Islamic seminary Darul Uloom in Deoband has termed men and women dining together at social or other events as ‘’un-islamic’’ and has asked Muslims to avoid it.
The ‘darul ifta’ (department of fatwa) of the seminary, which is situated about 500 kilometer from Lucknow at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district, issued a "fatwa" (religious decree) saying that it is not proper for Muslim men and women to dine together.
The ‘fatwa’ also said that dining while standing is "un-Islamic" too.
According to the reports, the ‘fatwa’ was issued in response to a query from a resident of Deoband town.
The query had pointed out that it had become a fashion these days for men and women to dine together at social events and sought to know if it was in accordance with the ‘shariat’ (Islamic law).
"Such a practice will have an adverse impact on the society and result in a moral decline,’’ the decree said.
Earlier too the seminary had issued ‘fatwas’ on several issues, especially those concerning the society.
In the past it had termed applying nail polish by women as "un-Islamic".
The seminary had also drawn flak from a section of Muslims for issuing such ‘fatwas’, which they said were "impractical" and "not in tune with the changing social attitude".