The Importance of Custom ('Urf) in Issuing Fatwa

Zusatztext

Fatawa issued presently by Shari'ah scholars and muftis occasionally fall short of meeting the challenges of modern society. Ibn 'Abidins concept of 'urf and its application provide a basic guide towards meeting the modern challenges in their totality. The present work refers to his three worksSharh 'Uqud Rasm al-Mufti, Nashr al-'urf fi bina ba'd al-ahkam 'ala al-'urf, and Radd al-Muhtar 'ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar Sharh Tanwir al-Absar (al-Hashiyah)written in 13th century A.H. that present 'urf as a practical instrument for muftis and jurists. His first work is used as an overall framework, while the later two offer commentaries on the first one, providing details and cases of application. The present work enunciates that Ibn 'Abidin identifies custom as effective in Islamic law only if it fulfils the condition to specify (takhsis) nass, without opposing it completely. The variations of 'urf in society will only affect those legal issues that are custom-related and not directly based on nass. Moreover, all custom-related issues in manifest rulings (zahir al-riwayah) are subject to change as custom changes.

Autorenportrait

Dr. Farid specialized in issuing fatwa, and continued studying the subject while pursuing his MA (Islamic Civilization) and PhD (Muslim World Issues). He worked on the role of custom in issuing fatwa and on the principles of issuing fatwa. Currently he is a lecturer at International Islamic University Malaysia.

Weitere Details