Be it the issue of triple talaq or halalah, Muslim personal law or awqaf, mosques or madrasas, hijab or meat consumption, the country’s ruling class is leaving no stone unturned to target and attack Muslims and Islam. This is mainly because the Muslim leadership has failed to demonstrate the foresight and wisdom required to deal with these issues as well as the challenges Muslims may face in future.
According to official estimates, there are up to 872,328 waqf properties across India. These properties, which include mosques, madrasas, graveyards, dargahs, khanqahs, shelters, charitable institutions and vacant pieces of land etc, are spread over an area of more than 3.8 million acres in 30 states and eight Union Territories, and have a total estimated value of Rs 1.2 trillion. Of these properties, as many as 402,000 are “waqf by user” assets, which can be taken over by the government under the newly enacted Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. Over 73,000 of the properties are in dispute and could be affected by certain provisions in the amended law.
Ever since the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was introduced in Parliament in August last year with the objective to amend the Waqf Act, 1995, and subsequently passed by the House in April 2025, there has been a backlash from India’s Muslims. They and their leaders have been opposing it and doing frantic efforts to protect waqf properties from acquisition by the government under the amended law. After the bill became law, it was challenged in the Supreme Court. After more than a month of arguments from both the Muslim and the government side, the judges reserved the verdict on May 22 and will issue it after the courts reopen in July.
As many as 73 petitions against the amended Act were filed in the country’s apex court, but only five were accepted. One of these five is by All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi, another is by Arshad Madani, the leader of one faction of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, and the rest are from three individuals from three states. In view of some previous decisions of the Supreme Court regarding Muslims, it is anybody’s guess which side the verdict will go.
Since the waqf bill’s introduction and then passage in Parliament, various Muslim religious and social organisations under the umbrella of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, especially Jamiat Ulema and Jamaat-e-Islami-Hind, as well as several other organisations, intellectuals and activists have demonstrated Muslim unity and solidarity against the new law through meetings, protest rallies, speeches and press conferences in various parts of the country. Two months ago, a 15-minute “Batti Gul” lights-off campaign, similar to the Covid-era thali-beating gimmick, was also organised by the Muslim leadership across the country to register Muslims’ opposition to the new law. It seemed as if the entire Muslim community and leadership had suddenly woken up from their slumber and the idea of recouping and protecting the waqf properties that have existed for centuries had suddenly shaken their collective conscience. But the situation now is like اَب پَچْھتائے کیا ہوت جَب چِڑِیاں چُگ گَئِیں کھیت (there’s no use crying over spilt milk).
Support from unexpected quarters
It is worth-noting that if non-Muslim secular leaders, parties and lawmakers had not raised their voices in and outside Parliament against the Waqf bill and its subsequent passage in Parliament, the bill, like the court ruling against the minority character of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), would have one day become law without any fuss and the Muslims would have learnt about it only the next day after waking up from their sleep.
Triple talaq
The Waqf Act is not alone: India’s Muslim leadership wakes up and their efforts to awaken the sleeping Muslim community become more intense only after a calamity strikes them. Take the case of “triple talaq”. Pronouncing the three talaq together and at one time is not only an innovation but also an abominable and illegal act from the Islamic point of view. However, Muslim scholars never thought or had the opportunity to abolish this custom prevalent among Muslims. Ultimately, the government had to take action and make this custom a crime through law, triggering protests from the Muslim leadership. Perhaps emboldened by this verdict, the Telangana High Court has now ruled that Muslim women have an absolute and unconditional right to take khula, and for this the approval or consent of the husband is not necessary, while the factual position is that the consent of both husband and wife is necessary for khula and without the consent of the husband, khula is not valid in Shariah.
Way back in 1989, a respected intellectual and journalist from Delhi, Suleman Sabir, had advised Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamiat Ulema leaders to rectify the issue of triple talaq on their own, before the government of the time took a wrong step in this regard and this issue could become a precursor to interference in the Muslim Personal Law. But thanks to their negligence and lack of foresight, the current government has changed it according to its own will and the self-proclaimed leaders of Muslims could do nothing.
The curse of Halalah
Next is halalah. A marriage performed for the purpose of halalah is not marriage but adultery. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) has cursed the one who engages in halalah and the one who performs it. Not that Muslim religious, social and political leaders cannot pay attention to this heinous custom among Muslim and work to eliminate it. But this task is also likely to be performed by the government and once again these leaders will wake up, and awaken their people as well, to launch a campaign against it. Many Muslims support halalah. Muslim scholars can be held responsible for this negligence. This heinous custom should be abolished before the government interferes, otherwise the government of the day will change it keeping in mind its own interests and at that time all the Muslim scholars and leaders will feel helpless. Besides, this will be another strong step towards the introduction of a uniform civil code.
Urdu, riots and personal law
Urdu is one of the 22 official languages of India. But the attitude we have adopted towards it and the way this language is being opposed in the country, the day is not far when the official status of this language will also be abolished and the hopeless Muslim leaders and the millat immersed in sweet dreams will wake up and bear this calamity too without a shock. Urdu was the means with the help of which United India achieved freedom from the British. Hatred against Urdu was in the hearts even before Independence, but on the very next day of India’s freedom from the British rule this hatred became manifest when Hindi was given preference over the more common Hindustani language. Dr Rajendra Prasad’s presidential vote had made Hindi the official language. Nowadays, Muslims are using Roman English instead of Urdu script in their communications on WhatsApp and other messaging platforms, which is tantamount to driving the final nail in the coffin of Urdu.
After decades of anti-Muslim riots and tolerating them, if no effective measures are taken to stop mob lynching and violent processions outside mosques with slogans of “Jai Sri Ram”, then, God forbid, occupying mosques, madrasas and graveyards could also be legally justified and Muslims might have to lose their religious places. The Waqf Act seems to be the first step in that direction. The RSS had started its efforts to bring itself to power by proxy almost 100 years ago. Today, their strategy has succeeded. Mob lynching is also a part of that planning.
The threat of a uniform civil code across the country to abolish Muslim Personal Law has been looming over the heads of Muslims for years. But no adequate measures are being implemented to deal with this threat. The current government is using every tactic against Muslims, and Muslims are “waiting with bated breath” to deal with them.
Criminal negligence
Let’s go back to the waqf. Our ancestors had dedicated their lands for education, ibadat (worship), halal livelihood, public welfare and other religious and community services. Officials of waqf boards and the bureaucrats concerned have kept taking advantage of this and these lands have been a source of personal profit for only a few waqf officials. These officials have always been oblivious to the fact that the Muslims of India are living in fear, troubled and oppressed. These officials and bureaucrats could not do construction work in time. What kind of criminal negligence was it that not a single educational institution, hospital, research centre, skills development centre, medical college, pharmacy college, polytechnic, girls’ or boys’ hostel or old-age home (although not required in the Muslim community) was built, no big mosque was constructed and no big madrasa was established.
Many more such examples can be given where we could have done something constructive, but the negligence of Muslim officials occupying the waqf boards has shown us today that the waqf properties worth more than a trillion rupees have been put at risk. They worked only for personal gain. When there were opportunities, the opportunists wasted those opportunities. As a result, the situation has become such that the government can seize the waqf lands and properties through the black amended Waqf Act.
Christians did not limit their holy places to places of worship, but they also took education, health and social services into their own hands. They built every institution for the service of the people that the people needed. They built churches and spared no effort in respecting and honouring their priests. These priests did not issue unnecessary fatwas (decrees) as happens with us Muslims, but rather established many institutions for the service of the people with their useful advice. We also have waqf lands to establish such institutions. Did our scholars, responsible people, officials of the waqf boards or any other leader take such measures? Apart from filling their houses, did they ever think about how our future generations will live in peace and harmony in this country. The imams of the mosques kept begging for salaries. No one cared. Today, everyone is awake or pretending to be awake. Suddenly, pain is arising in the heart of every special and common person, everyone is crying tears of blood. The snake has come out and they are beating the line. The dragon-like Waqf Act is waiting to swallow the inheritance of Muslims. It is a bitter reality that countless waqf properties have been usurped or have gone into the hands of non-Muslims. O Indian Muslims, now live in fear all your lives. Such is the fate of an insensitive community.
Expediency and cowardice
As a result of the lack of Muslim leadership and the joint conspiracy of the then government and all other political parties to prevent the Muslim leadership from taking shape, we are in a place where we do not know anything about ourselves. Whether it is the minority character of AMU or the Waqf Bill, all of it is the result of our indifference. If our national leaders wake up even after a disaster, they should still reap the benefits.
When a tall nation loses the battle for power and becomes lowly, it becomes a victim of expediency and tolerates the atrocities being committed against it with expediency, which ultimately proves to be a killer. This act of expediency has made the Muslim youth cowardly. The spirit of sacrifice has vanished. If it does not wake up, there is a danger that the community’s dignity and status will be buried in the deep sea of anonymity. When power comes into the hands of a coward, he becomes a tyrant, and all the atrocities being committed against Muslims indicate this saying. Its cure can only be given through bravery and sacrifice.
Response
A community that will continue to sleep all the time cannot have a better outcome. Today, our young generation is asking who should be held responsible for this negligence. Who are the individuals responsible for the destruction of the national trust? Do they not deserve punishment? Yes, they should be punished. They have brought the Muslims to the streets and abandoned the, and taken over the leadership themselves. They could have done a lot but did nothing. Today, every self-styled leader seems to be baking his bread on the back of fame. Alas, alas! Let us drown in the water.
Scholars and elders, you have to answer, not only to this world but also to your Lord in the Hereafter. Muslims are being invited to protest, make noise and beat their chests on the streets. The government leaders also know that this will happen. They are well aware of how such protests will be dealt with. Will it have a positive result? Just think about it and tell us. There will be no result. If possible, save the waqt lands. To achieve this goal, sacrifice is required. Sacrifice is great and continuous. Take charge of your future. Open your eyes before everything disappears and is lost.
Yes, it is about Indian Muslims who are suffering from negligence. O Muslims of India, wake up, start reforming from your own homes, build an education system, awaken your consciousness. Wake up, there is still time.
Get up, otherwise the resurrection will not happen again
Run, the time of the doomsday has come.
*****
— Syed Khalid Hussain is a senior journalist based in Singapore and Dr Muhammad Shahid is an educationist based in Delhi. They can be contacted on +65 9119571 and +91 2166699101 respectively.
