UP cleric issues fatwa against New Year celebrations

Bareilly, Dec 30 (PTI) A cleric here has issued a fatwa instructing Muslims to stay away from New Year celebrations.
     All India Muslim Jamaat Maulana national president Shahabuddin Razvi issued the stricture on Sunday, saying that greeting each other on the New Year and holding parties was un-Islamic.
     The fatwa states that starting a year from January is Christian and New Year is a Christian way of celebrating the event.
     Islam strictly prohibits such programmes, it says.
     "During New Year celebrations, dances, obscenity, hooliganism, alcoholism, betting-like activities are organised in hotels. All these activities are banned in the Islamic Shariat. Any boy or girl found involved in these activities will be a culprit as per Sharia," Razvi, a cleric belonging to the Barelvi sect, said.
     Fatwa is a document of the answer issued by a mufti on a question asked on a religious issue.
     More usually, it is an extra-legal stricture issued to the members of the Muslim community.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)