International Conference for Fatwa concludes with 19 recommendations

CAIRO – 19 October 2017: The International Conference for Fatwa under the title of "The Role of Fatwa in Creating a Stable Society" has concluded Thursday with issuing a list of 19 recommendations.

The three-day conference held by the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi was part of the president’s call for renewing religious discourses.

Delegations from 80 countries were keen to attend the conference and discuss misleading fatwas inside their states and their impacts on societies.

The final recommendations statement stated that it’s important to keep conducting regular conferences and meetings around the world to discuss the new challenges that face Islamic communities. It was added that “the culture of giving the right fatwas to people” became a major necessity nowadays; since “many odd fatwas started to spread widely.”

The conference also stressed the importance of establishing a database and an information center to gather all of the ratified and trusted fatwas from around the world to facilitate locating them when needed.

“We also call on fatwa entities and administrations to use new technological means to facilitate the process of receiving and distributing correct, ratified fatwas,” the statement added.

The International Conference for Fatwa, Thursday 19 October- Amr Moustafa
Fatwas should also be renewed to match the current circumstances and cases, according to the listed recommendations.

It was also added that qualified Sheikhs (clergies) should talk and be more active to prevent others from spreading their possibly misinterpreted fatwas.

The International Conference for Fatwa, Thursday 19 October- Amr Moustafa
“We should all know that any fatwa that aims to demolish families and communities is not part of our religion, and we should all take a firm stance against it,” the statement read.

The recommendations also included implementing an international fatwa protocol and establishing a separate system specialized in “family cases fatwas.”

It was also affirmed by the statement that extremism on all levels is “the fastest way to create chaos inside communities;” and that clergies’ main role is to prevent them.

The International Conference for Fatwa, Thursday 19 October- Amr Moustafa
Grand Imam of Azhar Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb, Egypt's Mufti Shawky Allam, Secretary-General of the Muslim World League (MWL) Muhammad bin Abdul Karim, and the chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (GAIAE) in the UAE Mohammed Matar al-Kaabi Issa inaugurated the conference on Tuesday, October 17.

In his speech on the first day of the conference, Egypt’s Mufti Shawky Allam said the challenges that Egypt and the world face are due to “misleading fatwas” that threaten security and peace.

The International Conference for Fatwa, Thursday 19 October- Amr Moustafa

“Since the world rises up against terrorism, religious intellectuals should confront extremist thoughts too and spread the teachings of our tolerant religion instead,” Allam added.