Methodological Regulations Concerning the Fiqh of Muslim Minorities & How to Deal

With Other Cultures.

Prepared by: Dr. Salah SultanProfessor of Islamic Culture, Al Khaleej University, Kingdom of Bahrain

Professor in Islamic Jurisprudence, Faculty of Dar Al-‘Ulum – Cairo University

Shari’ah Consultant, High Council for Islamic Affairs

index• The First regulation: Strengthening citizenship

loyalty.• The Second Regulation: Emphasizing the

responsibility for reforming one’s country.• The Third Regulation: Understanding and

emphasizing the necessity of combining the Fiqh of the scripture with reality.

• The Fourth Regulation: Resorting to collective Ijitihad in public issues.

• The Fifth regulation: Combining piety and Hojja Sharaiaa (legitimate argument) in Ijtihad.

• The Sixth Regulation : Applying the “Objectives of Fiqh” (Maqasid) with respect to Worships (Ibadat) and Fiqh of Transactions (Mu’amalaat).

• The Seventh Regulation: Considering priorities in accordance with internal potentials and external circumstances.

• The Eighth Regulation: Narrowing the Gap between the Different Mazahib (Islamic Schools of thought), Creativity and Selection in Ijitihad.

• The Ninth Regulation: Adopting a Fiqh of Facilitation (Ease) and gradualism.

• The Tenth Regulation: Striving to Find Legitimate Alternatives to Forbidden Matters in the Minorities’ Reality.

Definitions

The terminology of controls (rulls)It is a rule which is applied to the total partly, its plural is Rulls,

the rull is a title of leadership like an officer in the army and the police its plural officers, and when it’s said officer means firm and strong man, and I main by rulls, Framework controlling the diligent scholar at the jurisprudence of Muslim minorities that may not be derogated from, not being confined to its parts. Where you can’t get out it or isolate within its parts so it’s neither narrows its wide rules, erasing the embarrassment, nor getting out of the rules and principles of extraction of legality.

The terminology of Methodology:Accordingly, the methodology definition it is: principles and rules

adopted by the detailed judgments.Among the implications of the language it seems to me also that

the methodology must be clear in the mind of diligent, Reference to the Supreme Islamic holly Quran and Sunah and evidence that depends on the measurement, interests, objectives, priorities and equilibration, these research methods should not leave the scholar's mind during the consideration of research and investigation and the opinion of the new provisions.

The terminology of Diligence: Indicates a strong sense of linguistic meaning, which revolves around the terminological

definitions of the fundamentalists for the diligence, which means making any effort to develop any energy in concluding legitimate rule of detailed forensic evidence. Or is the request of the right indications on it for the collection of a thought as legitimate rule as stated by Shawkaani.

Accordingly I meant here by diligence is the following: 1. To make the utmost effort in the process of extraction.

2. The use of legal rules and language in the process of extraction and diligence. 3. The purpose is to access are likely to be the rule of God in the matter. 4. Whatever done as an effort, and the gift of the diligence get stronger so that does not get it as a hypothetical rule that does not make it infallibility so it may be right and wrong.

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The terminology of the jurisprudence Means all the provisions of the legitimate process learned from the detailed evidence, and the theme is a charge in terms of proof of legality of the provisions.

The definition of minority: the group with the specificity of religious, linguistic or ethnic want to keep its privacy, and belonging to a country where a numerical minority or the majority of vulnerable.

The First regulation: Strengthening citizenship loyalty.

In my opinion a Muslim in any country must show that he or she is a good citizen, to love the country he or she is living in and detest those who try to mar it or feud with it. There is no harm, for those living in non-Muslim countries and even for the immigrants, to identify themselves as French, American or Japanese Muslims of Egyptian, Syrian or Indian origins.

There is no harm for the native citizen to be proud of his country, if it does not translate to actions by its government or its laws that are not in accordance with his or her religion. It is important to note that one’s affection to their country should not equal blind support to corrupt governments, or laws that lie in contradiction with Islamic rulings.

The Second Regulation: Emphasizing the responsibility for reforming one’s

country.

• It is necessary to adopt ijtihad for the Muslim minorities that encourages contribution in community and national reform.

Muslims must not hesitate to establish institutions, participate in their establishment and cooperate with their fellow citizens, Muslims as well as non-Muslims, to achieve the following goals:

•Ceasing oppression, wars and social violence.•Preserving the environment.•Caring for the sick, the orphans and the poor.•Asserting cleanliness.•Generalizing medical services.•Fighting drugs and smoking•Caring for the poor, the victims of war and the refugees all over the world.

The Third Regulation: Understanding and emphasizing the necessity of combining

the Fiqh of the scripture with reality .

There is a consensus among Muslim scholars that those who issue Fatwas should have a mastery of the fiqh of scripture as well as that of reality. In addition, they must be good at applying the scripture to real world conditions.

The Fourth Regulation: Resorting to collective Ijitihad in public issues .

There are some partial or individual issues regarding which a Scholar or Imam could issue a fatwa, regardless of whether he originated the fatwa or simply adopted it from other source. Public issues must be referred to the collective fiqh or Ijtihad. Our righteous ancestors resorted to consultation and collective opinion in dealing with such matters. Accordingly, we must follow their guidance and refrain from simply issuing individual fatwas on such topics.

One of the necessary requisites for collective ijtihad is to include in Fiqh Councils and men of science in different disciplines like medicine, astronomy, economy, politics, sociology and law.

There are no legitimate or rational constraints that forbid using non-Muslim experts.

The Fifth regulation: Combining piety and Hojja Sharaiaa (legitimate

argument) in Ijtihad .

It is indispensable for making the proper Ijtihad to combine both piety and Hujja Sharaiaa (legitimate argument).

The lack of legitimate argument (Hujja Sharaiaa) leads to making a weak Ijtihad and a disturbed fatwa and above all it could leads to the hellfire.

The Sixth Regulation : Applying the “Objectives of Fiqh” (Maqasid) with respect to Worships

(Ibadat) and Fiqh of Transactions (Mu’amalaat).

Applying the “Objectives of Fiqh” does not mean that we overlook Conclusive commands concerning a certain judgment from Allah because it contradicts a general objective in the scholar’s mind.

The Seventh Regulation: Considering priorities in accordance with internal potentials and

external circumstances.

We must follow the guidance of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah in observing the priorities according to two criteria – namely, the internal potentials and the external circumstances. This was quite apparent in each phase of Da’wah (calling for Islam).

Setting the priorities for the Muslims in the west demands making collective Ijitihad. In my own opinion, these priorities could be set as follows:1.Balancing between establishing strong human beings, on one side, and establishing institutions on the other.2.Preparing active leaders out of the native citizens.3.Absorbing qualified youth (both males and females) in gradual educational (tarbiya) and da’ wah programs.4. Unity among different Islamic groups and nationalities.

5. Establishing charity endowments to ensure the financial stability of Islamic institutions.

6. Establishing media satellite channels and foundations in different languages.

7. Establishing channels of dialogue and understanding with non-Muslims and finding ways to benefit them.

8. Establishing economic projects on Islamic bases so that the Muslims’ money would cease to be part of the economic process based on Ribaa (usury).

The Eighth Regulation: Narrowing the Gap between the Different Mazahib (Islamic Schools

of thought), Creativity and Selection in Ijitihad.

The issue of Mazahibs was surrounded by great extremism from both sides.

We need to evoke some of the leading historical role models for accepting others’ opinions.

The Ninth Regulation: Adopting a Fiqh of Facilitation (Ease) and gradualism.

Making things easier on people is one of the characteristics of Islam, as are the Lifting of undue Hardship and preventing of harm. Therefore, these must remain core characteristics and bases regulating the Ijitihad process as they represent the essence of Shari’aa (Islamic Jurisprudence).

The Tenth Regulation: Striving to Find Legitimate Alternatives to Forbidden Matters

in the Minorities’ Reality.

It is important for the Faqih (scholar) or Imam to bear in mind the goal of finding legitimate alternatives for the religiously forbidden matters and not find it sufficient to simply state that a matter is forbidden.

Conclusion

1. It is necessary to clear platforms and controls in the case of minorities, before entering into details; the Quran provides the law which means the detailed provisions, and the curriculum which means the extraction methods.

2. There are differences over the definition of minorities in international organizations, between the numerical weighting account or the extent of the rights and powers, or a combination of them, and I define minority as: a group with a special religious or linguistic or ethnic want to keep their privacy, and belonging to a country where a numerical minority or the majority of vulnerable.

3. A scholar can't make ijtihad in the jurisprudence of minorities unless he believes in the methodology of strengthening the sense of citizenship or the

Jurisprudence of the citizen not the immigrant. 4. Need to adopt a methodology emphasizes the duty of Muslims in non-Muslim country to adopt the reform of their country in which they reside.

5. It’s important to continue studying the legitimate texts and political and social conditions of the society which the minority live in, to examine the elements of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and that makes the diligence issued from inherent jurisprudence, organized to text and the reality together. 6. It’s applicable to any specialized Imam to give a legal option in small cases, but the origin is to transmit of any sheikh or imam or a scholar to a group diligence in the major cases which caused problems in the community, and get the specialized scientists involve into the cases related to the advisory opinion, scientists such as astronomy, medicine, economics and politics.

7. Indispensable to a modern jurist on the expansion of studying the general objectives and micro-and private in Islamic Sharia, and investigating and not contradicting his diligence in any question especially an aim whether in part or in full. 8. It is necessary to take into account the priorities and the role of imams and scholars to guide the minority to adopt a peaceful reform in their societies, and could direct more attention to build men and women with the building of institutions (the cart before the horse), and attention to the children of natives to be naturalized with the campaign message of the secretariat, and the pursuit Islamic unity, and economic and information power, and opening a dialogue with others.

9. There is an urgent need for more tolerance on the selection of the doctrine or the independent Ijtihad. 10. Facilitation in the advisory opinion, the gradual in the reform. The recommendation is one of diligence necessary method for the nation in general and minorities in particular.11. Not enough to judge the facts of renewable Muslim minority, but alternatives need to be mentioned in the fatwa religious hatred or inviolable, so that there are alternatives to secure the legitimacy of Muslims.