عربي
Home


Articles

Articles

The Issuance of Fatwas: Chaos and Cure
Author : Dr. Hassan Abu_Arqoub
Date Added : 23-11-2022

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Arab-Muslim World is witnessing chaos on the political, economic, and religious levels. The symptoms of this disease are embodied in the enormous chaos of Fatwas on the religious arena. This is to the degree that non-specialists have used and abused media outlets, via modern means of communication, to deliver Fatwas that spread like wildfire. 

Unfortunately, the people of knowledge and piety as well as Fatwa institutions have been denied the right to deliver Fatwas leaving this door open to all and sundry.

Fatwa is an extremely serious matter as it is tantamount to signing on behalf of Almighty Allah, and every person will be held to account for what they have said or done. Allah Says (What means): "And pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning)." [Al-Isra`/36].

This verse clearly states that Allah prohibits His servants from pursuing that which they have no knowledge of and thus pass judgment without knowledge. [Tafseer At-Tabari. V.10/pp.257]. When a Muslim is asked about a certain matter that he doesn`t have an answer for or wasn`t acquainted with the opinions of the scholars in that regard, he/she should say: "I don`t know." This is because it is prohibited for a Muslim to pass judgment on behalf of Allah for doing so and is considered lying against Allah and His Messenger (PBUH). Allah Says (What means): "But say not - for any false thing that your tongues may put forth,- "This is lawful, and this is forbidden," so as to ascribe false things to God. For those who ascribe false things to God, will never prosper." [An-Nahil/116]. The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "Whoever tells a lie about me deliberately let him take his place in Hell." [Agreed upon].

Unfortunately, in some situations, Fatwas issued by the unqualified led to the death of many people, the destruction of a lot of property, and the loss of the moral compass of many. 'Abdullah bin 'Amr bin Al-'As (May Allah be pleased with them) reported: I heard the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) saying: "Verily, Allah does not take away knowledge by snatching it from the people, but He takes it away by taking away (the lives of) the religious scholars till none of the scholars stays alive. Then the people will take ignorant ones as their leaders, who, when asked to deliver religious verdicts, will issue them without knowledge, the result being that they will go astray and will lead others astray." [Agreed upon].

 

The above implications of Fatwa aren`t new for they have been dangerous since they existed. Jabir said: We set out on a journey. One of our people was hurt by a stone, which injured his head. He then had a sexual dream. He asked his fellow travelers: Do you find a concession for me to perform tayammum? They said: We do not find any concession for you while you can use water. He took a bath and died. When we came to the Prophet (PBUH), the incident was reported to him. He said: They killed him, may Allah kill them! Could they not ask when they did not know? The cure for ignorance is inquiry. It was enough for him to perform tayammum and to pour some drops of water or bind a bandage over the wound (the narrator Musa was doubtful); then he should have wiped over it and washed the rest of his body. {Related by Ahmad and Abu Dawood}. As reflected in this Hadith, great evil has resulted from that Fatwa.

Therefore, we should put an end to the evil resulting from the issuance of Fatwas without knowledge, as doing so is vital for the preservation of religion, lives, and wealth. In other words, disciplined Fatwa preserves the higher objectives of Sharia.

 

Some proposed methods for combatting the Fatwa issued without knowledge are as follows:

First: Spreading religious knowledge via different media outlets through allocating weekly radio and television programs where the Muftis of the Iftaa `Department provide answers for different religious questions. This is to fortify the community against the chaos in Fatwas offered by non-specialized individuals.

 

 

 

Second: Employing lessons, Friday Sermons, seminars, and lectures delivered in different venues to raise awareness on the danger of issuing Fatwas without knowledge.

 

Third: Facilitating access to Fatwa through using modern means of communication and employing Muftis in all parts of the kingdom to answer religious questions of the people to prevent their resorting to the ignorant and those who claim religious knowledge.

 

Fourth: Holding the unqualified individuals who take charge of issuing Fatwa into account as well as punishing those who dare to pass Fatwa without knowledge.

 

Fifth: Regulating Fatwa affairs by identifying the institutions and individuals entitled to deliver Fatwas.

 

 

All Muslims-Individuals and gov. or nongovernment institutions-should work on finding "specialists" from amongst the people of knowledge and piety and establish scientific institutions in charge of delivering Fatwas in a reliable scholarly manner. This is to spread Islam and clarify the Sharia rulings that are based on reliable evidence from the Quran and the Sunnah. By doing this, people will not seek Fatwas from the ignorant or those who claim to possess religious knowledge and whose Fatwas merely cause trouble and provide no solutions.

 

 

 

Article Number [ Previous | Next ]

Read for Author




Comments


Captcha


Warning: this window is not dedicated to receive religious questions, but to comment on topics published for the benefit of the site administrators—and not for publication. We are pleased to receive religious questions in the section "Send Your Question". So we apologize to readers for not answering any questions through this window of "Comments" for the sake of work organization. Thank you.




Summarized Fatawaa

What is the ruling on using toothpaste during the day in Ramadan?

Using toothpaste does not break the fast as long as nothing reaches the body cavity. However, it is disliked (makruh).
It is preferable for a fasting person to use it before the time of fast starts or after Iftar (breaking the fast) to avoid risking their fast.

I work overtime after regular working hours and may become occupied with my phone or the work computer for personal matters — what is the ruling on this?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
It is obligatory upon an employee to abide by the instructions and regulations governing overtime hours, and equally obligatory to uphold honesty and avoid all forms of deception and dishonesty. Allah the Almighty says {what means}: "O you who have believed, be mindful of Allah and be with the truthful." [Al-Tawbah/ 119]
Whoever is assigned to work overtime must be present at his workplace — even if he has no specific tasks to carry out at that time. In such a case, he should strive as best he can to spend that time in a manner that benefits the institution he works for. If there is genuinely no work for him to do, there is no objection to occupying his time with something beneficial — such as reciting the Holy Qurʾān, reading, or listening to educational lessons — provided he has already completed all the responsibilities assigned to him.
If, however, he does have work to complete, he must spend that time fulfilling it. He may attend to phone calls or other personal matters to the extent that is customarily acceptable, as long as this does not result in delaying or postponing his work. If he delays his work on account of personal preoccupations, the wages he received for that wasted time are not lawfully his to keep, and he is obliged to return the equivalent amount to the institution by whatever means available to him. And Allah the Almighty knows best.

I have a brother who is harsh in his dealings [with me], and many problems have occurred between us, and I do not intend to reconcile with him. What is the ruling of Islamic Law on that?

All praise is due to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon our master, the Messenger of Allah.
It is not permissible for a Muslim to abandon or boycott his fellow Muslim brother for more than three days. This is based on the saying of the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him: "It is not lawful for a Muslim to forsake his brother for more than three [days], meeting each other but one turns away and the other turns away, and the better of the two is the one who initiates the greeting (salam)." (Reported by al-Bukhari.)
A Muslim must strive to end such estrangement (hajr), so as not to fall under the prohibition mentioned in the hadith. If he takes the initiative to reconcile but the other party does not respond, then there is no sin upon him. We remind [ourselves] of the saying of Allah, the Exalted: "And let them pardon and overlook. Do you not wish that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful." (An-Nur/22). And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

Who is responsible for performing the aqiqah?

All praise is due to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon our Master, the Messenger of Allah.
The one upon whom the 'aqīqah is incumbent is whoever is obligated to financially maintain the newborn — whether the father, paternal grandfather, or mother. It is to be performed from their own wealth, not from the wealth of the newborn child.
As for one upon whom the financial maintenance of the newborn is not obligatory, they may not perform the 'aqīqah except with the permission of the one upon whom it is obligatory — namely, the father. And Allah Almighty knows best.

See More