The Fatwas for cash scandal was a bribery scandal that erupted in some prominent Islamic institutions in India in September 2006 when a TV channel broadcast a Sting operation which showed a number of clerics indulging in or demanding bribery in return for issuing fatwas. The institutions involved included Darul Uloom Deoband, Islamic Fiqh Academy, Madrasa Aminia, Madrasa Khadimul Islam Hapur, Madrasa Mahmudiya Meerut and others.[1]
The clerics involved included the likes of Habibur Rahman Khairabadi, the chief of the fatwa department of India's most famous Islamic seminary, the Darul Uloom Deoband.[2][3] The sting operation was carried out by the Star TV channel in association with Cobrapost over a period of six months by undercover reporters wearing hidden cameras and was broadcast on Star TV's 'Benaqaab' program.[4] It showed some of the clerics accepting bribes as low as $60, and handing out fatwas in Urdu on subjects requested by the reporters. The fatwas were of varied nature including disallowing Muslims from using credit cards, double beds, or camera-equipped cell phones, and acting in films, donating their organs, teaching their children English, against watching TV as well as another fatwa in support of watching TV.[2][3] Darul Uloom Deoband set up a committee which concluded that the sting was a dishonest one and their Mufti did not take any money, and his fatwa was in accordance with the Shariah.[1]
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