The Tamil Nadu Jamathul Ulema Sabha, that calls itself Tamil Nadu Jama Athul Ulama Sabha, has termed the marriage of a Muslim girl with a Hindu boy at Thiruvaiyaru in Tamil Nadu’s Thanjavur district as “prostitution” and the wedding as un-islamic.

In a letter sent to the father of the Muslim woman, the Thanjavur Jamath President P A Muhammed Ayusalih Ulavi said it was damaging the Jamath’s standing in the society and Muslims should ensure that such incidents don’t occur in the future.

This is the letter in question:

While some on the social media welcomed the marriage, the reaction from the woman’s community was typically critical. A twitter user commented that Prophet Muhammad had barred Muslims against following other religions’ culture and such marriages were not “halal”. He even said that had the woman feared Allah, she wouldn’t have done this.

Some who welcome the marriage were aghast at the terming of marriage as “prostitution”. Tamil Nadu is one of the few States where many inter-religious marriages are practised. This is one of the few instances where there has been an open protest from the Jamath against marriages.

The State has also seen conversions to Islam like in Meenakshipuram, where an entire village converted in 1981. Two Tamil film music directors had also converted to Islam from Hinduism. Tamil Nadu also witnesses a lot of conversion to Christianity from Hinduism. The vice-versa conversion happens rarely.