Devotees angry over Jamaat's party meeting inside mosque

A Jamaat-e-Islami party meeting was held in a mosque in Mithapukur upazila of Rangpur. The chairman candidate for the union council election was announced from the meeting.

The party meeting was held at the Chakpara Jame Mosque in Imadpur union of the upazila after Maghrib prayers on Tuesday (June 23). This incident has raised allegations of violation of mosque etiquette, which has generated widespread criticism.

It is learned that after the prayers, Jamaat-e-Islami leaders and activists started the party meeting by setting up chairs and tables inside the mosque. From the meeting, Upazila Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Asaduzzaman Shimul announced a person named Manohar Badsha as the chairman candidate for the Imadpur union council election.

Upazila and union level leaders of Jamaat were present at the time. When the picture of the meeting with chairs and tables inside the mosque went viral on social media, severe criticism began.

A Facebook user wrote, ‘The hypocrites are turning the mosque into a party office.’ Another Facebook user wrote, ‘The mosque is the house of Allah, they have started hypocrisy in the name of Islam.’

Mufti Masudur Rahman Qasemi, director of Hulashuganj Jamia Qurania Darul Uloom Madrasa in Mithapukur, said that the programs of political parties in our country usually criticize other parties, which amounts to backbiting. There is no opportunity to backbite inside the mosque. Besides, if the beauty of the mosque is not enhanced but damaged during party meetings by sitting with chairs and tables, it is a violation of the etiquette of the mosque.

In this regard, Mithapukur Upazila Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Asaduzzaman Shimul said, ‘We do mosque-based programs. The mosque is right next to the house in the village. There were no people at that time. That is why we used it.'

He also said that in the eyes of Islam, the mosque is a parliament. However, people do not take it well. 'I have also seen a lot of criticism about it. From a social perspective, people don't take it well. We will take care of the matter going forward,' he said.