KOCHI: The High Court has held that a mosque is a place of worship and every Muslim has the right to offer prayer there. Just because they belong to a different division, their prayer cannot be obstructed, the court said. It added burying of dead bodies is also a civil right.
The court issued the order while dismissing a petition filed by Elappully Eranchery Jama-Ath Palli, Vengodi, Palakkad, seeking to review the order of Wakf Tribunal, Ernakulam, declaring that the members of Kerala Naduvathul Mujahideen also have the right to prayers at the mosque and to bury the dead bodies of their family members. The office-bearers of a mosque have no right to obstruct a member of the Jama-ath or any other Muslim from offering prayers, the court said.
The graveyard under the petitioners being a public graveyard, any Muslim or any member of the mosque has a right to bury the dead. The petitioners cannot obstruct others from offering prayers in the mosque and from burying dead bodies of relatives stating they have been excommunicated from the Jama-ath since they followed the Kerala Naduvathul Mujahidhin Sect.
The petitioners submitted that since they have changed to Kerala Naduvathul Mujahidheen and are attempting to transfer the members of the Jama-ath to their organisation, they are not entitled to offer prayers and bury their dead bodies. The petitioners argued they have got ample institutions and khabarstan to accommodate their believers and bury their dead bodies.