a reward for shaving Sonu Nigam’s head, garlanding him with old, torn shoes and touring him across the country. Since he neither wore a garland of shoes nor toured the country seeking apology from people whose sentiments he has hurt, there is no question of rewarding anyone. He has no right to ask me to keep the money ready,” he added.
He might have taken a leaf out of the book of Bengal’s ‘Fatwa Imam’ Nuroor Rehman Barkati, who in 2006 issued a fatwa on live TV, announcing a reward of ₹50,000 to anyone who blackened author Taslima Nasrin’s face. Responding to how Quaderi wriggled out of his promise, Nasrin tweeted on Thursday, “Kolkata Imam once issued fatwa whoever blackens my face will get ₹50,000. A friend blackened my face. But Imam didn’t give money. Imams r liars.”
Quaderi holds the position of vice-president of West Bengal United Minority Council, a littleknown organisation, but is known in Islamic religious circles as a close associate of Barkati, who also issued a fatwa against PM Narendra Modi after demonetisation announcement.
But on Thursday, Quaderi brought up references to how Modi respected the azaan in a bid to justify his act.“During his electoral campaign in West Bengal, the PM stopped his speech midway after he heard the sound of azaan coming from a mosque. He maintained silence until the azaan was over,” he said.