Egypt's Grand Mufti, Shawki Allam, has called for the modernising of Islamic fatwas and the correction of false religious concepts as a key measure to eliminate extremist ideas, Ahram Online reported Tuesday (October 16th).
The influential cleric made the remarks during a Tuesday speech at the 4th international conference on fatwa renewal organised by Egypt's General Secretariat for Fatwa Offices Worldwide.
Allam urged countries around the world to unite to confront terrorism, mainly through "renewing and correcting concepts produced by religious institutions" including Egypt’s Al-Azhar and Dar al-Ifta, the authority that issues fatwas.
The three-day conference, which kicked off Tuesday, brings together Muslim scholars and senior clerics from 73 countries.
The gathering is part of Egypt's efforts to regulate and monitor the issuance of fatwas and empower scholars and clerics worldwide to combat extremist ideology, according to Allam.
He said fatwas should be developed to catch up with changes in cultures and societies, while stressing the need to develop a clear definition of what modernisation means and how it can be achieved.
