Fatwa and Its Importance in Islam
وَإِذَ أَخَذَ اللّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلاَ تَكْتُمُونَهُ فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَاء ظُهُورِهِمْ وَاشْتَرَوْاْ بِهِ ثَمَناً قَلِيلاً فَبِئْسَ مَا يَشْتَرُونَ {آل عمران 187}
Remember that Allah took a pledge from those who were given the Scripture – ‘Make it known to people, do not conceal it’ – but they tossed the pledge over their shoulders, they bartered it for a small price: what a bad bargain they made. (Al ‘Imran 3:187)
قُلْ إِنَّمَا حَرَّمَ رَبِّيَ الْفَوَاحِشَ مَا ظَهَرَ مِنْهَا وَمَا بَطَنَ وَالإِثْمَ وَالْبَغْيَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَأَن تُشْرِكُواْ بِاللّهِ مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِ سُلْطَانًا وَأَن تَقُولُواْ عَلَى اللّهِ مَا لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ {الأعراف 33}
Say, ‘My Lord has forbidden only disgraceful deeds – whether they be open or hidden – and sin and unjustified aggression, and that you, without His sanction, associate things with Him, and that you say things about Him without knowledge . (Al- A’raf 7:33)
The Qur’an reminds us that it is our duty to convey Allah’s message clearly; we should not conceal the truth or ignore it for any personal desire or gain. The Qur’an also tells us that when we speak about Allah and His message we should be very careful. We should not say any things about Allah and His message without knowledge. As it is bad to hide the message; it is also bad to misrepresent the message. Islam urges its followers to speak up, but speak with knowledge and wisdom.
Last week I was invited to attend a conference on Fatwa and its General Rules. The conference was organized by the Academy of Islamic Jurisprudence (Majma’ al-Fiqh al-Islami) of the Muslim World League in Makkah. It was attended by a large number of scholars of Islamic law and Muftis from various Muslim countries. In four days ( January 17-20, 2009) about 40 research papers were presented. The basic topics of discussion were:
1. Fatwa and its importance
2. Collective Ijtihad for emerging contemporary issues
3. Changing Fatwa due to the change of Circumstances
4. Odd and Objectionable Fatwas and their dangers
5. Mixing between the Madhahib (talfiq)
6. Organizing the Fatwa, its rules and mechanism
7. Internet Fatwas and their impact
The ‘ Ulama emphasized that Fatwa is defined as “ الإخبار بحكم الله عن دليل لمن سأل عنه ” Informing those who ask about the rule of Allah based on the proof. Thus Fatwa is not the rule of a Mufti; it is Allah’s rule. Mufti only explains and informs. Fatwa must be based on the proof (dalil) as outlined in Islamic legal process. Fatwa is given on the real issues that people ask or the society faces, not on something speculative.
The person who gives the Fatwa (Mufti) has a great responsibility, because he/she tells people about Allah’s rule as honestly and sincerely as he/she understands that rule from its sources. Imam Ibn al-Qayyim in his famous book, إعلام الموقعين عن رب العالمين said that the person who signed the Fatwa was actually the signer on behalf of Allah.
The ‘Ulama’ in the conference were unanimous that today the Fatwa industry has grown and many individuals and groups are issuing Fatwas without knowledge and care that scholars in the past used to employ. Some people go to extremes in issuing Fatwas: they either are too strict or too lose and do not follow the middle path (wasatiyyah). Some people go to some odd opinions (ara’ shaddah) of previous scholars and use them to issue their Fatwas. Some people generalize what was mentioned for only exceptional situations and conditions. Some Fatwas now a day contradict the basic principles of faith, general rules of the Shari’ah, ethical norms and what is mentioned in undisputable authentic sources:
أصول الإعتقاد، كليات الشريعة، مبادئ الأخلاق وما شرع من الأحكام بنصوص ثابتة قطعية
Among the reasons for confusion in Fatwa today were cited:
1. Some people issue Fatwas without proper qualifications, training, piety and manners.
2. Prevalence of contradictory Fatwas on the same issues
3. Some people go against the established Fatwas of scholars and Islamic councils and create doubts in their rulings
4. Some exaggerate the difference of opinions of previous scholars without mentioning their accepted opinion.
5. Some Muftis lack the knowledge of contemporary society (fiqh al-waqi’) and also the consequences of their Fatwas (ma’alat).
6. Some do not care about the harms that their Fatwas cause to Islam and Muslims
The consequence of all this has led to the situation that some are making the permissible (halal) forbidden (haram) and some making the forbidden permissible. Some are calling other Muslims as non-believers (kafir) and some are allowing killing and shedding the blood of people by their wrong Fatwas. Some of these Fatwas are distorting the image of Islam, creating divisions among Muslims and harming the peace and security of the societies.
The Ulama’ suggested the following solutions:
1. Emphasize to individuals and groups the importance of the role of Fatwa and the responsibility of those who occupy the office of Fatwa.
2. Fatwas should be based on authentic knowledge of the Qur’an, Sunnah, Ijma’, Qiyas and other accepted legal principles of Islam.
3. Mufti should be free from any pressure of any government or group in issuing the fatwa
4. Extreme caution should be used in calling any person ‘non-Muslim.’
5. Warning should be given against the misleading Fatwas that urge or permit the killing of any innocent person. The emphasis should be made that one of the greatest objective of the Shari’ah is the protection of human life. (Surah al-Ma’idah 5:32)
6. Strict observance of the Qur’an and Sunnah and avoid false excuses to make the forbidden things permissible.
7. Change of Fatwa because of the change of customs and habits, public interest, prevalence of corruption in the society or any legal reasoning should be with the understanding that it should not violate the established authentic texts and unanimous rules of Shari’ah.
8. Always mention the Fatwa with proper proof and reasoning from the authentic sources. Fatwas should be written in clear and unambiguous language
9. Use collective Ijtihad as much as possible and Talfiq with proper reasoning and conditions. Fatwa Councils should be established and there should be cooperation and collaboration among them.
10. Muftis should observe the following principles in their Fatwas:
a. Unity of the Ummah, preservation of its identity and its observance of the Shari’ah
b. Preservation of the moderate path of Islam and avoid extremism, exaggeration, laxity and weakness
c. Preserve the safety and security of the society and all its members.
(Khutbah at ISOC – Safar 4, 1430/ January 30, 2009)
