Chairman of UP Shia Central Waqf Board Syed Wasim Rizvi asked the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) to hand over nine medieval period mosques constructed by Mughal kings after demolishing ancient Hindu temples.

Rizvi had earlier appealed to the AIMPLB to drop the claims of Muslims over the Babri mosque at Ayodhya and suggested that a new mosque `Masjid-e-Aman’ be constructed elsewhere.

Posing a question before AIMPLB, Rizvi asked, "Does Islam permit the construction of mosques at the site of religious places of other faiths in a multi-religious country. Will such mosques be rightful places of orship as per basic tenets of Islam ?’’

The Shia leader dashed off a letter to the AIMPLB wherein he gave a list of nine mosques which historians have proved, were constructed on the site of demolished temples. He also cited the Islamic holy scriptures saying, "It is a sin and not permissible in Islam to occupy religious places of other faiths and construct mosque over it. Prayers in such mosque are not accepted by the Allah."

In his letter, wherein the AIMPLB ws described as an `NGO’ dominated by Islamic fundamentalist, Rizvi said, ``I know that you will reject my suggestion to hand over these mosques to Hindus since your organization is dominated by Islamic extremists. I wish to bring to your notice that Islam preaches that you should support truth and righteous issues.’’

"I am writing to you since members (Mullahs) of your NGO are present in each state of India and they were well aware of basic tenets of Islam and they can help in building a consensus on this issue. I hope that AIMPLB will present this matter in the next meeting of its executive committee,’’said Rizvi.

In a three-page letter sent to AIMPLB chairman Maulana Rabe Hassan Nadvi on Tuesday, which was released in the media on Wednesday, Rizvi named mosques in Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi where mosques were made on the land of temples. The letter said that these nine places should immediately be handed over to Hindus by the AIMPLB.

The nine places are Ram temple at Ayodhya, Keshav Dev temple at Mathura, Atala Dev temple at Jaunpur, Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, Rudra Mahalaya temple in Batana (Gujarat), Bhadrakali temple in Ahmedabad (Gujarat), Adina mosque in Pandua (West Bengal) Vijaya temple in Vidisha (Madhya Pradesh) and Kutuvul Islam mosque near Kutub Minar (Delhi).

The Shia Waqf Board chairman said Kutuvul Islam mosque and Kutub Minar were constructed from the debris of 27 Jain and Hindu temples