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Maghreb religious officials discuss curbing extreme fatwas
[Maghrebia] New fatwas should follow the spirit of established religious laws, said Maghreb religious scholars and authorities who met in Algeria this week to discuss religion and security.Participants voiced support for freedom of thought, but said the issue of renegade imams issuing extremist fatwas needed to be addressed. The "absence of a Maghreb religious marji'ya ... has allowed people to move away from moderation", Algerian Religious Affairs Minister Bouabdellah Ghlamallah said at the two-day event in Sidi Okba, which began on Sunday (May 23rd). "One of the first signs of disorder in intellectual security is when the people move away from the marji'ya of moderation, with the appearance of religious extremism" that results in intolerance and false interpretation of sharia and Islamic history, Ghlamallah added. He called for the unification of religious marji'ya to "put an end to the attempts of some foreign parties to take advantage of the vacuum and of young people's minds by exporting flawed fatwas that may destabilise the region". Algeria's troubles in the 1990s had roots in similar fatwas from foreign sources, added the minister. Conference participants also encouraged the establishment of a Maghreb institution that would oversee the consultation and co-ordination of religious matters affecting daily life. "Correcting the ideas and approaches before the use of force is the most effective way to prevent religious extremism and terrorism," said Mohamed Ould Nembaou, an advisor to Mauritania's president, Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz. Ould Nembaou signalled his support for Algeria's aspiration to unify the religious marji'ya in the Maghreb. "Algeria has major scientific capabilities in correcting the takfirist approaches through wisdom and dialogue, and through the strong Islamic potential it has," he said. Algerian professors emphasised their role in preventing the spread of takfirist ideologies among youth. "There is not a single terrorist who graduated from an Algerian religious school or zawaya," said University of Algiers professor Mohamed Benbrika. "[O]utreach campaigns carried out by mosques and zawaya, as well as the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, have helped young people avoid developing an interest in takfirist fatwas and have protected [youth] from loss in the midst of terrorist barbarity", he added. Posted by: Fred 2010-05-26 |
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