SRINAGAR: The Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday resolved to launch coordinated Friday sermons on pressing social issues and hold regular district-level meetings to address growing concerns over drug abuse, suicides, youth distress, family problems and environmental degradation.
The decisions were taken at a one-day Ulema Meet and Seerat Conference held in Srinagar under the chairmanship of Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, with more than 70 Ulema and Mashaikh from Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh participating.
The conference, adopted two resolutions, with one focusing on contemporary social challenges and the role of religious institutions, and the other on unity within the Muslim Ummah and maintaining harmony despite differences of Maslak.
Under the proposed Friday sermon campaign, participating mosques will take up a common social issue on designated Fridays to create wider public awareness and encourage collective action.
The MMU also resolved to hold regular meetings, preferably every month, in different districts, involving local Ulema, Imams, mosques and madrasas to identify area-specific concerns and work out practical responses.
On suicide and self-harm, the conference called for a more compassionate approach towards people facing emotional distress, loneliness, anxiety and family pressures.
It said Ulema, Imams, mosques and madrasas could help create safe spaces for people to seek guidance and encourage those requiring specialised assistance to approach trained mental-health professionals.
The meeting also expressed concern over drug and substance abuse, particularly among youth, and called for a consistent approach towards addiction.
The participants questioned the expansion of alcohol availability while efforts are being made to combat drug addiction, urging the government to reconsider the promotion and expansion of liquor in the name of tourism.
Environmental protection also figured prominently in the deliberations, with the Ulema urging people to reduce plastic and polythene use and avoid littering or dumping waste into rivers, lakes and other water bodies.
The conference expressed concern over the condition and encroachments of Dal Lake, Wular Lake, Nigeen Lake, wetlands and other water bodies, saying protection of nature and shared resources was also a moral and religious responsibility.
The second resolution stressed unity among Muslims and called upon Ulema to maintain mutual respect despite differences of Maslak and interpretation.
The participants said the Mimbar of a mosque is an Amanah and should not be used for sectarianism, ridicule of another school of thought or spreading hatred and division.
They called for dialogue, mutual respect and brotherhood among different schools of thought, while urging religious institutions to focus on the wider moral, spiritual and social challenges facing society.
The meeting further stressed that mosques and madrasas should increasingly serve as centres of guidance, youth engagement, family support and community welfare, alongside their religious and educational roles.
Ulema from different districts of Kashmir participated in the conference, while scholars from Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri, Kargil and Doda also attended.
Among those present were Moulana Rehmat-ullah Mir Qasmi, Mufti Azam Nasir ul Islam Farooqi, Mufti Nazir Ahmad Qasmi, Mufti Mohammad Yaqoob Baba Madani, Moulana Masroor Abbas Ansari, Moulana Showkat Hussain Keng, Mufti Enayat Ullah Jammu, Sheikh Mehboob Ali Wajdani, Mufti Abdul Rashid Miftahi, Pir Rehmatullah Sahib, Moulana Syed Tayyub, Mufti Syed Sharief Ul Haq Bukhari, Mufti Ajaz ul Hassan Banday, Mufti Zia ul Haq Nazmi, Mufti Pirzada Reyaz Ahmad, Moulana Adnan Nadwi, Sibt Mohammad Shabir Qumi, Moulana Ghulam Rasool Noori, Moulana Ali Akbar, Moulana Syed Shah Waris Shah Bukhari and Pir Iftikhar Ahmad Kamli, among others.
The MMU said the resolutions would be followed by grassroots engagement, coordinated sermons, district-level meetings, counselling and community-awareness programmes. (KNO)
