The Dilemma of Muslim Minorities

 

The Dilemma of Muslim Minorities

 

By Omer Ibrahim*

Islamonline.net_Doha

Fatwa or religious edict is among those Arabic and Islamic words that have become familiar to the western world. Fatwa is simply a scholarly opinion of Islamic jurist. Of course, since Islam treats life as an integrated whole, it is commonly held that there is no categorization of life between sacred and secular, religious and non-religious, etc. In such an integrated context, Fatwa covers the entire life.

The Secretary General of the European Council for Fatwa and Research, Sheikh Hussein Halawa once said in a recent interview with wasatia online:” I do not give fatwa for the East…the scholars of the West know their own fatwa best” And when asked about his definition of jurisprudence for minorities, he said “Jurisprudence for minorities is a modern term that had no existence in the original culture of jurisprudence. It evolved as a result of the need of Muslims living in Europe and best suits the reality of their everyday lives, it is the jurisprudence that caters for Muslims living outside the Islamic world, and resolves their problems and issues, and there are solutions to their problems in the Holy Qur’an, the Sunnah and the lives of our righteous predecessors.”

 

Facilitation is Necessary

According to the scholars in the West, the jurisprudence of minorities is based on many pillars one of which is the facilitating attitude. This is because the issues of the West differ from the issues of the East or so it widely perceived by many people living in the west. For example in the East it is rare to offer felicitations to non-Muslims on their religious occasions, but in the West Muslims are surrounded by non-Muslims, how are they expected to turn their backs on them? There are many other issues such as the inheritance of Muslims and non-Muslims, if Muslims cannot find regulations they accept they will be tempted by missionary centers.

Sheikh Hussein Halawa also stated in his interview with wasatia online that jurisprudence also depends upon an awareness of the reality of everyday life and takes its inspiration from this reality and depicts the laws of Shari’ah on fatwa. The great Islamic scholar Ibn Al Qayem says that fatwa changes as times, places and circumstances change. Imam Shafeiy changed his fatwa when he went to Egypt. Sheikh Halwa stressed that by issuing a fatwa scholars do not change reality should not compromise religion to suit reality. The jurisprudence of minorities should take into consideration the Islamic community as a whole rather than focusing on the individual perspective. The Muslim minorities in the West are a group of people whose identity needs to be preserved. He emphasized that the European Council for Fatwa do not neglect the needs of the individual but put these needs within the context of the needs of the Islamic community.

The Muslim scholars in the West did not make up new things for the jurisprudence of minorities, but came up with concepts found in the Holy Book, some of which were adopted by the scholar Ibn Taymiya, and an opinion which is controversial might lead to adopting what is felt to be in the best interests of the Muslim community.

 

Crisis of Fatwa Institutions

According to Sayed Wild Abah of Asharq Alawsat newspaper, the current war of fatwa going on in the Islamic world, both in the east and west, shows that the institutions entitled with issuing religious edicts are going through a severe crisis on two interrelated levels: the first is related to the consultative academic and doctrinal references and the second relates to the functioning of such institutions and their ability to have an effective impact on the status quo.

 

Conflict among Authorities

The first level can be sensed in the conflict between the jurisprudential references [authorities], despite the fact that the boldest and most progressive views are cautious to adhere to the fundamentalist track and the orthodox jurisprudence, ensuring that they do not violate their standards of interpretation and latent connotations. But if the jurisprudential arena has witnessed numerous calls for rebuilding the fundamentalist organization in recent years and the need to reform the basics of the fatwa industry (this phrase is attributed to the scholar, Sheikh Abdullah Bin Beih), none of them went beyond the customary mechanisms of the old jurisprudential mind in terms of consideration, adaptation and composition on the practical level.

Notwithstanding that fact, there has been an increasing awareness in the field of Islamic studies that the inherited jurisprudence has become incapacitated not only in terms of its perceptual structure (basics), but also in terms of its methodological mechanisms (regulations and tools of jurisprudence) so that it has been rendered incapable of providing the necessary tools to further the connotations in the text under the present circumstances.

This awareness according to Sayed Wild Abah has come as a result of the practical implications that have arisen from the fatwas required to solve various vital problems. Another factor is the openness to several fields of interpretation, which in turn provided jurists with availability of rich and unprecedented possibilities.

Although the Islamic scholars always stressed that judgments change and renewed in accordance with people’s circumstances and it is well known fact that jurisprudence is something hypothetical and not holy. However, they prefer to be in the safe side by depending on the authority’s heritage than shouldering the responsibility of coming up with new interpretation of Quran and Sunnah. By so doing scholars tend to issue fatwas that do not satisfy the people who are inclined to old jurisprudence, neither do they convince the contemporary Muslim who is challenged by modernity.

 

 

 

Institutions Incapability

The second level according to Sayyed wild Abah, relates to the structure of the fatwa institutions and their physical status in social affairs and in the public field. Sayyed wild Abah thinks these institutions, are no longer capable of fulfilling their historic role for many reasons, some of which are related to the nature of their relationship with the modern central state. Other reasons are related to these institutions’ status in the religious field itself.

Institutions entitled with issuing edicts, are now one of the institutions of the contemporary national state. This made these institutions to lose their independence and credibility. Such institutions do not play any active role, or have come to follow a fixed framework that is employed as part of the strategies of the legitimization of official governmental policies.

 

Moderation in Fatwa

According to Bin Beah, that moderation in the advisory opinion is created through the depth in the literature, and the absorption of the relationship between the faculties of law and their fractions, and between pillars and branches, and the proper application on the necessities of the people and their interests. It is also important to know that differences are possible to occur in fatawas because people’s needs, understanding and conceptions are not the same. It is always said differences within the limit of law and regulations are signs of mercy. There are multiple reasons for the discrepancy; some are instinct, and the other to different directory, and the nature of reasoning.

 

Muslims in the West Need Contemporary Fatwa

The presence of Muslims in any state that can be defined as a non-Muslim land would have been impossible if a particular fatwa (ruling) had held sway, points out Dr. Taha Jabir Alalwani, President of the Fiqh Council of North America (FCNA) and also of the Graduate School of Islamic and Social Sciences (GSISS) in Leesburg, Virginia.

 

    Dr. Alalwani, who is also a member of the Jeddah-based International Academy of Fiqh and a number of other international councils, says that often well-meaning and learned scholars living overseas, and having limited awareness of the west social environment, issue rulings that are not only misleading, but also convey a negative impression of Islam.

He points out that a scholar's opinion is based on an understanding of facts from various perspectives, the relevant text, and the higher values of Islam such as Tawheed, Tazkiyah, Iman and related values. Understanding the person raising the question and the circumstances in which the question is raised also influence the scholar's opinion. He says that if the mufti does not understand and comprehend the environment from where the question is emerging, he may end up offering an erroneous response.

 

Alarming Examples

    Dr. Taha Alalwani has a number of examples of fatwa that were issued by well-meaning persons without deep insight into the North American milieu.One such example, he says, came from a well-respected scholar who declared that it was unlawful (Haram) for Muslims to hold citizenship of non-Muslim states. This view was apparently based on rulings given by scholars in west Africa, where the people of Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia were involved in a Jihad against French colonialism. The French wanted to declare these states as part of France and extend French citizenship to their citizens. The scholars reacted to this extraordinary situation, by declaring it unlawful to accept such citizenship, because it would be a betrayal of the Muslim state.

    Today, we know when many Muslims have migrated to non-Muslim countries as a matter of choice, the circumstances are totally different. In fact, Muslims in North America need to acquire citizenship in order to secure their rights and even to contribute as Muslims to the process of social development. At the same time, there is no overwhelming threat to their identity and culture, adds Dr. Alalwani.

    Another misplaced fatwa, says Dr. Alalwani, is the ruling obtained by a few students from some scholars overseas that they could enter into marriages with the intention (Niyah) to divorce without telling their prospective wives. This fatwa was totally misleading and was bound not only to create negative reactions toward Islam and Muslims, but also to leave a trail of unpleasant social and human tragedies, he says. Indeed, Dr. Alalwani stresses, this ruling was against the intent of the Shariah that bases marriage on three pillars.

    Another example of misguided rulings is the fatwa that countries like the United States are Dar al-Kufr and Dar al-Harb,(war zones) where Muslims have the right to circumvent their laws and regulations. Again, Dr. Alalwani says, the Mufti considered neither the environment nor Islamic teachings when issuing this opinion. He says that if, God forbid, Muslims follow this opinion; they would be in inherent conflict with their governments and would not be able to enjoy the confidence of their societies or even their neighbors.

 

Who is eligible to issue fatwa?

In order to be eligible to issue fatwa, the person should have deep knowledge of Quran and Sunnah and through knowledge of what is abrogated and what is transcribed in addition to deep understanding of Islamic Jurisprudence. 

Ben Bea also pointed to the  problematic task of  how to  make use of old fatwas take in the contemporary issues?. He said: That comes through the search for some calamity; that are similar to contemporary issues to find a solution to some issues. Every time raises its own issues therefore the fatwas of ancient times do not work to solve contemporary issues, however with closer examination it is possible to find similarities between the old and contemporary issues.

 

Conclusion

Since in Islam there is no categorization of life between sacred and secular, religious and non-religious, and in such integrated context, Fatwa covers the entire life. Again whether in the east or in the west issuing a fatwa presents a challenge for Muslim scholars and matters become much more complicated in the non-Muslim countries where Muslim live tougher in a environment totally different from their countries of origins. The problem will remain as long as people remain different in their interests, localities and conceptions of Islam.

Now days we as Muslims have to spread the voice to learn quran and so we could gain the true knowledge and the quran teaching that is give to us by our beloved prophet Muhammad peace be upon him and do quran reading. Do we as Muslim ask our self that why we are at the peak of destruction? The answer will be simple that we have left our roots the holy quran we should guide promote Islam from in our homes first and let learn our kids quran  and encourage them in doing quran memorization this should be our first goal for it we can do different stuff like let then participate in different online quran recitation competition to let them listen to quran from different online quran reciters and along with it we elders should learn quran also and improve our knowledge of quran and Islam and learn holy quran tafseer because to understand and learn quran Arabic and for this now a days there are many online quran tutor available who teach tajweed quran and its translation and tafseer so let us join our hands to be the voice of Islam and let improve the image of it as well and full fill our deputy