Last year’s permit for hide collection to be renewed for madrasas

Madrasa leaders in Karachi on Sunday said the Sindh government would soon renew the last year’s permit for the religious seminaries to collect hides of sacrificial animals during Eid-ul-Azha.

As per the code of conduct drawn up by the Sindh government for the collection of animal hides over Eid-ul-Azha, all organisations will have to seek prior permission from the commissioner or the deputy commissioner.

Qari Muhammad Usman, a Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl leader in Karachi, said local government minister Syed Nasir Hussain on Saturday had attended a meeting with religious scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thoughts at Jamia Ashraf-ul-Madaris to discuss the campaign of the hide collection.

The meeting was headed by Maulana Hakeem Muhammad Mazhar, while prominent religious scholars, including Dr Maulana Muhamamd Adil, Maulana Saeed Khan Iskandar, Maulana Talha Rehmani, Dr Qasim Mehmood, Maulana Ghulam Rasool and Maulana Ibrahim Mazhar, were in attendance. In the meeting, two committees headed by Usman and Azhar were formed for the permission for the hide collection and combined Qurbani, respectively.

“In the meeting, the religious clerics agreed with the minister to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) during the Qurbani and for the hide collection,” Usman told The News.

Usman said the minister had assured the seminaries leaders that the home department would renew the last year's permit to collect the hides of sacrificial animals by Monday (today).

Presser

On Thursday, leaders of the Ittehad-e-Tanzeem Madaris Pakistan (ITMP), an umbrella body of the madrassa boards of five schools of Islamic jurisprudence, at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club asked the people to follow the SOPs. They urged the citizens to not take their children to the cattle markets given the coronavirus pandemic

ITMP leader Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman said the cattle markets in the province would be set up far from residential areas. “The cattle markets will be set up within walled-off concrete structures as opposed to open markets as has been the tradition. Collective sacrifice should be given a priority.”

The ages of animals must meet the Islamic requirements and sick animals should not be sold, he said. “Cows and bulls must be a minimum of nine years, goats and ram must be at least one year, and camels at least five years,” said Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman, who is also the head of the Ruet Hilal Committee.

He said the buyers of animal hides should transfer the hides to the preservation centres soon after procuring them. He said all issues had been settled with the government in this regard.

“The Sindh government’s permits for the collection of animal hides validated last year will be applicable this year as well — new permits will not be needed for those who procured them earlier,” he said.

While visiting the cattle markets, all buyers and sellers should maintain social distance and wear masks, he added. He also urged that sprays and disinfectants should be carried out at the sacrificial areas to stem the spread of coronavirus.

“The local governments should spray disinfectants from eight to 15 Zil Hajj (expected from July 29 to August 5),” he said.

The religious scholar advised the government to ensure that sick animals did not find their way into the markets. “The federal government should implement these precautionary measures throughout the country,” he said.

The religious scholar said the people should not treat cattle markets as picnic spots. “Only a restricted number of serious buyers should visit it. Children should not be taken there. He also urged the people to avoid walking their animals on their streets and the neighbourhoods.