The Internet's Effect on Fatwas in Islam

MattSchumann HonorsThesis ReligiousStudies

FromClassicalOrdertoContem FromClassicalOrdertoContemporaryChaos: poraryChaos:AStudyofthe AStudyoftheInternet’sEffe Internet’sEffecton ctonFatwasin Islam

Abstract Thispaperexploresthechangesinthestructureofifta’asaresultoftheintroductionofthe InternetasamediumforthedisseminationofIslamiclegalopinions.Theinvestigationbegins withasurveyofcurrentscholarshipontherelationshipbetweentheInternetandIslam.The  paperthenmovestoestablishanunderstandingofclassicalifta’thatiscomparedwiththe

ifta’presentincontemporarymedia.Thefinalsectionofthepaperillustratesthecrisisofifta’ intheMuslimworldasaresultoftheintroductionoftheInternetandotherformsof contemporarymedia.Intheconclusiontheauthordetailshisownsolutiontothisproblem.

NoteonTranslationsand NoteonTranslationsandTransliteration Transliterations s ThispapercitesanumberofArabiclanguagesources.Theauthorusestransliterationsofthe sources’titlesinhiscitations.Theseandothertransliterationsfollowtheguidelinesofthe

InternationalJournalofMid InternationalJournalofMiddleEastern dleEasternStudies. Studies.

2 ThequestionofhowtheIntern ThequestionofhowtheInternetaffectsrel etaffectsreligionhasbee igionhasbeendebated ndebatedsincethee sincetheearly arly 1990s. 1Whileitisbeyondthescop Whileitisbeyondthescopeofthispap eofthispapertoprovide ertoprovideacomprehe acomprehensiverevie nsivereviewof wof thisfieldofscholarship,itisap thisfieldofscholarship,itisappropriateto propriatetohighlightafew highlightafewtheoreticaltre theoreticaltrends.Firstisthe nds.Firstisthe discussionofreligion’srelationshi discussionofreligion’srelationshipwithtechnology pwithtechnology.AsAnastasia .AsAnastasiaKaraflogka Karaflogkapointsout,it pointsout,it iscommontothinkofreligiona iscommontothinkofreligionasbeingoppose sbeingopposedtotechnology.H dtotechnology.However,thisbe owever,thisbeliefis liefis almostentirelyfalse.2AlexisKortnotesthatchange AlexisKortnotesthatchangesintechnologyh sintechnologyhavehadhuge avehadhugeimpacts impacts onreligionsinthepast.The onreligionsinthepast.Themostnotablew mostnotablewouldbethep ouldbetheprintingpre rintingpressanditsrole ssanditsroleinthe inthe ProtestantReformation.3Mediatechnologyisespeci Mediatechnologyisespeciallyimportant allyimportanttoreligions.In toreligions.Inthe the UnitedStates,Evangelical UnitedStates,EvangelicalChristianshave Christianshavebeenespe beenespeciallyadep ciallyadeptatusingma tatusingmassmediato ssmediato spreadtheirreligiousmessa spreadtheirreligiousmessage.Itissafe ge.Itissafetosaythatan tosaythatanyproselytizin yproselytizingfaithwillutili gfaithwillutilize ze whatevermeansareav whatevermeansareavailabletosp ailabletospreaditsbe readitsbeliefs. liefs. TheIn TheInter terne neti tisa save very ryuni unique quema mass ssme mediu dium. m.Unl Unlike ikete telev levisi ision onor orra radio dio,t ,the heInt Intern ernet et isinteractive.Ratherthan isinteractive.Ratherthanjustreceivin justreceivingamessage, gamessage,userscanpa userscanparticipatein rticipateindiscussionsand discussionsand connectwithoneanother.An connectwithoneanother.Anyonewithan yonewithanInternetconn Internetconnectioncanacce ectioncanaccesswebsites, sswebsites, commentonarticles,orcreate commentonarticles,orcreatetheirownweb theirownwebpages.This pages.Thisinteractivee interactiveenvironmenti nvironmentiscalled scalled cyberspace.Whilevariousde cyberspace.Whilevariousdefinitionsofcyb finitionsofcyberspaceexist erspaceexist,Karaflogkan ,Karaflogkanotesthatits otesthatits “capacitytoreshape,reorg “capacitytoreshape,reorganizeand anizeandrestructuree restructureeveryaspectof veryaspectofbothsocialand bothsocialandpersonal personal lifehasbeenthecommond lifehasbeenthecommondenominatorin enominatorinthediscourses[a thediscourses[aboutit].” boutit].”4Scholarsacceptthe potentialfortheInternet potentialfortheInternetandcybersp andcyberspacetodrama acetodramaticallyalterth ticallyalterthe‘traditiona e‘traditional’socialand l’socialand religiousorderineveryway.  1AnastasiaKaraflogka,E-Religion:ACriticalAppraisalofReligiousDiscourseontheWorldWideWeb

(London,

Equinox,2006),11 2Ibid.,100 3AlexisKort,“Daral-DyberIslam:Women,DomesticViolence,andtheIslamicReformationontheWorldWide Web”, JournalofMuslimMinorityAf  JournalofMuslimMinorityAf fairs25,no3(December,2005),363 4Karaflogka,112

3 Ifthe IftheIn Inter ternet netha hast sthe heab abili ility tyto toaff affect ect“ “eve every ryasp aspect ect”o ”ofa faso socie ciety tyor orar areli eligio gion, n,how howis is itchangingIslam?Oneway itchangingIslam?OnewaytheInterne theInternethasaltered thasalteredpreexistin preexistingsocialstructuresis gsocialstructuresisby by openingpreviouslyclosedsyste openingpreviouslyclosedsystems.Wecanse ms.Wecanseethisinthe ethisinthepopularityofW popularityofWikipedia,a ikipedia,an n encyclopediathatanyInt encyclopediathatanyInternetuserca ernetusercanedit,and nedit,andintheexp intheexplosionofself‐pub losionofself‐publication, lication,  fatwas5  manifestintheubiquityof manifestintheubiquityofblogs.Ihavechose blogs.Ihavechosentoexplore ntoexplorethenatureof thenatureofInternet Internet fatwas

becausetheinstitutionofifta’ 6isoneexampleofaclosed isoneexampleofaclosedsysteminIsla systeminIslam.Bythispa m.Bythispaper’s per’s conclusionIhopetohavedem conclusionIhopetohavedemonstratedhowth onstratedhowtheInterneth eInternethasopened asopenedthetraditiona thetraditional l structureofifta’ .. Before Beforemo movin vingf gfurt urther her,i ,iti tisi simp mport ortan antt tton onote oteth thet etext extst sthat hatp prov rovid ided edthe themo most sthel help p  Authority,ContinuityandChangeinIslamic Law was tothispaper.Dr.WaelHallaq’s Authority,ContinuityandChangeinIslamic was

extremelyhelpfulindescri extremelyhelpfulindescribingthenua bingthenuancesofclassical ncesofclassicalifta’ .Dr.GaryBunt’sworks .Dr.GaryBunt’sworksIslamin theDigitalAgeand iMuslims:RewiringtheHouseofIslamwerealsohelpfulinproviding

theoriesontheimpactofthe theoriesontheimpactoftheInterneton InternetonIslam.Addition Islam.Additionally,Mohammed ally,Mohammedel‐Nawaw el‐Nawawy’sand y’sand SaharKhamis’IslamDotComtowasequallyhelpful.Iwas towasequallyhelpful.Iwasalsoinfluenced alsoinfluencedbyAlexisK byAlexisKort’s ort’s paper Daral-CyberIslam:Women,DomesticViolenceandtheIslamicReformationonthe WorldWideWeb.Thispaperalsomade .ThispaperalsomadeuseofArabic useofArabiclanguagesource languagesources,particularlyD s,particularlyDr. r.

UsamaUmaral‐Ashqar’sFawda‘l-ifta’.Othersourcesarecitedinmypaperandappear withtheseinthebibliography. Thep Thepape aperi riso sorde rdered reda asf sfoll ollows ows.I .Int nthe heInt Introd roduct uction ionis isa abri brief eflit litera eratur turer erevi eview ewto to provideanoverviewa provideanoverviewandcriticala ndcriticalappraisalofcur ppraisalofcurrentscholarship rentscholarshiponIslam’sweb onIslam’swebpresence. presence.

 5TheEncyclopediaofIslamdefines fatwa  fatwaasan“opiniononapointoflaw.”E.Tyan,J.R.Walsh"Fatwā."

EncyclopaediaofIslam,SecondEdition ,ed.P.Bearman,Th.Bianquis,C.E.Bosworth,E.vanDonzelandW.P. Heinrichs.Brill:2010.http://www.brillonli Heinrichs.Brill:2010.http://www.brillonline.nl.ezproxy.rice.edu/sub ne.nl.ezproxy.rice.edu/subscriber/entry?entry= scriber/entry?entry=islam_COM‐ islam_COM‐ 021915 6TheEncyclopediaofIslamdefinesifta’ as“[t]heactofgivinga  fatwa.”Ibid. as“[t]heactofgivinga fatwa.

4 Followingisadiscussionofmyre Followingisadiscussionofmyresearchmethodolog searchmethodologyandsources.A yandsources.Afterthisisa fterthisisa discussionofifta’inclassicalIslamicLaw,whichwi inclassicalIslamicLaw,whichwillcontainatyp llcontainatypologyoftheclassica ologyoftheclassical l muftiandhisetiquette.Adiscu andhisetiquette.Adiscussionoftheinflue ssionoftheinfluenceoftheIn nceoftheInternetand ternetandothermassmed othermassmedia ia

onifta’ follows,illustratingMuslimconcerns follows,illustratingMuslimconcernswiththedem withthedemocratizationof ocratizationofthisinstitution. thisinstitution. Thepaper’sconclusiondiscusse Thepaper’sconclusiondiscussestheimplicati stheimplicationsofthecurren onsofthecurrentstateof tstateofifta’ ,itseffecton ,itseffecton Islamandhowthesituationca Islamandhowthesituationcanbereme nberemedied. died. LiteratureReview

Whet Whethe her ror orn not ott the heI Int nter erne net tis ish hav avin ing ga ali libe bera rali lizi zing nge eff ffec ect ton onm mod oder ern nIs Isla lami mic c thoughtisacommonconcernofWeste thoughtisacommonconcernofWesternscholars.Kortop rnscholars.Kortopensherpa ensherpaperwiththe perwiththequestion: question: “IsIslamgoingthroughaReformation?”7Sheproceedstoarguetha SheproceedstoarguethattheInterne ttheInternethas thas reopenedthedoorsofijtihad 8inIslam,allowingforthecrea inIslam,allowingforthecreationofnew,d tionofnew,diverse iverse interpretationsofIslam’ssacredtexts. Bunt Buntw was ast the hef fir irst stt to oma make ket thi his sar argu gume ment nt..Ka Kara rafl flog ogka kac cre redi dits tsh his ise ear arly lyw wor ork kas as“ “th the e firstacademicexplorationof firstacademicexplorationofaparticular aparticularreligionwithi religionwithin[information n[informationcommunication communication technologies].”9Hecoinedthephrase“ Hecoinedthephrase“cyberIslamic cyberIslamicenvironments” environments”todescribe todescribeIslamic Islamic expressiononlineandIsla expressiononlineandIslamiccyberspace miccyberspace.Heredef .Heredefinestheterm inestheterminhissecond inhissecondbook, book,Islam intheDigitalAge(2003):

[Thisis]anumbrellatermw [Thisis]anumbrellatermwhichcanrefe hichcanrefertoavarie rtoavarietyofcontexts, tyofcontexts, perspectivesandapp perspectivesandapplicationsofthem licationsofthemediabythose ediabythosewhodefine whodefinethemselves themselves asMuslims.Thesemaycontain asMuslims.Thesemaycontainelementsof elementsofspecificMuslimw specificMuslimworldviewsan orldviewsand d notionsofexclusivity,combined notionsofexclusivity,combinedwithregionala withregionalandculturalun ndculturalunderstanding derstandingsof sof  7Kort,363

8

Ijtihad referstoindependen referstoindependentjuristicreason tjuristicreasoning. ing.

9Karaflogka,42

5 themediaanditsvalidity.Thesepronouncementshaveoftenbeentempered witharealism,whichrecogniz witharealism,whichrecognizesaneed esaneedtohavea tohaveavoiceincybe voiceincyberspacein rspacein ordertopropagatevalue ordertopropagatevaluesandview sandviewswithinthein swithintheinformationmark formationmarketplace. etplace.10 Thistermisveryusefuline Thistermisveryusefulinestablishingab stablishingabasicundersta asicunderstandingofIslam ndingofIslamicexpressionon icexpressiononline. line. Threecharacteristicsarecle ThreecharacteristicsareclearfromBunt’ arfromBunt’sdescription.T sdescription.Thefirstisthat hefirstisthatthisexpression thisexpressionis is notnecessarilyreligiousinn notnecessarilyreligiousinnature.Hisdef ature.Hisdefinitionappli initionappliesto“pronoun esto“pronouncements”mad cements”madeby eby thosewhoidentifyasMuslims,w thosewhoidentifyasMuslims,whetherthisexp hetherthisexpressionisrelig ressionisreligiousinnature iousinnatureisnot isnot necessarilyimportanttoBun necessarilyimportanttoBunt.Second,thisex t.Second,thisexpressionisine pressionisinevitablydive vitablydiverse,asitre rse,asitrepresents presents “regional”perspectives. “regional”perspectives.Last,hemake Last,hemakesclearthatM sclearthatMuslimsacknowled uslimsacknowledgetheInter getheInternet’svalue net’svalue asamedium,whichindicat asamedium,whichindicateshowIslamisn eshowIslamisnotnecessarily otnecessarilyanti‐technologica anti‐technologicalinitsoutlook. linitsoutlook. Beyo Beyond nda ad def efin init itio ion nof oft thi his sIs Isla lami mic ccy cybe bers rspa pace ce,,Bu Bunt nti is sco conc ncer erne ned dwi with thh how ow traditionalnotionsofauthority traditionalnotionsofauthorityhavebeen havebeenalteredby alteredbytheInterne theInternet.Heacknowle t.Heacknowledgeshow dgeshow traditionalconceptsofscholarly traditionalconceptsofscholarlyauthorityinIsla authorityinIslamhavechange mhavechangedduetothe dduetotheopennessa opennessand nd accessibilityoftheInternet.T accessibilityoftheInternet.Thepopularity hepopularityofreligiousinfor ofreligiousinformationonthe mationontheInternetisn Internetisnot ot necessarilydetermined necessarilydeterminedbyitsadher byitsadherencetotrad encetotraditionalvalues.P itionalvalues.Prominenceon rominenceonsearch search enginesandtheuseofkeywordscandeterminehowmanypeopleviewawebpage.When  fatwas,anInternetmuftidoesnothavetoadhere itcomesto fatwas doesnothavetoadheretotraditional totraditionalqualifications; qualifications;

hislackofeducation,forexa hislackofeducation,forexample,maybe mple,maybeanon‐factor anon‐factorinhispopular inhispopularity,orhemay ity,orhemaybe be popularpreciselyduetohi popularpreciselyduetohisdistancefrom sdistancefromtraditional traditionalschoolsofthought.In schoolsofthought.IniMuslims: RewiringtheHouseofIslam(2009),Buntgoesfurther (2009),Buntgoesfurther,providinga ,providinganewsetof newsetof

‘qualifications’forInternetmuftis.Hestatesthatpersonalstatus .Hestatesthatpersonalstatusandpossession andpossessionof ofbaraka11  10GaryBunt,IslamintheDigitalAge, (PlutoPress,2003), 5 11TheEncyclopediaofIslamdefinesbaraka asablessingbestowedonpeoplebyGodthatcancause

prosperityandhappiness.G.S.Colin,“Baraka” ,,EncyclopaediaofIslam,SecondEdition ,ed.P.Bearman,Th.

6 areimportantindeter areimportantindeterminingaschola miningascholar’sstatusonline, r’sstatusonline,aswellashis aswellashissite’spromine site’sprominenceon nceon searchengines.12Thislatterpointemphasiz Thislatterpointemphasizeshowascholar eshowascholar’stechnologicallite ’stechnologicalliteracycanan racycanan importantfactorindeterm importantfactorindetermininghisstature ininghisstatureinagloba inaglobal,wiredrelig l,wiredreligiouscommunity. iouscommunity. Thou Though ghB Bun unt tac ackn know owle ledg dges est tha hat tth ther ere eis is“ “no nos sin ingl gle epa para radi digm gmo of f‘r ‘ref efor orm’ m’”, ”,13itis clearthatthetreatmentof clearthatthetreatmentoftraditionallyu traditionallyunqualifiedi nqualifiedindividualsa ndividualsasreligiousauthori sreligiousauthoritiesis tiesis seentoindicateIslamicre seentoindicateIslamicreform.Headop form.HeadoptsJonAnderson tsJonAnderson’sconceptof“ ’sconceptof“creolizeddi creolizeddiscourse” scourse” tofurtherthispoint.Thisisde tofurtherthispoint.Thisisdefinedas: finedas: [Onlineinteractionscreate [Onlineinteractionscreate]a‘missingmi ]a‘missingmiddle’betw ddle’betweentheIslam eentheIslamof of intellectualssubjecttotextuala intellectualssubjecttotextualanalysis(ofthought) nalysis(ofthought)andIslamof andIslamofthefolkor thefolkor massesmorelikelytobee massesmorelikelytobeexaminedin xaminedintermsofsocialfor termsofsocialforces. ces.14 Anderson’sconceptdescribe Anderson’sconceptdescribesthecreation sthecreationofanewi ofanewintellectualmid ntellectualmiddleclassinIsla dleclassinIslamthat, mthat, unliketraditionalscholars,will unliketraditionalscholars,willtake“social take“socialforces”intoconsid forces”intoconsiderationwhe erationwhendetermin ndetermining ing religiousprinciples.Thefact religiousprinciples.Thefactthatthishasbe thatthishasbeen“missing” en“missing”impliesad impliesadisconnectbetwe isconnectbetweenthe enthe traditionalreligiouselitea traditionalreligiouseliteandthepe ndthepeople,somethinga ople,somethingalsoidentified lsoidentifiedbyel‐Na byel‐Nawawyand wawyand Khamis.15Additionally,Andersoncle Additionally,Andersonclearlystatestha arlystatesthattheInterne ttheInternetalonehasf talonehasfacilitatedthis acilitatedthis connectionbetweenscholarsa connectionbetweenscholarsandaverag ndaveragebelievers. ebelievers.Belowwewi BelowwewillseethatAn llseethatAnderson’s derson’s concept,anditsadoptionb concept,anditsadoptionbyBunt,isprob yBunt,isproblematic.Thoughhis lematic.Thoughhisworkisimpe workisimperfect,Bunt’s rfect,Bunt’s researchisthebestthatex researchisthebestthatexistsinthispar istsinthisparticularfieldof ticularfieldofstudy. study. Mohammed el‐Nawawy’s and Sahar Khamis’ IslamDotComismorepolitically focusedthanBunt’swork,and focusedthanBunt’swork,andtheirresea theirresearchismored rchismoredetailed. etailed.IslamDotComfocuseson  Bianquis,C.E.Bosworth,E.vanDonzelandW.P.Heinrichs.Brill:2010. http://www.brillonline.nl.ezproxy.rice.edu/su http://www.brillonline.nl.ezproxy.rice.edu/subscriber/entry?ent bscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM‐1216 ry=islam_SIM‐1216 12GaryBunt,iMuslims:RewiringtheHouseofIslam ,(UniversityofNorthCarolinaPress,2009),32 13Bunt,“IslamintheDigitalAge”,129 14Anderson,inBunt,“iMuslims”,18 15Seediscussionbelow

7 analyzingdiscourseonseve analyzingdiscourseonseveralpopular ralpopularIslamicdiscussionfo Islamicdiscussionforums.Theirpurp rums.Theirpurposeisto oseisto investigatewhetherornott investigatewhetherornottheInternet heInternetishelpingtocre ishelpingtocreateanIsla ateanIslamic“publicsp mic“publicsphere” here” comparabletothatlaidoutb comparabletothatlaidoutbyJurgenHab yJurgenHabermas. ermas.16Todoso,theresearchersconducted qualitativeanalysisofthep qualitativeanalysisofthepostsonthreep ostsonthreeprominentIslam rominentIslamicwebsites. icwebsites. 

Muchl Muchlik ikeA eAnde nderso rson’s n’s“c “creo reoliz lized eddis discou course rse”, ”,el‐ el‐Naw Nawawy awyan andK dKham hamis iside identi ntify fythe the

Islamic‘publicsphere’asa Islamic‘publicsphere’asasortofinterme sortofintermediarybetw diarybetweenavera eenaverageMuslimsan geMuslimsandthereligious dthereligious elite.Thiselite,isthe‘ulama17 ,whohavetraditionallyheld ,whohavetraditionallyheldauthorityin authorityinIslam. Islam.18The authorsnotea“disconnect” authorsnotea“disconnect”presentbetw presentbetweenMuslimy eenMuslimyouthsandthe outhsandthe‘ulama.Intothisvoid come“‘newreligiousintellectuals’”,19likethepopularpreache likethepopularpreacherAmrKhaled rAmrKhaled.Laterin .Laterinthe the text,theyassertthattradition text,theyassertthattraditionalMuslimsscholars alMuslimsscholarshave“faile have“failedtoundersta dtounderstandthemen ndthementality tality oftheyoungMuslimsortogaintheirtrust.”20TheInternetenables TheInternetenablestheseyouth,tocrea theseyouth,tocreate te theirownsolutionstotheirreligi theirownsolutionstotheirreligiousproblems,eit ousproblems,eitherbyfollowing herbyfollowingtheideasof theideasofnon‐ non‐ traditionalreligiousfiguresor traditionalreligiousfiguresorbyarriving byarrivingtoconclusionsonthe toconclusionsontheirown.Thela irown.Thelatterconceptis tterconceptis describedas“e‐ ijtihad ”bytheauthors,andischr ”bytheauthors,andischronicledinthe onicledinthediscussionforumth discussionforumthreads reads theyanalyzeintheirtext.21 In Alexis Kort’s paper Daral-CyberIslam:Women,DomesticViolenceandtheIslamic ReformationontheWorldWideWeb,theauthorinvestigatesthei ,theauthorinvestigatestheimpactoftheIn mpactoftheInterneton terneton

Islamictheology,specificallyissuesof Islamictheology,specificallyissuesofdomesticviolen domesticviolence.Herana ce.Heranalysisfocusesonthe lysisfocusesonthe responsesofseveralIslamicw responsesofseveralIslamicwebsitestoQur’a ebsitestoQur’anicversesan nicversesandreligioustra dreligioustraditionsthatha ditionsthathave ve  16Mohammedel‐NawawyandSaharKhamis,IslamDotCom:ContemporaryIslamicDiscoursesinCyberspace ,

(PalgraveMacmillan,2009),6 17

‘Ulamaisthepluraloftheword‘alimwhichliterallymeans‘one whichliterallymeans‘onewhoknows’.The whoknows’.The ‘ulama Islam’sreligiousscholars.

18Ibid.,34 19Ibid.,47‐48 20Ibid.,74 21Ibid.,72‐73

8 allowedmentobeattheir allowedmentobeattheirwives.Kortsee wives.Kortseekstodiscover kstodiscoveriftheInterne iftheInternetisusheringi tisusheringinanew nanew eraofijithad ,andwhetherornotsucheffor ,andwhetherornotsucheffortsarelead tsareleadingtoatype ingtoatypeofIslamic‘ref ofIslamic‘reformation’. ormation’. Thou Though ght the hec con onte tent nto of fKo Kort rt’s ’sr res esea earc rch his iso onl nly yta tang ngen enti tial ally lyl lin inke ked dto tot tha hat tof oft thi his s paper,herthesisarticulate paper,herthesisarticulatestwoimportant stwoimportanttrendspre trendspresentintheothe sentintheothersourcesdiscussed rsourcesdiscussed above.Thefirstistheatten above.Thefirstistheattentionpaidt tionpaidto“modern o“modernijtihad ”22,orarenewalofindependent legalreasoning.Thisadhe legalreasoning.ThisadherestoJosephSchach restoJosephSchacht’sfamousassertion t’sfamousassertionthatthe“d thatthe“doorsof oorsof ijtihad ”closedinIslam’sclassicalperiod, ”closedinIslam’sclassicalperiod,23and,aswewillsee,isn and,aswewillsee,isnotentirelya otentirelyaccurate. ccurate.

Additionally,manyscholarsb Additionally,manyscholarsbelievethatth elievethattheresumptionof eresumptionofthesecreativ thesecreativeintellectual eintellectual effortswillnecessarilyresultin effortswillnecessarilyresultina‘modern a‘modernization’or‘r ization’or‘reformation’ofI eformation’ofIslam.InBunt’s slam.InBunt’swork, work, ijtihad isabuzzwordforintelle isabuzzwordforintellectualeffortsthat ctualeffortsthatstandincontr standincontrastto‘traditi astto‘traditional’Islam. onal’Islam.

However,thisassumptionismisp However,thisassumptionismisplaced.Kortcomes laced.Kortcomestoasimilarcon toasimilarconclusioninherw clusioninherwork.She ork.She foundthattheijtihad onayah4:34intheQur’andidnotalwayseliminateacondonationof onayah4:34intheQur’andidnotalwayseliminateacondonationof domesticviolence.24Below,wewillseehowthe Below,wewillseehowthemereuseof mereuseoftheInternet, theInternet,thoughavery thoughavery modernmedium,doesnotn modernmedium,doesnotnecessitatea ecessitatea‘moderniza ‘modernization’ofcontent. tion’ofcontent. ResearchMethodologyandPrimarySources

Inad Inaddit dition ionto toth thea eafor foreme ementi ntione onedt dtext exts, s,thi thisp spap aper erstu studie diest sthre hreeI eIsla slamic micw webs ebsite ites: s: IslamOnline,IslamQAandIsla IslamOnline,IslamQAandIslamWeb.Inno mWeb.Innowaydothese waydothesesitesconstitutea sitesconstituteacompletepictur completepicture e ofIslamicresourcesonline.The ofIslamicresourcesonline.Thesheervolumeof sheervolumeofIslamicmateri Islamicmaterialsonlinemak alsonlinemakesa esa comprehensiveanddeta comprehensiveanddetailedassessme iledassessmentoftheirconte ntoftheircontentextremely ntextremelydifficult,ifnot difficult,ifnot impossible.Inaddition,the impossible.Inaddition,therapiditywi rapiditywithwhichIntern thwhichInternetresourcescan etresourcescanmultiplymake multiplymakes s ‘traditional’researchalm ‘traditional’researchalmostobsolete.Byn ostobsolete.Bynow,thedata ow,thedataIcollectedmonths Icollectedmonthsagoissuretob agoissuretobe e  22Kort,370 23JosephSchacht, AnIntroductiontoIslamicLaw   AnIntroductiontoIslamicLaw (Oxford:ClarendonPress,1964),69‐75 (Oxford:ClarendonPress,1964),69‐75 24Kort,380

9 outdated.Nonetheless,thiswork outdated.Nonetheless,thisworkisthebestp isthebestpossibleoptionm ossibleoptionmovingtowardsa ovingtowardsamore more completepictureonIslamon completepictureonIslamontheInternet. theInternet.Theanalysis Theanalysispresentedi presentedinthispape nthispaperisamere risamere snapshotofonecorneroftheI snapshotofonecorneroftheIslamicwebworl slamicwebworld.Andthoughi d.Andthoughitslimitationsar tslimitationsaresignificant, esignificant, thispaper,whenputtogethe thispaper,whenputtogetherwithotherw rwithotherworks,hopestocontri orks,hopestocontributetotheconstr butetotheconstructionof uctionof atrulycomprehensiveassessme atrulycomprehensiveassessmentofIslamon ntofIslamontheInternet. theInternet. Initia InitialI lInte nterne rnetr trese esearc archb hbega egani ninO nOcto ctobe ber2 r200 009. 9.Ove Overt rthe hespa spano nofa fafe few wwee weeks, ks,th the e authorgatheredinformation authorgatheredinformationonaround4 onaround40websitesth 0websitesthateitherpr ateitherproducedtheir oducedtheirownor ownor  fatwas.Thislistwasnarrowedd reproduced fatwas .Thislistwasnarroweddowntositesthat owntositesthatrankedhigh rankedhigherthan10 erthan10,000in ,000in

visitsbyAlexaWebServi visitsbyAlexaWebServices,anIntern ces,anInternetmarketr etmarketresearchfirmtha esearchfirmthatoffersrank toffersrankingsofthe ingsofthe mostpopularwebsitesonline.25Sixofthe40sitesqualifie Sixofthe40sitesqualified,andfrom d,andfromthesetheauth thesetheauthor or  fatwasinEnglish.Ofthese,www.islamweb.net  pickedthethreethatoffered fatwas inEnglish.Ofthese,www.islamweb.net isthemost isthemost

popular,ranked#223 popular,ranked#2237outofallsite 7outofallsitesontheIntern sontheInternet, et,26whereaswww.islamonline.net  whereas www.islamonline.net ,, ranked#4005 27andwww.islamqa.com and www.islamqa.comranked#8973. ranked#8973. 2829Thepaper’scontentanalysis  fatwasthatconsiderrelationsbetw focuseson fatwas thatconsiderrelationsbetweenMuslimsa eenMuslimsandnon‐Muslim ndnon‐Muslimsinnon‐ sinnon‐

Muslimenvironments.Asthese Muslimenvironments.AsthesetargetMuslim targetMuslimminoritiesoutsid minoritiesoutsideoftheMuslim eoftheMuslimworld, world, Englishlanguagematerialw Englishlanguagematerialwasfoundtobe asfoundtobesufficient.Infa sufficient.Infact,thereisan ct,thereisanabundance abundanceof of Engl Englis ish hla lang ngua uage geI Isl slam amic icm mat ater eria ial lon ont the heI Int nter erne net. t. Thistopicareabestillustrate Thistopicareabestillustratesthechangesi sthechangesin nifta’ inthisnewmediaenvironment. inthisnewmediaenvironment.  fatwas,andanarrowtopicalso Eachsitehoststhousandsof fatwas ,andanarrowtopicalsomadeconten madecontentanalysismore tanalysismore

feasible.Additionally,thist feasible.Additionally,thistopictouchesupona opictouchesuponaparticularly particularlycontemporaryM contemporaryMuslim:the uslim:the  25http://www.alexa.com/ 26Asof10/18/09,rankhadfallento#2586asof1/5/10 27Asof10/18/09,rankhadrisento#3427asof1/5/10 28Asof10/18/09,rankhadfallento#11122asof1/5/10 29Thesites’fallinpopularitymaybeattributabletoa‘Ramadan‐Hajjboost’.Ifirstresearchedthesites’

popularityinbetweenRamadanandHajj2009,whichmayhavebeenaperiodofheightenedreli popularityinbetweenRamadanandHajj2009,whichm ayhavebeenaperiodofheightenedreligious gious interestforMuslims.

10  fatwaswereselectedfromthe statusofMuslimminoritiesoutside statusofMuslimminoritiesoutsideoftheMuslimw oftheMuslimworld.131 orld.131 fatwas

threesites.Aswillbeshown,t threesites.Aswillbeshown,theopinionsoffe heopinionsofferedbyea redbyeachsitevarie chsitevariedgreatly, dgreatly, demonstratingtherangeof demonstratingtherangeofIslamicopinion Islamicopinionsavailable savailabletoMuslimsonthe toMuslimsontheInternet.The Internet.The analysisofthesesitesprovid analysisofthesesitesprovidesthebasisfo esthebasisforthepape rthepaper’ssecondthrust. r’ssecondthrust. Asmen Asmentio tioned nedab above ove,t ,the heInt Intern ernet ethas hasth thep epote otenti ntial alto tore reori orien entt ttrad raditi itiona onals lsyst ystems emsof of knowledge.Ifta’ inIslamisaperfectexa inIslamisaperfectexampleofa‘ mpleofa‘traditional’sy traditional’systemofknowled stemofknowledge.Theact ge.Theact ofderivinganddelive ofderivinganddeliveringlegalop ringlegalopinionsisvery inionsisverycentraltothe centraltothepracticalfuncti practicalfunctionofIslamas onofIslamas areligion.FatwasprovideMuslimswithreligious provideMuslimswithreligiousguidance,an guidance,andthe dthemuftiisthesole authorityabletogivesuchde authorityabletogivesuchdeterminations. terminations. mufti. Adab  AdabisArabicfor Classical Islamic adabliteraturedescribestheroleofthemufti

‘etiquette’,30andadabal-muftireferstotheliteratureth referstotheliteraturethatoutlinespre atoutlinespreciselyhowa ciselyhowamufti andhispetitionersshouldgo andhispetitionersshouldgoabouttheirbu abouttheirbusiness.Thecare siness.Thecarefulstudyofthese fulstudyofthese adabtexts revealsmuchaboutthenature revealsmuchaboutthenatureofclassical ofclassicalifta’ .Bydesigntheyarev .Bydesigntheyareverycomprehen erycomprehensive,and sive,and providedawealthofin providedawealthofinformationnotonly formationnotonlyabout aboutmuftisthemselvesbutalsotheclassical societiesinwhichtheyoperated. This paper focuses on the  Adabal-fatwawa-l-Muftiwa-lMustaftibyClassicalSyrian legalscholarYahyab.Sharaf legalscholarYahyab.Sharafal‐Nawawi al‐Nawawi(d.1277) (d.1277).Thistreatise, .Thistreatise,partofala partofalargerlegal rgerlegal commentary,isthebest‐knownadabal-muftiwork.Throughthistext,wecangaina conceptoftheidealmufti,whohewas,howhethought,and ,whohewas,howhethought,andhowhedelib howhedeliberatedan eratedand d delivered fatwas.Thisportraitisessentialtoou .Thisportraitisessentialtoourinvestigation rinvestigationintotheimpa intotheimpactofthe ctofthe

 30F.GabrieliEncyclopaediaofIslam,SecondEdition ,ed.P.Bearman,Th.Bianquis,C.E.Bosworth,E.vanDonzel

andW.P.Heinrichs.Brill:2010. http://www.brillonline.nl.ezproxy.rice.edu/sub http://www.brillonline.nl.ezproxy.rice.edu/subscriber/uid=1852/en scriber/uid=1852/entry?entry=islam_SIM try?entry=islam_SIM‐0293 ‐0293

11  fatwas.Equallyasimportantisap Interneton fatwas .Equallyasimportantisaproperunde roperunderstandingofth rstandingoftheroleof eroleofifta’ in in

IslamicLaw. Many understand Islamic Law, the shari’a,tobeDivineLaw.Thisla ,tobeDivineLaw.Thislabelismislead belismisleading ing asitimpliesthatonly‘div asitimpliesthatonly‘divine’actorscan ine’actorscanchangethe changethesubstanceofthisla substanceofthislaw.Aswewi w.Aswewillsee llsee below,humanactorshavenoton below,humanactorshavenotonlygenerate lygeneratedavastma davastmajorityofthe jorityoftheshari’abutalso continuetoperformvitalfuncti continuetoperformvitalfunctionsinitsinte onsinitsinterpretation.Of rpretation.Oftheseindivid theseindividuals,the uals,themufti standsoutinhisimportance standsoutinhisimportanceandnecessity andnecessity.. TheFatwainIslamicLaw

Thepurposeofthissectionistw Thepurposeofthissectionistwofold.First,we ofold.First,wewilltheroleof willtheroleofifta’ withinthe withinthe Islamiclegalsystem.Second,we Islamiclegalsystem.Second,wewilllookatthe willlookattherulesfor rulesforifta’ throughthelensofal‐ throughthelensofal‐  Adabal-fatwawa-l-Muftiwa-lMustafti.Wewilllookatthequalitiesand Nawawi’s Adabal-fatwawa-l-Muftiwa-lMustafti

stipulationsofmuftis,explainthemandseek ,explainthemandseektocreatea tocreateaclassicaltypologyf classicaltypologyfora oramufti.This investigationwillprovide investigationwillprovidematerialwith materialwithwhichwecan whichwecancomparethem comparethemodernpracti odernpracticeof ceofifta’  ontheInternet.Aswewil ontheInternet.Aswewillseebelow,ma lseebelow,manyArabcom nyArabcommentatorsresp mentatorsrespondingtothecu ondingtothecurrent rrent  fatwaslooktoclassicalscholars,likeal‐N situationof fatwas looktoclassicalscholars,likeal‐Nawawi,forsoluti awawi,forsolutionstothe onstothe

contemporaryissuestheyper contemporaryissuestheyperceive.Inthisw ceive.Inthisway,theclassical ay,theclassicaladabal-muftiliterature remainsveryrelevant. IslamicLawisablankette IslamicLawisablankettermthatrefe rmthatreferstothemorala rstothemoralandethicalp ndethicalprescriptions rescriptions provideforMuslimsbyGod provideforMuslimsbyGod,theProphet ,theProphetandfellowM andfellowMuslims.Thislawis uslims.Thislawiscommonly commonly referredtoastheshari’a,awordthatliterallymea ,awordthatliterallymeansapath.In nsapath.Inthissense,the thissense,theshari’a comprisesthetotalityofmorala comprisesthetotalityofmoralandethicalim ndethicalimperativesne perativesnecessaryforpe cessaryforpeopletotheir opletotheirlivesin livesin linewithGod’s“ordaine linewithGod’s“ordained”message d”message.Aninstructive .Aninstructivephrasethat phrasethatiscommonlyassociate iscommonlyassociated d

12 withIslamicLawis,“toenjoi withIslamicLawis,“toenjointhegoodan nthegoodandprohibitthe dprohibittheforbidden forbidden.” .” 31Inamostgeneral sense,thisiswhattheshari’atriestodo. Muslimsoftenrefertotheshari’aasDivineLaw.Thisconnote asDivineLaw.Thisconnotestheideat stheideathatDivine hatDivine Revelationonlyprovides RevelationonlyprovidesIslamicLaw’sp IslamicLaw’sprescriptions.Whi rescriptions.Whilethisistrue lethisistrueforsomeprecep forsomeprecepts, ts, humanactorsgeneratedthe humanactorsgeneratedthevastmajority vastmajorityofIslamicLaw. ofIslamicLaw.Wecansee Wecanseethisbylooking thisbylookingatthe atthe recognizedusulal-fiqh,orrootsofIslamicjurisprudence ,orrootsofIslamicjurisprudence.Theseare .Thesearethe theQur’an,theSunnah, qiyasand ijma’ .Thefirsttwoofthesearete .Thefirsttwoofthesearetextualsources,butth xtualsources,butthelattertwor elattertworepresent epresent

sanctifiedprocessesoflegal sanctifiedprocessesoflegalreasoning.The reasoning.The Qur’an,God’srevelationtotheProphet Muhammad,andthe Sunnah,thecollectedsayingsandtr ,thecollectedsayingsandtraditionsofthe aditionsoftheProphet,are Prophet,are treatedassacredtextsb treatedassacredtextsbyMuslims.While yMuslims.Whiletheycontainv theycontainvariousexplicitle ariousexplicitlegalstipulation galstipulations, s, theirscopeislimitedand theirscopeislimitedandtheycannota theycannotanddonotcom nddonotcomprisethetotali prisethetotalityofIslamicLa tyofIslamicLaw. w. Qiyasand Ijma’ aresanctifiedmethods aresanctifiedmethodsMuslimsthroughwhich MuslimsthroughwhichqualifiedM qualifiedMuslims uslims

mayperformlegalreasoni mayperformlegalreasoningbeyondth ngbeyondtheexplicitstate eexplicitstatementsofthe mentsoftheQur’anandSunnah. Qiyasdescribes“analogicalded describes“analogicaldeduction”withwh uction”withwhichajuristconn ichajuristconnectstwocasestoge ectstwocasestogetherby therby

analogyinordertoappl analogyinordertoapplythelegalstip ythelegalstipulationfromone ulationfromonetotheother. totheother.32 Ijma’ issimilarto issimilarto qiyasinitsstatusasasourceoflaw initsstatusasasourceoflaw,butisveryd ,butisverydifferentin ifferentinitscompositionan itscompositionandprocess. dprocess. Ijma’ referstotheconsensusoftheM referstotheconsensusoftheMuslimscommunity.It uslimscommunity.Itderivesits derivesitsauthorityfromthe authorityfromthea a

hadithinwhichtheProphet hadithinwhichtheProphetstates,“[Mycom states,“[Mycommunity]shouldnot munity]shouldnotallagreein allagreeinanerror.” anerror.”33 Thistradition,intheory,state Thistradition,intheory,statesthatanyd sthatanydecisionreache ecisionreachedbytheen dbytheentireMuslimcomm tireMuslimcommunity unity isreligiouslyvalid.  31Formoreonthisconceptsee:MichaelCook,CommandingtheRightandForbiddingWronginIslamic CommandingtheRightandForbiddingWronginIslamic

Thought ,(Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniversityPress,2000 ,(Cambridge,UK:CambridgeUniversityPress,2000).Seeparticularlyhissecondchapter ).Seeparticularlyhissecondchapter(pp.14‐31) (pp.14‐31) whichdescribestheQur’anicrootsofthisphraseandassociatedethic. 32 33

MuhammadHashimKamali,PrinciplesofIslamicJurisprudence ,(Cambridge:IslamicTexts,2003)265 SunanAbuDawud ,Book35,Hadith4240 ,Book35,Hadith4240

13 Kamali34andDien 35describeijma’ growingoutoftheleadersh growingoutoftheleadershipvoidcrea ipvoidcreatedbythe tedbythe Prophet’sdeath.Duringhisl Prophet’sdeath.Duringhislifetime,Muham ifetime,Muhammadwasthe madwasthesoledispense soledispenserofreligious rofreligious knowledgeandopinion, knowledgeandopinion,whetherthatb whetherthatbeintheform eintheformofdiviner ofdivinerevelationorsi evelationorsimplyin mplyin statinghisapprovalordisa statinghisapprovalordisapprovalofa pprovalofamatter.After matter.Afterhispassing,this hispassing,thismantleof mantleof responsibilitypassedinton responsibilitypassedintonewhands. ewhands.Ijma’ gavethecommunityasaw gavethecommunityasawholetheabili holetheabilityto tyto legislateforitself.Itisimporta legislateforitself.Itisimportanttonotethat nttonotethatunlikeany unlikeanyoftheothersource oftheothersourcesofIslamicLaw sofIslamicLaw,, ijma’ ispurelyahumanprod ispurelyahumanproduct.Itsacceptance uct.Itsacceptanceindicatesa indicatesapragmatic pragmaticshiftawayfrom shiftawayfromsole sole

relianceonthesacredte relianceonthesacredtextsforreligiousgu xtsforreligiousguidance.Thisla idance.Thislastpointisin stpointisinstructivein structivein understandingtheroleofifta’ .. Ifta’ originatedfromasimilar originatedfromasimilardoctrinalcrisisa doctrinalcrisisasdid sdidijma’ .Whereasthelatteris .Whereasthelatteris

concernedwiththeverye concernedwiththeveryedictsoflaw,the dictsoflaw,theformerisnot. formerisnot.Ifta’ referstothegivingofIslamic referstothegivingofIslamic legalopinions.Theseare legalopinions.Thesearenonbinding,th nonbinding,thoughtheyoftenp oughtheyoftenplayedar layedaroleina oleinaqadi’s,judge’s, decisioninacourtcase.36Asmentioned,Muhammad Asmentioned,Muhammadwasthelaw wasthelawgiverfor giverfor contemporaneousMuslims.Hisspir contemporaneousMuslims.Hisspiritualguidance itualguidancewasalsomore wasalsomoreadvisoryin advisoryinnature.And nature.And justastherewasaneed justastherewasaneedtolegislatea tolegislateaftertheProp ftertheProphet’sdeath,th het’sdeath,therewasa erewasasimilarneed similarneedfor for opinionsaboutwhichactionswe opinionsaboutwhichactionswereacceptab reacceptableanduna leandunacceptable.From cceptable.Fromthissituation thissituationifta’  grewasanelementofIslamicLaw. Theinformationavailableonifta’existsinavarietyofplaces.Fatwasexistin collectionsdatingbackthe8thcenturyC.E.37Jurisprudentialworksoftend Jurisprudentialworksoftendealwith ealwithifta’   34

Kamali,231

35M.IzziDien,IslamicLaw:fromHistoricalFoundationstoContemporaryPractice ,(NotreDame,Ind:

UniversityofNotreDamePress,2004),5‐6 36AlexandreCaeiro,“TheShif AlexandreCaeiro,“TheShiftingMoralUniversesof tingMoralUniversesoftheIslamicTraditionof theIslamicTraditionofIfta’ :ADiachronicStudyofFour :ADiachronicStudyofFour

,96,(October,2006),661.AcademicSearchComplete,via  Adabal-Fatwa Manuals”,TheMuslimWorld ,96,(October,2006),661.AcademicSearchComplete,via EBSCOhost,http://web.ebscohost.com 37Masud,MessickandPow Masud,MessickandPowersnotethat“[t]heemergenc ersnotethat“[t]heemergenceofthefatwacollectionasadiscreteli eofthefatwacollectionasadiscreteliterarygenre terarygenre pointstotheincreasinglyimportantroleplayedbymuftisi pointstotheincreasin glyimportantroleplayedbymuftisinthejudicialprocess.”Theyci nthejudicialprocess.”TheyciteAbuLaythal‐ teAbuLaythal‐

14 eitherdirectlyorindire eitherdirectlyorindirectly.However,the ctly.However,thebestsourceofin bestsourceofinformationabou formationabout tifta’canbe foundintheadabal-fatwaoradabal-muftiliteraturethatrelatesthe literaturethatrelatesthedetailed detailedrulesand rulesand regulationsgoverningtheconsult regulationsgoverningtheconsultativeand ativeandinterpretati interpretativeprocessesof veprocessesofifta’ .Theserules .Theserules  fatwas,andrules usuallycoverthreeareas:th usuallycoverthreeareas:therulesconcern erulesconcerning ingmuftis,rulesconcerning fatwas

concerningmustaftisorpetitioners.Thesetextsa orpetitioners.Thesetextsareextremely reextremelydetailed detailedintheirde intheirdescriptions scriptions  Adabal-fatwatoconstructa oftheifta’ process.Goingforward,wew process.Goingforward,wewilluseal‐Na illuseal‐Nawawi’s wawi’s Adabal-fatwa ifta’ andthe detailedportraitofthepurposeofifta’  andthe mufti.

Al‐Nawawicommunicatesseve Al‐Nawawicommunicatesseveralimportan ralimportantcharacteristics tcharacteristicsof ofifta’ andthe andthemufti thatwewillstudybelow.The thatwewillstudybelow.Theseare:the seare:theabsolutenece absolutenecessityof ssityofifta’ forMuslims,the forMuslims,the rigorousqualificationsofthemuftiduetohispotentialforerr duetohispotentialforerror,thecaution or,thecautionmuftismust  fatwascanbecorrupted.Whenwelookatifta’  ifta’ inthecontemporaryworld employ,andhow fatwas inthecontemporaryworld

wewillseethattheseissues wewillseethattheseissuesremainimp remainimportant. ortant. Fromtheverybeginnina Fromtheverybeginninal‐Nawawia l‐Nawawiasserts ssertsifta’ seminencewithintheMuslim seminencewithintheMuslim community: Knowthatifta’ isgreatlyimportant,ofemin isgreatlyimportant,ofeminentstaturea entstatureandhasman ndhasmanymerits; ymerits;  fardkifayahbut becausethemuftiistheheirtotheProphets.H istheheirtotheProphets.Heisincharge eisinchargeofthe ofthe fardkifayah

heis[also]exposedtothepossi heis[also]exposedtothepossibilityoferror. bilityoferror.38 Theseopeninglinesare Theseopeninglinesareextremelyd extremelydescriptiveof escriptiveoftheimportance theimportanceof of ifta’ and andmuftis.Al‐ NawawiacknowledgesthatmuftisperformarolesimilartoG performarolesimilartoGod’sProphets od’sProphetsand and Messengers.Byproviding Messengers.Byprovidingopinionsasto opinionsastowhichactionsare whichactionsareacceptable acceptableandunacce andunacceptable, ptable,  Samarqandi’s(d.983)Kitabal-Nawazil asoneoftheearliestfatwacollections.(MuhammadKhalidMasud, asoneoftheearliestfatwacollections.(MuhammadKhalidMasud, BrinkleyMessick,DavidS.Powers,“Muftis,Fatwas,an BrinkleyMessick,DavidS.Pow ers,“Muftis,Fatwas,andIslamicLegalInterpretation dIslamicLegalInterpretation”in ”inIslamicLegal Interpretation ,ed.MuhammadKhalidMasud,Bri ,ed.MuhammadKhalidMasud,BrinkleyMessickandDavidS.Pow nkleyMessickandDavidS.Powers,(Cambridge,Mass ers,(Cambridge,Mass: : HarvardUniversityPress,1996),10) 38 Yahyab.Sharafal‐Nawawi, Adabal-fatwawa-l-Muft  Adabal-fatwawa-l-Muft iwa-lMustafti(Beirut:Daral‐Basha’ir,1990),13.This translationandallothers,unlessnoted,donebyauthor.

15 themuftiisessentiallylegislatingin isessentiallylegislatinginacapacity acapacitysimilartothat similartothatoftheProphet oftheProphethimself.The himself.The  fardkifayah.Thisdescribesadutyor dutythatthemuftiperformsisconsideredtobea fardkifayah

responsibilitythatisincumbe responsibilitythatisincumbentuponthecomm ntuponthecommunityasawh unityasawhole.Placedin ole.Placedinthiscategory, thiscategory, ifta’ gainsthestatusofreligiousd  jihad .Additionally,thisacknowledgesthe gainsthestatusofreligiousdutieslike utieslike jihad  .Additionally,thisacknowledgesthe

importanceofspirituallead importanceofspiritualleadershiptoMusli ershiptoMuslimsasawhole.A msasawhole.Asal‐Nawaw sal‐Nawawistates,onlythe istates,onlythe mufticandispensewiththisresp candispensewiththisresponsibility.By onsibility.Byshoulderingthe shoulderingtheburdenofhi burdenofhiscommunity, scommunity,

themuftiexposeshimselftothepossibili exposeshimselftothepossibilityofleadin tyofleadinghisfellowbeli ghisfellowbelieversastray. eversastray. Al‐N Al‐Naw awaw awi, i,a and ndo oth ther ers, s,a acc ccep ept tth the epo poss ssib ibil ilit ity yof ofe err rror ori in nifta’ .Asasingleopinion,a .Asasingleopinion,a mufti’srulingdoesnotgainthesa ’srulingdoesnotgainthesanctityassigned nctityassignedto toijma’ .ThestringentrulesofAl‐Nawawi .ThestringentrulesofAl‐Nawawi

andothersundoubtedlysee andothersundoubtedlyseektomitigate ktomitigatethepossibility thepossibilityoferror: oferror: Itisstipulatedthatthemuftiisofsoundmind,39Muslim,trustworthy,  faqihal-nafs, reliable,abovesinand reliable,abovesinandmentaldist mentaldisturbances.[Hei urbances.[Heistobe]a stobe]a faqihal-nafs

soundofmind,firminhisthou soundofmind,firminhisthought,correctinhis ght,correctinhisbehaviorand behavioranddeductive deductive abilities,andwary.Equa abilities,andwary.Equalinthisare linthisarethefreema thefreeman,theslave,the n,theslave,thewoman,the woman,the blindmanandthemute blindmanandthemute,aslongas[tha ,aslongas[thatpersoncan tpersoncan]writeorhissug ]writeorhissuggestion gestion isunderstood[bythepetitioner].40 One’sknowledgeofIslamicL One’sknowledgeofIslamicLawandmor awandmoralityarecen alityarecentraltohiseligi traltohiseligibilityfor bilityforifta’ .Wecan .Wecan  faqihal-nafsreferstoahighlyskilled assumethatifta’ requiresgreatintellect.Thetitle requiresgreatintellect.Thetitle faqihal-nafs  faqih,whopossessesabsolutecommandof jurist, faqih ,whopossessesabsolutecommandofthesourcesofthe thesourcesofthe shari’aandotherlegal

texts,sothathemakesdete texts,sothathemakesdeterminationswithou rminationswithoutreferencing treferencingtexts.Highlyskille texts.Highlyskilledjurists djurists werealsolabeled mujtahid ,orone’swhopracticeind ,orone’swhopracticeindependent ependentlegalreasoni legalreasoning.However,a ng.However,a masteryofIslamicLawisnot masteryofIslamicLawisnotenough.Inorde enough.Inordertoensuretha rtoensurethatthe tthemuftiarrivesatcorrect  39

mukallafan ,lit.‘composmentis’,meaningthatheissane

40Al‐Nawawi,19

16 interpretationinhisopin interpretationinhisopinion,hemustbe ion,hemustbeapiousMuslim apiousMuslim.Thefactthata .Thefactthataphysically physically deformed muftimayperform ifta’ aslongashecancommunicate aslongashecancommunicatewithhispeti withhispetitioner tioner illustratestheemphasismenta illustratestheemphasismentalcompetencya lcompetencyandmoralex ndmoralexcellence. cellence. Without a doubt, muftiscamefromtheranksofthe‘ulamaorreligiousscholars. Shortlyaftertheintroduction,a Shortlyaftertheintroduction,al‐Nawawicite l‐Nawawicitesatradition satraditionfromMuhamma fromMuhammadb.al‐Munk db.al‐Munkadir adir (d.747):“Thescholaris (d.747):“ThescholarisbetweenG betweenGodtheMostHig odtheMostHighandhisCre handhisCreation,solethim ation,solethimdecide decide howtomovebetweenthem.”41Reverenceforscholarsgre ReverenceforscholarsgrewoutofMuslims’ woutofMuslims’reverencef reverencefor or theQur’anand Sunnah.Naturally,thosewhostudythese .Naturally,thosewhostudythesetextsthemosta textsthemostandcommand ndcommandthem them wouldbeconsideredtheb wouldbeconsideredthebesttoguidet esttoguidetheMuslimcommuni heMuslimcommunity.Forthepra ty.Forthepracticeof cticeofifta’ this this knowledge,or‘ilm,wasespeciallyimportant wasespeciallyimportant.Hallaqdefi .Hallaqdefines nes‘ilmas“thegenuine understandingofthequal understandingofthequalityoftextuale ityoftextualevidencean videnceandthelinesof dthelinesoflegalreason legalreasoningthrough ingthrough whichlegalnormsarederived.”42HegoesontosaythatMuslim HegoesontosaythatMuslimsacknowledge sacknowledgedthatonly dthatonly thosescholarswhocouldoperatew thosescholarswhocould operatewithinthe“pr ithinthe“propertoolsoflega opertoolsoflegalreasoning” lreasoning”wereable wereableto to practiceifta’ .43Inhissectionon“knowingw Inhissectionon“knowingwhoisrighttope hoisrighttoperform rformifta’ ”,al‐Nawawicites ”,al‐Nawawicites severaltraditionsindica severaltraditionsindicatingthatonlythe tingthatonlythehighestlevel highestlevelofjuristsshouldbe ofjuristsshouldbeabletogiv abletogive e  fatwas.Oneknowswhenheisre .Oneknowswhenheisreadywhen adywhenhispeersen hispeersentrusthimwiththe trusthimwiththetask. task.44

Whil While eth this ise exe xemp mpla lary ryi ide deal ale exi xist sts, s,i it tis isc cle lear art tha hat tth the equ qual alit ity yof of muftiswasnot uniformacrosstheboard.Descri uniformacrosstheboard.Describingtheclasse bingtheclassesof sofmuftisal‐Nawawicreatesadetailed hierarchy.Themaindistin hierarchy.Themaindistinctionisbetwee ctionisbetweentheautonomous, ntheautonomous,mustaqill ,andaffiliated, ,andaffiliated,

 41Al‐Nawawi,14 42WaelB.Hallaq, Authority,ContinuityandChang ,(NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,  Authority,ContinuityandChang einIslamicLaw ,(NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,

2001),4 43Ibid.,5 44Al‐Nawawi,17‐18

17 muntasib, mufti.Thisdichotomyisrelatedto .Thisdichotomyisrelatedtoanother,thatof another,thatofthe themujtahid and andmuqallid 45  mujtahid wasalabelgiventothe jurist.Earlierwementionedthatmujtahid  wasalabelgiventothemostadeptI mostadeptIslamic slamic

jurists.Specifically,thisrefersto jurists.Specifically,thisreferstoascholarwhoisca ascholarwhoiscapableofpe pableofperforming rformingijtihad .Anexample .Anexample ofijtihad wouldbetheformationofthe wouldbetheformationoftheschoolsofIslamicla schoolsofIslamiclaw.Fromaboutthe w.Fromaboutthe8 8thto10th centuriesC.E.,Muslimjuristsbega centuriesC.E.,Muslimjuristsbegantoconsolidate ntoconsolidatetheirlegalp theirlegalpracticesintod racticesintodistinctschools istinctschools oflaw.Theseareknowntod oflaw.Theseareknowntodayasthe ayasthemadhhabs,ofwhichfourexist.Thisprocesswas necessarytoprovidestructure necessarytoprovidestructuretoIslamiclega toIslamiclegalpractice,but lpractice,butwasalsounpre wasalsounprecedented.W cedented.While hile theProphetatleasthinted theProphetatleasthintedatthepossib atthepossibilityfor ilityforijma’ todevelop,henevera todevelop,heneverarticulatedthe rticulatedthe growthofthemadhhabs.Assuch,juristscreatedbodie .Assuch,juristscreatedbodiesofdoctrineout sofdoctrineoutoftheirown oftheirown interpretationsofthesourcesoflaw. At least initially, muftisand mujtahidswereconsideredsynonymous.46Facedwith newissuesonadailyba newissuesonadailybasis,itisobvioustha sis,itisobviousthat tmuftis,especiallyearlyon,would ,especiallyearlyon,wouldbeforcedto beforcedto usetheirownreasontode usetheirownreasontodeterminesolutions terminesolutionstotheirpetiti totheirpetitioners’inquiri oners’inquiries.The es.Themustaqill  muftirepresentstheroleofthemujtahid .Heismostreveredand .Heismostreveredandhisinfluence hisinfluenceismost ismost

widespread. 47Aftersometime,however,t Aftersometime,however,therankof herankofmujtahid becamebothlessnecessary becamebothlessnecessary andhardertoachieve. mustaqill  muftiincludemasteryofallofthe Al‐Nawawi’srequirementsofthemustaqill mufti

sourcesoflaw,thejurisprudent sourcesoflaw,thejurisprudentialproofs,aswe ialproofs,aswellasotherscien llasothersciences,suchasgram ces,suchasgrammarand marand linguistics.48Itishardtoimaginema Itishardtoimaginemanypeoplea nypeopleactuallyachieve ctuallyachievedthislevelof dthislevelofintellectual intellectual madhhabsareoftencalledmujtahids.Hallaq mastery,thoughthefoundersofthevariousmadhhabs

 Muqallid literallymeansonewhoperforms literallymeansonewhoperformstaqlid ,orimitation.Thisreferstoajuristwho,whenhegives ,orimitation.Thisreferstoajuristwho,whenhegives legalopinions,copiesthoseofhismadhhab’s founderorotherjurists.Muqallid standsincontrastto standsincontrasttomujtahid  whoperformnewlegalreasoningwhentheyperformifta’  ifta’ . 46HallaqnoteshowAbuHusaynal‐Bas HallaqnoteshowAbuHusaynal‐BasriandMawardibothcon riandMawardibothconsideredthesetwolabelstobeequal,66‐ sideredthesetwolabelstobeequal,66‐67 67 47Al‐Nawawi,22 48Ibid. 45

18 notesthatbyaboutthe13thcentury,whenal‐Nawawi century,whenal‐Nawawiiscomposinghist iscomposinghistext,itbecame ext,itbecame acceptableforamuftitonotbeamujtahid ,butrathera ,butratheramuqallid ,orsomeonewhofollows ,orsomeonewhofollows legalprecedent. WhileSchachtandothershave WhileSchachtandothershavecharacterize characterizedthisshiftasa dthisshiftasanindication nindicationofIslamic ofIslamic Law’sincreasingrigidity Law’sincreasingrigidityandossification andossification,,49Hallaqstatesthatinreality,ijtihad never never ceased,butthatitbecame ceased,butthatitbecameconfinedtow confinedtowithinthebound ithintheboundariesofthe ariesofthespecificlegal specificlegalschools. schools. Thislimitingwasnecessaryf Thislimitingwasnecessaryforseveralre orseveralreasons.Atthispoi asons.Atthispointtherewas nttherewasanacceptan anacceptanceof ceof themadhhabsandnoneedtocreate andnoneedtocreatefurthertrad furthertradition,so‘true ition,so‘trueijtihad ’intheformof ’intheformof creatingnewlegaltrad creatingnewlegaltraditionswasnolon itionswasnolongernecessary gernecessary.Additionally .Additionally,thevolumeofn ,thevolumeofnew ew legalmaterialsmadeit legalmaterialsmadeitnearlyimpossib nearlyimpossibleforasingle leforasinglescholartogain scholartogaintheintellectua theintellectualfluency lfluency tobeconsideredatruemujtahid .Manyjuriststhoughtthattrue .Manyjuriststhoughtthattruemujtahidsnolonger existednorcouldexist.50Bydecreasingthere Bydecreasingtherequirementsof quirementsofmuftis,juristsrecognizedthe temporalandpracticalre temporalandpracticalrealitiesofthei alitiesoftheirtimeperiod rtimeperiod.. 51 Hallaq’sanalysisclearlyillustra Hallaq’sanalysisclearlyillustratesthatthe testhatthemuqallidmuftiwasnotmentallyor intellectuallyincompetent.Unli intellectuallyincompetent.Unlikehispred kehispredecessors,Hallaq ecessors,Hallaqconsiders considerstaqlidtobemorethan justtheblindfollowingoflega justtheblindfollowingoflegalprecedent lprecedent.Heconsidersi .Heconsidersittoalsoencompa ttoalsoencompasstheadher sstheadherence ence toamujtahid ’sprecedentwhileund ’sprecedentwhileunderstandinghow erstandinghowthatdoctrine thatdoctrinewasderive wasderived. d. 52Hegoeson toassertthattaqlid wasafollowingofjuristicpri wasafollowingofjuristicprinciplesand nciplesandnotmerelya notmerelyanadheren nadherenceto ceto specificcases.53Additionally,henotesthatmuqallidmuftiswerenotafraidtoinvestigate thesourcesoflawinorderto thesourcesoflawinordertoderivethei derivetheiropinions. ropinions.54  49Schacht,69‐75 50Hallaq,73 51Ibid.,74 52Ibid.,86‐87 53Ibid.,98 54Ibid.,99

19 Nomattertheclassofamufti,ifta’ remainedacollectivere remainedacollectiveresponsibilityfor sponsibilityforthe the Muslimcommunity.Al‐Nawawist Muslimcommunity.Al‐Nawawistatesthatthisre atesthatthisresponsibilityfalls sponsibilityfallsonwhoeveri onwhoeverisavailable savailable andabletoperformit,n andabletoperformit,nomattertheir omattertheircapabilities. capabilities.55Afterdebatingtheclassesofmuftis,Al‐ Nawawidiscussestheahkamofmuftis,ortheirguidelines.Healso ,ortheirguidelines.Healsolaysoutade laysoutadetailed tailed muftishouldwritehis frameworkforperformingifta’ ,downtothemannerinwhicha ,downtothemannerinwhichamufti

responses.56Beyonditshigh‐intellectua Beyonditshigh‐intellectualpurposes,al‐N lpurposes,al‐Nawawi’stex awawi’stextisapractica tisapracticalhandbook lhandbook forthemufti.Thetext’sspecificinjunctions .Thetext’sspecificinjunctionsillustratethein illustratetheintentof tentofifta’ ,whichwastobe ,whichwastobe performedinacautiousmannerbyagentle,understandingandobjective mufti. Cautioninifta’ extendsfromthelackofa extendsfromthelackofabsolutecertain bsolutecertainitythatthe itythatthemufti’sopinionis inlinewithGod’swill.Amufticanonlybestjudgebytheshari’aandthenhopehisanswer isappropriate.Al‐Nawa isappropriate.Al‐Nawawisharesma wisharesmanystrikingstori nystrikingstoriestoimpressth estoimpressthissenseofcauti issenseofcautionon onon hisreader.Onenarratedby‘Atab.Al‐Sa’ibAl‐Tabi’i(d.753)depictsa muftitremblingin  fatwas.57Othersillustratethereluctanceof fearofGod’sreprisala fearofGod’sreprisalashedeliver shedeliveredhis edhis fatwas ifta’ .Hestatesthatal‐Shafi’i(d prominentjuriststoparticipateinifta’  .Hestatesthatal‐Shafi’i(d.820)was .820)wasaskeda askeda

questionandthenremai questionandthenremainedsilent,so nedsilent,sothepetitioner thepetitionerrepeated repeatedthequestion. thequestion.Inresponseto Inresponseto thishesaidthathewasd thishesaidthathewasdeterminingw eterminingwhetheritwas hetheritwasbesttoremai besttoremainsilentorre nsilentorrespond. spond.58Al‐ NawawialsomentionsAhmadb.Hanbal(d.855)andMalikb.Anas(d.795)asanswering“I don’tknow”59toamajorityoftheistifta’ theyreceived. theyreceived. Al‐Nawawiclearlyopposes Al‐Nawawiclearlyopposesanytypeof anytypeof‘judicialacti ‘judicialactivism’through vism’throughifta’ ,inthat ,inthatmuftis, whoaresolicitedonavast whoaresolicitedonavastarrayoftopics, arrayoftopics,wouldusetheir wouldusetheirabilitytode abilitytodeemsactsasgood emsactsasgoodor or

 55Al‐Nawawi,35 56Ibid.,60 57Ibid.,15 58Ibid 59Ibid,15‐16

20 badtounnecessarilyexten badtounnecessarilyextend,orrestrict,Isla d,orrestrict,Islam’ssetofacce m’ssetofacceptablepra ptablepractices.A ctices.Amuftishould ratherbereluctantinhis ratherbereluctantinhisdutyandn dutyandnotextendhis otextendhisjudgmentsbey judgmentsbeyondtheground ondthegroundsof sof certainty.Suchconservatismwas certainty.Suchconservatismwasnotseenasr notseenasrestrictingprogre estrictingprogressinIslam,but ssinIslam,butratheras ratheras ensuringthatMuslimpractice ensuringthatMuslimpracticeswouldremain swouldremainwithintheb withintheboundariesofG oundariesofGod’swill.The od’swill.The invocationofAl‐Shafi’i,Ibn invocationofAl‐Shafi’i,IbnHanbaland HanbalandMalikb.A Malikb.Anas,foundersof nas,foundersofthreeofIslam’ threeofIslam’sfour sfour madhhabs,indicatestheseriousnessof ,indicatestheseriousnessofthistypeofcau thistypeofcaution. tion.

Furtheralongtheselines,themuftimustbegentleinhisre mustbegentleinhisresponses,focusingon sponses,focusingonthe the morepositiveelements,rathe morepositiveelements,ratherthanthen rthanthenegatives.A egatives.Al‐Nawawip l‐Nawawiprovidesthisguid rovidesthisguidancewhen ancewhen issuingaresponsethatiscontr issuingaresponsethatiscontrarytotheposi arytothepositionofapeti tionofapetitioner: tioner: Ifitisobvioustothemuftithathisresponseiscontradi thathisresponseiscontradictorytotheinte ctorytotheintentof ntof thepetitioner,andthat thepetitioner,andthatthepetitione thepetitionerwouldnotbe rwouldnotbepleasedb pleasedbythewriting ythewritingof of theresponseonhispiece theresponseonhispieceofpaper,the ofpaper,thenthe nthemuftishouldconfinehimselfto givingtheresponseorally.T givingtheresponseorally.Thepositionsconce hepositionsconcerningsympa rningsympathyarevery thyareverywell well known.Amongthemistowrite known.Amongthemistowritethepetition thepetitioner’srightsin er’srightsintheresponsea theresponseandto ndto leaveoutwhattheobligatio leaveoutwhattheobligationsagainsthim. nsagainsthim.60 Heretheemphasisonthep Heretheemphasisonthepositiveoverth ositiveoverthenegative enegativeisevident. isevident.Inacourtoflaw Inacourtoflaw,the ,the affirmationofthepetitione affirmationofthepetitioner’srightswouldd r’srightswoulddomuchtoaid omuchtoaidhiscase.Obviously hiscase.Obviouslythedegree thedegreeto to whichsuchanopinionwouldhe whichsuchanopinionwouldhelpapetition lpapetitionerwouldvar erwouldvarybasedthe ybasedthespecificsofthe specificsofthecase, case, butwecanseethatal‐Nawawidesires ifta’ tobeanoverallpositive tobeanoverallpositiveexperien experience.Afewlin ce.Afewlines es laterheaddsaquotefr laterheaddsaquotefromAl‐Saymari omAl‐Saymari(d.888): (d.888):“Itisseemly “Itisseemlyforthe forthe muftitoconsiderfor thepetitionerapathwi thepetitionerapathwithwhichtoshowhim thwhichtoshowhimthecorrectway thecorrectway,andtoinform ,andtoinformthepetition thepetitioner er ofit.Thismeansthatwhichonly ofit.Thismeansthatwhichonlyharmsthepe harmsthepetitioneriswitho titioneriswithouttruth.”Nomatte uttruth.”Nomatterwhatthe rwhatthe  60Ibid,54‐55

21 situation,itisclearthemuftishouldalwaysseektoimpress shouldalwaysseektoimpressgoodnessand goodnessandvirtueonhis virtueonhis petitioners,ratherthanscald petitioners,ratherthanscaldthemwithcon themwithcondemnation. demnation. Keytojudgingcautiouslyand Keytojudgingcautiouslyandmercifullyisgivi mercifullyisgivingobjective ngobjectiveopinions.Al‐N opinions.Al‐Nawawi awawi dedicatesalargeportio dedicatesalargeportionofhistexttod nofhistexttodescribingsitua escribingsituationsandact tionsandactionsthatcan ionsthatcan compromiseamufti’sabilitytofairlyperformifta’ .A .Amuftiwhoisintherightstateofmind  fatwas.Amuftiinacompromisedmentali willgivesfairandaccurate fatwas inacompromisedmentalitywillproduce tywillproduce  fatwas,whichareextremelyper corrupt fatwas ,whichareextremelypernicious.Assuch,certa nicious.Assuch,certaincircumstance incircumstancesaretobe saretobe

avoidedunlessnecessary.Amuftishouldtakehistimetopond shouldtakehistimetoponderthematter erthemattersheis sheis addressedwith.Rushinginifta’isviewedasnegligence.61Amuftishouldnotperformifta’  whenangry,hungry,orina whenangry,hungry,orinamyriadofothe myriadofotherstatesthat“ rstatesthat“changeone’ changeone’scharacteror scharacteror preoccupyhisheart.”62Heshouldalsoavoidlegaltrickery.63 Al‐Nawawialsodiscussesthe Al‐Nawawialsodiscussesthematterofpay matterofpaying ingmuftis.Asfunctionariesinthelegal system,governmentsoftensupportedmuftis.Wealthyindividualsorgr .Wealthyindividualsorgroupswouldalso oupswouldalso hiremuftisasadvisors.Money hiremuftisasadvisors.Money’sinfluenceon ’sinfluenceon ifta’ isahighlycontentiousissue.Al‐ isahighlycontentiousissue.Al‐Nawawi Nawawi citesseveraljuristsinhistex citesseveraljuristsinhistextwhooffervar twhooffervaryingopinions.A yingopinions.Al‐Nawawi l‐Nawawihimselfconsider himselfconsiders s governmentsupportofmuftistobelegal,aslongasthisi tobelegal,aslongasthisisdoneasa sdoneasameansofsupp meansofsupportand ortand notasabribe.64Al‐SaimariandAl‐Kh Al‐SaimariandAl‐Khateebapp ateebapproveofthepr roveofthepracticeofgroups acticeofgroupsorindividua orindividuals ls hiringmuftistoprovideindividualizedfatwas. 65Al‐Nawawirecognizes“judicious disagreement”66concerningmuftisacceptinggifts,butprovide acceptinggifts,butprovidesastatemen sastatementfromAbu‘A tfromAbu‘Amr mr disapprovingofthepracti disapprovingofthepractice.Asthespir ce.Asthespiritualguidesof itualguidesofthecommunity, thecommunity,muftisareinan  61Ibid,37 62Ibid,38‐39 63Ibid,37‐38 64Ibid,39 65Ibid. 66Ibid.

22 awkwardposition.Likea awkwardposition.Likeanyscholar,they nyscholar,theyrequiremone requiremonetarysupportto tarysupporttomakealivi makealiving. ng. However,theirresponsibilitie However,theirresponsibilitiesareunique sareunique.Al‐Nawaw .Al‐Nawawisupportsprovi isupportsprovidingalive dingalivelihoodfor lihoodfor muftis,butiswaryofunnecessary ,butiswaryofunnecessarypatronage. patronage.

Itisclearthatal‐Nawawi Itisclearthatal‐Nawawiencouragesmod encouragesmoderationin erationinifta’ .Byassertingthereluctance .Byassertingthereluctance amuftishouldexhibit,aswellasthe shouldexhibit,aswellasthenecessarylimi necessarylimitationsonhisop tationsonhisopinion‐giving inion‐givingabilities, abilities, al‐Nawawiencouragesacertaindegreeoftemperancefor muftisandtheiractivities.This moderatemodelalsoexten moderatemodelalsoextendstotheman dstothemannerinwhich nerinwhichheshoulddete heshoulddeterminehisopin rminehisopinions.He ions.He shouldbeinaclearstate shouldbeinaclearstateofmindand ofmindandshouldavoid shouldavoidnegativemood negativemoodsorinfluence sorinfluences,like s,like bribes.Thisemphasisonmod bribes.Thisemphasisonmoderationand erationandobjectivitygr objectivitygreatlydescrib eatlydescribestheintend estheintendedroleof edroleof themuftiinIslam.Heisaspiritua inIslam.Heisaspiritualguidewhose lguidewhosepowershouldbe powershouldbeusedtoencou usedtoencouragepeople ragepeople tofollowthecorrectpath.Hisman tofollowthecorrectpath.Hismannerandb nerandbehaviorshoulda ehaviorshouldalsoencouragei lsoencourageindividualsto ndividualsto  fatwas.Themufti/mustaftirelationshipisveryimpor seek fatwas relationshipisveryimportanttoensurin tanttoensuringthatnormativ gthatnormative e

Muslimpracticeremainsin Muslimpracticeremainsinlinewiththe linewiththereligion’slaw religion’slaw. . Ina Inab bro road ads sen ense se,,al al‐N ‐Naw awaw awi ial also soc con onfr fron onts tst the hei int nteg egri rity tyo of fth the emufti’sopinions themselves.Whilethemufti’setiquetteimpactshisover ’setiquetteimpactshisoveralleffectiven alleffectiveness,asfaras ess,asfarasherelates herelates topetitionersandgivesfa topetitionersandgivesfair,objective ir,objectiveopinions,thete opinions,thetextalsoincludes xtalsoincludesmanyprescri manyprescriptions ptions designedtopreservethe designedtopreservethestrengthofthe strengthofthe fatwaitselfasaseparateen itselfasaseparateentity.Thisisbe tity.Thisisbecausethe causethe  fatwanotonlyexistsduringthemufti/mustafticonsultativeprocess,butalsoafterwards

eitheronpaperorina eitheronpaperorinacommunity’sda community’sdatabaseofora tabaseoforalinformation.A linformation.Al‐Nawawia l‐Nawawiattemptsto ttemptsto  fatwafrommanipulationbythemustaftioranyoneelsewhowoulduseitto protectthe fatwa

theiradvantage.

23 Al‐Nawawi’s preference for face‐to‐face ifta’ canbeseenthroughouthistext,butis canbeseenthroughouthistext,butis mostclearlystatedinhisadabal-fatwasection,wherehewrites: section,wherehewrites:“writingisd “writingisdangerous.” angerous.”67 Bywritinganopinionon Bywritinganopiniononpaper,the paper,themuftigreatlyincreasesthepote greatlyincreasesthepotentialforcorrupti ntialforcorruption. on. Themostperniciouscorruptioni Themostperniciouscorruptionistohavetheop stohavetheopinionofa‘ inionofa‘good’ good’muftiassociatedwithone whoisunqualified.Incase whoisunqualified.Incaseapetitioner apetitionerbringsanun bringsanunqualifiedi qualifiedindividual’sop ndividual’sopiniontoa iniontoa mufti’sattention,al‐Nawawial ’sattention,al‐Nawawiallowshimtostronglych lowshimtostronglychastisethepe astisethepetitioner. titioner.68Clearly,thisis

anextremelyseriousoffense. Al‐Na Al‐Nawaw wawi’s i’spo posit sition ionon onth this isiss issue uecan canbe beex expla plain ined edin insev severa eralw lways ays.T .The hefir first stis istha that t heseekstopreventthecor heseekstopreventthecorruptionoflegi ruptionoflegitimateopinion timateopinionsbyexcluding sbyexcludingthosethatare thosethatare illegitimate.Theprecarious illegitimate.Theprecariousreligiousnature religiousnatureof ofifta’ necessitatesahighdegre necessitatesahighdegreeof‘quality eof‘quality control’.Excludingtheopinionsof control’.Excludingtheopinionsof‘outsiders’alsor ‘outsiders’alsoreinforcedthe einforcedtheprestigeof‘ prestigeof‘qualified’ qualified’ muftiswithinsociety.WritinginIslamicLegalInterpretations,NissreenHaramelaborates

thisroleoftheadabal-muftiliterature: Muftis…soughttoexerciseeffectivecon …soughttoexerciseeffectivecontrolovertheir trolovertheirpractice.Like practice.Likemany many muftisenjoyedthebenefitofspecialized otherMuslimprofessionalgroups,muftis adabmanuals…[these]furnishedmuftiswithprecautionarymeasuresto

preventabuseofifta’ byunqualifiedindivid byunqualifiedindividualsandun ualsandunscrupulous scrupulous petitioners.69 Later,Haramnotesthatthese Later,Haramnotesthattheseunqualified unqualifiedindividua individualswere“ign lswere“ignored”and ored”and“systematically “systematically ostracized.”70Whileal‐Nawawi’stextca Whileal‐Nawawi’stextcanbeseen nbeseenasaninstructi asaninstructionmanualtoe onmanualtoencourage ncourage  67Ibid,44 68Ibid,61 69NissreenHaram,“UseandAbuseoftheLaw:AMufti Mufti’sResponse”inIslamicLegalInterpretation: Muftisand

theirFatwas,ed.MuhammadKhalidM Fatwas,ed.MuhammadKhalidMasud,BrinkleyMessickan asud,BrinkleyMessickandDavidS.Powers,(Cambridg dDavidS.Powers,(Cambridge,Mass: e,Mass: HarvardUniversityPress,1996),72;italicsmine 70Ibid,79

24 thebestmuftietiquette,wemustalsorecog etiquette,wemustalsorecognizethatits nizethatitsspecificprece specificpreceptswereused ptswereusedasa asa metrictoevaluatingthequa metrictoevaluatingthequalificationsofa lificationsofamufti.Undoubtedly,muftisfollowedthese guidelinesnotonlytodothe guidelinesnotonlytodothebestjobpossib bestjobpossible,butalso,and le,butalso,andperhapsm perhapsmoreso,toavoid oreso,toavoid losingtheirpositionofauthoritya losingtheirpositionofauthorityandrespect. ndrespect. Beyond Beyonda all llof ofthe thesp speci ecific ficim impli plicat cation ionso sofh fhis istex text, t,Al‐ Al‐Na Nawaw wawis iseek eekst stop opres reserv erve, e,or or restore,theintegrityofthemuftiinhisadabmanual.Onecannotbelie manual.Onecannotbelievehewasw vehewaswritingin ritingin avacuum.Histextisfullofstatem avacuum.Histextisfullofstatementstotheimp entstotheimportanceof ortanceofifta’ .Heprovidesdetailed .Heprovidesdetailed instructionsastoavoidbiasa instructionsastoavoidbiasandissueobje ndissueobjectiveopinions. ctiveopinions.Heenumera Heenumeratesmeasureto tesmeasuretobe be  fatwasbyothers.Thesearenotge takentoavoidthecorruptionof fatwas byothers.Thesearenotgeneralinjun neralinjunctions,but ctions,but

ratherspecificresponsestoth ratherspecificresponsestotheissuesplagui eissuesplaguingthe ngthemuftiduringal‐Nawawi’stim duringal‐Nawawi’stime.Inhis e.Inhis analysisofadabal-muftiliterature,AlexandreC literature,AlexandreCaeiroassertsth aeiroassertsthe eadabal-muftiliterature’s positionas“articulatedin positionas“articulatedinandrespon andresponsivetoparticula sivetoparticularsocialconditi rsocialconditions.” ons.”71Heconcludes thatthesepieces“informus thatthesepieces“informusoftheshiftingn oftheshiftingnormativecrite ormativecriteriathathave riathathavedefinethe definethecorrect correct performanceofaspecificr performanceofaspecificreligiousact”a eligiousact”aswellas“[high swellas“[highlight]evolutionsin light]evolutionsinthemoral themoral  fatwas.”72Thereforewecanaccept universesthatsustain fatwas Thereforewecanacceptal‐Nawawi’ al‐Nawawi’stextasasn stextasasnapshotof apshotof

thesituationofifta’ inthelateClassicalperi inthelateClassicalperiod.Movingforwa od.Movingforward,wecan rd,wecanassumethatthe assumethatthe concernselucidatedinthis concernselucidatedinthistextwillnotbe textwillnotbeidenticalto identicaltotheissuesfacin theissuesfacing gifta’ today. today. However,thespiritofthedi However,thespiritofthedisciplinehasn sciplinehasnotentirelycha otentirelychangedovert ngedoverthecenturies. hecenturies.  fatwas,the Asw Aswe ewi will lls see eei in nth the ene next xts sec ecti tion onc con once cern rnin ing gco cont ntem empo pora rary ryI Int nter erne net t fatwas  fatwasinamodernmediumhasgreatlyreducedthe mufti’sabilityto proliferationof fatwas

regulatehisdiscipline.The regulatehisdiscipline.Thefreedomwit freedomwithwhichanind hwhichanindividualmay ividualmaylaunchand launchandmaintainhis maintainhis  fatwawebsitegreatlyexacerb orherown fatwa websitegreatlyexacerbatesissuesofa atesissuesofauthorityandle uthorityandlegitimacyin gitimacyinifta’ ..

 71Caeiro,677 72Ibid,italicsmine

25 Ifta’inContemporaryMedia Ifta’ inthemodernmediae inthemodernmediaenvironmenti nvironmentisradicallyd sradicallydifferentfromw ifferentfromwhatal‐Nawa hatal‐Nawawi wi

describes.Westernersand describes.WesternersandMuslimsalike Muslimsalikeacknowledge acknowledgethisdiffere thisdifference.Muslims,both nce.Muslims,both conservativesandlibera conservativesandliberals,viewmassme ls,viewmassmediaashavi diaashavinga“dre nga“dreadful”impa adful”impacton cton ifta’ .73This sectionwillexaminethena sectionwillexaminethenatureofthisrel tureofthisreligiouscrisis.Wewi igiouscrisis.Wewillfirstdefine llfirstdefinethe the  fatwas.Wewillseehowmodernm characteristicsofthe“chaos”of fatwas .Wewillseehowmodernmediahastra ediahastransformed nsformed ifta’ andwhatfacetsofwebsi andwhatfacetsofwebsiteareview teareviewednegati ednegatively.Nextwe vely.Nextwewilldiscusstheca willdiscussthecausesof usesof muftisandtheir fatwas  fatwas,aproliferationof this‘chaos’,namelythelackofcontrolovermuftis

contradictoryopinions,andth contradictoryopinions,andthecorruptionof ecorruptionofifta’ byextra‐religiousforces.Lastlywewill byextra‐religiousforces.Lastlywewill lookatsomesolutionstothissituation lookatsomesolutionstothissituationofferedbyD offeredbyDr.Al‐Ashqar r.Al‐AshqarandotherM andotherMuslim uslim commentators.Theopinionsofthe commentators.Theopinionsoftheseindividu seindividualswillbesubsta alswillbesubstantiatedwi ntiatedwithexamplesfr thexamplesfrom om thewebsitesinvestigated thewebsitesinvestigatedforthispape forthispaper. r. Asshownabove,ifta’ intheclassicalperiodw intheclassicalperiodwasnotamed asnotamediated,ittook iated,ittookplacefacet placefaceto o face,betweena muftiandapetitioner.Theonlymediainvolvedwasapieceofpaper,and wesawhowthoughthiswasnece wesawhowthoughthiswasnecessary,itwasv ssary,itwasviewedbegr iewedbegrudgingly. udgingly.74Furthermore, despitetheuseofpape despitetheuseofpaperforthetran rforthetransmissionofquestion smissionofquestionsandrespon sandresponses,theempha ses,theemphasisof sisof themufti’spracticewashispersona ’spracticewashispersonalinteractionw linteractionwiththepetiti iththepetitioner. oner. Today,ifta’ isafeatureofMuslimma isafeatureofMuslimmassmedia,dra ssmedia,dramaticallyalte maticallyalteringits ringits  fatwasavailableontelevision,thr interpersonaldimension.With fatwas availableontelevision,throughtheteleph oughthetelephone,in one,in

newspapersandonline newspapersandonline,petitionersa ,petitionersarenolonger renolongerforcedtoconsultw forcedtoconsultwithajuristtor ithajuristtoreceive eceive opinions.Dr.al‐Ashqarcred opinions.Dr.al‐Ashqarcreditsthislackof itsthislackofmufti-mustaftiinteractionasonecauseofifta’ ’s ’s

 73Usama‘Umaral‐Ashqar,Fawdaal-Ifta’ ,(Amman,Jordan:DaralNafa’li‐lNashrwa‐lTawzi,2009),109 ,(Amman,Jordan:DaralNafa’li‐lNashrwa‐lTawzi,2009),109 74Seeabove,23

26 currentcrisis.75Thisisnottosay,however,tha Thisisnottosay,however,thatcertainforms tcertainformsofmediado ofmediadonotattemptto notattemptto preservethisimportantre preservethisimportantrelationship.Allt lationship.Allthreeofthewe hreeofthewebsitesinvesti bsitesinvestigatedforthis gatedforthispaper paper trytomaintain,atthever trytomaintain,attheveryleast,theab yleast,theabilityforpetiti ilityforpetitionerstosubmiti onerstosubmitinquiriesto nquiriestomuftis. IslamWeb,IslamOnlineandI IslamWeb,IslamOnlineandIslamQA,allowuse slamQA,allowuserstosubmitquesti rstosubmitquestionstotheirstaffs. onstotheirstaffs.  fatwasarepreparedand AtIslamWeb, fatwas arepreparedandcheckedby checkedbylicensedIslam licensedIslamicscholarsorgrad icscholarsorgraduatesof uatesof

IslamiceducationfromSaudi IslamiceducationfromSaudiArabia,Ma Arabia,Mauritaniaan uritaniaandYemen.D dYemen.Dr.‘Abdullaha r.‘Abdullahal‐Faqihhead l‐Faqihheads s  fatwacommittee.76SheikhMuhammadSaliha the fatwa SheikhMuhammadSalihal‐Munajjid l‐Munajjid77oversees,preparesandedits  fatwasonIslamQA.Untilrecently,Sh allofthe fatwas onIslamQA.Untilrecently,SheikhYusufal‐Q eikhYusufal‐Qaradawi aradawi78oversaw

IslamOnline.Untilhisremoval IslamOnline.UntilhisremovalbytheQatar bytheQatarigovernment igovernmentinMarch20 inMarch2010, 10,79ateamof  fatwacomponentofal‐Qaradawi’s hundredsoftrainedIslam hundredsoftrainedIslamicscholarsoversaw icscholarsoversawthe the fatwa

website.Alloftheopinionse website.Alloftheopinionsexpressedby xpressedbythesitead thesiteadheredtostrict heredtostrictqualitycontrolme qualitycontrolmeasures asures adabal-fatwa.80Currently,itisunclearifa whichfunctionedasthesite’sownadabal-fatwa Currently,itisunclearifal‐Qaradawi l‐Qaradawi’s ’s

removalhasaffectedtheor removalhasaffectedtheorganizationa ganizationalstructureofthew lstructureofthewebsite. ebsite. Inadditiontoallowinguser Inadditiontoallowingusertosubmittheir tosubmittheirownquestions,Isla ownquestions,IslamOnlinehosts‘Li mOnlinehosts‘Live ve Fatwa’sessions,whichBettinaGr ’sessions,whichBettinaGrafdescribes afdescribesas“reminisce as“reminiscentoftheclassica ntoftheclassical lifta’ basedon basedon

immediatecontactbetween muftiand mustafti–exceptforthefactthisis –exceptforthefactthisisovertheinte overtheinternet rnet

 75

Fawdaal-Ifta’ ,114 ,114

76“AboutFatwa”,IslamWeb, “AboutFatwa”,IslamWeb,http://english.islamweb.net/ver2/archive/article.php?lang=E&id=13046 http://english.islamweb.net/ver2/archive/article.php?lang=E&id=13046

Accessed:March29,2010 77BothIslamQAandIslamWebdescr BothIslamQAandIslamWebdescribeal‐Munajjidas“aw ibeal‐Munajjidas“awell‐knownIslamiclectu ell‐knownIslamiclecturerandauthor”andfrom rerandauthor”andfrom

SaudiArabia. 78SheikhYusufal‐Qaradaw SheikhYusufal‐Qaradawiisoneofthemostinfluen iisoneofthemostinfluentialMuslimreligious tialMuslimreligiousscholarsintheworld.Heisabest‐ scholarsintheworld.Heisabest‐ sellingauthorandhostsapopulartelevisionshowaswellasworksw sellingauthorandhostsapopulartelevis ionshowaswellasworkswithIslamOnline.Form ithIslamOnline.Formoresee:Ana oresee:Ana BelenSoage,“ShaykhYusufal‐Qaradawi:PortraitofaLeadin BelenSoage,“ShaykhYusufal‐Qa radawi:PortraitofaLeadingIslamicCleric,” gIslamicCleric,”MiddleEastReviewof InternationalAffairs ,12,no.1(March,2008) 79 FOXNews ,“ModeratesforcedoutoftopIslamWebsite,”March25,2010. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/03/25/moderates http://www.foxnew s.com/world/2010/03/25/moderates‐forced‐islam‐web ‐forced‐islam‐web‐site/ ‐site/ 80BettinaGraf.“IslamOnline.net:Independent,Interactive,Popular,”  ArabMediaandSociety ,4,(Winter2008) ,4,(Winter2008) http://www.arabmediasociety.com/index.php?artic http://www.arabmedi asociety.com/index.php?article=576&printarticle le=576&printarticle

27 ratherthanfacetoface.”81Theseareheldtwiceaday,fivedaysaweek,forArabiclanguage users.Grafdescribesthese users.Grafdescribesthesesessionsasakin sessionsasakintoan“onlin toan“onlinechatroom.” echatroom.”82Theopinionsof  fatwabank. 83IslamWeb’sand thesesessionsarenotprese thesesessionsarenotpreservedinthe rvedinthesite’sarchive site’sarchive,or ,or fatwa  fatwasubmissionprocessislesscleartha IslamOnline’s fatwa submissionprocessislessclearthanthatofIslamQ nthatofIslamQA.Bothsites,whe A.Bothsites,when n

accessedmultipletimesbyth accessedmultipletimesbytheauthor,stated eauthor,statedthattheywe thattheywerenotaccept renotacceptinginquiries inginquiriesdueto dueto limitsonthenumbersofquestion limitsonthenumbersofquestionstheyaccept stheyaccepteachday. eachday. Nomatterhowsimilara‘LiveFatwa’sessionmaybetoclassicalifta’ ,orhowmuch ,orhowmuch mufti-mustaftiinteractiontakesplacevi interactiontakesplaceviathe‘Submit athe‘SubmitaQuestion’sect aQuestion’sectionsonthesesite ionsonthesesites, s,

thefatwaprocessonlineisa thefatwaprocessonlineisaradicald radicaldeparturefrom eparturefromal‐Nawawi al‐Nawawi’svision.Thei ’svision.Theinteractive nteractive elementsoftheonlineexp elementsoftheonlineexperiencear erienceareanattemp eanattempttocreatethe ttocreatetheface‐to‐face face‐to‐faceinteraction interaction between muftiand mustafti,yetinevitablytheprocess ,yetinevitablytheprocessremainsmed remainsmediatedand iatedandthepetition thepetitioner er remainsanonymous.Anonymity remainsanonymous.Anonymitydoesnotfea doesnotfeaturehighlyin turehighlyinAl‐Nawawi’ Al‐Nawawi’s sadab.Theface‐to‐ faceinteractionallowedthemuftitoverifycertainfactsan toverifycertainfactsandidentify didentifytheintentsa theintentsand nd feelingsofthepetitioner.84TheInternet’sanonymity TheInternet’sanonymityeliminatesthi eliminatesthistypeofaccounta stypeofaccountability bility inifta’ .Thereisnowayforany .Thereisnowayforanyofthesewebsi ofthesewebsitestobesure testobesuretheirpetition theirpetitionersaretellin ersaretellingthe gthe truth,eitheraboutthemselves,or truth,eitheraboutthemselves,orthecircumstance thecircumstancesaboutwhichthey saboutwhichtheyinquire.As inquire.Assuch, such, whiletheInternetmaya whiletheInternetmayallowforcertain llowforcertaintypesof typesofmufti-mustaftiinteractions,itfallsshorts oftheclassicalguidelines.  fatwabanksisparticularlytroubli Inaddition,theroleof fatwa banksisparticularlytroublingtothesewe ngtothesewebsites’ bsites’  fatwabanks,orarchives,of fatwas  fatwason critics.Eachoftheaforementione critics.Eachoftheaforementionedsitescontai dsitescontain n fatwa

givenissues.Theseareorga givenissues.Theseareorganizedcate nizedcategorically,allowin gorically,allowingvisitorstobrowse gvisitorstobrowseandread andread  81Graf 82Ibid. 83Ibid. 84Al‐Nawawi,56

28 opinionsbyarangeofmuftisonawiderangeoftop onawiderangeoftopics.Mattersofcre ics.Mattersofcreed, ed,‘aqidah,and  fatwabanks,thoughtraditionalifta’ subjects, Muslimetiquettepredomin Muslimetiquettepredominateallofthe ateallofthesite’s site’s fatwa subjects, Qur’anandSunnah,arealsoprevalent. liketransactionsandissuesoftheQur’an  fatwabankashelpingMuslims“ GrafdescribesIslamOnline’s fatwa bankashelpingMuslims“liveeasily” liveeasily”,inlinewit ,inlinewith h

itsfounder’sidealsofwasatiyyaandi’tidal ,bothmeaning“moderation ,bothmeaning“moderation”,and ”,andtayy asir ,,  fatwabanks “beinglenient.”85However,al‐Ashqardiscoura However,al‐Ashqardiscouragespetitione gespetitionersfromutilizin rsfromutilizing g fatwa

becauseofthepresenceof becauseofthepresenceofcompetingpe competingpersonalitiesan rsonalitiesandfactionsthat dfactionsthatmayconfusethe mayconfusethe  fatwaarchivealsoviolatesthepr  fatwasare petitioner.86Theactofperusinga fatwa archivealsoviolatestheprinciplethat inciplethat fatwas

personalopinions.Al‐Nawa personalopinions.Al‐Nawawidiscourage widiscouragestherepetiti stherepetitionofopinions,i onofopinions,insisting nsistingmuftis examineeachcircumstance examineeachcircumstancepresented presentedtothemonitsown tothemonitsown..87 Fatwabanksallowpetitioners toseekpre‐publishedop toseekpre‐publishedopinionsonissues inionsonissuesrelatedtothe relatedtotheirown.Theym irown.Theymay,inturn,ta ay,inturn,takethese kethese  fatwabanks,andthe opinionsasbeingapplica opinionsasbeingapplicabletothemselve bletothemselves.Thepromin s.Theprominenceofthese enceofthese fatwa muftis,shiftstheemphasisawayfromactualifta’  ifta’ and inaccessibilityofsomeofthesites’muftis and  fatwaarchives.Onecouldarguethat fatwa  fatwabanksareno moretowardstheperusalof fatwa  fatwacollections.While fatwa  fatwacollectionshaveexistedforcenturies, differentthanclassical fatwa

theirimpactwaslimitedb theirimpactwaslimitedbytheslowdisse ytheslowdisseminationofin minationofinformationinthe formationintheclassicaland classicalandpre‐ pre‐ modernworld.Theunpara modernworld.Theunparalleledaccessib lleledaccessibilityandthe ilityandthediversea diversearrayofopinio rrayofopinionsina nsina  fatwabankcontributetothe‘chaos’ofifta’  ifta’ inthecontemporaryMuslimworld. website’s fatwa inthecontemporaryMuslimworld. ifta’ ,thesheerincreasein  fatwas Beyondchangesintheprocessofifta’  ,thesheerincreaseinthevolumeof thevolumeof fatwas

hascreatedacrisissituation hascreatedacrisissituationwithintheM withintheMuslimworld.Dr.U uslimworld.Dr.UsamaUmara samaUmaral‐Ashqarlab l‐Ashqarlabels els

 85ThesetermsaredefinedbyGraf 86

Fawdaal-Ifta’ ,118 ,118

87Al‐Nawawi,48

29 this“thechaosofifta’.”88Dr.al‐Ashqar’scritiquee Dr.al‐Ashqar’scritiqueemphasizesthre mphasizesthreeaspectsoft easpectsofthe he contemporarymediaifta’ environmentwhichhesee environmentwhichheseetobeparticu tobeparticularlydetrime larlydetrimental:thelack ntal:thelack ofcontrol,thepresenceofextre ofcontrol,thepresenceofextremedisagre medisagreement,and ement,andthecorruptionof thecorruptionof ifta’ .Hisconcerns .Hisconcerns areechoedbyotherMuslim areechoedbyotherMuslimcommentatorswho, commentatorswho,likeDr.al‐A likeDr.al‐Ashqar,feela shqar,feelanewsetofru newsetofrules, les, dawabit ,needtobeestablished ,needtobeestablishedtoregulatecont toregulatecontemporary emporaryifta’ .. ifta’ referstotwocircumstances.Thefirstis Theabsenceofacontrollingforceinifta’  referstotwocircumstances.Thefirstis

contemporarymedia’sabi contemporarymedia’sabilitytoundermi litytounderminetheclassica netheclassical ladabal-muftiregulations.Wecan seethisintherapiditywithwhich fatwasareissued.Aswesawa areissued.Aswesawabove,hastein bove,hastein ifta’ was was consideredtobeneglige consideredtobenegligence.However,w nce.However,when henmuftisissueopinionsinstantaneou issueopinionsinstantaneouslyoverthe slyoverthe Internet,ontelevision,orove Internet,ontelevision,oroverthetelepho rthetelephone,thepatie ne,thepatienceandd nceanddeliberation eliberationrequiredin requiredin ifta’  isdifficulttoverify.89Additionally,contemporary Additionally,contemporarymediaallow mediaallowsanyonewith sanyonewiththewebsite thewebsiteor or  fatwasdespitetheirqualificat televisionshowtogive fatwas despitetheirqualificationsorlegitima ionsorlegitimacyasa cyasamufti.A

commonthemethroughmostoftheconte commonthemethroughmostofthecontemporary mporaryifta’ commentaryistheneed commentaryistheneedtoensure toensure  fatwas.90Al‐Nawawipreoccupies thatonlyqualifiedindivi thatonlyqualifiedindividualsissue dualsissue fatwas Al‐Nawawipreoccupieshimselfsimilarly, himselfsimilarly,but but

wecanimaginethatin wecanimaginethatintheInternet theInternetage,ade age,adeficient ficient mufticanhaveamuchlargerimpact thancouldhisclassicalprede thancouldhisclassicalpredecessor.Therefore cessor.Thereforethesecallshav thesecallshavegreaterur egreaterurgencyand gencyand relevance. Anearlyuniversalrespon Anearlyuniversalresponsetothethrea setothethreatofdeficien tofdeficient t muftisistheestablishmentof newdawabit orrulesfor orrulesforifta’ .Newer,simplerrulesmustta .Newer,simplerrulesmusttakethepla ketheplaceof‘obsolete’ ceof‘obsolete’ classicalregulations.Thesemain classicalregulations.Thesemainlyrelatetot lyrelatetothequalification hequalificationsof sofmuftis.Inhisessay“The  88Ibid. 89

Fawdaal-Ifta’ ,111‐112 ,111‐112

90Ibid,113.Alsosee:Al‐Katib,Ahmad,“Halyumkindbt‘amaliyyaal-ifta’ ?” ?”

http://www.alkatib.co.uk/iftaa.htm;‘Azm,AhmadJamil,“ http://www.alkatib.co.uk/iftaa.htm ;‘Azm,AhmadJamil,“Waqf Fawda al-Ifta’ ”,Al‐Ghad,24August2006; ”,Al‐Ghad,24August2006; MuhammadAmin,“ Al-Fatwaal-Mu’asaramalahawama‘alayha ” http://www.shareeah.com/index.php?/records/view/action/view/id/2380/

30 AbolitionoftheChaosofIfta’ ”AhmadJamil‘Azm ”AhmadJamil‘Azm 91listsknowledgeofArabic, listsknowledgeofArabic,knowledgeof knowledgeof Islam’susul ,andmemorizationand ,andmemorizationandstudyoftheQ studyoftheQur’anand ur’anandHadithasba Hadithasbasic sic dawabit .He .He addsthatno‘‘ulamaobjecttotheseguidelines.92Beyondqualifications,thesedawabit also also relatetothemufti’spractice.Inhisreviewof ’spractice.InhisreviewofDr.Muhammad Dr.MuhammadYasri’sThe Yasri’sTheContemporary Contemporary Fatwa:ItsRightsandObli Fatwa:ItsRightsandObligations,Muhamma gations,MuhammadAmin dAmin93enumerates‘new’rulesformuftis, whichboildowntothemhavin whichboildowntothemhavingcorrectintent, gcorrectintent,stayingwithin stayingwithintheirbounds,a theirbounds,andrespecti ndrespecting ng thepreexistingifta’ regulations. regulations.94 Alongsimilarlines,contempora Alongsimilarlines,contemporarymediaa rymediaabolishesallpra bolishesallpracticalandle cticalandlegallimitations gallimitations  fatwasthrough onmuftisbasedongeography.Al‐ basedongeography.Al‐Ashqarstates Ashqarstatesthatpetitione thatpetitionerswhoaccess rswhoaccess fatwas

themediafaceopinions themediafaceopinionsthatviolatethe thatviolatethecustoms,traditions, customs,traditions,andspecific andspecificcircumstancesof circumstancesof theirhomecountries.95Additionally,becausedi Additionally,becausedifferentmed fferentmediaoutletsrepr iaoutletsrepresentthe esentthe interestsoftheirrespective interestsoftheirrespectiveregions,thosew regions,thosewhoseekopini hoseekopinionsfrommultiple onsfrommultiplesourcesare sourcesare muftis’oftenseektoaddress metwithinconsistencies.96Lastly,heconcludesthat‘mediamuftis

theMuslimworldratherthan theMuslimworldratherthantheirspecific theirspecificnationorreg nationorregion,whichhevi ion,whichheviewsasalsobe ewsasalsobeing ing detrimental. 97Thiscriticismisdirectedtow Thiscriticismisdirectedtowardstwotype ardstwotypesofopinions.Tho sofopinions.Thosemadeby semadeby muftisfromoneregioninrespon fromoneregioninresponsetoinquirie setoinquiriesfrompetitione sfrompetitionersinanother rsinanother,andthose ,andthose  fatwasthatclaimtobeuniversal thatclaimtobeuniversalintheirscope intheirscope.Totheformer, .Totheformer,Al‐Ashqarsta Al‐Ashqarstatesthat testhatmuftis

withalackofunderstandi withalackofunderstandingofapeti ngofapetitioner’slocalcustoms tioner’slocalcustomsandcircumstan andcircumstancescannot cescannot  Dr.AhmadJamil‘AzmisapoliticalresearcherbasedinDub Dr.AhmadJamil‘Azmisapoliti calresearcherbasedinDubai.Hemaintainsablogw ai.Hemaintainsablogwhichcanbeaccessed hichcanbeaccessed here:http://ajazem.maktoobblog.com/ here:http://ajazem.maktoobblog.com/ 92AhmadJamil‘Azm,“Waqf Fawda al-Ifta’ ”,Al‐Ghad,24August2006 ”,Al‐Ghad,24August2006 93MuhammadAminisanIslamiccommentatorwhowritesforwww.shareeah.com.Hisotherarticlescanbe www.shareeah.com.Hisotherarticlescanbe foundhere:http://www.shareah.com/index.php?/authors/view/id/185/s/1/ foundhere:http://www.shareah.com/index.php?/authors/view/id/185/s/1/ 94MuhammadAmin,“ Al-Fatwaal-Mu’asaramalahawama‘alayha ” http://www.shareeah.com/index.php?/records/view/action/view/id/2380/19November2008 95 Fawaal-ifta’ ,114 ,114 96Ibid. 97Ibid. 91

31  fatwastothatpetitioner.Concernin accuratelyissue fatwas tothatpetitioner.Concerningthelatter,he gthelatter,hesaysthatitis saysthatitisimpossible impossible

foranyopiniontoclaimuniv foranyopiniontoclaimuniversalitydue ersalityduetothespecific tothespecificcircumstancesofM circumstancesofMuslimsin uslimsin differentregionsthroughouttheworld.98Aswewillsee,muftis’treatmentofMuslim minoritycommunitiesexcellently minoritycommunitiesexcellentlyillustratesthisd illustratesthisdeficiency. eficiency. Evenifnewregulationswe Evenifnewregulationswerecreated recreatedtocombattheissu tocombattheissuesplaguing esplaguingifta’ today,it today,it remainsunclearhowtheycould remainsunclearhowtheycouldbeenforce beenforcedeffectively deffectively.Currentlythere .Currentlytherearenobod arenobodies ies governingifta’ .ManyMuslimcommentatorsconsi .ManyMuslimcommentatorsconsidertheab dertheabsenceofregula senceofregulatoryinstitutions toryinstitutions asamajorcontributingfactortothe fatwacrisis.Whiletheyrecognizethiscommon problem,thereseemstobe problem,thereseemstobenoclearsolution. noclearsolution. Asnotedabove,inthecla Asnotedabove,intheclassicalperiod, ssicalperiod,adabliteratureservedasa literatureservedasaself‐regulatory self‐regulatory mechanismformuftis.Inthenewmediae .Inthenewmediaenvironment,this nvironment,thisisnotthecase. isnotthecase.While While unqualifiedmuftisarecriticized,theirab arecriticized,theirabilitytoself‐pub ilitytoself‐publishonlineorthr lishonlineorthroughothermean oughothermeans s  fatwas.Partofthisisduetothenatureof makesitverydifficulttocen makesitverydifficulttocensureanomalous sureanomalous fatwas

SunniIslam.Withoutahierarchy SunniIslam.Withoutahierarchyofauthority,which ofauthority,whichcould,akinto could,akintotheCatholicChurch, theCatholicChurch, censureorexpel‘unorthodox’muftis,Sunnismlackstheabilitytosw ,Sunnismlackstheabilitytoswiftlyactagain iftlyactagainstsuch stsuch ‘heresy’.Additionally,an ‘heresy’.Additionally,andalsoasar dalsoasaresult,theSunniM esult,theSunniMuslimworldlack uslimworldlacksaunified saunified governingbodytoleadon governingbodytoleadonthisissue.Thisre thisissue.Thisreality,combined ality,combinedwiththera withtherapidityand pidityandeaseof easeof transmissionnotedabove,resultsina fatwaenvironmentthatiswhollyun environmentthatiswhollyunregulated.A regulated.As s radicalShi’ireformerAhm radicalShi’ireformerAhmadal‐Katib adal‐Katibstates,“Ido states,“Idonotbelieve notbelievethatwiththee thatwiththeexistenceofthe xistenceofthe televisionandtheIntern televisionandtheInternetthatany etthatanyauthorityhaspow authorityhaspowerover eroverifta’.”99100

 98Buntnotesthisregional“di Buntnotesthisregional“diversity”,butinamuchdif versity”,butinamuchdifferentlight.Seeabove,5 ferentlight.Seeabove,5 99Al‐Katib 100WhileShi’ismisnotthefoc WhileShi’ismisnotthefocusofthispaper,Dr.Al‐Katib’sopin usofthispaper,Dr.Al‐Katib’sopinionsareusedbecausehisi ionsareusedbecausehisideasaddress deasaddress

Sunnismandtheyrepresentanalternativesolutiontoal‐Ashqar’s,andother’s,callforincr Sunnismandtheyrepresentanalternativesolutiontoal‐As hqar’s,andother’s,callforincreasedregulationin easedregulationin ifta’ ..

32  Al-Ahram Thislackofregulationinevita Thislackofregulationinevitablyleadsto blyleadstodiscordin discordinifta’ .Inaneditorialin .Inaneditorialin Al-Ahram Weekly ,SaifAbdel‐Fattah  fatwas”withcausing“questioningofissues, ,SaifAbdel‐Fattah101credits“instant fatwas  fatwasandconfusing fatwas  fatwas.”102Thissummarizestheargume confusionover fatwas Thissummarizestheargumentsofmany ntsofmany  Al-Arabiyyah,‘AbidKhazandar Muslimcommentators.Inasimila Muslimcommentators.Inasimilaropinionpi ropinionpiecefrom ecefrom Al-Arabiyyah  fatwas.103Hecomparesa fatwa  fatwaissuedbythe writesaboutthe“turmoil”ofcon writesaboutthe“turmoil”ofcontradictory tradictory fatwas

lateSheikh‘AliTantawi lateSheikh‘AliTantawiallowingwomen allowingwomentowearje towearjeansinthep ansintheprivacyoftheir rivacyoftheirhomesand homesand withtheirhusbandspresen withtheirhusbandspresent,tooneofDr.R t,tooneofDr.RishadKhalilt ishadKhalilthatstatesama hatstatesamarriageisvoi rriageisvoidifthe difthe womantakesoffallofhercloth womantakesoffallofherclothesinfrontofth esinfrontofthemanwhile emanwhilehavingsex. havingsex.104Admittinghis owninabilitytoassignpre owninabilitytoassignpreponderance ponderancetooneofthese tooneoftheseopinionsover opinionsovertheother,Khaz theother,Khazandar andar assertsthatthepresenceof assertsthatthepresenceofthese,andothe these,andother,confusingan r,confusingandseemingly dseeminglycontradictory contradictory opinionsnecessitateschange opinionsnecessitateschangeinrealmof inrealmofcontemporary contemporaryifta’ .105Thissituationisnotedby Al‐Ashqaraswell.106Themultiplicityofopinions,an Themultiplicityofopinions,andlackofde dlackofdefiniteguide finiteguidelinesastowhi linesastowhich ch aremorelegitimatethan aremorelegitimatethanothers,creates others,createsanutterlyconfusi anutterlyconfusingsituationfor ngsituationfortheaverage theaverage Muslimseekingreligiousopin Muslimseekingreligiousopinionsthroughcontemp ionsthroughcontemporarymedi orarymedia. a. Al‐Ashqar’sfinalcriticismre Al‐Ashqar’sfinalcriticismrelatestotheme latestothemedia’scorruptiv dia’scorruptiveinfluence einfluenceon onifta’ .He .He  fatwascompletelyandaccurately,and assertsthatmediaoutletsdo assertsthatmediaoutletsdonotalwaysre notalwaysrepresent present fatwas  fatwaswiththeintentto“defa sometimesmisrepresent fatwas withtheintentto“defame”and me”and“insult.” “insult.”107Hethen

addresseshowthoseincharg addresseshowthoseinchargeofmedia eofmediaoutletswill,attime outletswill,attimes,actintheir s,actintheirowninterests owninterests  fatwas.Whetherforbusinessorpoliti whenpublishing fatwas .Whetherforbusinessorpoliticalreasons,Al‐ calreasons,Al‐Ashqarbelie Ashqarbelievesthat vesthat

 101ProfessorofIslamicThoughtatCairoUniversity 102SaifAbdel‐Fattah.“DivergentVoices”, Al-AhramWeeklyOn-Line  Al-AhramWeeklyOn-Line ,No.865,(October2007)

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/865/op56.htm http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/865/op56.htm 103‘AbidKhazandar.“Fawdaal-fatawa ”, Al-‘Arabiyyah  Al-‘Arabiyyah,25June2006.

http://www.alarabiyya.net/save_print.php?print=1&cont_id=20580 104Ibid. 105Ibid. 106

Fawdaal-Ifta’ ,118 ,118

107Ibid.,111

33 somemediaoutletsseektocha somemediaoutletsseektochangeMuslims“ ngeMuslims“personalopin personalopinions”and“ ions”and“interests.” interests.”108This muftiswhomanagetheifta’ operationsatvarious corruptionalsoaffectstheselectionofmuftis operationsatvarious

mediaoutlets.Hecitesfinan mediaoutlets.Hecitesfinancialgainas cialgainasthecauseofem thecauseofemployingunspe ployingunspecialized cializedmuftis. Specificallytargetingsatellit Specificallytargetingsatellitetelevision,a etelevision,al‐Ashqarstate l‐Ashqarstatesthisleadsto“ sthisleadsto“alackofre alackofregardfor gardfor thedisagreementofthesi thedisagreementofthesituationsofthevi tuationsoftheviewers”and ewers”and“theoutlets’ “theoutlets’neglectofcrucia neglectofcrucial l issues”relatedtotheifta’ process. process. Al‐Ashqar’saforementioned Al‐Ashqar’saforementioneddiscussionofthe discussionofthe“disruption “disruptionofboundaries ofboundariesandregion andregion” ”  fatwasalludestothesituationofMusli bycontemporary fatwas alludestothesituationofMuslimminorities.The mminorities.Thesituationof situationof

Muslimminoritieslivingoutside MuslimminoritieslivingoutsideoftheMuslim oftheMuslimworldisunpre worldisunprecedenteda cedentedandloomslarge ndloomslargein in  fatwasthatarenotcorrectbasedon contemporaryjurisprudentia contemporaryjurisprudentialdebates.B ldebates.Bycriticizing ycriticizing fatwas

thecustomsofaMuslim’scountries,a thecustomsofaMuslim’scountries,al‐Ashqarhighlig l‐Ashqarhighlightstheabsence htstheabsenceofMuslimlega ofMuslimlegal l theoryconcerningthestatusofM theoryconcerningthestatusofMuslimminorities. uslimminorities.Simply,therea Simply,therearenotheore renotheoretical tical structurestodescribehowamuftishouldrespondtothesetyp shouldrespondtothesetypesofinquirie esofinquiries.Thelackofa s.Thelackofa  fiqhal-aqliyyah,orjurisprudenceofminori ,orjurisprudenceofminorities,contributesto ties,contributestotheconfusionin theconfusioninifta’ .The .The

contentanalysisofIslamWeb,I contentanalysisofIslamWeb,IslamQA,andI slamQA,andIslamOnlineillustra slamOnlineillustratesthisproble testhisproblem. m. Allthreewebsitesoffered Allthreewebsitesofferedanswerstoque answerstoquestionsrelating stionsrelatingtothepermissi tothepermissibilityof bilityof befriendingnon‐Muslims.T befriendingnon‐Muslims.Thisisanurge hisisanurgentquestionform ntquestionformanyminority anyminorityMuslimsand Muslimsand impactstheirmentalitytowa impactstheirmentalitytowardsassimilating rdsassimilatingandbein andbeingactiveinth gactiveinthenon‐Muslim enon‐Muslim communitiesinwhichtheylive. communitiesinwhichtheylive.Eachsiteoffere Eachsiteofferedadiffer dadifferentanswer entanswertothesequestion tothesequestions, s, clearlydemonstratingthea clearlydemonstratingtheaforementioned forementioned‘chaos’. ‘chaos’. IslamWebtreatedtheissues IslamWebtreatedtheissuesasamatter asamatterofMuslim’sloyalty ofMuslim’sloyaltytonon‐Muslims.In tonon‐Muslims.Intwo two related fatwas,thesite’sFatwaCenterd ,thesite’sFatwaCenterdescribesthe escribesthelimitationsofde limitationsofdealingwithnon alingwithnon‐‐  108Ibid.,112

34 Muslims.Inresponsetoaque Muslims.Inresponsetoaquestionabout“d stionabout“dealing”with ealing”withJewsandChri JewsandChristians“forthe stians“forthesakeof sakeof benefittingfromtheirknow benefittingfromtheirknowledgeinthe ledgeinthefieldofscien fieldofscience”,IslamWeb ce”,IslamWebstates,“itisp states,“itispermissible ermissible tobenefitfromtheirknowle tobenefitfromtheirknowledgeinthe dgeinthefieldofscience fieldofscienceincollege…p incollege…providedthat rovidedthattheperson theperson cankeepintactthefea cankeepintactthefeaturesthatdisti turesthatdistinguishhimasa nguishhimasaMuslim.” Muslim.”109Theissuehereisthe  fatwadonotquoteanysourcesto imitationofnon‐believers,t imitationofnon‐believers,thoughtheauthorsof houghtheauthorsofthe the fatwa  fatwa,theFatwaCentercondemnsbefriending substantiatethisopinion.Ina substantiatethisopinion.Inadifferent different fatwa

ChristiansorJews,invokingthe ChristiansorJews,invokingtheQur’anand Qur’anand Hadithasjustification.110Oneversequotedis Sura3,verse118: Oyewhobelieve!Tak Oyewhobelieve!Takenotforintim enotforintimatesothersthan atesothersthanyourownfolk,w yourownfolk,who ho wouldsparenopainstor wouldsparenopainstoruinyou;theylov uinyou;theylovetohamper etohamperyou.Hatredis you.Hatredis revealedby(theuttera revealedby(theutteranceof)their nceof)theirmouths,butthatwhich mouths,butthatwhichtheirbreasts theirbreastshide hide isgreater.Wehavemad isgreater.Wehavemadeplainfor eplainforyouthereve youtherevelationsifyew lationsifyewill ill understand. 111 Thisversepaintsnon‐Musli Thisversepaintsnon‐Muslimsaspeople msaspeopleseekingtocorr seekingtocorruptandhar uptandharmMuslims.Itcerta mMuslims.Itcertainly inly  fatwacastsa discouragesinteractionbetw discouragesinteractionbetweenMuslimsa eenMuslimsandnon‐Muslim ndnon‐Muslims,anditsuse s,anditsuseinthe inthe fatwa

ratherantagonistictoneove ratherantagonistictoneoverthewholeissue rthewholeissue.However,af .However,afewlinesdow ewlinesdowntheFatwa ntheFatwaCenter Center callsforthepetitionertode callsforthepetitionertodealjustlywithJe aljustlywithJewsandChristia wsandChristiansandde nsanddeclaresprofession claresprofessional al relationsbetweenMuslimsa relationsbetweenMuslimsandnon‐Musli ndnon‐Muslimstobeperm mstobepermissible. issible. For Fo rSh Shei eikh kha al‐ l‐Mu Muna najj jjid id,,ed edit itor ora and nda aut utho hor rof ofI Isl slam amQA QA,,th the eis issu sue eis isv ver ery ysi simp mple le..Al All l non‐Muslimsareunbelieve non‐Muslimsareunbelieversandpolythe rsandpolytheists,andtoin ists,andtointeractwiththe teractwiththemiscompletely miscompletely  fatwahestates:“TheJewsan forbidden.Inone fatwa hestates:“TheJewsandChristiansa dChristiansarebothkaaf rebothkaafirsand irsand

 109“ConditioneddealingwithChristiansandJews”,IslamWeb,FatwaNo.4277 110“Limitsofrelationshipwithnon‐Musli “Limitsofrelationshipwithnon‐Muslims”,IslamWeb,FatwaNo.88293.Q ms”,IslamWeb,FatwaNo.88293.Qu’ranverses:58:22,3:118 u’ranverses:58:22,3:118 111Qu’ran3:118,Pickthalltranslation

35 mushrikeen.Theyareka mushrikeen.Theyarekaafirsbecause afirsbecausetheydenyth theydenythetruthand etruthandrejectit.And rejectit.Andtheyare theyare mushrikeenbecausetheyw mushrikeenbecausetheyworshipsomeother orshipsomeotherthanAllah.” thanAllah.”112Labelingthe“Peopleofthe Book”insuchawaybasica Book”insuchawaybasicallyprohibitsan llyprohibitsanyandalli yandallinteractionwit nteractionwiththem.Heemp hthem.Heemphasizes hasizes  fatwaaboutimitatingWesterners.113HequotesSurahal‐Ma’idah,which thispointina fatwa

states,“…Andifanyamo states,“…Andifanyamongstyoutakesth ngstyoutakesthem[Jewsand em[JewsandChristians]asA Christians]asAwliyaa’[frie wliyaa’[friends, nds, helpers],thensurelyheisone helpers],thensurelyheisoneofthem…” ofthem…”114Clearlyinal‐Munajjid’ Clearlyinal‐Munajjid’smind,any smind,anyassociation association withnon‐Muslimsisimpermissib withnon‐Muslimsisimpermissibleandwa leandwarrantsapostasy rrantsapostasy,oneofIslam’sg ,oneofIslam’sgravestsins. ravestsins. IslamO IslamOnli nline neoff offers ersye yeta tad diff iffere erent ntint inter erpre pretat tation ion.A .Asn snote oted, d,al‐ al‐Qar Qarad adawi awi’s ’swe websi bsite teis is basedonnotionsofmodera basedonnotionsofmoderationinIslam.F tioninIslam.Fromthiswecan romthiswecanpresumethat presumethathewouldtak hewouldtakea ea moreopen‐mindedap moreopen‐mindedapproachtothisissue proachtothisissue.Thesite’s .Thesite’sShari’aResearchersmakethisclear earlyonina fatwaoutlinetherulesgoverning outlinetherulesgoverningrelationsbet relationsbetweenMuslimsa weenMuslimsandnon‐ ndnon‐ Muslims: [W]ewouldliketostressthatM [W]ewouldliketostressthatMuslimsshouldhave uslimsshouldhavegoodrelation goodrelationswithall swithall peopleofeveryreligion peopleofeveryreligion.Atschool,atwork .Atschool,atwork,intheneigh ,intheneighborhood,etcete borhood,etcetera,a ra,a Muslimshouldbekindand Muslimshouldbekindandcourteoustoeve courteoustoeveryone…Islame ryone…Islamencourages ncourages Muslimstocooperatewitheve Muslimstocooperatewitheveryoneregar ryoneregardlessofhis/her dlessofhis/herreligionorcre religionorcreed ed inallprojectsthatarevi inallprojectsthatarevirtuousorbenefi rtuousorbeneficialtohumanity cialtohumanityorothercreat orothercreatures ures ofGod.115

 112“Thedifferencebetweenthemushrikeenan “Thedifferencebetweenthemushrikeenandthekuffaar,andtowhich dthekuffaar,andtowhichcategorydotheJewsandChristi categorydotheJewsandChristians ans

belong?(sic)”IslamQA,http://islamqa.com/en/ref/islamqa/67626 belong?(sic)”IslamQA, http://islamqa.com/en/ref/islamqa/67626 113“Guidelinesconcerningimitationof “Guidelinesconcerningimitationofthekuffar(sic)”IslamQA thekuffar(sic)”IslamQAhttp://islamqa.com/en/ref/islamqa/21694 http://islamqa.com/en/ref/islamqa/21694 114Qu’ran5:51,translationfromIslamQA 115“ScopeofAmicableDealing “ScopeofAmicableDealingswithNon‐Mus swithNon‐Muslims”IslamOnline,17S lims”IslamOnline,17September2006 eptember2006

36 Inthisstatementthereisn Inthisstatementthereisnomentionofnon omentionofnon‐Muslims’desi ‐Muslims’desiretodowrong retodowrongtoMuslimsor toMuslimsor thatassociatingwiththemwillle thatassociatingwiththemwillleadtoone’s adtoone’sapostasy.Infa apostasy.Infact,thesewordsse ct,thesewordsseemto emto contradictal‐Munajjid’sassertions.  AlGoing into more detail, the  fatwaquotesextensivelyfromal‐Q quotesextensivelyfromal‐Qaradawi’sb aradawi’sbook ook AlHalalwa-lHaramfi-lIslam.116Thesepassagesmakenot Thesepassagesmakenoteofthe“me eofthe“mercyandspiri rcyandspiritual tual

kinship”betweenMuslims kinship”betweenMuslimsandJewsa andJewsandChristians.T ndChristians.TheyinstructMusli heyinstructMuslimsto“avoidsu msto“avoidsuch ch approachesthatmaycause approachesthatmaycausebitternessora bitternessorarousehostility.”A rousehostility.”Al‐Qaradawi l‐Qaradawiaddressesthe addressestheverse verse quotedbyal‐Munajjid, quotedbyal‐Munajjid,stating,“[t]heve stating,“[t]heversesthatimpl rsesthatimplybreaking ybreakingtieswithPeop tieswithPeopleofBook leofBook refertothosepeoplewhowe refertothosepeoplewhowerehostiletoIsla rehostiletoIslam”andtha m”andthatthatversea tthatverseandothersimi ndothersimilar lar verses,“arenotuncondition verses,“arenotunconditional,tobeapp al,tobeappliedtoeve liedtoeveryJew,Christian ryJew,Christianornon‐Muslim ornon‐Muslim.”For .”For thesereasons,IslamOnlined thesereasons,IslamOnlinedeclaresintera eclaresinteractionsbetwee ctionsbetweenMuslimsand nMuslimsandnon‐Muslimsto non‐Muslimstobe be permissible. Thes These eth thre ree ewe webs bsit ites ese exe xemp mpli lify fyb bot oth hth the ege gene nera ral lch chao aos sin in ifta’ andtheneedfora andtheneedfora fiqh al-aqliyyahdescribedbyal‐Ashqar describedbyal‐Ashqar.Fromthesethre .Fromthesethreesourceswe esourceswehavethreed havethreediffering iffering

opinionsimpactingthelives opinionsimpactingthelivesofMuslimminori ofMuslimminorities.Itisnosurp ties.ItisnosurprisethatAl‐M risethatAl‐Munajjid,a unajjid,a SheikhfromSaudiArabia SheikhfromSaudiArabia,oneofthemost ,oneofthemostconservativecoun conservativecountriesinthe triesintheMuslimworld, Muslimworld, wouldconsiderJewsandChr wouldconsiderJewsandChristianstobe istianstobekuffar ,andprohibitinteractionswiththem. ,andprohibitinteractionswiththem. Conversely,IslamOnline,whichhosts Conversely,IslamOnline,whichhostsarticlesand articlesandopinionsfromM opinionsfromMuslimsandnon uslimsandnon‐Muslims ‐Muslims aroundtheworld,takesthe aroundtheworld,takesthemostliberalsta mostliberalstanceonthisissue nceonthisissue.Theissueofa .Theissueofa fiqh al-aqliyyah ifta’ .MuhammadAminascribesmostthe isjustonemanifestationofthechaosofifta’  .MuhammadAminascribesmostthe

“accidents”ofifta’ tothiscircumstance. tothiscircumstance.117Becausethecircumstancesof BecausethecircumstancesofMuslimminoritie Muslimminorities s falloutsidetheboundsoftrad falloutsidetheboundsoftraditionaljurisp itionaljurisprudence, rudence,muftisactwithlittleguidanceand  116SheikhYusufal‐Qaradawi, Al-Halalwa-lHaramfi-lIslam  Al-Halalwa-lHaramfi-lIslam ,(IslamicBookTrust,2001) 117Amin

37 thereforethepotentialtoop thereforethepotentialtoopineinerr ineinerrorincreases.H orincreases.Heinsiststhata einsiststhata fiqhforMuslim minoritiesisanecessaryste minoritiesisanecessarystepinreformi pinreformingcontemporar ngcontemporary yifta’ .. This Thiso one nei iss ssue uei ill llus ustr trat ates est the heg gre reat ater erp pro robl blem ems spr pres esen ent tin int the heM Mus usli lim mwo worl rld ddu due eto to  fatwas.HowisaMuslimsupposedtod theproliferationof fatwas .HowisaMuslimsupposedtodeterminew eterminewhichofthese hichofthese

discordantopinionsiscorrect? discordantopinionsiscorrect?Currently,he Currently,heorshemustmake orshemustmakedueonhiso dueonhisorherown.All rherown.Allof of thecommentatorsstudiedforthi thecommentatorsstudiedforthispaperpr spaperpresenttheirow esenttheirownsolutionstothisp nsolutionstothispredicament. redicament. Ingeneral,thesecallforon Ingeneral,thesecallforoneoftwothings: eoftwothings:increasedr increasedregulationof egulationofifta’ incontemporary incontemporary  fatwasplayinMuslimsociety. media,orchangingtherole fatwas

Al‐Ashqarpresentssevera Al‐Ashqarpresentsseveralpossiblesolution lpossiblesolutions.Heisinfav s.Heisinfavorofmoreregula orofmoreregulationof tionof ifta’ throughgovernmentintervention: throughgovernmentintervention:

“[S]upervisionoverpublicme “[S]upervisionoverpublicmediaoutletsis diaoutletsiswithinthescope withinthescopeofthestate, ofthestate, concerningtheremovalofun concerningtheremovalofuntrained trainedmuftis…frommediaoutlets,and accountingforthenegligent accountingforthenegligentones.Itisthesta ones.Itisthestate’srighttole te’srighttoleadasthe adasthe ifta’ andthemedia,onthe promoterofinteractionbetweenifta’  andthemedia,onthebasisofcalling basisofcalling

onsuitable‘‘ulama.”118 Clearly,al‐Ashqarviewsthe Clearly,al‐Ashqarviewsthestateasthe stateastheonlybodycap onlybodycapableofregula ableofregulating tingifta’ in in contemporarymedia.Itisha contemporarymedia.Itishardtothinka rdtothinkanyotheren nyotherentitywouldbep titywouldbepowerfulenough owerfulenoughto to removemuftisfrommediaoutlets.Hedoe frommediaoutlets.Hedoeshavead shaveadisclaimerforthis isclaimerforthispoliticalheavy politicalheavy handedness;thestatemu handedness;thestatemustactneutrally. stactneutrally.119Thisideamaylookgoodon Thisideamaylookgoodonpaper,bu paper,butitishard titishard toimaginecertainArab toimaginecertainArabgovernments,a governments,alreadyamb lreadyambivalenttowar ivalenttowardsIslam,toboth dsIslam,tobothtakean takean  fatwasinafairandjustway. interestinrescuingifta’ fromitschaosandtoregulate fromitschaosandtoregulate fatwas

 118Ibid.,113 119Ibid.

38 Bang Bangla lade desh shs ser erve ves sas asa an nex exam ampl ple eof ofg gov over ernm nmen ent tin inte terv rven enti tion oni int nto oifta’ .InJanuary .InJanuary  fatwa.”120Therulingstated 2001thenation’sSupre 2001thenation’sSupremeCourtoutlawe meCourtoutlawed“themalp d“themalpracticeof racticeof fatwa.

that“anyfatwaissuedfrom that“anyfatwaissuedfromanunauthori anunauthorizedsourceis zedsourceisillegal,”and illegal,”and“givinga “givingafatwabyan fatwabyan unauthorizedperson(s)mustb unauthorizedperson(s)mustbemadea emadeapunishableoff punishableoffencebyPa encebyParliamentimme rliamentimmediately.” diately.”121 Thisrulingrespondedtoa Thisrulingrespondedtoaninstancein ninstanceinwhichawoma whichawomanwasforced nwasforcedtomarryherh tomarryherhusband’s usband’s  fatwaissuedbytheirneighbor.122Itisunclearhow paternalcousinbasedoffofa fatwa

enforceablesucharulingwi enforceablesucharulingwillbe,butitpr llbe,butitprovideslegal ovideslegalprecedent precedentfornullifyinge fornullifyingerrant rrant  fatwas.TheQatarigovernment’ .TheQatarigovernment’srecentremov srecentremovalofSheikhYu alofSheikhYusufal‐Qarada sufal‐Qaradawifromhis wifromhis

websiteIslamOnline,demon websiteIslamOnline,demonstratesasecond stratesasecondtypeofgove typeofgovernmentinte rnmentinterventionmore rventionmoreinline inline withal‐Ashqar’ssuggestion.Accor withal‐Ashqar’ssuggestion.AccordingtoFOXNe dingtoFOXNews,themovefollow ws,themovefollowedastrike edastrikebythesite’ bythesite’s s employees.Theseindivid employees.Theseindividuals,IslamOnline uals,IslamOnline’seditorsand ’seditorsandwriters,prote writers,protestedincrea stedincreased sed pressurefromtheirmanage pressurefromtheirmanagementtoavoid menttoavoid“unIslamic” “unIslamic”topics,specifically topics,specificallycoverageofthe coverageofthe DohaFilmFestival.123Al‐Qaradawi’sremoval Al‐Qaradawi’sremovalrepresentsa representsashifttowardsa shifttowardsamore more conservativetone,andwa conservativetone,andwasinitiated sinitiatedbyQatar’sgove byQatar’sgovernment. rnment. Al‐A Al‐Ash shqa qar ris iso one neo of fth the efe few wwh who otr trum umpe pets tss sta tate tei int nter erve vent ntio ion nas asa as sol olut utio ion nto tot thi his s crisis.Ofcommentatorspreferrin crisis.Ofcommentatorspreferringsomesortofin gsomesortofincreaseinre creaseinregulation,mostpre gulation,mostpreferan feran increaseinthepowera increaseinthepowerandinfluence ndinfluenceofpreexistin ofpreexistingreligiouscouncils, greligiouscouncils,congressesand congressesand organizations.Attheend organizations.Attheendofhisessay,Kha ofhisessay,Khazandarca zandarcallsforIslamicorga llsforIslamicorganizationsto“ nizationsto“oppose oppose theseattacks[i.e.badifta’ ]byrejectingthem,exami ]byrejectingthem,examiningthemthoroug ningthemthoroughlyandclari hlyandclarifyingthe fyingthe

 120A.H.MonjurulKabir“O A.H.MonjurulKabir“OutlawingUnauthor utlawingUnauthorizedFatwathroughJudic izedFatwathroughJudicialActivism.” ialActivism.”Interventions,4,no.2,

224 121Ibid. 122Ibid.,225 123“ModeratesforcedoutoftopIslamWebsite”

39 truthofIslam.”124Thisideaisreflectedin ThisideaisreflectedinAhmadJam AhmadJamil‘Azm’sessa il‘Azm’sessay,“TheAboli y,“TheAbolitionofthe tionofthe ChaosofIfta’ .” .”125 Heagreeswithal‐Ashqar, Heagreeswithal‐Ashqar,butdoesnotid butdoesnotidentifythesta entifythestateasapote teasapotentialregulato ntialregulatory ry  fiqhcouncils,congressesandleagues.Unity entity.Ratherhecallsfor“ entity.Ratherhecallsfor“unity”among unity”amongIslam’s Islam’s fiqh

isnecessarybecauseatthe isnecessarybecauseatthepresenttim presenttime,competitionb e,competitionbetweensuchor etweensuchorganizations,e ganizations,either ither sectarianorpolitical,hascausedthe fatwatobecomeapoliticalinstrume tobecomeapoliticalinstrument.‘Azmasse nt.‘Azmasserts rts muftisaswellasandenrichmentoftheifta’ process thatmorerigorousstandardsformuftis process

wouldremedythismalady. wouldremedythismalady.Unityisnece Unityisnecessarytoensure ssarytoensurethatthesene thatthesenewguideline wguidelinesare sare enforced. Ahmadal‐Katibalsodisag Ahmadal‐Katibalsodisagreeswithmove reeswithmovestoregulate storegulateifta’ becauseitviolates becauseitviolates certainfundamentalIslam certainfundamentalIslamicvalues.Hisessa icvalues.Hisessay,“ y,“Halyumkindabt‘amaliyyaal-ifta’”ishighly ifta’ intheMuslimworldaswe criticalofthestateofcontemporaryifta’  intheMuslimworldaswellasthemann llasthemannerin erin

whichmanyMuslimshopetore whichmanyMuslimshopetorectifythesituation ctifythesituation..126 Al‐Katibfirstdisagreestha Al‐Katibfirstdisagreesthatanyorgani tanyorganizationisable zationisabletocontrol tocontrolifta’.Hefeelsthat modernmediahasmade ifta’ “uncontrollable”. “uncontrollable”.127Healsofeelsthattheirlack Healsofeelsthattheirlacksalegitimate salegitimate entitytoperformsuchregulation entitytoperformsuchregulation.Unlikeal‐ .Unlikeal‐Ashqar,hevi Ashqar,heviewsautocraticgov ewsautocraticgovernmentsas ernmentsas onesourceofifta’ scurrentcrisis.Hestatesthatg scurrentcrisis.Hestatesthatgovernmentsap overnmentsappointunquali pointunqualifiedmuftis, fiedmuftis, whointurnsupportthesegove whointurnsupportthesegovernments’effor rnments’effortstoseize“the tstoseize“thefundamen fundamentalrightsofthe talrightsofthe peopleinthenameof fatwaandtheDivineLaw.” 128However,al‐Katibdoessup However,al‐Katibdoessupporttheuse porttheuse ofdemocraticinstitutions,whether ofdemocraticinstitutions,whetherthatbeinte thatbeinter‐orextra‐ r‐orextra‐governmental, governmental,toformulatean toformulateand d

 124Khazandar 125‘Azm 126Al‐Katib 127Ibid. 128Ibid.

40  fatwas,andsaysthatonlygovernin mandate fatwas ,andsaysthatonlygoverningbodiesthat gbodiesthatrepresentth representthepeopleha epeoplehavethe vethe  fatwasaslaw. righttoimpose fatwas

Al‐Katibalsodisagreeswi Al‐Katibalsodisagreeswithincreasingt thincreasingtheroleofrelig heroleofreligiouscouncilsand iouscouncilsand organizations.Firsthenotest organizations.Firsthenotesthattheseinstitu hattheseinstitutionsarenotcr tionsarenotcredible: edible: Thefirstwhorushtoviolatethe Thefirstwhorushtoviolatethesestipulations[i sestipulations[i.e.thoseofa .e.thoseofamufti]arethe veryprominent‘ ‘ulama’ hereandthere.Idonotneedtoremindanyoneof hereandthere.Idonotneedtoremindanyoneof theoddandstrange fatwasthathavebeenissuedb thathavebeenissuedbythese‘officia ythese‘official’ l’muftisor  fatwasthatarenot issued thelike…[Idonotneed thelike…[Idonotneedtoreminda toremindanyone]ofthe nyone]ofthe fatwas issued

bysomeofthesilentauthoriti bysomeofthesilentauthoritiesintimesof esintimesofneed…thesile need…thesilenceisaform nceisaformofbad ofbad  fatwawhichtakepartinleadingthepeopleastrayanddeprivingthemof

guidancetothetrueand guidancetothetrueandsoughtafterp soughtafterplaceconcernin laceconcerning[their]tempta g[their]temptations tions andconfusions.129 Thesebodieslackcredib Thesebodieslackcredibilitybecauseth ilitybecausethescholarswhocomp escholarswhocomprisetheirra risetheirranksarenob nksarenobetter etter atifta’ thanthosetheywouldseekt thanthosetheywouldseektoregulate.Al‐K oregulate.Al‐Katibalsodoub atibalsodoubtstheywillbe tstheywillbeableto ableto providetheguidancene providetheguidancenecessarytocorre cessarytocorrectthecrisisof ctthecrisisofifta’ because,uptothispoint because,uptothispoint historically,theyhavenotdone historically,theyhavenotdoneso.ItisasifA so.ItisasifAl‐Katibasks, l‐Katibasks,‘Iftheserelig ‘Ifthesereligiousand iousand governmentinstitutionshave governmentinstitutionshavefailedtoimp failedtoimprove roveifta’ inthepast,whyshouldthey inthepast,whyshouldtheybetrusted betrusted toremedythecurrentsituation?’  fatwasona Beyo Beyond ndt thi his sla lack cko of fcr cred edib ibil ilit ity, y,h he edi disa sagr gree ees swi with thr reg egul ulat atin ing g fatwas

philosophicallevel.Hebeliev philosophicallevel.Hebelievesthatifitw esthatifitwerepossible erepossibletoregulatethe toregulatetheseopinions,itw seopinions,itwould ould greatdamageIslam.Re greatdamageIslam.Regulationis“the gulationis“theworst”solutionbe worst”solutionbecause“impr cause“imprisoningIslamin isoningIslamina a  fatwacouncilwill[press]allofthere congressorofficial fatwa councilwill[press]allofthereligionintothese ligionintotheserviceofacor rviceofacorrupt rupt

 129Ibid.

41 sovereign.”130Regulationwillalso,“lead Regulationwillalso,“leadtotheimposition totheimpositionofasingle,con ofasingle,controllingvision trollingvision uponeverything.”Forthese uponeverything.”Forthesereason,Al‐Ka reason,Al‐Katibfeelsreg tibfeelsregulationisate ulationisaterribleanswe rribleanswertothe rtothe problemofcontemporaryifta’ .. His Hisso solu luti tion oni is sno not tto toi inc ncre reas ase ere regu gula lati tion on,,bu but tto toa alt lter ert the her rol ole eof oft the he fatwainthe Muslimcommunityaswellasthe Muslimcommunityaswellasthemannerin mannerinwhichMuslimsin whichMuslimsinterpretit.He terpretit.Hesaysthat saysthat  fatwasare“personalopinions Muslimsmustberemindedthat fatwas are“personalopinionsthatrestonassum thatrestonassumptions.” ptions.”131

Thisistrue,infact,andcan Thisistrue,infact,andcanbeseen beseeninal‐Nawa inal‐Nawawi’stext. wi’stext. 132Al‐Katibcriticizesmuftisnot onlyforpurportingtheseopin onlyforpurportingtheseopinionstobein ionstobeinlinewithGod linewithGod’sjudgment, ’sjudgment,butalsoforthusly butalsoforthusly  fatwaisan imposingtheseopinionsonothe imposingtheseopinionsonotherpeople: rpeople:“Itisbesttoa “Itisbesttoacknowledge cknowledgethatthe thatthe fatwa

opinionandisnotmand opinionandisnotmandatoryexcepton atoryexceptonit’sowner…I it’sowner…Inthissituationth nthissituationtheresponsibili eresponsibilityfalls tyfalls  fatwaorturninghisback uponthepetitioner,whohas uponthepetitioner,whohascompletefree completefreedominfollowing dominfollowingthe the fatwa

toit.”133

 130Ibid. 131Ibid. 132Seeabove,14‐15 133Ibid.

42 Conclusion

Thed Thedisp ispara arate tean andd ddive iverse rseop opini inions onsil illus lustra trated teda abov bovec eclea learly rlypr prove oveth that atthe theIn Inter terne net t ifta’ ”isidenticaltothe“cre isdemocratizingIslam.The“chaosofifta’  ”isidenticaltothe“creolizeddiscourse olizeddiscourse”heralde ”heralded d

byBunt,andtheotherWe byBunt,andtheotherWesternscholarsnote sternscholarsnotedinthispa dinthispaper’sintrod per’sintroduction.The“ne uction.The“new w religiousintellectuals”134identifiedbyKhamisandal‐NawawyareidentifiedbyMuslimsas unqualifiedmuftis.AsBuntandhisMuslimcount .AsBuntandhisMuslimcounterpartsnote, erpartsnote,the‘rules’of the‘rules’ofifta’ have have changed.Nolongerdoyoun changed.Nolongerdoyouneedtomee eedtomeettraditional ttraditionalqualificationsto qualificationstohaveyourvoice haveyourvoiceheard, heard, youmustonlyhaveagoodwebsite.135 Asw Aswe eca can nse see, e,w whe heth ther ert thi his sde demo mocr crat atiz izat atio ion npo posi siti tive veo or rne nega gati tive ved dep epen ends dso on nyo your ur perspective.ScholarslikeBu perspective.ScholarslikeBuntimplythatt ntimplythatthisprocessisinhe hisprocessisinherentlygood.T rentlygood.Theintroduction heintroduction ofnew,differentvoicesin ofnew,differentvoicesintoMuslimdiscourse toMuslimdiscoursewillleadto willleadtoreform.Thisref reform.Thisreformwilltake ormwilltakethe the formofnew“e‐ijtihad ”,which,implicitly,willleadto ”,which,implicitly,willleadtoliberalization liberalization.Evenbefore .Evenbeforearrivinga arrivingat t Muslimopinions,Kortnotesthatth Muslimopinions,KortnotesthattheInternetd eInternetdoesnotinher oesnotinherentlyliberali entlyliberalizeMuslim zeMuslim discourse.Aswesawinthe discourse.AswesawintheMuslimcommenta Muslimcommentaries,thedemocr ries,thedemocratizationof atizationofifta’ isviewed isviewed verynegatively.Thepa verynegatively.Theparticipationof“ rticipationof“newvoices” newvoices”hascreated hascreatedasituationofd asituationofdireconfusion. ireconfusion. TheInternethasaffected TheInternethasaffectedMuslimdiscourse Muslimdiscoursebygivingcr bygivingcredencetoma edencetomanydiverse nydiverseopinions, opinions, andtherebypointingM andtherebypointingMuslimsindive uslimsindivergentdirecti rgentdirections.Whilethere ons.Whiletherehasalwaysb hasalwaysbeen een diversityinIslam,ithasne diversityinIslam,ithasneverbeen verbeenmanifestin manifestinthiswaybefore thiswaybefore.Neverbe .Neverbeforehavesom forehavesomany any peoplepresentedsoma peoplepresentedsomanydifferen nydifferentversionsof‘tru tversionsof‘trueIslam’ino eIslam’inoneplace.Thi neplace.Thissituationmay ssituationmay necessitatethereformthatB necessitatethereformthatBuntandhis untandhiscolleaguessode colleaguessodesire,butuntiln sire,butuntilnewsolutionsare ewsolutionsare developed,the‘chaosofifta’ ’enactingtremendousharmonIslam. ’enactingtremendousharmonIslam.

 134El‐Nawawy,47‐48 135Bunt,iMuslims ,32

43 Theanswersoutlinedabove Theanswersoutlinedabovearenotp arenotperfect.Increase erfect.Increasedgovernme dgovernmentinterventi ntinterventionhas onhas thepotentialtodestabiliz thepotentialtodestabilizethesometime ethesometimesalreadyte salreadytenuousrelationshi nuousrelationshipbetween pbetweenIslamand Islamand government.Thereisnogua government.Thereisnoguaranteethat ranteethatgovernmentsw governmentswhomayalrea homayalreadybehostile dybehostiletoIslam toIslam willnotabusetheirregulatory willnotabusetheirregulatoryoversight.Countin oversight.CountingonIslam’sma gonIslam’smanyleaguesa nyleaguesand nd  fatwasmayalsobeunsound,asthey organizationstounifybehin organizationstounifybehindthecauseof dthecauseofreforming reforming fatwas

arealreadycompeting arealreadycompetingagainsteach againsteachotherforthea otherfortheattentionofan ttentionofanevermorem evermoremedialitera edialiterate te Muslimcommunity.Additionally, Muslimcommunity.A dditionally,asAl‐Katibp asAl‐Katibpointsout,the ointsout,the‘ulamawhocomprisethese groupsarenotcredible,a groupsarenotcredible,asmanycontribute smanycontributetothecurren tothecurrentchaostheincre tchaostheincreasetheirp asetheirpolitical olitical andreligiousprestige. Al‐Katib’sreformswouldalter Al‐Katib’sreformswouldalterthementalit thementalityof yofifta’ inprofoundways,butmaynot inprofoundways,butmaynot gofarenoughtoremedythe gofarenoughtoremedythesituationsthatch situationsthatcharacterize aracterizethediscipline thediscipline’s‘chaos’.If ’s‘chaos’.Ifmuftis ifta’ thenitwouldlimitedthe weretobemoremodestintheirifta’  thenitwouldlimitedthenumberofschola numberofscholarswho rswho  fatwasorseekfameintheirw makeglobal fatwas orseekfameintheirwork.Ifpetition ork.Ifpetitionersdidnot ersdidnotfeelobliged feelobligedbyevery byevery  fatwatheyreadorheard,the theyreadorheard,thentheirconfusion ntheirconfusionwould,seemin would,seemingly,decrease gly,decrease.Theywouldfe .Theywouldfeel el  fatwasorignoredissidentopinions. moreconfidentintheird moreconfidentintheirdecisiontoshopa ecisiontoshoparoundfor roundfor fatwas

However,whatal‐Katiblack However,whatal‐Katiblacksisadefin sisadefiniteframework iteframeworkastohowthischa astohowthischangecouldtak ngecouldtake e place.Itisdoubtfultheulamaandgovernments,whoben andgovernments,whobenefitfromthecur efitfromthecurrentsituation, rentsituation, wouldwillinglyhumblethemselve wouldwillinglyhumblethemselvesforthiscause. sforthiscause. IfMuslimsaretoremedythe IfMuslimsaretoremedythesituationof situationofifta’ incontemporarymedia, incontemporarymedia,twochanges twochanges musttakeplace.Thefirstis musttakeplace.Thefirstistoallowtheave toallowtheaverageMuslim rageMuslimtodetermine todeterminewhichopinions whichopinionsheor heor shefindsmostsuitable.Thisalr shefindsmostsuitable.Thisalreadyoccursan eadyoccursandisaccounted disaccountedbyNadirsy byNadirsyahHosen.Hen ahHosen.Henotes otes takhayyur ,pickingthe‘best’opinion,and talfiq,the howIndonesianMuslimsperformtakhayyur  ,pickingthe‘best’opinion,andtalfiq

44 combiningofopinions,inap combiningofopinions,inaprocesshelabe rocesshelabels“ ls“ fatwashopping.”136Thesepracticesarenot innovative.Hallaqstatesthattakhayyur isaclassicaljurisprudenti isaclassicaljurisprudentialpracticetha alpracticethatfelloutof tfelloutof practiceinthepre‐modernperiod. 137Additionally,henotestha Additionally,henotesthatthelegitima tthelegitimationofa tionofa pluralityofopinionsgoesback pluralityofopinionsgoesbacktoal‐Shafi’i. toal‐Shafi’i.138Withinjurisprudence,onlyscholars performedthesepractices. performedthesepractices.But,intheconte But,inthecontemporaryme mporarymediaenviron diaenvironment,thesetoolsof ment,thesetoolsof legalreasoningmustbeex legalreasoningmustbeextendedto‘ tendedto‘lay’Muslimsas lay’Muslimsaswell.Asal‐Kati well.Asal‐Katibnotes,itisim bnotes,itisimpossible possible toeliminateunqualified toeliminateunqualifiedscholarsfromcontemp scholarsfromcontemporary oraryifta’ .Whilegovernmentalofnon‐ .Whilegovernmentalofnon‐ governmentalregulationofmuftisseemsattractive,thefacility seemsattractive,thefacilitywithwhicha withwhichapersonmay personmay startawebsitecombined startawebsitecombinedwiththedifficu withthedifficultyofcensoringI ltyofcensoringInternetaccess, nternetaccess,makesthe makesthe ostracizationof‘bad’muftis,asperformedclassically,ap ,asperformedclassically,apracticalimpossib racticalimpossibility.Inthisne ility.Inthisnew w reality,averageMuslimsmu reality,averageMuslimsmustbeempowe stbeempoweredwiththe redwiththeabilitytodisce abilitytodiscernthevalid rnthevalidityof ityof  fatwasontheirown.Thisgrassrootsre various fatwas ontheirown.Thisgrassrootsreformmustalsobe formmustalsobeempowered empoweredbyandw byandwork ork

inconcertwithIslamicinstitutions. Thesecondchangeinvolves Thesecondchangeinvolvesthecreationof thecreationofasupportstructure asupportstructureforMuslimsto forMuslimsto practicetakhayyur .WhileIslamiccongressesand .WhileIslamiccongressesandnon‐governme non‐governmentalinstitutions ntalinstitutionsmaybe maybe unabletoproperlyregulateifta’ ,theycanplayaveryi ,theycanplayaveryinfluentialrole nfluentialroleinitsreform.T initsreform.Thisrole hisrole hasthreeparts.Thefirstis hasthreeparts.Thefirstistheuniversal theuniversalrecognitionofn recognitionofnewstipulations ewstipulationsfor formuftisand  fatwas.Asseenabove,thecrite .Asseenabove,thecriteriaforimprov riaforimproved edifta’ practicesalreadyexists, practicesalreadyexists,eitherbased eitherbased dawabit .ItisuptoIslamicorganizationsto onclassicalmodelsorthroughthenewdawabit  .ItisuptoIslamicorganizationsto

recognizethesecriteriaun recognizethesecriteriauniversally,and iversally,andtoenforcethe toenforcethemamongthei mamongtheirmembership. rmembership.This This  136NadirsyahHosen,“On NadirsyahHosen,“OnlineFatwainIndones lineFatwainIndonesia:FromFatwaShopping ia:FromFatwaShoppingtoGooglinga toGooglingaKiai”inExpressing

Islam:ReligiousLifeandPoliticsinIndonesia ,ed.GregFealyandSallyWhite,(Singapore:Instituteof SoutheastAsianStudies,2008),164 137WaelB.Hallaq,“CantheShari’abeRestored?”inIslamicLawandtheChallengesofModernity  IslamicLawandtheChallengesofModernity ,ed.Yvonne YazbeckHaddadandBarbaraFreyerStowasser,(WalnutCreek,CA:AltaMiraPress,2004),24 138Ibid,27

45 willhelptoincreasethequ willhelptoincreasethequalityandq alityandquantityof uantityofifta’ overtimebyincreasingt overtimebyincreasingthequalityof hequalityof muftis.However,thisisnotenough.The .However,thisisnotenough.Thesemeasuresshou semeasuresshouldhaveap ldhaveapositiveimpact ositiveimpacton onifta’ 

overtime,butarenotpe overtime,butarenotperfectandar rfectandareinsufficient einsufficientasaresponse asaresponsetotheimmed totheimmediatecrisisof iatecrisisof ifta’ .Theenforcementofstricter .Theenforcementofstricterguidelineson guidelineson muftis,muchliketheirregulation,cannot  fatwa.Asaresult,theseinstitutionsmustworkto eliminateeverydeficient muftior fatwa

empoweraverageMuslims empoweraverageMuslimswithinformation withinformationwithwhichthey withwhichtheycanbetter canbetterjudgethea judgetheaccuracy ccuracy ofagivenmufti’sopinions. Thisinformationshouldtakethe Thisinformationshouldtaketheformofasyste formofasystematiccategoriz maticcategorizationofpromin ationofprominent ent mufti’sadherencetotheaforem ’sadherencetotheaforementionedun entioneduniversallyaccep iversallyaccepted tedifta’ guidelines.Islamic guidelines.Islamic

scholarsandorganizationsmu scholarsandorganizationsmustworktogether stworktogethertocategorize tocategorizetheopinionsp theopinionsproducedbythe roducedbythe mostpopularmuftisandprovidethisinforma andprovidethisinformationinane tioninaneasilyaccessible asilyaccessible,publicdata ,publicdatabase. base.  fatwasinsuchadatabasewould Theratingsofmuftisand fatwas insuchadatabasewouldprovidein provideinvaluablesupp valuablesupporttothe orttothe  fatwaenvironment.Muchlike averageMuslimscurrentlycon averageMuslimscurrentlyconfusedinthe fusedinthecontemporary contemporary fatwa takhayyur and  fatwasisnotentirelyunprecedented. andtalfiq,suchasystematicevaluationof fatwas

Inthe8th,9thand10 thcenturies,theMuslimcommunityu centuries,theMuslimcommunityunderwenta nderwentasimilarlylarg similarlylargeand eand systematicprocessinorderto systematicprocessinordertoregulateand regulateandverifythe verifytheproliferationof proliferationofProphetictra Prophetictraditions, ditions, orhadith.Thisprocessoccurredinrespo .Thisprocessoccurredinresponsetosimilarcon nsetosimilarconfusionandsoug fusionandsoughttoprovidet httoprovidethe he Muslimcommunitywithacorpusof Muslimcommunitywithacorpusoftraditionsthey traditionstheycouldtrust.Itisin couldtrust.Itisinthespiritof thespiritofthe the codificationofthehadithliteraturethatMuslimscholars literaturethatMuslimscholarstodayshouldstriv todayshouldstrivetocategorize etocategorize  fatwascausingturmoilwithintoday’summah ummah. the fatwas

Doesthe‘chaosofifta’ ’warrantsuchamonumenta ’warrantsuchamonumentalresponse? lresponse?Absolutely.Asal‐ Absolutely.Asal‐ Nawawistates,themuftiistheheirtotheProphet.Ifta’ isvitaltothespiritualsustenance isvitaltothespiritualsustenance oftheMuslimcommunity.Itsimporta oftheMuslimcommunity.Itsimportanceasasource nceasasourceofguidance ofguidancetoaverage toaverageMuslimsis Muslimsis

46 unparalleled.However,its unparalleled.However,itscurrenttraject currenttrajectorywillinevita orywillinevitablyleadto blyleadtoitsdemise.Whi itsdemise.Whilemost lemost Muslimleadersrecognize Muslimleadersrecognizethedireness thedirenessofthiscircumstance ofthiscircumstance,itremainsto ,itremainstobeseenwh beseenwhether ether theywilltakeaneffectiv theywilltakeaneffectivecourseofaction ecourseofactiontorectifythe torectifythesituation. situation.

47 WorksCited  Al-AhramWeeklyOn-Line,No.865,(October2007) Abdel‐Fattah,Saif,“Dive Abdel‐Fattah,Saif,“DivergentVoices”, rgentVoices”, Al-AhramWeeklyOn-Line http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2007/865/op56.htm 

“AboutFatwa”,IslamWeb, http://english.islamweb.net/ve http://english.i slamweb.net/ver2/archive/ r2/archive/article.php?la article.php?lang=E&id=1 ng=E&id=13046 3046Accessed: Accessed: March29,2010 “AboutUs”,IslamOnline,http://www.islamonline.net/En “AboutUs”,IslamOnline,http://www.isla monline.net/English/AboutUs.shtml glish/AboutUs.shtml,Accessed: ,Accessed: March29,2010  Al-Fatwaal-Mu’asaramalahawama‘alayha yha ” Amin,Muhammad “ Al-Fatwaal-Mu’asaramalahawama‘ala http://www.shareeah.com/inde http://www.shar eeah.com/index.php?/record x.php?/records/view/action s/view/action/view/id/2 /view/id/2380/ 380/

al‐Ashqar,Usama‘Umar,Fawdaal-Ifta’ ,(Amman,Jordan:Dara ,(Amman,Jordan:DaralNafa’li‐l lNafa’li‐lNashrwa‐lT Nashrwa‐lTawzi, awzi, 2009)  Al-Ghad ,24August2006 ‘Azm,AhmadJamil,“Waqf Fawda al-Ifta’ ”, ”, Al-Ghad  ,24August2006 http://www.alghad.com/index http://www.alg had.com/index.php/rss/frame .php/rss/frame.php?news=1 .php?news=116425 16425

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48

 Authority,ContinuityandChangeinIslamicLaw ,(NewYork:Cambridge Hallaq,WaelB., Authority,ContinuityandChangeinIslamicLaw  ,(NewYork:Cambridge UniversityPress,2001)

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