LHC for appropriate respect for ‘the sign’
LAHORE:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the Auqaf Department and the Data Darbar administrator on Friday to fix a tile – described by a devotee as a sign from the Almighty – in an appropriate way to ensure that it was not defiled.
Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif issued the order on a petition moved by one Ghulam Abbas.
The petitioner submitted that visiting the Data Darbar two weeks ago, he had noticed that the word ‘Allah’ had appeared on a tile in the floor of the mosque associated with the shrine. He said he had drawn the attention of the administration of the mosque and the shrine to the phenomenon, which had removed the tile from the location.
He said he feared that, given its remarkable history, some administration official would be tempted to sell the tile. He requested the court to issue directions to the authorities concerned to preserve the tile in the Badshahi Mosque Museum or to re-install it on the shrine premises at a place where devotees could see it.
“It is a miracle,” he pleaded, “and we should respect it. It is a source of blessing”.
Appearing on court notice, Rao Fazlur Rehman, the shrine administrator, presented the tile, wrapped in a shawl, before the court.
He also showed it to the chief justice and those present in the court.
He informed the court that once the phenomenon was brought to his notice, he had had the tile removed from the floor and kept it in a lofted place – out of respect to Allah’s holy name.
The chief justice ordered the administrator to re-install it at some appropriate place in the shrine or the mosque complex where it would not be desecrated and disposed of the petition.
The administrator told The Express Tribune that the tile was spotted in the middle of the courtyard of the mosque a few days ahead of the suicide attacks.
He said the management had yet to finalise the place where it would be installed. In pursuance of the LHC directive, he hoped that the decision would be made soon in a meeting with the chairman of Religious Affairs Committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th,
The Lahore High Court (LHC) ordered the Auqaf Department and the Data Darbar administrator on Friday to fix a tile – described by a devotee as a sign from the Almighty – in an appropriate way to ensure that it was not defiled.
Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif issued the order on a petition moved by one Ghulam Abbas.
The petitioner submitted that visiting the Data Darbar two weeks ago, he had noticed that the word ‘Allah’ had appeared on a tile in the floor of the mosque associated with the shrine. He said he had drawn the attention of the administration of the mosque and the shrine to the phenomenon, which had removed the tile from the location.
He said he feared that, given its remarkable history, some administration official would be tempted to sell the tile. He requested the court to issue directions to the authorities concerned to preserve the tile in the Badshahi Mosque Museum or to re-install it on the shrine premises at a place where devotees could see it.
“It is a miracle,” he pleaded, “and we should respect it. It is a source of blessing”.
Appearing on court notice, Rao Fazlur Rehman, the shrine administrator, presented the tile, wrapped in a shawl, before the court.
He also showed it to the chief justice and those present in the court.
He informed the court that once the phenomenon was brought to his notice, he had had the tile removed from the floor and kept it in a lofted place – out of respect to Allah’s holy name.
The chief justice ordered the administrator to re-install it at some appropriate place in the shrine or the mosque complex where it would not be desecrated and disposed of the petition.
The administrator told The Express Tribune that the tile was spotted in the middle of the courtyard of the mosque a few days ahead of the suicide attacks.
He said the management had yet to finalise the place where it would be installed. In pursuance of the LHC directive, he hoped that the decision would be made soon in a meeting with the chairman of Religious Affairs Committee.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th,