International Islamic Fiqh Academy

International Islamic Fiqh Academy (Arabic: مجمع الفقه الإسلامي الدولي) is an international Islamic institution for the advanced study of Islamic jurisprudence and law located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was founded following a resolution by the Third Islamic Summit Conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, held in Mecca, that called for the establishment of an Islamic Fiqh Academy.[1] The International Islamic Fiqh Academy was established in June 1983 as a subsidiary organ of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. It consists of 57 member states and representatives.[2]

Organization of Islamic Cooperation
International Islamic Fiqh Academy
مجمع الفقه الإسلامي الدولي
MottoMy Lord, increase me in knowledge.
Formation1983
TypeOIC subsidiary organ
Legal statusNon-profit
HeadquartersJeddah, Saudi Arabia
Region served
OIC Member states and Muslim communities
Membership
57 Member states
Official languages
Arabic . English . French
President
Sheikh Salih bin Abdullah al Humaid
Secretary-General
Dato Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano
Predecessor
Prof. Abdulsalam al-Abbadi
Key people
Sheikh Bakr Abu Zayd - Sheikh Salih bin Abdullah al Humaid
Parent organization
Organization of Islamic Cooperation
Websitehttp://www.iifa-aifi.org/
Muslim world leaders announcing the creation of an international Fiqh Academy at the Third Islamic Summit in Mecca 1981-1401

Based on both traditional Islamic sciences and modern fields of knowledge, the IIFA seeks to advance knowledge in the realms of culture, science, and economics. The main objective of the IIFA is to address issues related to humanity in accordance with Sharia and Islamic ethics. The IIFA's activities revolve around concluding researches and documentations as well as organizing events and meetings between Islamic scholars and experts in various fields of knowledge.[3] The resolutions and recommendations of the Academy deal with various global issues from the perspective of Fiqh.[4]

The IIFA serves as the OIC's jurisprudential agency and legal arm. It also advises and cooperates with other non-Islamic organizations and Fiqh councils. The IIFA convenes annually gathering the most prominent Islamic experts on the globe.[5] The current president is Sheikh Dr. Salih bin Abdullah al Humaid, Imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah. Its Secretary-General is Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, a former Minister of Religious Affairs in the Republic of Guinea, a recognized Islamic scholar and thinker.

History

Background

The International Islamic Fiqh Academy was established in June 1983 as a result of an OIC resolution during the Third Islamic Summit in Makkah.[6]

Presidents and Secretaries-General

The Academy has had 2 presidents and 4 Secretaries-General since its foundation. The Secretary-General of the Academy is appointed by a decree of the OIC from among the most eminent members of the Academy, to serve this position for a renewable term of four years.

The current Secretary-General of the IIFA is Professor Koutoub Moustapha Sano who took office in October 2020 after having held for a dozen years several high level positions in the government of the Republic of Guinea, mainly as Minister of Religious Affairs, Minister of International Cooperation and Minister of Diplomatic Affairs in the Presidency of the Republic of Guinea. In 2007, while he was Deputy Rector (2005-2009) in charge of Internationalization and Innovation at the International Islamic University Malaysia, the former Sultan of Pahang, now King of Malaysia (2019-), conferred on him the honorific title of Dato.[7]

Although the current Secretary-General's appointment predates the COVID-19 pandemic, his predecessor, Professor Abdulsalam al-Abbadi, succumbed on August 10, 2020,[8] at the Saudi-German Hospital in Jeddah, a few weeks before the end of his term as Secretary-General of the Academy, reportedly due to complications related to Covid-19. He was buried in Jannat al-Mu'alla cemetery in Makkah.

Presidents:

Secretaries-General:

  • 1984–2008 / 1405-1429: Sheikh Dr. Mohamed Habib Belkhodja, former Grand Mufti of the Republic of Tunisia.
  • 2011–2015 / 1432-1436: Prof. Ahmed Khaled Babkar, former Secretary-General of the Republic of Sudan's Islamic Fiqh Council.
  • 2015–2020 / 1436-1442: Prof. Abdulsalam al-Abbadi, former Minister of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs, and Holy Sites of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
  • 2020 / 1442––present: Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, former Minister of Religious Affairs, and Adviser to the President of the Republic of Guinea.

Membership
Key Participants at 24th Annual Conference of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Dubai, November 2019. Image reflecting Muslim world's diversity and harmony.

Since the IIFA is a subsidiary organ of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, it shares the same 57 Member states.[9] Most of these countries are Muslim-majority countries, and the vast majority of them have an official representative elected by their governments to represent them in the Academy. Many of these representatives are former or current Ministers of Religious Affairs, Grand Muftis, or prominent Islamic scholars.[10]

Member states' representatives regularly participate in the Academy's annual conference and events, in addition to the hundreds of researchers, experts and scholars, from Member and non-Member states, who contribute to its annual conference and various seminars.[11]

Mission and Purpose

In its statute and brochure, the Academy defines its mission as follows:

The Academy seeks to present Sharia in a moderate manner, emphasizing its merits and its full capacity to deal with the problems and issues of life as well as its capacity to help mankind to achieve happiness, stability, peace, security, and safety in this life and beyond. This mission is based on a comprehensive and integrated understanding of the Islamic religion, its foundations, its sources, its objectives, its principles, and its provisions.[12]

As for its purpose, the Academy states:

The Fiqh Academy aims at becoming the world’s leading jurisprudential reference to which turn the countries of Islamic world and the Muslim communities in order to clarify the positions of Shariah on issues of concern to Muslims and to provide appropriate solutions to the problems of contemporary life, derived from the Holy Qur’an, the noble prophetic Sunnah and the rich Islamic heritage.[13]

International Cooperation

The IIFA is arguably the world's largest and most influential Fiqh council. It signed cooperation agreements with several international organizations, including a partnership with the World Health Organization for the eradication of the poliovirus through the Islamic Advisory Group that was established by the World Health Organization and Muslim public entities.[14]

Other partnerships include the memorandum of understanding between the IIFA and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, for which the IIFA issued a Fatwa in 2020 allowing it to collect Zakat and charity funds from Muslim donors and distribute them to refugees and displaced persons around the world.[15]

Covid-19 Pandemic

The IIFA has played a critical role during the COVID-19 pandemic by raising-awareness on the safety and preventive measures against the coronavirus,[16] addressing the OIC Member states and international organizations worldwide with an in-depth fatwa[17] on the Covid-19 pandemic, and urging Muslim populations and local leaders to comply with the precautionary measures set by governments and health authorities to fight the pandemic and minimize its effects.

The IIFA took a firm stand against the coronavirus pandemic and was one of the first Islamic institutions to condemn the Covid-19 conspiracy theories and call for public preventive measures. It refuted the irregular fatwas issued by individual muftis and unreliable organizations that doubted the Covid-19 treatment or called for public disobedience to preventive measures. Instead, it urged the masses to rely on Islamic legal opinions from renowned scholars and physicians to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.[18]

Medical Research Ethics

The International Islamic Fiqh Academy had a large hand in the allowance of organ transplantations. In 1986, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy recognized brain-death as a recognized form of death in Islam. This allowed for the immediate start of organ transplantation in Saudi Arabia. The IIFA later issued a fatwa on organ transplantation that expanded the practice .[19]

In 1992, 1997, 2004, 2006, and 2018, the IIFA issued resolutions (fatwas) about medical research ethics. Other organizations that have issued similar fatwas - some in cooperation with the IIFA - include Islamic Organization for Medical Sciences, Islamic Fiqh Council, Dar-Alifta Al-Misrriyah, and Islamic Medical Association of North America.

The IIFA has had a hand in defining standards of medical research confidentiality via institutional fatwas.[20] It has also issued a resolution about fasting during Ramadan for people with diabetes.[21]

Struggle against Extremism and Terrorism

Since its establishment in 1984, the International Islamic Fiqh Academy vowed to fight extremism, terrorism, and to promote values of moderation and tolerance based on a thorough understanding of Islamic resources.[22] Several members and collaborators of the Academy are signatories of the Amman Message (2004) and the Makkah Declaration (2019).[23]

The International Islamic Fiqh Academy issued several statements and resolutions condemning violence and different forms of extremism on the grounds of Fiqh and Sharia. This had a significant impact on curbing the tide of extremism in the Muslim world.[24] In October–November 2018, the Madinah Declaration[25] was issued at the 23rd session of the Academy in Al Madinah Al Munawwarah, and it called for denominational and jurisprudential tolerance, cooperation, and integration between different Islamic schools and denominations.[26][27]

In June 2006 (Ramadan 1427 AH), under the auspices of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, several dozen Iraqi religious leaders from Sunni and Shia factions took part in a two-day meeting[28] near Masjid al-Haram in Makkah and signed the Makkah Document that called to take practical steps to end the sectarian violence in post-Saddam Iraq. The Makkah Document supposably called for the formation of committees in various parts of Iraq and for organizing seminars of Sunni and Shia religious leaders and scholars.[29]

Academic Achievements

As of 2019, the IIFA held 24 international sessions and issued 238 resolutions on various issues of concern to both Muslims and non-Muslims.[30] The IIFA sessions and seminars' basic research reached a total number of 80 volumes while the IIFA resolutions and recommendations have been translated and published in English and French.[31]

IIFA Waqf Fund

The IIFA is a non-profit academic institution that relies on contributions from member states and private donors for funding. In 2020, a special endowment fund named the IIFA Waqf Fund has been established by the IIFA to attract public and private donors from around the world.[32]

Notable Members
  • Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, current Secretary-General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy
  • Meeting room at the IIFA 23rd Session, held in Medina, November 2018
  • King Salman International Convention Center in Medina hosting one of the sessions of the Academy
  • Panel discussion during one of the plenary sessions
  • Discussion and consultation between scholars and experts from different parts of the Muslim world

See also

References
  1. LLC. "3rd OIC Islamic Summit resolution no. 8/3-C(I.S.)".
  2. LLC. "3rd OIC Islamic Summit resolution no. 8/3-C(I.S.)".
  3. "Open Year Book : IIFA".
  4. Resolutions and Recommendations of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy.
  5. "24th International Islamic Fiqh Academy Conference 2019 commences in Dubai".
  6. LLC. "3rd OIC Islamic Summit resolution no. 8/3-C(I.S.)".
  7. "Advisor to President of Guinea joins Muslim Council of Elders".
  8. "Mourning the death of Prof. Abdulsalam Al-Abbadi".
  9. "OIC and IIFA Member States List".
  10. "IIFA Member States Representatives List".
  11. Ekmeleddin İhsanoğlu (2010). The Islamic World in the New Century: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference. ISBN 9781849040631.
  12. "International Islamic Fiqh Academy official brochure".
  13. "International Islamic Fiqh Academy official brochure".
  14. "First Islamic Advisory Group (IAG) meeting on polio eradication".
  15. "UNHCR Zakat Fund Fatwah by the International Islamic Fiqh Academy".
  16. "International Islamic Fiqh Academy and the OIC hold a virtual symposium on COVID-19".
  17. "Covid-19 Pandemic Symposium Statement & Recommendations".
  18. "International Islamic Fiqh Academy and the OIC hold a virtual symposium on COVID-19".
  19. Albar, Mohammed (2012). "Organ transplantation: A Sunni Islamic perspective". Saudi Journal of Kidney Diseases and Transplantation. 23 (4): 817–22. doi:10.4103/1319-2442.98169. ISSN 1319-2442. PMID 22805399.
  20. Alahmad, Ghiath; Dierickx, Kris (2012). "What Do Islamic Institutional Fatwas Say About Medical and Research Confidentiality and Breach of Confidentiality?". Developing World Bioethics. 12 (2): 104–112. doi:10.1111/j.1471-8847.2012.00329.x. ISSN 1471-8847. PMID 22702346.
  21. Beshyah, SA (2009). "Fasting during the month of ramadan for people with diabetes: Medicine and fiqh united at last". Ibnosina Journal of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. 1 (2): 58. doi:10.4103/1947-489x.211054. ISSN 1947-489X.
  22. "Amman Message website IIFA resources".
  23. "The Charter of Makkah - Official Document". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  24. "Al-Othaimeen Highlights the Efforts of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in Promoting Moderation and Countering Terrorism".
  25. "Madinah Declaration".
  26. "International Islamic Fiqh Academy event to suggest ways to fight social issues".
  27. "Prominent Muslim figures: religious, cultural diversity does not justify 'conflict'".
  28. "Mecca Document". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  29. "ReliefWeb, Makkah Al-Mukarramah declaration on the Iraqi situation ("Mecca Document")". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  30. Resolutions and Recommendations of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy.
  31. Resolutions and Recommendations of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy.
  32. "Secretariat-General of the Academy receives the key of the first endowment".
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