Fatwas

This paper seeks to shed light on the nature of fatwas as sources for the study of Islamic legal and ethical thought by drawing some distinctions between various basic types of fatwas and the information we may expect to derive from them. It identifies and provides an account of what are here termed as the ephemeral, the school, the court and the public fatwa. In each case it discusses the type of authority they involve and, in the context of this special issue on Islamic bioethics, their particular relevance to issues of health and medicine today.

One of the most misunderstood aspects of Islamic legal practice and thought is the role and position of
fatwas or legal opinions.
This three-volume reference work offers a comprehensive overview of and detailed insights into
- the concept of the fatwa as a vehicle of legal opinion-making in Islam
- its historical role in different parts of the Muslim world
- and contemporary debates reflecting both the fatwa's enduring relevance and its ongoing
contestation among Muslims today.

1.Pengenalan
2.Bab 1:  Definisi
3.Bab 2:  Kedudukan Fatwa dalam Perundangan islam
4.Bab 3:  Syarat Mufti
5.Bab 4:  Penggunaan Fatwa
6.Bab 5:  Fatwa Bukan Mujtahid
7.Bab 6:  Isu Hubungan Fatwa-Mazhab
8.Kesimpulan
9.Rujukan

Fatwā had taken the form of an institution for the first time in the Ottoman Empire, and Fatwa collections are its most significant product. Fatwa collections which contain important information regarding religious, legal, political and social life of a given period are still extant. This study compares the Kitāb al-Siyar fatwās of two famous muftīs from the Ottoman center and periphery in terms of source, content and form. In this way, we aim to show both how matters of Islamic International Law evolved in the Ottoman center and periphery, and to also examine the fatwās in terms of their legal references, modal characteristics, and differences in content and substance.

Fetva mecmuaları ait oldukları dönemin sosyal, kültürel, ekonomik, siyasi ve dini hayatına dair ihtiva ettikleri zengin içerikle birçok disiplinden araştırmacılar için birinci el kaynaklar arasındadır. Bu çalışmada fetva mecmuaları arasında önemli bir yere sahip olan ve literatürde Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm adıyla bilinen eserin aidiyet sorunu ele alın- mıştır. Bu amaçla Fetâvâ-yı Minkârizâde, Fetâvâ-yı Atâullah ve Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm isimli fetva mecmualarının yazma nüshaları incelenmiş ve bu nüshaların içerik muka- yesesi yapılmıştır. Sonuç olarak Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm olarak bilinen eserdeki fetvaların aslında Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi’ye (ö.1088/1678) ait olduğu gösterilmiştir.


Fatwa collections with their rich content on the social, cultural, economic, political and religious life of the period to which they belong are among the primary sources for researchers from many disciplines. This study aims to question the authorship of an essential fatwa collection known as Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm in the literature. For this reason, it examines the manuscript copies of the related fatwa collections, namely Fetâvâ-yı Minkârizâde, Fetâvâ-yı Atâullah and Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm, and compares their content. As a result, it demonstrates that the fatwas in Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm belongs to Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi (d. 1088/1678).

Fatwa collections are composed mainly by fetvâhâne officials or students, unlike books by authors. Thus, fatwa collections are sometimes attributed to the person who compiled it, not the sheikh al-Islam who issued the fatwa. Fatwas were arranged according to the classical fiqh systematic when they were gathered into a collection. In some fatwa collections, nuquls of fatwas are also included, which means that the sources of fatwas in other fiqh books are indicated.

Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi occupied the position of Sheikh al-Islam for more than eleven years in the 17th century. Menteşzâde Abdürrahim Efendi (d. 1128/1716) was one of the students of Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi and also served as sheikh al-Islam for a year, after forty-two years of his teacher. Abdürrahim Efendi classified the fatwas of Yahya Efendi according to the chapters in the fiqh books. This new classification was called as Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm. Initially, it was known that Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm was a work that compiled the fatwas of Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi; however, this information was later forgotten, and Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm was accepted as a collection containing the fatwas given during the time of Abdürrahim Efendi. This inaccurate acceptance, in various studies, has led to the problem of examining the context of a period with a half a century time lapse.

The fatwas of Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi have reached the present day with two different classifications. First is the collection prepared by Atâullah Efendi with the nuqul of fatwas.  This collection has called as Fetâvâ-yı Atâullah Efendi, Fetâvâ-yı Atâiyye and Atâullah Fetâvâsı in relation to the name of Atâullah Efendi. Atâullah Efendi, in his introduction, mentions that he would compile Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi's fatwas. The second person who compiled the fatwas of Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi was Menteşzâde Abdürrahim Efendi. He brought together Yahya Efendi's fatwas and classified them according to the classical fiqh books system. Abdürrahim Efendi did not include the nuquls of fatwas in this classification. Although the collection is known as Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahim concerning the name of Abdürrahim Efendi, it is also known as Fetâvâ-yı Minkârizâde.

Collections prepared by Atâullah and Abdürrahim differ from each other in terms of whether they include nuquls of fatwas and the number of fatwas they contain. Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahim, has much more fatwa than Fetâvâ-yı Atâullah. For example, there are 415 fatwas in Fetâvâ-yı Atâullah about marriage.  However, for the same subject, Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm/Fetâvâ-yı Minkârizâde includes 805 fatwas. Likewise, as there are 378 fatwas in Fetâvâ-yı Atâullah about talaq, in Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm, there are 791 fatwas on the same subject. Furthermore, fatwas mentioned in the Fetâvâ-yı Atâullah are also included in Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm. Therefore, to research on the fatwas of Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi, if one aims to reach more fatwas, Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm also needs to be included.

A great deal of evidence shows that the fatwas in the Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm were not the fatwas given during the time of Abdürrahim Efendi. The most important of these are the notes in the fatwa collections. In many copies of the Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm, some expressions demostrate that the fatwas were belonged to Minkârizâde Yahya Efendi. Such as, “li’l-mevlâ el-allâmeti’l-merhûm şeyhilislâm Yahyâ Efendi eş-şehîr bi-Minkârîzâde. Tayyeballâhu serâhu ve ce‘ale’l-cennete mesvâhu”  and “Mecma‘u’l-fetâva fî fetâvâ Minkârîzâde. Tertîbü’l-merhûm el-mebrûr Abdürrahîm el-müftî fî devleti’l-aliyye sâbikan”. These notes clearly prove that Abdürrahim Efendi is the person who compiled the fatwas. Likewise, another note as “Fetâvâ-yı Minkârizâde tertîb-i Abdürrahim. Yalınız Abdürrahim Fetâvâsı dahî dirler.” also supports that claim. As another proof, we can observe that Fetâvâ-yı Ataullah includes all the fatwas in the collection of Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm. Lastly, the fatwas in Fetâvâ-yı Abdürrahîm regarding the conquest of Crete could not be given during the time of Abdürrahim Efendi, whereas Crete was conquered on September 5, 1669, Abdürrahim Efendi became the sheikh of Islam on June 26, 1715. Therefore, it was not possible for Abdürrahim Efendi to give the fatwas related to the conquest of Crete. During that event Minkârîzâde Yahya Efendi was sitting on the post of sheikh al-Islam.

This is a summarised translation, with occasional translator's notes, of the chapter on Islamic rulings on abortion from: Dr. Ali Muhyi l-Din al-Qarahdaghi & Dr. Ali Yusuf al-Muhammadi, Fiqh al-Qadaya al-Tibbiyyah al-Mu’asirah (Jurisprudence of Contemporary Medical Issues), Dar al-Basha’ir al-Islamiyyah, Beirut, 1426/2005, pp. 428-451

In 1910, as the possibility that Morocco would fall to French control threatened to overwhelm the Muslim community, al-Mahdī al-Wazzānī, a distinguished Moroccan Islamic scholar, penned the conclusion of his massive compilation of Mālikī fatwās and named it the New Mi'yār. This essay explores the nature and meaning of the New Mi'yār. I argue that al-Wazzānī did not merely assemble a collection of fatwās, but deliberately formulated a text that was firmly rooted in the specific challenges and changes generated by Moroccan modernity and was designed to redefine Mālikī legal tradition to make it relevant to his time. For al-Wazzānī, redefining Mālikī tradition and thought as an effective regulator of contemporary social relations and Islamic morality was necessary to reinforce the authority of Mālikī scholarship and to ensure the moral survival of the Muslim community in the context of the dramatic transformations that characterized Moroccan modernity.

This paper attempts to describe the importance role of fataawa in Islamic rulings. As known, fataawa is mentioned in study of Usool Fiqh. Fataawa is related to the person who giving fataawa. It is performed by the scholar who has knowledge which called as Muftee. The elucidation about the status and the role of fataawaa in Islamic law will be explain in this paper.

Keywords: Fataawa, Usool Fiqh, Islamic rulings, Muftee

During the Spanish Reconquista, a number of Maliki jurists wrote responsa that declared the Mudéjar 'ulama' to be illegitimate holders of communal authority. Some contemporary scholars have characterized these writings as representing fanatical trends within Islam that privilege Islamic precepts over humanitarian concerns. By placing the jurists’ works in the context of research on the Mudéjars, it is shown that their views were motivated more by pragmatic defensive measures than by religious concerns. For the jurists, the period from the seventh to the thirteenth century is a turning point. Beginning then, jurists become less willing to tolerate the Mudéjar 'ulama' and more likely to demand their immigration to Islamic territory. I show that this position is tied to a weakening of Islamic political power and a consequent concern on the part of the jurists to more actively promote defensive measures. I show that the jurists’ new rulings were not rote enforcements of tradition but actually went against established legal opinion to deal with the new political reality. Note: An improved version of this paper can be found in chapter 2 of my book, Islamic Law and the Crisis of the Reconquista.

This paper examines modern juristic discussions on the concept of custom in light of the proceedings of the fifth session of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, which was held in 1988. It shows the extent to which these discussions not only address the role of custom in the derivation of Islamic law and its place in the Islamic legal tradition, but also reflect the impact of modern positive legislations on modern conceptualizations of Sharīʿa and how it has been constructed in the wake of the modern legal reform movement. In particular, the framing of custom in some civil codes as an independent legal source marked a significant development and created tension between Sharīʿa and modern legal codes. This perceived tension has, in turn, inspired
efforts to reaffirm the primacy of Sharīʿa and demands for its implementation. While these discussions demonstrate how Muslim scholars situate Sharīʿa within national legal structures, they also show the role of juristic councils, such as the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, in the development of a transnational juristic discourse that
transcends the boundaries of the nation state.

This study focuses an ethnographic lens on how young French Muslims, locally and interactively among peer groups, interact with local religious authorities in constructing their religious practices. The context is a reappraisal of Islamic law by Imam Tareq Oubrou, mufti of the mosque in Bordeaux. In this study we isolated a particular moment in the religious dialogue between the imam and the faithful, the so-called "legal consultation" which follows the sermon during Friday evening prayers (the khotba during salat el jomou'a) in order to better understand the imam's role in constructing youthful religious identities. Five sessions dealing with religious dogma as well as with family and professional matters confronting these young practitioners were recorded, transcribed and analysed. What questions do these young people submit to the * Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux II, doctorant allocataire de recherche, département Anthropologie, laboratoire ATOTEM (CNRS, EA 2963). ** Pour leur attentive lecture, je remercie les P r Pierre Bidart (Université de Bordeaux II) et Djamel Guerid (Université d'Oran), qui depuis leurs Rives respectives s'emploient avec leurs moyens à ce que la délicate mémoire franco-algérienne enfante un avenir meilleur. Cet article a également profité du statut de Visiting fellow de son auteur à l'International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM, Leiden, Pays-Bas) en 2007. Questions de pratiquants et réponses d'imam en contexte français. / 283

The cyber world affects many aspects of personal and communal life in our modern world. One significant form of this influence is the growing digitisation of religious understanding. This article will focus on one facet of this virtual religious discussion, namely the religious rulings of
organ donation and transplantation in Islam. This study will emphasise that discussion of the credibility of online fatwas is a neglected area that deserves significant scholarly attention. It will examine the diversity and complexity of 50 online fatwas on organ donation and transplantation
selected from various fatwa organisations, government bodies, and councils across 16 countries, which differ linguistically, ethnically, socio-culturally, and by religious orientation. This article has three main arguments. First, it argues that state appointed and controlled religious authorities who work under close scrutiny of the state lack credibility in their fatwas. This has especially been the case in the post-colonial period where authoritarian states have deprived many Muslim scholars of their scholarly freedom to produce independent fatwas. Secondly, the paper asserts that an absence of field experts in the fatwa-making process in such areas as medicine, psychology, law, and public
policy has weakened the credibility of online fatwas. Finally, the online fatwas evidenced in this study shows little, if any, consideration of opposing views on organ donation and transplantation, further damaging the reliability of the rulings produced. Finally, the online fatwas evidenced in this study shows little, if any, consideration of opposing views on organ donation and transplantation, further damaging the reliability of the rulings produced.
The link: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/12/10/902

This brief contribution deals with Kitāb Fatḥ al-bāb wa-rafʿ al-ḥiǧāb bi-taʿqīb mā waqaʿa fī tawātur al-Qurʾān min al-suʾāl wa-l-ǧawāb, a treatise on the modes of transmission of the Qurʾān by the eighth/fourteenth-century legal scholar Ibn Lubb of Granada in which he attacks his Tunisian colleague Ibn ʿArafa. It describes the unusual circumstances that led to its composition and the way in which it was preserved for posterity.

This paper assesses Yusuf al-Qaradawi’s fatwa, issued in '90s, titled: “Islam and Democracy” and in which the author offers clarifications on the compatibility of democracy with Islam. A topic that has been creating controversy for more than a century.

Suyuti. S arapskoga preveli: Almir Fatić i Nedžad Ćeman. Knjiga sadrži izbor fetvi – odgovora ovog velikog islamskog učenjaka iz 10. hidžretskog stoljeća (u. 911.) na pitanja koja su bila i ostala predmetom rasprava među muslimanima. Izbor je sačinjen iz autorove knjige Al-Hawi li l-fatawi. Iako u osnovi sporedna u ukupnosti islamskog mišljenja, pitanja – odnosno odgovori koje je ovaj velikan dao na njih, samo su jedna od mogućih njihovih poimanja. Sujuti, kao vrstan bibliograf, svoja razmatranja tih pitanja podupro je brižljivo sakupljenim predajama o tim temama i na njima utemeljio svoje odgovore. Riječ je o deset odgovora na pitanja o: novotariji u vjeri, o obillježavanju mevluda, o tome da li mrtvi imaju koristi od učenja sedmine, o upotrebi tespiha, o Najvećem Allahovom imenu, o duha-namazu, o životu vjerovjesnika poslije njihove smrti, o pitanjima vezanim za zagrobni život, o viđenju Vjerovjesnika, a.s., i meleka, o predajama koje ukazuju na postojanje kutbova, evtada, nudžebaa i ebdala, tj. kategorija ljudi koji zauzimaju visoke duhovne stupnjeve.

A summary of my translation of the "Asnā al-Matājir" by Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā al-Wansharīsī (d. 914/1508). See Alan Verskin, Islamic Law and the Crisis of the Reconquista: The Debate on the Status of Muslim Communities in Christendom (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 144-173.

Tema. : Peran Ulama dalam Mencegah Covid-19 Fatwa para ulama yang menghentikan sementara sholat Jum'at dan sholat berjamaah dewan fatwa MUI yakni Hasanuddin mengatakan bahwa " setiap umat muslim yang berada pada daerah yang berpotensi tinggi untuk terkena virus Covid-19 maka diperbolehkan untuk mengganti sholat Jum'at dengan sholat dluhur yang dilaksanakan di rumah. selain itu Hasanuddin juga tidak memperbolehkan mengadakan aktivitas yang melibatkan orang banyak, yang diyakini bisa menjadi media penyebaran virus Covid-19, seperti sholat berjamaah di masjid, menghadiri majelis taklim, dan menghadiri tempat-tempat umum lainnya". Kata Hasanuddin dalam keterangan tertulisnya " ketika seseorang berada didaerah yang penularan virus Covid-19 nya tinggi, maka ia diperbolehkan untuk meninggalkan sholat Jum'at dan digantinya dengan sholat dluhur di rumah. Bukan hanya itu para warga juga diperintahkan untuk meninggalkan sholat jama'ah/sholat rawatib di masjid, atau kegiatan yang bisa melibatkan orang banyak". Namun Hasanuddin juga menambahi " ketika seseorang berada didaerah yang penularan virus Covid-19 nya rendah, maka tetap harus melakukan sholat Jum'at atau sholat jama'ah seperti biasanya, dengan himbauan untuk tetap menjaga kontak fisik, membawa sajadah sendiri, serta rajin untuk cuci tangan yang tujuannya adalah agar tidak terpapar virus Covid-19".

On February 2014, the UAE’s General Authority of Islamic Affairs released a fatwa prohibiting Muslims from a one-way Mars voyage (calling it suicide), a response to Mars One, for which 500 “Saudis and other Arabs” had volunteered. Mars One immediately requested the Authority “cancel” its fatwa, citing Islamic sources to argue the necessity of a Mars voyage. In July, the UAE established its Space Agency, planning for a Mars probe in 2021 to celebrate the bicentennial of independence from Britain. The resulting discourse online between Mars One, western media, and political/commercial/media bodies in the UAE raises questions not merely about the UAE and Islam, but also about spaceflight and humanitarianism in global public discourse.

Timothy Mitchell writes that the state operates beyond traditional boundaries, adopting Foucauldian techniques of power—not a Hobbesian hierarchy of centralized control but a discursive “effect” circulating even among non-state actors. Employing this framework to the UAE’s relationship with western and globalized spaceflight, I examine corporations and media outside borders of U.S., UAE, British, and Dutch states. UAE actors’ condemnation and support of spaceflight both rely upon reference to the west, exercising “strategic occidentalism” in a discourse enabled by Mars One. Mitchell’s discursive western power flattens across this global discourse, dangerously constricting the existential and political possibilities for answering the fundamental challenge of the fatwa controversy: What does, or should, humanity sacrifice for science? In order to realize “the peaceful uses of outer space,” the international community should come to terms with these asymmetries in global public discourse.

“How the Rest Became the West in the Mars One Fatwa Controversy: Spaceflight, globalism, risk to life, and strategic occidentalism in the UAE”

Based on research during MPhil in the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, under the supervision of Mary Brazelton.

(Cambridge MPhil research)