Televised Fatwas spark debate among Islamic scholars

By Wael Abbas Oct 18, 2006, 16:04 GMT

Cairo - Talk shows in Oprah Winfrey style are the latest to hit Arab broadcasters and they are accompanied by mounting debate on the value of their contents and their effect on values in conservative Arab societies.

Unlike talk shows in the west which focus mainly on social and political issues, some Arab talk shows add religion to the mix, and this involves hosting religious scholars. The audience deem their opinions to be Fatwas or religious decrees which prompt heated debate on the eligibility to issue them.

The legitimacy of suicide attacks was one of the issues on which opinions among religious scholars diverged. Some considered it a courageous form of resisting a mighty enemy while others considered it merely illegitimate suicide.

This debate was renewed recently when a sheikh from al-Azhar confirmed on a talk show a controversial Hadith, a saying or practice by Prophet Mohammad collected after his death.

According to the Hadith, women were advised to breast-feed their male servants or office colleagues so that they assume the status of her sons. This would prohibit sexual intercourse between them and the woman in turn would become immune from seduction and harassment by them, the sheikh claimed.

Observers in Cairo note, however, that there have been no recent reports about women actually performing such practices in the Arab world.

But other sheikhs consider this particular Hadith false, while the majority simply avoid discussing it. It is considered very grave to claim that a Hadith attributed to Prophet Mohammad is false, and for this reason many Muslim scholars avoid the matter altogether.

Dr Abdul Moneim Abul Fotouh, a member of the Guidance office of the Muslim Brotherhood movement says: 'We don't have a church or a pope and we have a variety of schools of Islamic Fiqh (the science of Islamic jurisprudence). In my opinion, this is healthy and I'm proud of it, but Islam is organized, and anybody who seeks guidance or Fatwa should go directly to religious institutions such as al-Azhar.'

'As a doctor must be a holder of a degree in medicine, a Mufti must be a holder of a degree in religion,' he added.

The Islamic thinker, Dr Moustafa al-Shak'a, a member of the Islamic Research Centre, believes a Mufti must be qualified to issue Fatwas and must study the Koran, Hadith, the biography of Prophet Mohammad and Islamic history.

'Those Muftis of satellite channels are mostly not qualified though some of them might have a PhD, they tend to use body language in order to fool people, they might have some influence and some of them have big names but surely they should have never practiced Iftaa (the act of issuing a fatwa).

'Those who are resisting an enemy have other alternatives for suicide operations, suicide is forbidden in Islam,' said Dr Shak'a.

Dr Shak'a recommends that if somebody is looking for a Fatwa, he should seek it in the right place, but not on television. The Mufti of Egypt and his assistants can help and a telephone number has been assigned for Fatwas. The Islamic Research Centre and the Fatwa division of al-Azhar can also provide information.