The Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board's plan for uniform Friday mosque sermons (khutbas) across Indian-administered Kashmir has triggered a furious backlash, with the region's top Muslim clerics and politicians accusing the government of interfering in religious affairs. After days of outrage, the board walked the proposal back.
Why the plan angered Kashmir's clerics
The board, headed by Darakshan Andrabi, a local leader associated with the BJP, announced that uniform Friday sermons — the khutbas traditionally delivered by imams at congregational prayer — would be introduced at mosques across the region.
The region's top Muslim scholars and politicians slammed the proposal as "irresponsible interference into the religious affairs of Kashmiri Muslims", accusing the government of trying to assert control over Muslim religious spaces.
"It is irresponsible interference into the religious affairs of Kashmiri Muslims." — the region's leading scholars and politicians, on the uniform sermon proposal
On Sunday, the board summoned about 1,500 scholars and preachers to a meeting, with some attending virtually. A scholar from Rajouri who joined online said the instructions stated that only a pre-approved sermon, drafted by a committee of the senior-most scholars, would be recited uniformly on Fridays. The attendees were not told who would sit on the committee.
When scholars objected, Andrabi "brushed aside our concerns", the Rajouri scholar said, telling them the decision was final because "it had been four years in the making."
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, the region's top Muslim cleric, cautioned that the plan would amount to "direct interference". The Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema, the joint body of Islamic scholars he leads, said determining the content of sermons was the responsibility of Islamic scholars, not an administrative body. Omar Abdullah, the region's elected head, joined the condemnation.
The board's defence: social evils and a scholar-led panel
Andrabi defended the move, saying a committee formed under the board would be "solely responsible for identifying the issue regarding the uniform sermon" and that the step was necessary to address social evils including drug abuse. She added that religious scholars would approve the sermons, with no role for any government official.
"The committee formed under the board would be solely responsible for identifying the issue regarding the uniform sermon. There would be no role for any government official." — Darakshan Andrabi, Waqf Board chairperson
But after the backlash, Andrabi retracted. She said it was left to the discretion of "independent scholars, preachers (and) sermonists" to address social issues such as suicides, mental trauma and substance abuse in their Friday addresses.
A familiar fault line in Kashmir
The row lands in a long-running confrontation over religious space. In 2019, India scrapped Kashmir's semi-autonomous status and imposed direct federal rule, and the Waqf Board has since been at the center of a series of controversies — including bans on traditional practices and new controls over mosque donations. In January, scholars accused the government of discriminatory practices after mosques were asked to fill "profiling" forms, and Srinagar's Jamia Masjid has faced closures on important religious occasions.
What happens next
Whether the retraction holds — or whether the committee idea resurfaces in another form — will decide whether this week's row cools or becomes Kashmir's next major confrontation between faith and state. For now, both sides are holding their ground: clerics insist the mimbar is the scholars' domain, while the board maintains its focus on the social ills eating at Kashmiri society.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Volatile Reaction (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources: Indian Express — Waqf board pushes uniform sermons in J&K mosques, backtracks after backlash; WION — Kashmir scholars oppose Waqf Board's common khutbah proposal; The Tribune — 'Unacceptable interference': Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti oppose uniform Friday sermons.