Mirwaiz delivers sermon after two weeks of ‘house arrest’, welcomes Kashmir Waza Association’s deadline for wedding dinners
In his sermon, the Mirwaiz expressed concern over the “repeated restrictions on his religious and public activities”
Kashmir chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who endured "house arrest for two weeks", addressed the congregants at the historic Jama Masjid on Friday, November 13, 2026. During his sermon, Mirwaiz lamented the "repeated restrictions on his religious and public activities". He emphasized that such arbitrary measures caused "inconvenience, hurt people, and amounted to unwarranted interference in discharging his religious obligations".
Mirwaiz emphasized that the Jama Masjid pulpit "always stood for upholding faith and speaking the truth that reflects the concerns of people and their rights". The cleric affirmed that abandoning this responsibility was "an obligation I cannot shirk".
Mirwaiz welcomed the decision of the Kashmir Waza Association, a body of wedding chefs, to regulate dinner timing. The Association resolved to conclude late-night wazwan (wedding feasts) by 10 p.m. Mirwaiz praised the initiative as a "positive step towards bringing discipline and simplicity to marriage celebrations while respecting the dignity and hard work of the waza community".
He added that the Muttahida Majlis-e-Ulama (MMU), an assembly of religious bodies in Jammu and Kashmir, would offer "full support for such constructive efforts towards social reform".
However, Mirwaiz cautioned that the Waza Association's decision was only "a step in the right direction". He warned that the growing extravagance, unnecessary additions to wedding customs, excessive expenditure, and competitive displays of wealth had placed "enormous financial and social burdens on families". The cleric urged society to preserve the beauty of traditional values while eliminating wasteful practices. Mirwaiz urged marriages to become "simpler, dignified and affordable in accordance with Islamic teachings".
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