Dar al-Ifta trains clerics on fatwa issuance

Egypt's Dar al-Ifta recently provided Muslim preachers and clerics from around the world training on the issuance of fatwas, a critical endeavor in light of the proliferation of distorted fatwas and the emergence of "Islamophobia", experts told Al-Mashareq.

The international conference for global Dar al-Ifta and Ifta authorities, "Scholarly Training and Qualification of Mosque Imams in Communities Where Muslims are a Minority on the Issuance of Fatwas", was held October 17th and 18th in Cairo.

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb, clerics and experts from 80 countries, and various ministers and ambassadors took part in a range of discussions and workshops on the scholarly training and qualification of imams around the world designed to raise their level of competence in the area of fatwa issuance.

The conference sought to counter violent extremist ideology by "putting an end to the chaos in the fatwas issuance process", Al-Azhar University sharia professor Ahmed Karima told Al-Mashareq.

It was particularly focused on training imams of mosques in communities around the world in which Muslims are a minority, he said.

Countering 'Islamophobia'

The conference is "the first step of its kind, and aims to confine fatwa issuance and the imams who are authorised to issue them to a unified religious entity", Karima said.

The goal is to stop the issuance of erroneous fatwas and deviant religious opinions, he said, both those which are issued intentionally, to serve political ends and justify bloodshed, and unintentionally, due to lack of thorough knowledge of the religious sciences pertaining to fatwa issuance.

The overall aim is to correct misconceptions about Islam and eliminate the causes that led to the emergence of "Islamophobia", Karima added.

Discussions at the conference focused on "updating religious discourse and putting an end to the takfiri phenomenon, in conjunction with giving attention to Muslim communities around the world", he said.

It is particularly important to pay attention to Muslim communities outside the region at this time, he said, given the global spread of takfiri ideology.

The conference produced a set of recommendations, including one calling for the establishment of "a global fatwa centre for Muslim communities", said conference participant Diauddine Ihsan, an Indonesian who is studying sharia at Al-Azhar University.

Participants also recommended the establishment of "a global training and qualification centre for muftis" who are authorised to issue fatwas, and called for increased co-operation with global institutions that aim to "spread the spirit of true peace between peoples", he told Al-Mashareq.

The recommendations stressed that fatwas issued by approved authorities are the only ones that ought to be heeded, not those issued by suspect entities, such as the "Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant" (ISIL), Ihsan said.

The recommendations also included working to transform Islamic centres into places of cultural, humanitarian and knowledge-based communication between Muslims and non-Muslims in countries in which they are present, he said.

Supporting global Muslim communities

"The attention Dar al-Ifta gives to the sharia-related issues in Muslim communities around the world is important and vital," Sheikh Mustafa Cerić, Mufti of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina told Al-Mashareq.

Muslims have an enduring presence in these communities and are considered an integral part of the social, cultural and political fabric of those countries, he said.

"Therefore, the means of communication through proper legal channels is a matter that must be based on fundamental principles," he added.

There should not be any loopholes that could subject Muslims to legal or judicial prosecution because they heeded fatwas issued by authorities who do not have sufficient knowledge of religious sciences, Cerić said.

The conference was a great support for Muslim communities in Western countries, he said, some of which are facing troubles "due to the presence of some suspect imams or those who are not versed in the fundamentals of fatwa [issuance]".

In addition to paying attention to fatwa issuance, the global Muslim community and Muslim minorities also must heed the problems faced by their members, Cerić said, noting that the conference made recommendations in this area.

"Giving attention, particularly to the new generations of immigrants, closes the door in the face of extremist groups who try to penetrate those communities by exploiting social and economic problems with false fatwas," he said.