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Fatwa asks women not to wax or shave and not visit beauty parlours [Representational Image]Creative Commons

The Darul Uloom Islamic school at Deoband in Uttar Pradesh's Saharanpur district is known to issue several fatwa, many of which go on to create quite some stir. After banning the use of CCTVs and saying that women mustn't pluck and shape their eyebrows, the school has now issued a fatwa against waxing and shaving.

The Darul Uloom spoke about waxing and shaving while replying to a query by a local man, identified as Abdul Aziz, who had asked if it was okay for men and women to shave or wax their arms and legs. The seminary said that waxing and shaving are not considered to be good under the Sharia law.

It added that apart from armpits, moustache and lower part of the navel, shaving and waxing other parts of the body were not good. "Removing hair through waxing or shaving from other parts of the body is khilaf-e-adab (against the culture)," the Times of India quoted the seminary as saying.

Echoing the seminary's thoughts, Deoband-based cleric Maulana Salim Ashraf Qasmi explained: "The fatwa is absolutely correct and is according to the Sharia Law. It should be noted that Darul Uloom has called the practice khilaf-e-adab and has not declared it 'haram' (forbidden)."

Just last week, the seminary had also said that Muslim women applying mehendi wasn't acceptable. The Darul Uloom in the past has also asked women not to let shopkeepers put on bangles on their hands as strange men shouldn't be touching their arms. The seminary had said that it was "wrong and a big sin."

In May 2018, the seminary had said that Muslims must not install CCTV cameras in their homes or shops as they were "un-Islamic."

The seminary said that CCTV cameras were against the religion after a Maharashtra-based businessman, identified as Abdulla Majid, asked if installing CCTV cameras at shops and other crowded places was permitted.

To this, the fatwa department of the seminary responded: "There are many other ways to ensure the safety of a commercial establishment or a home. In Shariat, it is un-Islamic to shoot a picture. Consequently, even the CCTV is un-Islamic," according to TOI.

It had also said that Muslims must not post images of themselves or their kin on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat as it is against the religion.

Strangely the seminary is known to have several social media pages and people often tag them in their posts, a lot of which are selfies.

Meanwhile, there are a number of other fatwa issued by Darul Uloom Deoband which have raised several eyebrows. Speaking of eyebrows, the seminary in October 2017, had banned women from plucking, trimming, and shaping their eyebrows as it was "un-Islamic."

Not just that, the seminary also said that women must not cut their hair either and, in fact, just stay away from beauty parlors. The Darul Ifta, which is the edict-issuing faculty of the seminary, issued the fatwa in response to a query of a Muslim man from Saharanpur who asked if Islamic laws allowed women to trim their eyebrows and cut their hair.

"Muslim women should stay away from beauty parlours as Islam does not permit them to have make-up attracting other male members. Like Muslim male are not allowed to shave under Islam, eyebrow trimming, hair-cutting and make-up like wearing lipstick, etc is also banned," DNA had quoted Head Darul Iftaa Maulana L Sadiq Qasmi as saying.