Police stopping Muslims from Namaz in Parks: Give permission to build mosques, no one wants to pray in parks

Nobody wants to go to park for offering Namaz.

The problem is that cities are expanding & permission is not easily given to build mosques these days.

Even in a city like Bhopal, effort going on for years to construct mosque in Kolar, that too on Waqf land. But that is being denied for yrs.

In Madhya Pradesh, a Digvijaya Singh era rule is often cited for lack of permission---that stops construction of new places of worship. However, in practice, it didn't stop all places of worship but construction of mosques became immensely difficult.

The Kolar suburb in Bhopal has a population of nearly 1 lakh now. Imagine, when land prices too high, already its difficult to construction & here an influential BJP leader is dead against mosque on waqf land. For local journalists, it is no story.

Even rulers in princely states freely gave land to all communities. Today, the situation is such that locals oppose, administration hinders, governments stop. In Mumbai, they once didn't give permission to build top floors in mosque & used to say Muslims pray on roads.

Tajul Masajid: India's biggest mosque is located in Bhopal

Shams Ur Rehman Alavi

The biggest mosque in India is located in Bhopal.

Just because the mosque is not in a metropolitan city, this fact is not known as much.

Tajul Masajid* is one of the biggest mosques in the world and is an architectural marvel.

It is much bigger than Delhi's Jama Masjid, which is generally termed as India's biggest mosque.

The name Tajul Masajid means 'Crown among Mosques' [pronunication: Masaajid, plural of masjid i.e. mosques]. The construction of Tajul Masajid began in 19th century, when Bhopal was a princely state.

Nawab Shahjehan Begam who ruled the Bhopal state, wanted to build a grand mosque. The construction began but it couldn't continue for long and the mosque remained incomplete.

It was in the twentieth century, a few decades after independence that Tajul Masajid was completed. Maulana Imran Khan Nadvi had taken up the task on himself to complete the mosque.

It was the decade of 70s that the mosque finally got completed. Apart from the main structure and the vast courtyard, its minarets are also much thicker than Jama Masjid, Delhi or other major mosques.

The huge area on either sides is also part of the mosque. The pond is also part of the mosque land as it was built for the purpose of 'wazu' [ablutions] for people who come to offer prayers [Namaz]. There are hundreds of students who live in rooms on the campus and study in the madarsa here.

The mosque also has a separate space for women to offer prayers. When descendants of the royal family came to Bhopal, they prayed in the part of the mosque. The Tablighi Jamat's annual Ijtima was held here in the past.

For over half-a-century, the Alami Tablighi Ijtima [grand annual congregation] was held at Tajul Masajid. A market also used to develop in the area during Ijtima. However, a few years ago the Ijtima venue was shifted to Eintkhedi, outside Bhopal.

Tajul Masajid is unique in many ways. Close to the mosque, on the other side of road is Dhai Seedhi Masjid--Two and half staircase mosque, which is said to be among the smallest mosques in the world. It was initially built on a 'burj', which was part of Bhopal's Fatehgarh fort. 

President APJ Abdul Kalam was a practising Muslim, photos of his offering Namaz at Fatehpuri Mosque

Welcoming the President: Kalam seen wearing the skullcap

President APJ Abdul Kalam offered the 'Jume ki Namaaz' [special Friday prayer] at Fatehpuri Masjid in Delhi.

It was rarest of rare visit of the President to any mosque in several years.

Until now we had brief reports about Kalam Sahab's prayers.

News agencies reported annually that he prayed at the mosque within the Rashtrapati Bhawan on the occasion of Id Ul Fitr and Iduz Zuha.

Though not many are aware about the mosque that exists on the premises of the President's House.
But today he surprised everybody with the visit to the historic Fatehpuri Masjid.

The president interacted with the Namazis and also met Mufti Moazzam. Of course, there was extra security. Tens of thousands of Namazis in the mosque shook hands with arguably India's most popular president. 

In pictures here one can see the enthusiasm with which he was greeted. The visit could be symbolic. The end of his term is nearing and president is not keen on a second term. 

Avul Pakir Jainulabideen [Zainulabideen] Abdul Kalam has brought not only dignity but respect for the President's House and the highest office of the country.

He is the sort of persons who in his role as President, inspires millions of children and urges them to dream and it is this role which I salute.

His religious side has not been known to us much and there were, from some narrow-minded sections [including Muslims], questions raised on his beliefs, about being a practising Muslim [and also a rumour which I often heard in South Indian cities among Muslim that I don't want to mention].

The President's visit and prayer at the mosque not only demonstrate the unique secular nature of our country. In his personal life, he is a Muslim.He has been to religious places of other religions also.

Today he prayed at a mosque, rubbing shoulders with the common Muslim. Let me repeat the oft-quoted couplet:

ek hii saf meN khaRe ho gaye Mahmood-o-Ayaaz/ na koii bandaa rahaa, na koii bandaa nawaaz

In the past, the country has seen two Muslim presidents, first the dignified Zakir Husain and later Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad during Indira Gandhi's regime as PM. 

They came from North and were representatives of Muslim culture of Northern India. Kalam comes from Southern part of the country.

He has never been overtly Muslim during the tenure. And also, the Sadar [Rashtrapati] never seemed to have made a deliberate attempt to appear un-religious either. He has all along kept that delicate balance with perfection. Will we ever have such a President again?

PS: My friend, Pandit Ji, who saw photos of Kalam, asked me why he didn't go to Jama Masjid. And I also thought about it. Is it because there the Shahi Imam could have turned it into his show rather than just a normal visit to mosque? The Fatehpuri mosque houses a seminary also. Kalam is known to be influenced by Sufi thought.