9. Politicization of Fiqh and Fatwa

Fiqh and Fatwa were once pressured by the politics of the state so every single state made its own fiqh council and had their own grand mufti. The selection of these muftis was sometimes not based on knowledge but on political affiliations. Therefore, the fatwa was no longer objective and the people preferred to take their fatwa from a shaykh, imam, 'aalim or someone not affiliated with the state. This is similar to the beginning of the Islamic state in the time of the Ummayads. The people who hated the Ummayyads and did not want to be affiliated with them in any way, went with the few who were against the hukm and that created a lot of extremism in the Muslim world. Contemporary Schools of Thought These are not really Schools of Thought but Methods of Studying Fiqh. 1. (The School of Fiqh) Al-Azhar School of Thought This is a means of teaching Fiqh based on one madhab. It was created by Al-Azhar so when a student is applying, he/she must mention his/her madhab in order to specialize in that madhab as a senior. There are Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 121

many universities such as those in India, Pakistan and Indonesia that teach according to the methodology of Al-Azhar or in general, the School of Fiqh. 2. (School of hadith) Hijaazi School of Thought This is the other method of teaching Fiqh and it means that the schools do not confine to one particular madhab. The fiqh is taught according to the comtemporary Raji’ of comparative fiqh for example, the University of Madeena does not teach one particular madhab. The student has the option of choosing his fiqh outside the school but academically comparative fiqh is taught. Therefore, they teach the opinions of the four madhaahib as well as other Fuqahaa like AzZhahiriyyah, ibn Hazm and other opinions as well. So it is up to the student of knowledge to decide whether to follow this methodology of Ahlul hadith, that is, to take ar Raji’, the strongest opinion among the different opinions or to confine to one particular madhab by following the opinion that is offered from that one madhab and then study further with one shaykh. Major Contemporary Fiqh and Fatwa Associations This depends on the political regions. However, the universal one for all Muslims is the Islamic Fiqh Academy (Majmaa Fiqh al-Islam). This academy emerged from the political group, Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and it consists of a group of ulemaa assigned by every single state to reperesent that state in matters of Fiqh and Shari’ah. There are also many other organizations for example, Islamic Research Academy, Al-Azhar in Egypt, European Fatwa Council in Germany, Fatwa Council of Pakistan and India, Islamic Jurists of America Fiqh Council, Assembly of Muslim Jurists of America (AMJA) and other Fiqh organizations affiliated with ISNA, ICNA etc. Their job is to try to serve the Muslim community in their locality as much as possible. So when they are asked for a fatwa, they discuss it and try to answer based on their Fiqh affiliation. Fiqh and Fatwa Today The Crisis of Fiqh and Fatwa • Even though, there are so many Fiqh councils and academy, they have no authority to enforce their Fiqh, especially in a democratic environment like ours. Sometimes, a mufti, the highest authority of Fiqh in the society would give an opinion and some of the people, even those smoking hookah, would disagree with him. These people have no right to disagree with the mufti but this is the culture right now; a Fiqh opinion is given by the highest religious authority in the Muslim ummah and society, but the people are not taking it seriously; they think they have the option of saying no. However, it is not a matter of option to take or not, it is how we approach Fiqh, that is, do we think these fataawa are binding on us or not. Islamically they should be binding, but in the manner that we have discussed, that is, based on whether we follow taqleed or the manner of ittibaa’. • Another thing about the Fatwa is the lack of Islamic global interest, for example, Islamic conferences don’t discuss the problem of global warming. Other organizations in the world are taking interest in these issues. Muslims don’t take any interest in these issues as if they are a matter of dunya. Actually, these are not matters of dunya, they are matters of the deen so it is our responsibility as Muslims since Allah subhaanahu wa ta'aala has assigned us as khalifatun fil ‘ard to take care of this earth. Because the ulemaa are not showing this global interest, they lost their position of dignity, so now the politicians and environmentalist are leading. Qabeelat Tayybah TCE Notes Revolution 122

• We have a decline in the number of Muslim or Fiqh experts in Muslim societies. This decline has happened drastically. Just recently, within one decade, many famous shuyookh have died everywhere in the Muslim world. This is like extermination. It is as the hadith of RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wa Sallam states that one of the signs of the day of judgment is that Allah subhaanahu wa ta'aala will remove al-ilm (knowledge), not by the taking up of knowledge but by the removal of the ulemaa. The ulemaa will die, so the people will follow ignorant people. These ignorant people will be asked and they will give fatwa, and thus, they will go astray and they lead others astray as well. • One of the problems we have is the lack of coordination between the Fiqh councils, for example, they fight on the issue of moonsighting, isna with icna etc. Reprehensible points regarding today’s Fatwa Public concern, and public interest is very important. One of the objectives of Islamic law is the consideration of public welfare. So when a fatwa is given, public welfare must be considered. Most Muslims living in the west call overseas muftis to ask for fatwa regarding things happening in their own localities, and the shaykh would give an answer based on what he perceives, and not on what is actually happening. Therefore, we need to ask someone who is aware of the situation. Muftis on TV have a few minutes to answer the question so they rush the answer and there is no real investigation. Because of this, TV Fataawa cannot be considered as the perfect fataawa. Faqeeh says… these points usually affect the credibility of the fatwa and the authority. Where then are we going? The Role of the Faqeeh and Fiqh Councils Today