Islam's teachings and legacy face an unprecedented wave of distortion at the hands of those who issue fatwas without licences and adequate knowledge, Grand Imam of Al-Azhar Ahmed al-Tayeb said Wednesday (October 18th).
Al-Tayeb made the remark before an international conference in Cairo on the role of fatwas in stabilising society, Egypt’s Ahram Online reported.
"Unfortunately, some have been allowed to issue flawed fatwas that distort sharia and violate Islam's true teachings," he said, urging Islamic scholars and clerics to take utmost care when issuing fatwas.
"Those who take charge of issuing fatwas in the Arab and Islamic world should be people with a high level of learning, integrity and uprightness," he said.
Muftis who are officially entrusted with issuing fatwas should have a deep background of Islamic learning and honesty in order to explain Islam's values to the people, he added.
"Islam as a religion faces a ferocious campaign on its teachings and rules," he added. "It is the religion which comes on top of world religions facing attacks, with many trying to blame it for terrorist acts."
Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa pointed to "a pressing need that we stem the tide of bizarre fatwas".
"The non-specialised people who issue fatwas without license will open gates of sedition and unrest," Gomaa said.
Muftis and representatives of Ifta commissions from 63 countries attended the conference, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
French campaign against Islam For a long time, France has hated Islam and has been hostile to Muslim countries. History is a witness to this. The French campaign against Egypt and other Muslim countries in 1798 was nothing but an aggression against Islam and Muslims. What they did in al-Azhar Mosque which they stormed with their horses and where they tore religious books and Quran was nothing but a deliberate attempt to undermine Islam and its sanctities. If we forgot that, we can’t forget the Crusades against our countries in late 1000s until the last third of the 12th century. In 1095, Pope Urban II launched a call in Claremont in southern France to prepare a military campaign against Muslim countries. We mustn’t also forget what France did in the Arab Muslim Algeria, which it unjustly occupied and where it killed more than one million of its people. Therefore, boycotting the French products alone isn’t enough. We’re claiming compensations for the injustice that France has done in our countries and for its enmity against our religion and its manipulation of our sanctities. As Muslim countries, we have to take certain measures, such as recalling ambassadors and other measures that are usually taken between states in such cases. The Prophet of Islam, Muhammad, God’s peace be upon him, hasn’t hurt anyone; rather, God Almighty sent him as a mercy to the world.
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