Lucknow: A 'fatwa' issued by Darul Uloom Firangi Mahali has said that those dying of the coronavirus deserve decent burial as per rituals and their bodies should not be treated as untouchable.
The fatwa was issued on Thursday night, a day after a section of Muslims denied burial of an elderly man who died of coronavirus, in the Aishbagh cemetery.
The man had died in the King George Medical University hospital on Wednesday. His burial was stopped by a section of Muslims and the police had to bury him elsewhere in the wee hours of Thursday.
Additional DCP (West) Vikas Chandra Tripathi said, "There is opposition to the burial of his body as people believe it could spread the virus. The management of the burial ground also feels that it could lead to chaos as well as panic among the people."
According to the Islamic Centre of India statement, a Lucknow resident Sayed Ejaz Ahmad had sought a fatwa on the last rites of a coronavirus victim.
He had sought answers about the ritual bath before burial, shroud, janaza-e-namaaz (last collective prayer for the departed) and the burial in public graveyards.
