His Excellency Prof. Koutoub Moustapha Sano, Secretary General of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), chaired the proceedings of the fourth discussion session, on the topic of “Fatwa on Fatwa in the Work of Sharia Boards”, of the AAOIFI nineteenth Annual Sharia Boards Conference, on Wednesday 7 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1443H corresponding to October 13, 2021G.

This closing session of the conference included senior scholars and sheikhs, namely His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Muhammad Al-Mutlaq, member of the Sharia Council of AAOIFI, member of the Council of Senior Scholars, advisor at the Saudi Royal Court, member of the Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta’, His Eminence Sheikh Prof. Sayed Muhammad Al-Tabatabaei, Member of AAOIFI’s Board of Trustees, and Chairman of the Supreme Consultative Committee to Work on Completing the Application of Islamic Sharia Provisions of the Kuwaiti Emiri Diwan, His Eminence Dr. Abdul Bari Mishaal, Member of AAOIFI’s Governance and Ethics Board, Founder and Managing Partner “Raqaba”, His Excellency Sheikh Dr. Saad bin Nasser Al-Shathri, Member The Council of Senior Scholars, Adviser at the Saudi Royal Court, His Eminence Dr. Walid Hegazi, Member of AAOIFI’s Governance and Ethics Council, Managing Partner and Founder of “Hegazi & Partners for Legal Consultations”, and His Eminence Sheikh Abdul Sattar Al Qattan, Member of AAOIFI’s Sharia Standards Committee, and CEO of Shura Consulting.

His Excellency assumed the honor of moderating this final scientific session, which themes revolved around the fatwas issued by the Sharia supervisory boards of the institutions based on fatwas issued by other boards and the extent to which they are obligatory, in addition to the issue of some Sharia supervisory boards not disclosing the source of some fatwas that are sometimes relying on the fatwas of other boards, or on the opinion of one of its members without reference to that. The session stated the Sharia ruling on this subject. The speakers also touched on the issue of “Fatwa on Fatwa”, its general Sharia parameters, and its impact on the Sharia discipline of the Islamic financial industry in particular, and the extent to which it defies the purpose of collective Ijtihad in the work of Sharia supervisory boards in general.

His Excellency the Chairman of the session commented on the topic of the ongoing discussion by noting that the purpose of these Shariah supervisory boards is to organize and direct the transactions of Islamic banks and financial institutions so that they perform their work in the fullest manner and in full consistency with the teachings of Islamic Sharia, which ensures their success, prosperity and development for the better in a way that serves the interests of Muslims all over the world. To achieve this, the bodies should select scholars who meet the conditions of ijtihad in order to prevent the infiltration of people who do not meet these conditions. His Excellency also clarified the importance of highlighting the legal evidence that the boards adopt in their fatwas, because there is a subtle difference between imitation and following. Imitation is taking the saying of someone whose statement is not an argument without knowing the evidence for his statement. As for following, it is taking the saying of someone whose saying is not an argument, but after knowing the evidence for his saying. Therefore, it is necessary for the Shariah supervisory boards to identify the evidence for the fatwas that they would like to rely on from other boards, so their taking those fatwas after knowing their evidence is following, not imitation, because imitation is reprehensible and is inappropriate for those who have reached the rank of ijtihad.

His Excellency concluded by praising the distinguished sheikhs participating in the session for their accurate scientific and legal analysis in order to direct the work of Islamic financial institutions for the interest of the Muslim Ummah and its economic success. At the end of the session, His Excellency thanked all the attendees, and congratulated AAOIFI on the success of the conference, wishing them further progress and prosperity.