Azhar cleric criticises non-specialists for issuing fatwas

Al-Azhar Undersecretary Dr. Abbas Al-Shouman has slammed non-specialists who issue Fatwas without knowledge.

"Such Fatwas have harmed the religion and led to shedding the blood of Muslims and non-Muslims alike," Shouman said in a keynote speech during an international conference on Iftaa in Cairo on Monday.

He called on Islamic countries to determine entities which are authorized “to issue Fatwas to minimize the chaos of fatwas.”

He called for increasing conferences that discuss new fatwas and refute fatwas issued by extremist groups.

Fatwa in the Islamic faith is the term for legal opinion or learned interpretation that a qualified jurist or mufti, can give on issues pertaining to the Islamic law.