A Muslim woman singer from Uttar Pradesh is forced to defend herself against people who criticized her for singing a Hindu “bhajan”.
A Muslim woman singing Hindu bhajan
Farmani Naaz from Muzaffarnagar district is a former competitor on the reality television show Indian Idol and has more than 38 lakh subscribers on her YouTube channel. The woman is now facing criticism for singing a Hindi devotional song. Naaz who took up singing to support her ailing son sang a bhajan on Lord Shiva titled Har Har Shambhu. The Muzaffarnagar singer’s song became so popular that it was broadly played during Kawar Yatra. However, Muslim clerics in Deoband are not happy with this.
While no Fatwa has been issued against her, many of them have condemned Farmaani Naaz for singing bhajan for other religions.
Maulana Ishaq Gora, as quoted by the Times Of India, said, “We are living in a democracy and everyone has the right to do his work. Farmani Naaz is a singer who can sing, who is stopping her? There is no Fatwa issued against her but I would like to say that our religion does not permit bhajans for other religions’ songs. This is against Shariat as well as tenets of Islam.”
As per Constitution, every citizen can do anything to praise a religion but should not hurt anybody's sentiments. There's no problem with that. Until I listen to the lyrics of the bhajan, I can't issue any statement on it. Until then I can't say anything about it: Mufti Zulfiqar pic.twitter.com/kcSXgABm09
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) August 1, 2022
Another Deoband-based Mufti Asad Qasmi, said, According to Islam, every kind of song is not allowed. If any Muslim does so, it’s a big sin. Muslims should stay away from singing such songs. Despite being a Muslim, Farmani Naaz is singing bhajans. She should stay away from this and ask forgiveness from God.”
Naaz gives a reply
Hitting back at the criticism, Farmani Naaz said, “Even Mohammed Rafi sang many devotional songs. We also see Master Saleem singing such songs, which are highly popular among people.”
Furthermore, she explains that she is an artiste, and an artiste has no religion. “An artist has no religion. I sing devotional songs as well as qawwali… An artist does not perform by seeing Hindu-Muslim. When we sing, we do not think if it is a Hindu song or not. We sing because it is our profession,” she adds.
She says, "Artists have no religion. I forget everything else when I sing. I even sing qawwali. Even Mohd Rafi & Master Saleem sang devotional songs. I've never received a threat. There's a little controversy now, we came to know but nobody has come to our house to say anything." pic.twitter.com/XcYJF8sYUQ
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) August 1, 2022
Farmaani Naaz was married in 2017 to Imran Ahmad from Meerut. The man soon left her. Naaz has told the media on various occasions that her husband would harass her for dowry and was having an extra-marital affair. Her newborn son had throat-related problems after which her in-laws demanded she should get some additional money home. That’s when Naaz started singing, a childhood dream that remained hidden because her parents didn’t allow her to sing. In no time, she had 3.84 million followers and subscribers on social media.
Two years ago, her friends posted a video of her signing online. The video became a viral hit and she managed to reach the platform of Indian Idol. She says she dropped out of the show to look after her ailing son. Her mother now supports her and says she sings all kinds of songs to support her son.
