Proposed India Mosque Hit by Holy Hair Row

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL | INDIA
By Joanna Sugden

Muslim devotees worshiped a holy relic, widely beleieved to be
a hair from Prophet Muhammad’s beard, in Srinagar, June 22.

INDIA---Plans to build India’s largest mosque have divided Sunni Muslims in a dispute over a lock of hair. The 25,000-30,000 capacity place of worship was proposed in early 2011 by Kanthapuram A. P. Aboobacker Musliyar, who heads a faction of Sunnis in western Kerala and claims to have a lock of Prophet Muhammad’s hair. Opponents from other Sunni groups allege the lock of hair is fake and that Mr. Aboobacker Musliyar is cheating people, taking donations for the mosque in the coastal city of Kozhikode for his own gain. Building has yet to start on the mosque, and opponents say the delay is because of the “Holy Hair Controversy.” [link]