Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has annulled a 2023 order from the state Waqf Board, which appointed seven members to manage the Ibadat Khana (house of worship) in Darulshifa.
Justice Nagesh Bheemapaka directed the Waqf Board to assume control of the Ibadat Khana and establish a managing committee with equal representation from both Shia sects, Akhbari and Usuli, to address ongoing legal disputes.
This ruling originated from a petition filed by Asma Fatima of the Shia Imamia Ithna Ashari Akhbari Society, contesting the Waqf Board’s decision to appoint new members to oversee the institution.
The Ibadat Khana serves as a significant religious site for Shia Muslims, utilized for prayers, mourning, and celebrations related to the Prophet Mohammed and the twelve imams.
According to Mir Lukman Ali, counsel for the petitioner society, the property was originally donated in 1953 by two waqifs, who appointed an eight-member committee for its management. This arrangement was formalized in a gazette in 1989, which included a clause allowing these ten members to nominate successors.
However, as committee members passed away without designating successors, the Waqf Board intervened in 1994 by forming a ten-member mutawalli committee.
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