JEDDAH, 15 October 2006 — In a new trend thought to be the first in Saudi Arabia, religious scholars are making their phone hot lines available to the wider public in order to respond to religious queries over the phone.
According to a report in Asharq Al-Awsat, for a small fee, members of the public can telephone Islamic hot lines and ask sheikhs across the length and breadth of the Kingdom religious questions. However, certain sections of the community have viewed the new move with skepticism.
Sheikh Ahmad Abdul-Aal, who is an imam at a mosque in Jeddah’s Safa district, said: “We are present at mosques day and night. Our phone numbers are available to everyone. People seeking knowledge don’t hesitate to frequent the mosque at any time of the day. We only seek reward from Allah and we aim to provide a service to people — like the elderly, the sick and women — whose personal circumstances prevent them from visiting scholars. There are lots of people who want to ask questions in private.”
Sheikh Abdul-Aal said that those who can afford it would pay the fees and that money gained would go toward helping those in need. The sheikh added that there was no legal and Shariah law that prevents scholars from obtaining a fee in return for fatwa consultation. He also pointed out that scholars were allowed to accept a fee in return for jobs such as teaching Qur’an or giving religious lectures and seminars.
Sheikh Abdul-Aal emphasized that a man of religion could be likened to a doctor or an architect or teacher — who is paid a fee in return for a job or task he is doing. He also said that Imam Abu Hanifah used to say that if he wanted something he would buy it himself and save himself from the threat of falling into a trap of issuing a fatwa with the aim of pleasing people with a desire in his heart to gain that same thing.
Sheikh Abdul-Aal also emphasized that those who cannot afford to pay would be given consultation for free. “The money paid for fatwa consultation will be utilized in helping poor families in the district and the same neighborhood; for purchasing religious books in addition to being spent on those working at the mosque,” he said.
Communication companies are now offering cellular services through a new service called “Al-Hatef Al-Islami” (Islamic Phone), a system in which callers pay for fatwa services. The project is conducted through a hot line number that is given to Muslim scholars through the Communication Association. Scholars will use the number services on the condition that the Communications Association will take half of the call’s cost with the other half going to the sheikh answering the query.
Meanwhile, pilgrims at the Grand Mosque in Makkah can also benefit from a free-of-charge system and have their questions answered via special phones kept at the massive prayer complex. Pilgrims can simply pick up the phone and speak to a sheikh at the Grand Mosque free of charge.
Dr. Muhammad Dawud, who teaches at the faculty of Dawah and Usul’Adeen at the Umm Al-Qura University in Makkah emphasized that fatwas that are binding and recognized are only those that are issued by recognized bodies such as the Muslim World League in Makkah or research centers like the Islamic Research League/Assembly in Cairo.
According to Dr. Dawud, individual fatwas are not sufficient and can sometimes be inaccurate. He said that as such not everyone is permitted to respond to people’s questions unless they are specialists in Shariah.
Dr. Dawud mentioned that rumors have been spreading in recent times about paid-for-fatwas and emphasized that a man of religion cannot be sold or bought. He quoted Hassan Al-Basri who is reported to have said, “If a man of religion begins to want the dinar, then people will take what he says trivially.”
