Four purported imams in Kashmir on Friday broke tradition by praying inside mosques for “magfirat” and “jannat” — pardon and paradise — for General Bipin Rawat, an unusual occurrence in the Valley that has pleased the army but enraged many others in the Valley.

Imams seldom pray for magfirat and jannat for non-Muslims. Islamic tradition holds that “believers” — those who believe in Kalima, the Islamic article of faith that professes one God and the prophethood of Mohammad — alone are entitled for such prayers in akhirat, or life after death.

The Valley has witnessed several symbolic condolence meetings over Chief of Defence Staff Rawat’s death in the past few days. Several top politicians have taken to social media to condole the deaths of Gen. Rawat, his wife and 11 others in a chopper crash in Tamil Nadu’s Coonoor on Wednesday.

Videos surfaced on social media on Friday showing purported imams seeking forgiveness and a special place in paradise for Gen. Rawat and the other deceased persons.

The identities of the imams, said to be performing the service in border areas of Kupwara district, could not be ascertained.

A Srinagar-based defence spokesman said the prayers were held at various border mosques.

“During the Friday prayers in the afternoon at the mosques of Macchal, Pushwari, Dabpal and T Shuntwari of the Macchal sector, the maulvis addressed the people and prayed to Allah the Almighty to grant eternal peace to the departed souls of Gen. Bipin Rawat, Mrs Madhulika Rawat and the 11 other armed forces personnel who were martyred in the tragic helicopter crash,” the spokesman said.

In one video, a purported imam is seen sitting on a mosque pulpit before a row of the devout, praying for the deceased. But the same man appears to be among the devotees in the same mosque when another purported imam is seen leading prayers in another video.

Kashmir’s chief Mufti, Nasir-ul-Islam, reacted angrily to such prayers.

“Kashmiris have always been saddened by the deaths of people belonging to people of all faiths. But our religion says that jannat is reserved for those who believe in the unity of God and the Prophethood of Hazrat Mohammad,” the Mufti told The Telegraph.

“It is these imams, and not me, who should be asked to explain if such things are allowed in our religion. Maybe they have concocted some evidence but I have my reservations,” he added.

Such prayers are more unusual in the Valley if they are held for armymen who are not Muslims, given the hostilities between the armed forces and locals in Kashmir.

For friendly non-Muslims many locals do pray for “peace” for the departed soul and seek swarg, instead of jannat although the two mean the same, for them.

Outside mosques on Friday, some people believed to be close to the establishment held condolence meetings and lit candles for the departed souls.

The Valley’s army chief and 15 Corps head, Lt Gen. D.P. Pandey, joined one such candle light event at Srinagar city’s centre.

Lt Gen. Pandey said the event compelled him to “join and participate with the people of Kashmir” to show his respect on “behalf of the entire Chinar corps (15 corps) and the people of Kashmir”.

Gen. Rawat’s tenure as army chief and later as CDS had been marked by various controversies and he had advocated a hard line to crush militancy.

In April 2017, Rawat had defended Major Leetul Gogoi for tying Farooq Ahmed Dar, a young Kashmiri craftsman, to his jeep bonnet and using him as a human shield to drive through a hostile patch. Later, the army formally commended Gogoi for his widely condemned rights violation against an unarmed civilian.

Last month, Gen. Rawat had appeared to side with “lynching” of militants by Kashmiris, claiming that locals were sharing information about them.

“In fact, now what we are told is, the locals are saying we will lynch the terrorists, which is a very positive sign that is coming in,” Gen. Rawat had said at an event in Delhi.

J&K Bank on Friday suspended an employee for allegedly posting a “laughing emoji” in connection with the general’s death.