Indian Court Rulings Convert 14th-Century Mosque into Hindu Temple

A landmark ruling by the Madhya Pradesh High Court in central India declared the Kamal Maula mosque in Dhar to be a Hindu temple dedicated to the goddess Vagdevi (Goddess of Speech). The judgment, handed down on Friday (May 15, 2026), followed a lawsuit filed by local Hindu groups asserting that the Bhojshala complex — where the mosque sits — was an ancient temple predating the mosque's construction.

The Bhojshala complex, an important archaeological site protected by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), has been a flashpoint for decades. Under a 2003 agreement, Hindus were allowed to pray there every Tuesday, while Muslims prayed on Fridays. The new ruling ended that arrangement, barring Muslims from the site and allowing Hindus to conduct full worship rituals.

Mohammad Rafiq, 78, who served as the mosque's muezzin for 50 years, said: “Until last Friday, our mosque was ours; today it is no more. I never dreamed something like this would happen.” His family, going back to his grandfather, had led prayers there since before India’s independence in 1947.

The court largely relied on an ASI survey conducted two years earlier. Lawyers defending Muslim rights and critics denounced the ruling, arguing the court went too far by awarding the site to Hindus. A public notice from August 1935, reviewed by Al Jazeera, affirmed the complex “is a mosque and shall remain a mosque in the future.” However, the court rejected the British-era document, ruling it predated current laws.

Ashhar Warsi, a lawyer for the Muslim side, said: “An accompanying map clearly shows ‘Kamal Maula mosque’ marked separately from the City Palace, where the Ambika statue was found. Historical records show the statue was not found at the Kamal Maula mosque site, and the opposing side is lying blatantly.” He called the ruling “erroneous and a clear violation of established legal provisions.”

The judgment comes as Hindutva groups increasingly make similar claims against other mosques, emboldened by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise since 2014. Even the Taj Mahal — one of the seven wonders of the world — has not escaped this historical revisionism, though it is a mausoleum, not a mosque.

Analysts say the ruling draws inspiration from India’s Supreme Court landmark 2019 verdict on the Babri mosque in Ayodhya. That 16th-century mosque was demolished in 1992 by a Hindutva mob claiming it was built on the temple of Lord Ram. The incident sparked religious riots that killed more than 2,000 people, mostly Muslims. In 2019, the Supreme Court controversially awarded that land to Hindus to build a Ram temple, and Prime Minister Modi consecrated it in January 2024.

“The Babri verdict opened the door for all these claims and rulings,” said Asaduddin Owaisi, a five-term parliamentarian from Hyderabad. “Where does it end? Certainly not at the Kamal Maula mosque in Dhar.” Owaisi noted that in both rulings, courts left the option of granting alternative land to the Muslim community for building a new mosque.

Historian Audrey Truschke, an expert on the Indian subcontinent, said: “Scholars are looking for methodology, rigor, and conclusions that meet international academic standards. Politically motivated surveys that lack quality carry little weight.” She argued that “the trend of targeting mosques in India is part of Islamophobia embedded in Hindu nationalism.”

Gopal Sharma, coordinator of a local Hindu organization and a party to the lawsuit, said the Sunday rituals felt like a festival to him. “For more than 720 years, we waited to restore the dignity of our goddess, who was humiliated and whose temple was destroyed by Muslim rulers.” He declared: “So-called religious harmony was accepted all those years for secular political reasons. Today, secular politics no longer runs India. Modi’s Hindutva runs it.”

A white marble statue of the goddess Ambika (Vagdevi), currently displayed at the British Museum in London, is also a point of contention. The court ordered the Indian government to consider repatriating the statue, as requested by the Hindu side. However, lawyers for the Muslim side said British Museum records show the statue was found “among the ruins of the City Palace in 1875,” far from the Kamal Maula mosque site.

Similar disputes are ongoing in other cities, such as Varanasi and Mathura. In 2024, a Varanasi court ruled that the 17th-century Gyanvapi mosque showed signs of a Hindu temple beneath and allowed Hindus to pray inside. In Mathura, Hindu groups are seeking to repeat the Ayodhya scenario with the Shahi Eidgah mosque.