Modernity? No Thanks!

The long-awaited reform of Islam is at hand. Muslim leaders have gathered in Mecca and pronounced on the current crisis within Islam.

Their solution? Roll back modernizing influences. According to AKI:

Saudi Arabia: Muslim Clerics Oppose ‘Modernist’ Fatwas

Riyadh, 21 Jan. (AKI) — An international conference of ulema or religious scholars meeting in the Saudi holy city of Mecca has moved to stop what it calls ‘modernist’ fatwas or religious edicts, such as female imams or assisted reproductive technology for men. According to the Saudi daily, Arab news, around 170 scholars gathered at the International Conference on Fatwa and its Regulations and issued a ‘fatwa charter’ with guidelines on the issuing of the religious edicts.

“Many of the fatwas that we have read recently, are the result of the ignorance of those who issued them,” Saudi mufti Abdelaziz al-Sheikh told Arab newspaper, al-Quds al-Arabi.

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The conference’s final communiqué called for institutions that teach Islamic law to implement the agreed guidelines in their curricula and for Muslim countries to appoint qualified muftis.

The statement also called for the prosecution of alleged ‘war criminals’ who attacked Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s three-week offensive.

Recently, the Saudi government has made attempts to counter ‘fake’ or ‘defective’ fatwas by inviting large numbers of religious scholars to agree on a standardised way of who can issue a them.

The four-day conference, organised by the Fiqh Academy, a subsidiary of the Muslim World League, concluded in Mecca on Tuesday.

Hat tip: C. Cantoni.