Click here to learn about Babri Masjid Case
Why in news?
The Uttar Pradesh Shia Central Waqf Board told the Supreme Court that the Babri Masjid was a Shia waqf (endowment).
What are Shia Board’s views?
- Shia Board traced the lineage of the masjid to a Shia noble in Babur’s court.
- Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board has been at the frontline of the 70-year-old Ram janma bhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute.
- The Shia Board called the Sunnis as mere interlopers led by “hardliners” who do not want an amicable settlement with the Hindu sects involved.
- The Shia Board said that they wanted a peaceful co-existence with the Hindu community.
- They filed an affidavit before the court in which they acknowledged that the close placement of a mosque and a mandir is a recipe for communal distress.
- They noted that they are so close that even their respective loudspeakers would disturb each other’s prayers.
- They said that they would settle for a masjid located in a “Muslim-dominated area at a reasonable distance from the place of birth of Sri Ram.”
- But the affidavit neither specified the location of such a “Muslim-dominated area” nor the “reasonable distance” they proposed.
- The cross-appeals challenging the September 2010 judgment of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court in the title dispute is coming up for hearing.
Quick Facts
Shias and Sunnis
- They both agree on the fundamentals of Islam and share the same Holy Book.
- Their differences are mostly derived from their different historical experiences, political and social developments, as well as ethnic composition.
- When the Prophet died in the early 7th century the question of who should succeed the Prophet arose.
- The larger group of Muslims chose Abu Bakr, a close Companion of the Prophet, as the Caliph (politico-social leader).
- They have come to be known as Sunni Muslims.
- However another smaller group, which also included some of the senior Companions, believed that the Prophet's son-in-law and cousin, Ali, should be Caliph.
- Those who believe Ali should have been the Prophet's successor are now known as Shi'a Muslims.
- 85–90% of the world's Muslims are Sunni and the rest are Shia.
- Shias make up the majority of the citizen population in Iraq, Bahrain, Lebanon, Iran and Azerbaijan.
Source: The Hindu
