Elmer's Brother

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2005/12/27

Tis the Season - Why not issue a Fatwa for the New Year

@ 08:09 PM (32 months, 22 days ago)
I guess there is a Fatwa Management and Research System for all your fatwa needs. This system must employ a lot of people. Sometimes fatwa's are issued for what seem like mundane matters. There is Fatwa Online for the computer literate or when you open a bank you might want to consult the The Fatwa & Shari'ah Supervision Board. If you don't like what an author says you can do what Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini did:
"I inform the proud Muslim people of the world that the author of the Satanic Verses book which is against Islam, the Prophet and the Koran, and all involved in its publication who were aware of its content, are sentenced to death."
FATWA issued February, 1989
against Salman Rushdie

The moderate Muslims are trying to change who has control over the issuing of fatwas. You know what I say "fatwa chance" of that happening.

It's becoming known as the war of the fatwas: the dizzying exchange of proclamations between Islamic moderates and militants on what it means to be Muslim. The duels have been waged everywhere from pamphlets to cyberspace. (more)

For those of  you who don't know:

fatwa (Arabic): Legally binding, religious ruling/proclamation or

A fatwa (Arabic: فتوى) plural fatāwa (Arabic: فتاوى) , is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. Usually a fatwa is issued at the request of an individual or a judge to settle a question where ’’fiqh,’’ Islamic jurisprudence, is unclear. A scholar capable of issuing fatwas is known as a Mufti.

Because Islam has no centralized priestly hierarchy, there is no uniform method to determine who can issue a valid fatwa and who cannot. Some Islamic scholars complain that too many people feel qualified to issue fatwas.

Different Islamic clerics can issue contradictory fatwas. The effect depends upon whether or not this takes place in a nation where Islamic law (sharia) is the basis of civil law. (Guess what Gravel, you're safe for now -EB)

In nations where Islamic law is the basis of civil law, fatwas by the national religious leadership are debated prior to being issued. Thus, they are rarely contradictory. If two fatwas were contradictory, the ruling bodies (combined civil and religious law) attempt to define a compromise interpretation that will eliminate the resulting ambiguity.

In nations where Islamic law is not the basis of law, Muslims often must face two contradictory fatwas. In such cases, the fatwa deriving from leadership of their religious tradition would be honored. For example, Sunni Muslims would favor a Sunni fatwa over a Shiite one.

The overwhelming majority of fatwas are on mundane matters (for examples see the archives linked below). Those declaring war or pronouncing death sentences are not at all representative, despite the attention they draw in English-language media. Such fatwas, however, have caught the attention of the western media and become widely renowned, especially among critics of Islam.

The best known of these was proclaimed in 1989 by the Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, against Salman Rushdie‘s novel ’’The Satanic Verses’’. The argument related to an ostensibly blasphemous statement from an early biography of Prophet Muhammad, regarding incorporating pagan goddesses into Islam’s strongly monotheist structure. Khomeini died shortly after issuing the fatwa. In 1998 Iran stated that it is no longer pursuing Rushdie’s death; however the decree was again reversed in early 2005 by the present theocrat, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. See ’’Salman Rushdie’’ for details.

Fundamentalists in Bangladesh proclaimed a similar fatwa against Taslima Nasreen (which see for details) in 1993, against a series of newspaper columns in which she was critical of the treatment of women under Islam.

Osama bin Ladin in Afghanistan, jointly with Ayman al-Zawahiri, proclaimed a fatwa in 1998 in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, declaring, "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque (in Jerusalem) and the holy mosque (in Mecca) from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, 'and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,' and 'fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God.'" For more information, see: Osama bin Laden Fatwa. (http://www.ict.org.il/articles/fatwah.htm)

Spanish Muslims proclaimed a fatwa against Bin Laden in March of 2005

[1] (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/03/11/madrid.anniversary/). They said that he had abandoned his religion and they urged other Muslims to make similar proclamations.

Update: Here's a challenge to all my dhimmi friends. Issue your own fatwa in the comments section, it's open season.

Comment(s) »

  1. EB,
    Wow! This an excellent post!

    From this article, one of your many links here:

    ...Proposals to sharply control the issuing of fatwas — the nonbinding edicts on Muslim life, law and duties — are still little more than loose concepts and would require potentially stormy challenges to Islam's traditions of decentralized leadership.

    But there are some influential backers such as Jordan's King Abdullah II. They argue that bold changes are needed in Islam's hierarchy to isolate radical clerics and discredit terrorist leaders, including Abdullah, who brought his anti-terrorist message to Athens last week, has appealed for moderate Muslims to take decisive control over fatwas and religious guidance. In early December, Abdullah told the 56-member Organization of the Islamic Conference that failure to establish a clear framework to interpret Islam leaves the door open for radicals to strengthen their ranks.

    The summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia — Islam's holiest site — wrapped up with a statement reinforcing that only "those who are authorized" can issue fatwas. The monarchs, prime ministers and other delegates, however, could reach little common ground on a proposal to give a single body of Islamic law experts greater oversight of all fatwas covering the Muslim world.

    It was a sample of the huge religious and political complications that stalk any efforts to change the centuries-old fatwa practices....

    "Religious authority is in the eyes of the beholder and not anywhere else," said Abdullahi An-Na'im, an expert in Islamic law at Emory University in Atlanta. "This reality has not changed in 15 centuries of history, and will not change now."


    Not very hopeful, is it?

    Comment by Always On Watch— 2005/12/28 @ 05:28 AM — (Reply)

  2. I've got it! They could issue a fatwa against issuing too many fatawa...
    Seriously, though,great post!:mrgreen:

    Comment by C-Mom— 2005/12/28 @ 05:54 AM — (Reply)

  3. AOW, I had read that and Ace of Spades HQ has a post on it as well.

    Comment by Elmers Brother— 2005/12/28 @ 06:48 AM — (Reply)

  4. Okay here is my poor attempt at the first fatwa from the Grand Mufti EB.

    "I inform the proud dhimmi people of the world that the author of the blog Progressive Minds , and all involved in its publication who are aware of its content, are sentenced to a life of appeasement, yellow bellied, progressive red burka wearing dhimmitude."

    signed the Grand Mufti EB

    Comment by Elmers Brother— 2005/12/28 @ 06:52 AM — (Reply)

  5. I fedexed a fatwa request off to a dude I know. The fatwa I would like to see issued is an immediate 50% reduction in the labor force at the INS by eliminating all employees whose last names begin with M-Z. I will keep you posted.

    Comment by A Conservative Realist— 2005/12/28 @ 05:20 PM — (Reply)

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