Muslim scholars from around the world were urged to follow the true path of moderation in Islam and confront challenges to their faith posed by false Fatwas broadcast on satellite channels and published on websites during the World Conference on Fatwa and its General Rules held in Makkah Saturday. People who are not aware of Islamic jurisprudence and its principles and rulings have placed themselves in front of TV cameras issuing Fatwas (religious edicts), providing the enemies of Islam with a golden chance to attack Islam and mock at it, Prince Khaled Bin Faisal, Emir of Makkah Region, said in his speech. Prince Khaled was speaking at the inauguration of the five-day conference organized by the Muslim World League (MWL) here. “You are meeting today on a serious issue to ward off a great danger at a time when the Muslim Ummah is encountering campaigns to tarnish the image of Islam,” Prince Khaled told the scholars. The time has come for an unified Islamic stand to advance the basic cause of moderation in Islam and fight back those who have wanted to hijack the essence of moderate Islam and turn it into an ideological concept of extremism, he said. Today's Islamic communities need to be protected from the chaos of irresponsible extremist Fatwas that could affect the right creed and straight path of new Muslim generations, he said. The Makkah Emir has called on true Muslim scholars to counter irresponsible Fatwas by the “intruders” on Islamic jurisprudence, providing them with all help needed from the Kingdom. Commenting on the situation in Gaza, Prince Khaled said what is happening there is agonizing for the entire Muslim Ummah. Israel, he said, is violating all norms of a civilized society and indulging in a genocide of the Palestinians. “It is genocide of humanity,” he said. Abdullah Bin Al-Mohsin Al-Turki, Secretary General of the MWL, said the unprecedented Zionist aggression against the Palestinians is in stark violation of the UN resolutions. He said there is an organized campaign to divide the Muslim Ummah and the ignorant people are giving Fatwas against the tenets of Islam to misguide, mostly, the young generation who have no concrete understanding of Islam. “Some people declare Fatwas on issues that they do not know in depth and without due consideration for the Shariah requirements for issuing an authentic Fatwa,” Al-Turki said. “Issuing a Fatwa is a very serious matter as it involves making a decision on the basis of the law laid down by Allah and explained by the Prophet,” Turki said. Abdul Aziz Bin Abdullah Aal Al-Sheikh, Grand Mufti of the Kingdom, urged the people not to give any heed to Fatwas which are being televised by different channels by unknown and untrustworthy people. Saleh Bin Zaben Al-Marzouki, head of the Muslim World League's Islamic Fiqh (Jurisprudence) Academy, said that unqualified ‘clerics' have harmed the Islamic law with their ungrounded Fatwas.
