Shopping for e-fatwas worry Egypt's Grand Mufti

The chief Muslim cleric, the Grand Mufti in Egypt wants tighter controls on who may issue religious fatwas.

The Grand Mufti says more fatwas have been issued in the past 10 years than in the previous 1400 years. Modern technology has made it easier than ever to issue or receive a fatwa, one of the religious edicts that guide Muslims' interpretations of Islamic law.

The Internet, satellite TV and even the telephone is being used to distribute fatwas. You can even get an e-fatwa personalised for you.

This unorthodox explosion of fatwas while being sought by a younger generation, is causing grave concern for Egypt's Grand Mufti-one of the most respected among the Islamic scholars.

I am not a fatwa seeker but was curious to find out about the types of fatwa being issued. One particular fatwa by the Australian mufti Sheik Hilali struck me.

Here is what Sheik Hilali said:

In the religious address on adultery to about 500 worshippers in Sydney Sheik Hilali said: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?"

"The uncovered meat is the problem."

The sheik then said: "If she was in her room, in her home, in her hijab, no problem would have occurred," meaning no rape would have taken place.

He said women were "weapons" used by "Satan" to control men.

Muslim community leaders were outraged and offended by Sheik Hilali's remarks, insisting the cleric was no longer worthy of his title as Australia's mufti. Hilali has now retired.

With the advancement in technology and communications, the stagnated monolithic establishment of our theology has finally come under pressure to reform.


It appears that the learned men in robes can no longer just preach but they also have to deliver to a demanding younger generation. Now the learned men have to do the chasing to live up to the increased expectations of the Internet generation.

Those shopping around the vast virtual world of the Internet will continue to do so until they reach the opinion that sanction's the behaviour they want. The traditional Muslim authority for issuing fatwa such as the Grand Mufti needs to reach out to this group of people.