The Rise of Modern Fiqh Councils - Dr Ahsan Hanif

Public Lecture: The Rise of Modern Fiqh Councils - Dr Ahsan Hanif- 18/11/2015

Dr Ahsan Hanif, lecturer in Islamic Studies at Markfield Institute of Higher Education delivered an insightful lecture on the history and contemporary status of Islamic fiqh councils. Drawing on considerable expertise and research derived from earlier PhD studies in the field; he delineated differences between a fiqh council and a shari’ah court/council to enable the audience to appreciate the distinction between collective and individual rulings. Dr Ahsan explained how fiqh councils arrived at decisions and fatwas on pertinent issues via research, collective discussion and debate undertaken by groups of learned juristic scholars, known as mujtahid who derive guidance based on the Qur’an, sunnah, ijma (scholarly consensus) and qiyas (analogical reasoning). Such early rulings derived from ijtihad (independent reasoning or intellectual effort) were evidenced in the Plague of Amwas in 18 AH, where the Caliph Umar, terminates a journey to the Levant following warnings of a virulent plague in the region. This decision is based on senior counsel and further substantiated via Prophetic hadith related by Abdullah ibn Awf (ra). Contemporarily, fiqh councils exist at national and international level. Staffed by senior clerics whose discussion and deliberation transcend sectarian and national divisions to determine timely authoritative rulings widely applicable for Muslims of all persuasions. These include the National Fiqh Council; International Fiqh Council; Fiqh Council of North America; European Council for Fatwa and Research and the American Muslim Jurists Assembly. Furthermore, Dr Ahsan detailed growing requirements for Fiqh al-Aqaliyyat (jurisprudence for minorities) which provides rulings to address the religious, social and legal challenges Muslim minorities encounter while living in non-Muslim countries.

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