On Fatwas: Ten Questions
Fatwas are non-binding and one can choose to follow or not, since there is no central authority in Islam. I have these questions though for us to explore:
Dr Azly Rahman
1. if the argument is that only experts can issue fatwas, who then are the experts in matters of human spirituality and from which (legitimate) school of thought ought an expert come from?
2. in addition, on what ideological basis will the fatwas be produced?
3. in matters of “ijtihad” or reasoning (accordingly, preferable sources of construction of knowledge after the Quran and hadith) to arrive at the fatwas, what method is used and where would the source of information come from?
4. in addition, what is the nature of the “sociology of knowledge” would the non-legal-binding-religious opinion. a.k.a. fatwas emanate from and in addition, what constitute the idea of an “Islamic scholar”?
5. does this mean one can only draw his/her arguments from “purely Islamic sources”? (what are ‘Islamic sources,” in this case)
Read more at: http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/2013/02/on-fatwas-ten-questions.html
