In Allah ﷻ's name, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah ﷻ, Lord of the worlds.
Peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, family and Companions.
Now then, peace, mercy, and blessings of Allah ﷻ be upon you.
On this occasion, I am pleased and honored to welcome His Excellency the Sheikh.
Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulmohsin Al-Turki is a Royal Court adviser.
He is also a member of the Council of Senior Scholars.
I also welcome the esteemed Sheikh Dr. Abdulsalam bin Mohammed Al-Shuwayir.
I also welcome the esteemed Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Suleiman Al-Khaili.
I also welcome Their Excellencies, Eminences, and honored attendees.
I extend my thanks and praise to the Religious Affairs Presidency
at the Grand Mosque and the Prophet's Mosque.
It is represented by its president.
His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al-Sudais.
By Allah's grace, he played a key role.
This blessed symposium was held.
This symposium is titled:
Fatwa in the Two Holy Mosques:
Its Role in Easing Matters for Their Visitors.
This is part of Saudi Arabia's efforts.
It serves the Two Holy Mosques and their visitors.
The Presidency strives to provide all that helps.
It helps visitors and Umrah pilgrims with their rites, guidance, and education.
It also makes fatwas accessible and answers their questions.
Fatwas change with time and place because they are tied to reality.
The sacred sites now receive huge numbers of Hajj and Umrah pilgrims and visitors.
This necessitates specific conditions and realities on the ground.
Reconstruction projects and upgrades to services and infrastructure shape reality.
As do the requirements of security and healthcare.
Amid development and modern challenges, fatwa is urgently needed in the Haramain.
Hence this blessed symposium was held to meet these needs and Sharia aims.
Sharia states that fatwas fall under the ruler, like the courts and hisbah.
Thus fatwas are among the most important and weightiest matters.
It is one of the gravest religious matters people need at all times and places.
People rely on it to practice the rulings of their religion.
A Muslim must know rulings before acting. If not, ask scholars for Allah ﷻ's ruling.
As Allah ﷻ says, "Ask the people of remembrance if you do not know."
They are named specifically.
Thus, asking others is forbidden.
If scholars are asked, they must answer and must not conceal knowledge.
Allah says: "Those who conceal"
the clear proofs and guidance We sent down
after We made them clear to people in the Book
they are cursed by Allah
and cursed by those who curse."
People would seek fatwas
from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Allah would reveal the ruling.
It would be revealed in the Quran.
The Messenger ﷺ would also answer.
Allah joined prophethood and fatwa in him.
Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله said this.
"The first in this Ummah to undertake issuing fatwas
was the master of the messengers.
He was the leader of the God-fearing.
He was the Seal of the Prophets.
He was Allah's servant and Messenger."
He was entrusted with His revelation and sent to His servants.
So he issued fatwas from Allah, as the Wisest of Judges said:
"I ask of you no reward for it, nor am I one of the pretenders."
His fatwas were comprehensive and final. May Allah have mercy on him.
Then a group of his Companions succeeded him in issuing fatwas.
They excelled in it, becoming leading muftis in Islam.
If we go by a rough count.
The number of Companions alive when Allah ﷻ's
Messenger ﷺ passed away was 114,000
Yet reported fatwas from the Companions did not exceed 200.
Ibn Hazm, may Allah have mercy on him.
listed the Companions by name, by how many fatwas each narrated.
He then said:
"We traced every person from whom fatwas were narrated.
This included one issue or more.
We found only 153 in all, men and women alike.
Only seven among them issued many fatwas:
They were Umar, Abdullah his son, Ali, Ibn Abbas, and Ibn Mas'ud.
Also Aisha and Zayd ibn Thabit. May Allah be pleased with them.
The middle group numbered 13.
So these were only 20 in all.
The rest had very few fatwas.
Some had one, and some had two."
End of his words. May Allah have mercy on him.
After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ died.
Then began the era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
It ran through Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali until 40 AH.
It was the finest early era of fatwa and closest to what is right.
From it, the light of guidance is drawn in every time and place.
There, fatwas were issued with care.
They were based on research, reflection, and study.
That is why I joined this blessed symposium.
and presented a paper titled:
The Methodology of Fatwa
in the Era of the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
to show its importance as a model and to ground fatwa today.
This topic chiefly warns of the danger of unqualified fatwas.
They come from those not firmly grounded in knowledge.
It also warns against issuing them
without authorization even if qualified.
A fatwa is a signature on behalf of Allah ﷻ and a clarification of His rulings.
Speaking about Allah without knowledge
the gravest prohibitions, because it involves boldness, lies against
Allah ﷻ, and leading people astray.
It is among the major sins.
Allah ﷻ says: “Say: My Lord has only forbidden indecencies
open and hidden, sin, transgression without right
associating with Allah ﷻ that for which He has sent down no authority
and saying about
Allah ﷻ what you do not know.”
For this reason
many of the Companions (RA) feared giving fatwas
and kept passing them from one to another, because
Allah ﷻ had placed fear and vigilance in their hearts.
Indeed, the Companions (RA) feared giving fatwas and warned against
boldness in giving them—or even taking them on.
Abdur-Rahman ibn Abi Layla said: “I met 120 of the Ansar (RA)
Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ…”
"A question would be put to one, and he'd pass it on till it came back to him."
"In another report, none of them would narrate a
hadith without wishing his brother would do it for him
and none would be asked about anything without wishing
his brother would give the fatwa instead." Fatwas in the era of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs were issued only after the jurist took exceptional care
mindful of their gravity for the Ummah
of the misguidance and deviation they could cause
of the warning and punishment for speaking about
Allah ﷻ without knowledge, and moved by inner scrupulousness and piety
showing neither audacity nor haste;
so no fatwa would be issued by them except after deep reflection and study
and only once it had fully matured and been presented to the scriptural texts.
All right, Sheikh.
The fatwa approach of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs derives its importance from its authenticity.
It drew on the scriptural texts, the Qur'an and Sunnah
when the language was sound and untouched by foreign influence.
It also came from a time when the
Islamic sciences were pure and unmixed with anything else.
The fatwa approach of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs also derives importance from the virtue
and standing of the noble Companions (RA).
They witnessed revelation and the period of legislation, and lived with Prophet
Muhammad ﷺ, hearing from him and understanding him.
They were from the praised generations and were masters of eloquence and rhetoric.
The fatwa approach of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs also derives importance from its competence.
It can derive rulings and address incidents and unprecedented cases.
The general fatwa methodology in the era of the Rightly
Guided Caliphs relied on two sources:
the Qur'an and Sunnah.
The two sources were completed when Allah ﷻ perfected His religion.
"Today I have perfected your religion for you, completed My
favor upon you, and approved Islam for you as your religion."
The foundational stage ended with the cessation of revelation upon
the death of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
In the era of the Rightly Guided
Caliphs, the phase of ijtihad and fatwa began
to expand to address events and occurrences.
It addressed new cases with rulings derived from the Quran and Sunnah.
The Rightly Guided Caliphs too sought consultation in fatwas, easing hearts.
Al-Sha'bi, Hasan, Abu Husayn: A fatwa of yours Umar (RA) would consult Badr men on.
Fatwas were also restricted in some fields to qualified specialists.
The Commander of the Faithful.
From the pulpit, Umar ibn al-Khattab said: Ask Ubayy ibn Ka'b about the Quran.
Ask Mu'adh ibn Jabal about halal and haram.
Those are the chief features of the fatwa method under the Rightly Guided Caliphs.
This is a summary of the paper I presented at this blessed seminar.
In closing, we ask Allah SWT for success, rectitude, and to guide us aright.
My success is only through Allah SWT. In Him I trust, and to Him I turn.
May Allah SWT bless Prophet Muhammad SAW, his family and all his Companions (RA).
Thank you.
Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.