(The 3-Minute Weekly Insight from Spirituality U.)
Hearing the word, “Fatwa” (pronounced fah-twah) can strike fear
into the hearts of non-Muslims. That may be because of a famous event that
happened in the 1980s. At that time the writer Salman Rushdie published a novel
called The Satanic Verses that some
Muslims felt was blasphemous. As a result, the Ayatollah Khomeni issued a Fatwa
calling for Rushdie to be killed. There were several attempts on Rushdie’s life,
and he had to go underground for a number of years.
That is one manifestation of the idea of Fatwa, but there are
other, more common understandings of what a Fatwa means. In much of the Islamic
world today, a Fatwa is understood to be a non-binding religious/judicial
opinion issued by a recognized spiritual authority such as a “Mufti” (pronounced
moof-tee). Usually, fatwas have to do with family matters or cutting-edge
social issues rather than sensational situations like the publication of The Satanic Verses.
An example might be two siblings who are arguing over the estate
of their deceased parents. In parts of the Islamic world they would seek the
advice of a Mufti who would offer his opinion on how to resolve the situation
based on what is found in the Holy Qu’ran
(pronounced cur-ann) or Hadith (pronounced
hah-deeth) which are the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad.
In Egypt, for example there is a highly structured, elaborate
system for seeking and receiving fatwas. Muslims can seek a fatwa in person from
a Mufti, but they can also seek an opinion using high technology. In 2008 I
visited the enormous office in Cairo of the Grand Mufti of Egypt, named Ali
Gomaa. In his multi-storey, state-of-the-art facility in Cairo, I learned firsthand
that Muslims can seek and receive a fatwa via a phone “hotline,” a fax machine,
or even email.
These days, I imagine you can also get a fatwa using Facebook
and other social media.
While on my visit to Egypt, I joined other members of my
American interfaith delegation in a meeting with Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa. We sat
with him in his enormous modern office for an interfaith dialogue that was
covered by Egyptian newspapers and several radio and TV networks from that
country. He expressed strong support for interfaith peacemaking and I later
learned that his words of moderate Islamic practice are listened to not only by
Egyptians, but also by Muslims throughout the Mediterranean world. I began to
follow his published fatwas online. One in particular got my attention.
Several years ago a Muslim wrote to him seeking a fatwa on
whether or not it is ok to convert to another religion. To paraphrase his
response, he said “While I wouldn’t recommend conversion, I can find nothing in
the Qur’an or Hadith that prohibits it.”
To understand the significance of this, think of someone writing
to the Pope and asking if it is ok for a Catholic to become a Jew or a Muslim.
If the Pope said it was ok, there would be headlines throughout the world.
To learn more about fatwas, visit:
http://www.islamicsupremecouncil.org/understanding-islam/legal-rulings/44-what-is-a-fatwa.html
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