On Saturday, 24 February 2007, the online daily, Al-Sharq al-Awsat published a lengthy article with the title, %u201CFuqaha al-Tajheel wa Fatawi Hasab al-Talab.%u201D A literal translation would go like this: %u201CThe Fuqaha of Ignorance, and Fatwas to Order.%u201D I have taken the liberty of giving it this title, %u201CA Thousand and One Fatwas.%u201D
The columnist began with these words:
%u201CThe most recent popular occupations in the Arab world are that of a Faqih (a legal expert, plural is Fuqaha), or a Da%u2019iya (religious propagandist), or a Mufti (the person who issues legal opinions, mostly on ethical matters, his opinion is called a Fatwa; its plural in Arabic is Fatawi. ) The qualifications of such persons are: an awareness of the presuppositions of the Islamic faith, plus a memorization of certain Qur%u2019anic texts, as well as an acquaintance with some useful Hadiths. Their pronouncements are readily accepted by illiterate people who number around 65% of the Arab population.%u201D
The article is lengthy, and so I share with the readers of FFI, those salient points that the author cites to prove his thesis regarding the proliferation of this popular and unhealthy type of Islamic %u201Coccupation.%u201D He cited several Fatwas that are utterly irrational.
1. Forbidding or Legalizing Private Lessons
The article related a case in 2004 when the Egyptian Ministry of Education requested guidance from the country%u2019s Mufti, about providing some students with private lessons in those subjects where they happen to be weak. His fatwa stated %u201Cthat private lessons given by teachers of government schools should be forbidden outside those schools.%u201D Another fatwa contradicted the above-mentioned one by stating that %u201Cif those lessons were not obligatory, and took place within the schools, and the tutor did not overcharge the student, then private lessons were all right.%u201D The author went on pointing to the ridiculous nature of the whole discussion that preoccupied the Egyptian press; while such urgent problems as the population explosion, and the shortage of food supplies, hardly received any attention. He added that Egypt%u2019s inability to feed its population makes it dependent on American aid, which amounts to around two billion dollars a year!
2. A Fatwa Forbidding Football (Soccer)
It took 36 pages to cover a fatwa that forbids football. The argument boiled down to the fact that the game was invented by the Kuffar (plural for Kafir, i.e. an infidel.) It was supported by a reference to a Hadith of the Prophet who had supposedly declared: %u201CMan tashabbaha biqawmen, fahuwa minhom%u201D, i.e. He who imitates others, becomes like them! If this is the case, the author of the article asked, %u201CWhy shouldn%u2019t these Muftis forbid the use of the Internet and the computers as well? And if soccer is haram (forbidden), how come that it is the most popular sport in Egypt, and in Saudi Arabia?
3. A Fatwa Forbidding Sitting on Chairs
In introducing this specific fatwa, the columnist remarked, %u201CThis is not a stale joke, but a legal fatwa coming from a Da%u2019iyat known as Um Ins* and who has her own website! She posted these words: %u2018Warning: chairs, benches, and large cushions are forbidden, Allahu Akbar!%u2019 In the body of her Fatwa, we read: %u2018One of the worst habits in our great nation is the use of chairs.%u2019 She listed three reasons why chairs are haram. %u2018First, our righteous ancestors never used chairs. Had chairs been good, our beloved Prophet would have used them.%u2019 The columnist remarked that %u201CUm Ins forgot to mention that none of the products of technology, such as electricity, gas, cars, airplanes, telephones, refrigerators; were ever used by our Prophet and his immediate followers. Is she really sitting on the floor as she issues her fatwas for her website on the Internet%u201D?
%u201CSecond, she stated in her fatwa that %u2018chairs are a Western invention. To use them and be impressed by them implied being equally impressed by their manufacturers who are from the West. How can we ever be impressed by Westerners when they happen to be our enemies?%u2019
The third reason mentioned by this lady for forbidding the use of chairs is shockingly weird; I must be very circumspect in translating it. [Jacob Thomas]
%u2018The use of a chair or a large cushion causes the person to be relaxed; so when a woman sits on a chair her legs assume a position that makes her sexually excited, and this attracts men or jinns**, to have sex with her %u2026 Thus, for a woman to sit on a chair, is a wicked matter, and is tantamount to committing adultery.%u2019
The columnist continued, %u201CThe fourth reason given by Um Ins for refraining to use chairs is that %u2018by sitting on the floor, a Muslim remembers Allah, and this increases his spirituality as he confesses the greatness of the Creator.%u2019%u201D
4. A Fatwa that Legalizes Lying and Giving a False Testimony
Our columnist related another bizarre fatwa, %u201CThere is a three-page fatwa that gives the green light for a Muslim to lie. This is based on a Hadith: %u2018Lying is permitted in the following cases: when a man may lie to please his wife; or during war, or when it brings about reconciliation among people.%u2019%u201D
5. An Opinion that Forbids the Use of the Letter X, such as in %u201CExplorer%u201D
The columnist in Al-Sharq al-Awsat related this unbelievable story:
%u201CThis is not a joke, but I read about this legal opinion in a Saudi newspaper. A businessman applied to the Saudi Ministry of Commerce to copyright a computer program that he called Al-Mustakshef (Explorer). His application was turned down because the letter X looks like a cross, which would not sit well with Saudis! The businessman wondered why did the Ministry of education not bar the use of the plus sign , and the multiplication sign X, as well, since both would remind people of the cross?!%u201D
6. A Fatwa against Learning English
Another example was cited in the article about an absurd fatwa, this time regarding the use of a foreign language among Muslims.
%u201CAgain, I am not telling a joke! It happens to be an official fatwa coming from a sheikh that forbad the teaching of English. It was based on a claim by an Islamic jurist %u2018that the Arabic language forms the banner and glory of Islam; thus, it is not lawful for a Muslim to speak in another tongue! A person who wants his child to learn English, for example, would be condemned on the Day of Judgment.%u2019%u201D
7. A Proliferation of Fatwas that Charge People with Apostasy
%u201CCertain sheikhs and propagandists have specialized in issuing fatwas that charge all kinds of people with apostasy. One sheikh compiled a list of %u201CThe Apostates in the Arab World.%u201D Seventy prominent Arab writers (Christian and Muslim) are mentioned in this list; and they are all considered worthy of death!%u201D
Finally, a fatwa was issued declaring that %u2018Al-Sharq al-Awsat Newspaper is an apostate publication!%u2019%u201D
The columnist commented: %u201CNothing remains halal*** for a Muslim; he must now keep himself secluded in a corner of a mosque, without leaving it for a moment!
%u201CIn conclusion, how can we fail to realize why our nation is lost? It has been left behind in the onward march of scientific and technological advances that are taking place everywhere else in the world. Having shared some of the Fatwas of Darkness and of Ignorance, I cannot help but cry out: O my Allah, where is our nation heading to!?%u201D
This much I shared with the readers of FFI, a portion of the article on the proliferation of fatwas and muftis in the Arab world. I don%u2019t feel that I can add any more comments to this impassioned article that describes so well the pathetic and hopeless state of affairs, not only in the Arab world, but throughout the entire length and breadth of Daru%u2019l Islam.
* Da%u2019iyat Um-Ins: A lady propagandist for Islam who calls herself Um (mother) Ins (Arabic for humans, the very opposite of Jinn)
** Jinn: According to the Qur%u2019an, there are three categories of intelligent beings: Angels (both good and bad), Jinns, and Humans. Jinns may be either good or bad.
*** Halal: Arabic for lawful and permitted things, relating to food and ethical matters.
Once the Muslims become majority this kind of situation will start in India also, so Indian Ladies be prepared for this type of treatment, no miss universe or world, no gyrating women songs, no entertainment, go deep in Jungle age and just pray and pray and marry minimum four ladies, and enjoy innumerable ladies, dominate females and again pray and pray
