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Thursday, July 12, 2018

UAE Fatwa Council to Fight against Rogue Fatwas That Promote Extremist and Terrorist Narratives





By New Age Islam Special Correspondent
11 July 2018
The chairman of the newly formed Emirates Fatwa Council, Abdullah Ibn Bayyah and other high-profile Islamic scholars vowed on Monday (July 9, 2018) at an inaugural meeting to wage a pre-emptive war against extremists and rogue Fatwas that promote extremist and terrorist narratives.
Sheikh Ibn Bayyah, who is also the chairman of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, said the council would make all the possible efforts to “protect the country from corrupt Fatwas and disrupting influences that endanger the safety of society, citizens and even the entire world”. He said, “The role of the council will be a significant step for scholars and their counterparts in this blessed country”.
He further said, “The council will act against extremists who have defamed Islam”. For this purpose, the council would also train muftis, mentor their skills and promote related studies in coordination with the country’s General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments.
Ibn Bayyah said that we should immediately take step against extremists by using preventive measures to curb hatred and violence. The council, he said, will make society “immune to corrupt Fatwas that provoke disorder and ignite flames of war and violence instead of developing an environment of peaceful coexistence”
During the meeting, Sheikh Hamza Yusuf, the president of Zaytuna University in California and one of the West’s most influential Islamic scholars, said, “Fatwas are an effort to understand what God means…. “It is a very difficult thing to do. A number of people are not qualified but they issue Fatwas…. “The Emirates is now trying to protect its own country,”
He said that the council would interpret Quranic rulings not in their literal wording, but in spiritual sense. This methodology takes into account the time, place and circumstances that the ruling applies to. “We look at the spirit of the ruling and not just the letter of the ruling. Many Fatwas are based on the letter of the ruling and do not focus on circumstances” Sheikh Hamza said.
Dr Mohammad Al Kaabi, chairman of Abu Dhabi’s General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, said that the council will also protect gullible Muslims from extremist and terrorist narratives. “It will restore the developed and clear image of Islam.”
The Fatwa council features leading scholars of Islam including Ahmad Abdul Aziz Al Haddad from the Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities in Dubai, Omar Habtoor Dhibi from the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Salem Mohammad Al Doubi from Sharjah Department of Islamic Affairs, Ebrahim Obaid Ali Al Ali from Umm Al Quwain Court, Shamma Yousuf Mohammad Al Dhaheri from the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Ahmad Mohammad Ahmad Yousuf Al Shehi from the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments and Abdullah Mohammad Ahmad Al Ansari from the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments.

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