Cleric who said shifting of mosque possible 'quits' as AIMPLB

The AIMPLB today approved Maulana Syed Salman Husain Nadvi's "decision to quit" as its executive member, days after he met Sri Sri Ravi Shankar over the Ayodhya dispute and said at the board's meeting that shifting of a mosque is possible according to the Sharia.
"Moulana Salman Nadwi is no longer a board member. Sub- committee of the board accepts Nadwi's (sic) decision to quit the organization,"the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) today said in its official Twitter account.
However, AIMPLB member Qasim Rasool Ilyas said "action" was taken against Nadvi after he disagreed with the board's views on the matter.

Nadvi had last week met Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is exploring an out-of-court settlement in the long-pending Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, and had said that shifting of a mosque is possible in the Sharia.
Asserting that Nadvi had himself "disassociated" with the board's views, Ilyas told reporters today, "The board has taken a stand and took the action... This is the Board's unanimous decision. Now he is a free man."
Referring to Nadvi's remarks that a mosque can be shifted as per the Sharia (Islamic law), he said the AIMPLB had made its stand clear that masjid is the "home for Allah".

"Masjid always remains like that. It cannot be shifted or gifted or sold. This is Sharia. Salman Nadvi's stand is opposite to this. He made it clear that he did not want to change his stand," Ilyas said.

AIMPLB Secretary Zafaryab Jeelani and board member Kamal Faruqui told reporters that Nadvi had given statements against the board's stand.
"He (Nadvi) said he did not agree with the board's stand. He made allegations against the board and he himself said he wanted to leave the AIMPLB," Jeelani said, adding that Nadvi had said that he wanted to form a new board.

"He (Nadvi) skipped the meeting yesterday and today. As he himself is saying he wants to disassociate with the board, the committee unanimously accepted that he is no more a member... It is he who said he wanted to leave and left and we accepted it," Jeelani and Faruqui said.
When contacted today, Nadvi only said that he was at the airport boarding a flight. One of his close aides said Nadvi had offered to quit the board yesterday itself.
Nadvi, who was present on the first day of the 26th plenary of the AIMPLB, which began on February 9, skipped the event yesterday as well as on the last day today.

The cleric's meeting with Ravi Shankar last week had caused a flutter.
"The atmosphere should be good (between the two communities).... There is permission for this in the Sharia. As per the Hanbali school of (Islamic) thought, a mosque can be shifted," Nadvi had said.
He said though Muslims should conserve their mosque, it does not entail "fighting at the same place and taking it".
"We can shift the mosque. A grand mosque can be built... where a university can also be set up," Nadvi had said.
He had earlier conveyed his views on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid issue at the board's meetingon Fridaynight.

"However, there was a disagreement," Nadvi had said.
On its part, the AIMPLB had constituted a four-member sub-committee to examine Nadvi's comments as well as his meeting with the spiritual guru.
The Supreme Court is hearing the final arguments in the politically-sensitive Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid case.
The Allahabad High Court, in its ruling on September 30, 2010, ordered a three-way division of the disputed 2.77 acres of the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi site, giving a third each to the Nirmohi Akhara, the Sunni Central Waqf Board of Uttar Pradesh, and Ramlalla Virajman, the idol of the child Ram placed there.