J&K Waqf Board Drops Plan To Regulate Friday Sermons

The Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board has withdrawn a proposal to decide uniform topics for Friday sermons following widespread outrage across the region.

On Tuesday, 13 October 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board stepped back from its proposal to set uniform topics for Friday sermons. The Waqf Board is a statutory body that manages Muslim community properties, shrines, and mosques across the region. Its chairperson, Darakhshan Andrabi, who is also a senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, announced that such decisions will be taken by preachers and not politicians. This retreat in Srinagar came after widespread outrage from local political parties and religious figures. The controversy started after a board meeting on Saturday, 10 October 2026. At that meeting, the board decided to create a committee of muftis, imams, and khateebs (Islamic scholars and prayer leaders). The plan was to identify common sermon themes for shrines and jamia masjids under board control. Andrabi defended the initial move by saying the main goal was to fight social evils from the pulpit. She also claimed she had not issued a formal order, stating that local religious scholars had driven the idea.

Why it matters

For ordinary Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir, Friday sermons at local mosques are deeply personal and tied to community life. Preachers have traditionally shaped these speeches according to local realities, moral teachings, and community needs. When a state-appointed board led by a ruling-party politician attempts to set speaking topics, people worry about government control over religious freedoms and civil liberties. The row also highlights deep tensions over who governs Jammu and Kashmir. The region recently elected a local government, but key statutory bodies like the Waqf Board remain under central influence. Leaders across regional parties have demanded that the Waqf Board be placed under the direct control of the elected administration. This controversy has further widened the rift between the National Conference government in Srinagar and the Centre in New Delhi. On 28 September, the newly elected Assembly passed a resolution seeking the immediate return of full statehood, an action that led to a walkout by BJP members.

What leaders said

• Chief Minister Omar Abdullah called the move an unacceptable attempt by the BJP to interfere in the religious affairs of Muslims and asked the board to halt it immediately.

• Kashmir's chief cleric and head of the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, said Muslims in the region will never accept a statutory body regulating what is preached from the pulpit.

• People's Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti compared the plan to the push for a Uniform Civil Code, stating that mosques were built with the people's own money.

• Leaders from across different regional political parties demanded that the Waqf Board be brought under the control of the newly elected government.

• In response, Darakhshan Andrabi claimed the idea came from clerics themselves to fight social evils and clarified that no formal government order had been issued.

What's next

The retreat by the Waqf Board has temporarily cooled public anger, but larger questions about political interference remain unresolved. Preachers will continue to decide their own sermons for now, but religious leaders remain wary of future administrative control. Meanwhile, the demand to transfer the Waqf Board to the elected Jammu and Kashmir government is expected to grow louder in the Assembly. Ordinary citizens and political observers are watching to see if the Centre will ease its grip on local religious and cultural bodies. As statehood demands persist, this dispute shows how sensitive administrative decisions can quickly trigger political flashpoints in the region.