Grand Mufti: Egypt to launch 1st Global Fatwa Index

CAIRO – 18 October 2018: Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawki Allam launched on Thursday, Oct. 18 the first Global Fatwa Index which shows the status of fatwa in each geographical region.

This index will contribute to the renewal of fatwa throughout the country. It is considered a mechanism that adjusts the uncontrolled and out-of-order fatwas, Allam said.

Allam also announced the launch of an electronic platform (Hidaya), a multi-language religious education platform. It will start with 2000-hour audio and video records in Arabic.

This platform will actively participate in the renewal of religious discourse by presenting realistic models of fatwa renewal.

Allam’s announcement came during his participation in the fourth international conference organized by the General Secretariat for Fatwa Authorities Worldwide on fatwa renewal; the conference was inaugurated on Oct. 16 under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

Endowments (Awqaf) Minister Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa attended the event on behalf of the prime minister. Gomaa earlier asserted the importance of renewing fatwas to cope with the current time and place.

This came in the speech Gomaa delivered on behalf of the prime minister during the inauguration of the fourth international conference on fatwa renewal on Oct.16. It is important to keep up with civilization without changing the basics of religion, Gomaa said.

Gomaa stressed the importance of taking the living conditions into consideration when issuing a fatwa especially in relation to economic, social and humanitarian issues.

Gomaa announced that the Awqaf Ministry is ready to train imams from different countries of the world for free as part of Egypt's pioneering role to serve humanity.

Justice Minister Hossam Abdel Rahim attended the inauguration of the event in the presence of scholars and religious institutions from 73 countries.

Muftis from Palestine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chad and Lebanon participated in the inaugural session of the conference.

The three-day conference discussed a number of economic, political and social issues along with the importance of fatwas.