By Javid Hassan
An international conference will be held at the headquarters of the Muslim World League (MWL) in Makkah on January 18 to sort out issues concerning fatwas (Islamic rulings), some of which have provoked controversies.
As part of its effort to lay down the guidelines, the Fiqh Academy, a subsidiary of the Muslim World League, is organizing the conference to specify the conditions that should govern fatwas, since they play an important role in the lives of Muslims around the world.
According to Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the MWL, the organizer of the conference, religious scholars and researchers from all Muslim countries and communities will be invited to the conference. The initiative for this event came from King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia who is concerned that some people not qualified to issue fatwas were doing so even on satellite TV channels.
The MWL secretary, who made the announcement at a press conference in Makkah, pointed out that these people not only criticize authentic fatwas but also question the authenticity of scholars who issue them.
In this context, Saudi Arabia has launched an official website dedicated to fatwas. The move is to ensure that fatwas issued only by authorised scholars should be accepted as valid. Visitors to the website can ask questions on any topic and get replies from Islamic scholars.
However, some of the fatwas provoked a great deal of controversy. One such was the ruling issued by Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Baz, former head of the council of Islamic Scholars, who had issued a fatwa in 1991 banning women from driving cars. This ruling is still the subject of a heated debate in Saudi Arabia. Another fatwa bans the interest-based banking system, which has sparked a phenomenal growth in interest-free Islamic banking all over the Gulf states, Malaysia, Indonesia and even some western countries.
However, an Egyptian Islamic scholar took a different approach on this issue. He was Muhammad Abduh, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, a position granted to him in 1899 by Lord Cromer, British Governor of Egypt. Described as the most damaging of all, his first Fatwa as Grand Mufti stated: “Interest in saving funds is allowed”. On the subject of banking/ the use of interest rates received on bank deposits, he wrote: “The stipulated usury is not permissible in any case; whereas the Post Office invests monies taken from the people.” Abduh argued that since they are not taken as loans based on need, it would be possible to invest in the post office savings scheme.
Not to be left behind, even the religious establishment in Egypt has been considering a similar move to publicise official fatwas through the mass media. Last month, the head of Egypt's renowned Al-Azhar University, Ahmed al-Tayeb, disclosed plans to set up a satellite TV station dedicated to the promotion of authorised rulings.
The move was intended to end the present state of confusion among the people, with Muslim scholars issuing rulings that sometimes contradict the official line of the religious establishment. The significance of fatwas in terms of their impact on Muslim public opinion and conduct has not been lost on various governments which manipulate these scholars into issuing fatwas that suit their policies. Thus, there has been no dearth of fatwas in support of the war on terror.
As many as 6,000 Islamic scholars from Darul Uloom, Deoband, have so far endorsed the fatwa against terror. Their pro-government stance has split the Muslim community, as some believe it amounts to an admission of guilt, since Islamic teachings clearly prohibit the shedding of innocent blood.
With a spate of bomb blasts that took place in various parts of the country last year, some clerics feel that the fatwa was required, as the Muslim community had been targeted. They also argue that this fatwa is for non-Islamic communities only.
Justifying the need for such rulings, Maulana Mohammed Sajid Rashidi, president, All-India Imam Association, explains that it was meant to send across a message to the international community that Islam does not condone terrorist activities. A lunatic fringe exists in every community. Even so, the finger of suspicion points only in one direction—towards Muslims—whenever such incidents occur.
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