Fatwas in essence, form and function, are opinions espoused by religious figures or bodies. Anywhere you go in the Muslim world, they are precisely that, opinions. But somehow, in Malaysia, in stark contrast to elsewhere around the world, fatwas tend to take on a legal form, are frequently gazetted and therefore treated akin to laws. Like man-made laws, it is possible for fatwas to be unjust and wrong as men are not infallible. Those who conceptualise these opinions are human; therefore they are neither infallible nor free from prejudice or bias. So when fatwas are abused, the possibility of injustice is very real. A fatwa used as a weapon to suppress peaceful dissent, intellectual discourse and opinions and to oppress those who would challenge and support contrarian positions, is an unjust fatwa and is against the teachings of Islam. - Azrul Mohd Khalib
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 13:19:46 +0000
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