Middle East Focus: Fatwas Are US, Outsourcing Fatwas…..………

Arabia Deserta

Fatwas Are US, Outsourcing Fatwas…..………

“ABU DHABI - One million religious edicts are expected to have been issued by the end of the year through the Fatwa Centre at the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (Awqaf). Since opening in August 2008, the centre’s 50 scholars have been fielding an average of 1,500 calls a day. The callers come from all walks of life: Muslims asking how to do right, whether it is in worship, in marriage, or even in the most mundane aspects of their daily lives. Awqaf forecasted the impending milestone, with Dr Mohammed al Kaabi, its director-general, hailing the landmark a “true achievement”. During Ramadan alone, the centre issued almost 56,000 rulings, mainly on issues related to worship, family and women. “We had muftis working from 8am to 8pm on a daily basis during Ramadan to cater to the increased demand,” Dr al Kaabi said. The Awqaf issues the guidance about what is permissible under Sharia law in response to queries submitted online or over the phone……”

One million issued this year. Obviously there is a growing need for it. At some point, these guys may hit upon the idea pioneered by American corporate honchos, Jack Welch and many others, of outsourcing the phone fatwas (perhaps even future online fatwas) to Asia- to places like Bangalore and Mumbai. Just like HP or Microsoft and others have been doing, they can have 24/7 phone call centers answering religious questions. They can train the ‘call center’ workers in the intricacies of the faith, enough to answer question. They can even train them to give 'acceptable' answers to some touchy questions. Some of the Fatwa gurus do occasionally make such asinine fatwas that someone especially trained in places in Asia or Egypt may do a better job (they are most likely smarter than most of the Shari’a graduates).
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com