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[quote]200 U.P. couples remarried by fatwa
Barelvi Sunnis Made To Pay Price For Attending Namaaz Led By Deoband Cleric
THE TIMES OF INDIA - Septemeber 6, 2006 - Manjari Mishra & Varun Chadha

Moradabad : Abid Ali is 80 and has been married to 75 years old Asgeri Begam for as long as he can remember. But this week he renewed his wedding vows and performed a nikah because a top cleric issued a fatwa dissolving his marriage. 
Ali wasn't the only one. More than 200 couples had to repeat their nikah in Aharaula village, about 20 km from Moradabad.
The reason: these Barelvi Sunni Muslims had committed the crime of attending a namaaz led by a cleric from the rival Deoband sect. The namaz on August 11 was led by Maulana Hafiz Abu Mohammad during the burial of his uncle, Master Nazakat Hussain, a respected madrassa teacher who had died at the age of 85 years.
All the villagers who attended the teacher's namaaz-e-janaza were caught in the hostilities between the Barelvis and Deobandis, an old fault line dividing UP's Sunni Muslims. The namaaz was led by Mohammad, a Deobandi, because the imam of the village failed to turn up.
However, this enraged local Barelvi leaders. Days after the burial, Haji Ali Hasan, a village elder travelled to Moradabad to meet with Mufti Abdul Mannan Karimi, a Barelvi cleric, and briefed him on how a Deobandi had led a band of Barelvis in prayer.
The mufti cracked down. Those at Hussain's burial were no more Muslims and had turned kafir, he decreed in a fatwa last week. The price for resumption of status quo was, "tauba karo, kalma padho aur nikah padhwao (do penance, recite the kalma, marry your wives all over again)".
"At least 100 couples have had the nikah ceremony done so far," a triumphant Karimi told TOI on Tuesday. "This time there has been no pomp and show at the nikah. The basic requisite has been the presence of just two witnesses. No dawat or other celebrations have followed them."
The mufti, however, exonerated those who were not aware of the identity of the Deobandi maulana and, therefore, were misled. But those who knew, he said, had to pay the price. "It is not my view, this is the stance taken by noted ulema and clerics of the Barelvi sect hundreds of years ago in conformity with the Koran and Hadis," he said.
The edict has stunned the entire village. Aharaula is a peaceful place which has been no tension or cirme, said Jaipal Singh, the station officer of Patbarha. The place, he says, "is a little too peaceful as we have not seen a single FIR filed from here so far". 
The population of the village is around 1,800 with 55% Muslims and most residents are poor and illiterate. This could be the reason the mufti's edict terrorised them into quickly organising ceremonies. "In most cases, the maulvi was called home to solemnise the marriage to avoid embarrassment," said Akram Hussain, brother of the village pradhan. However, many still haven't quite understood. "I still have no idea. My husband and children told me. I had to get remarried," said 65 year old Bashiran.[/quote]

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