UP Imam refuses to perform marriage as invite has image of Hindu gods

Ibadat Ali, an illiterate tailor, said being busy in marriage arrangements, he asked a fellow villager to get 250 invitations printed for him. Trouble began when he distributed the invites printed on a calendar like rectangular paper. The invite had the details of the marriage printed below a picture of Hindu deities Ram and his wife Sita. Ibadat said that he confirmed the design before it was printed. 'Almost all the marriage invitations in the village are printed in the same format. I never thought that it would land me in such trouble,' Ali said. When he approached the cleric to invite him on Saturday, the cleric rebuked him for having the picture of Hindu gods on the invite and refused to accept it. The cleric advised Ibadat to get another set of invites printed without the picture of the gods and apologise for his mistake. Ali agreed to apologise but expressed inability to get another set of cards printed. 'I don't have enough money. I have already spent almost all my savings on arrangements for the marriage,' Ali told HT. Rukhsar's would be in-laws also developed cold feet because of the issue, he added. On Sunday, he visited another Imam, Mohammad Imran to get his problem resolved. The Imam reiterated that he had made a mistake. 'Printing the images of gods is prohibited in our religion. However, as Ali and his family are illiterate, this mistake must be overlooked. I have asked him to apologise to the Almighty and go ahead with the preparations,' the Imam explained to HT on phone. He added that he would solemnise the marriage if their local cleric refused to do so. Meanwhile, Ali has received support from his fellow villagers over the issue. Village head Alok Mishra met Ali on Sunday and assured him of support. 'We have known Ali for decades and we will not let anybody spoil the marriage because of a picture. We will arrange a cleric from another area if the clerics here refuse to solemnise the marriage,' Mishra said. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Caption: Pic 1) The marriage invitation card. 2) The to be bride holding the marriage invite with her family. DailyhuntDisclaimer: This story is auto-aggregated by a computer program and has not been created or edited by Dailyhunt. Publisher: Hindustan Timeshttp://prochurch.info/index.php/member/147991