Srinagar, July 8: Mufti Nasir-Ul-Islam, who shot to instant fame over his controversial Fatwa against Conversions some months back, was Sunday nominated by his father and Grand Mufti, Bashir-Ud-Din as his successor for the coveted post in the Supreme Court of Islamic Shariat while other Ulema endorsed the decision.

THE DECISION
 The announcement came at the Imam-e-Azam conference hosted by Mufti Azam at his Soura residence here soon after the traditional DastaarBandi of Mufti Nasir, who has been the Deputy Mufti Azam since 2000.
 The nomination was made in presence of clerics including the Mutawali and Sajada Nisheen of Hazratbal shrine Khawja Ghulam Hassan Banday and Sajada Nisheen Kharlpora Dargah-e-Andrabia Syed Ali Shah Andrabi while the senior members of the Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Personal Law Board and other luminaries were also present on the occasion.

NASIR’S PROFILE
 A Post Graduate in Arabic and a Law graduate, Mufti Nasir has remained Legal Consultant with Ministry of Justice, Government of Abu Dhabi till 2006 when he resigned from there to start his own legal consultancy in Middle East.
 Prior to his professional service abroad, Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam has been working with his father at the Supreme Court of Islamic Shariat since 1970, whereas in 2000 he was appointed as Deputy Mufti Azam of Jammu and Kashmir.
 A Nudwatul Ulema Lucknow alumni, Nasir in his youth remained close to the prominent scholars of the times like Qasim Shah Bukhari.

LIFE ABROAD
 Often discussed as cleric with modern thinking, Nasir has spent over a decade of his professional life abroad in the United States of America, Middle East and Europe. His wife Dr Nilofar Ali is a Senior Scientist in Environment with the Government of Abu Dhabi while his two sons are pursuing education abroad. His elder son Moiz ud Din after graduation from Switzerland did a post graduation from Canada while the younger son Hamaad Nasir studies in Abu Dhabi.

THE VISION
 Talking to Greater Kashmir, Mufti Nasir said he aspires to make the institution of the Islamic Shariat dynamic and equally wants to remove the “misconceptions if any about the Shariat Board and its code of conduct.”
 “Decisions taken in the light of Quran and Hadith are best for the mankind and people have to be made aware about the same,” he added.
 He said he would equally work for the upliftment of education of Muslims in the state.

FATHER’S NOMINATION
 To a question, Mufti Azam, Bashir Ud Din said he wasn’t feeling well for quite some time so he decided to make the announcement about his successor as soon as possible.
 “And what could be better time than the Imam-e-Aazam conference,” he said adding that Mufti Nasir, his eldest of sons, had the “mettle to uphold the legacy.”
 “In fact he can prove better than me because he’s even frank than me and takes decisions boldly obviously in the light of Quran and Hadith,” Mufti Azam told Greater Kashmir adding that he was elated to have made the announcement.
 The cleric said the decision was close to his heart, a tightly kept secret. “Though it was in my mind, I kept it a secret till today when I made him get honored with the Dastaar Bandhi for nomination as my successor,” Mufti Azam said.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 8 Jul 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 8 Jul 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 9 Jul 2012 00:00:00 IST