The Sheikh of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Muhammad Sayid Tantawy, a leading religious scholar in the Sunni Muslim Fiqah in Egypt, said the following about Fatwas issued by himself or the entire Al-Azhar University:
"Fatwas issued by Al-Azhar are not binding; individuals are free to accept them or not. It is the right of Muslims in France who object to the bill (banning the veil) to bring it up to the legislative and judicial authorities. If the judiciary decides in favor of the government because the country is secular, they would be considered to be Muslim individuals acting under compelling circumstances." In the old days only the muftis and Grand Mufti appointed by the Caliph were empowered to issue fatwas and nobody was allowed to use the title of Mufti or Grand Mufti without express authority delegated by the Caliph or the Imam recognized by the Caliph. Now Muslim Ummah is divided in different sects and sub-sect, there is no centralized authority or no uniform method to determine who can issue a valid fatwa and who cannot. There are conflicting fatwas about onset of new month under Islamic Hijri calendar as well as the timing of Sehar and Iftar. A. N. Khan http://www.netvert.biz/paklink --- In islamcity@yahoogroups.com, Asifa AM wrote: > > RAMADAN FATAWAA # 2 > > > A Fatwa, is a legal statement in Islam issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. Usually a fatwa is issued at the request of an individual or a judge to settle a question where Fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence) is made up of the rulings of Islamic scholars to direct the lives of the Muslim faithful. A scholar capable of issuing fataawa (plural) is known as a Mufti (is a Muslim leader who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law (Sharia), capable of issuing fataawa. > > > > RAMADAN FATAWAA # 2 > > > > This new service is brought to you with the object to educate/update you in the guidance of ISLAM. > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > Pillars of Fasting > > Things that break the fast > > Tasting Food while Fasting > > Eating after Fajr Azaan (Call for Prayer) > > Is a Nursing Mother Exempted from Fasting? > > My Husband Does Not Fast: Should I Cook for Him? > > Can a Muslim Break His Fast to Share His Family Thanksgiving? > > Is Money Saved for Hajj Subject to Zakah? > > Calculating Zakah on the Solar Calendar > > Zakah and Charity: Signs of Gratitude > > Zakah Due on Trade of Compact Discs > > Zakah on Jewelry > > Zakah on Rental Property > > Paying Zakah on a Small Clothing Business > > Should Zakah Be Paid on Unlawful Money > > Giving Charity: Should I Inform the Recipient that it's Zakah Money? > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > Wishing you a Happy and Blessed Ramadan. > > > > May Allah (SWT) grant us the Taufeeq to PLAN & UTILIZE this blessed month to achieve highest Rewards and Maghfirah - Aamin. > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > > > > > --------------------------------- > Yahoo! FareChase - Search multiple travel sites in one click. > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Click here to rescue a little child from a life of poverty. http://us.click.yahoo.com/rAWabB/gYnLAA/i1hLAA/TXWolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest". Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/islamcity/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
