Ifta' and Fatwa in the Muslim World and the West
About this ebook
scholars possessed not only the intellectual skills required for analytic
reasoning, but also a broad general knowledge of the fi elds relevant to the
cultural contexts in which they issued their edicts. A viable fatwa requires
knowledge of the Shari‘ah as well as local customs, cultural realities, individual
and communal implications, and related matters.
The original juristic tradition was formulated and fi xed during the fi rst three
Islamic centuries, a time of widespread sociopolitical turmoil. Of course,
the jurists’ legal outlooks and thinking processes could not have escaped
this reality. While Muslims of the prophetic and rāshidūn periods adhered
closely to the authentic texts due to their sincerity, piety, prophetic training,
and proximity to the revelation, the changing environment in which their
descendants functioned gradually started to impact how the authentic texts
were understood, interpreted, paraphrased, and implemented.
Both the Muslim and the non-Muslim worlds have drastically changed since
that time. The new geopolitical and scientifi c realities of our rapidly changing
world demand a fresh look at some aspects of the established juristic tradition.
The way forward involves a systematic fresh look at and reevaluation of the
old fatwas, as well as the issuance of new ones with a maqāsidī outlook that
can deal successfully with today’s ever-changing global realities.
In this edited volume, papers on fatwa and iftā’ point to an approach that is
both rooted in the Islamic legacy and committed to meeting the challenges of
the modern world.
