In the Name of Allāh,

the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful

Praise is due to Allāh, Lord of the worlds, may the blessings and peace be upon our master Muḥammad, the last of prophets, on his family, and all his companions.

Resolution No. 146 (4/16)

New Interpretations of the Quran and Islamic Texts

The Council of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, holding its 16th session in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on 30 Ṣafar – 5 Rabīʿ al-Awwal 1426h (9–14 April 2005),

Having examined the research papers submitted to the Academy concerning the New Interpretations of the Quran and Islamic Texts,

Having listened to the discussions on the subject,

Resolves

First: If the so-called new interpretation of the religious texts leads to distor- tion of the meaning of these texts, even if by leaning towards odd viewpoints that stands counter to the unanimously accepted facts of Shariah, then such interpretation is a detestable heterodoxy which constitutes a great danger to Muslim societies and to Islamic culture and values. It is noted that some of the advocates of this way of thinking seem to have taken it out of their own igno- rance about the criteria and standards of interpretation and their crazy fondness to renew regardless of Shariah criteria.

Unfortunately, the signs of exacerbation of this danger are clearly manifested in the rush of some universities to adopt this methodology and publish such misstated ideas through various means, and to encourage graduate students to study these ideas in university theses and To invite their proponents to lecturing and participating in doubtful seminars organized on the subject. Furthermore, some institutions went to the extent of translating their views into foreign lan- guages and publishing their poisonous books.

Second: Confronting and challenging such ideas has, therefore, become a collective duty on Muslims who should work hard for combating its danger through the following means:

• Calling upon the governments of the Muslim countries to face this flagrant danger through clarification of the difference between responsible freedom of opinion, which respects the fundamental norms and values, and unrestrained destructive Necessary actions need to be taken for imposing proper

norms on publishing institutions, cultural centers, and media organizations. Wide scope campaigns of general Islamic awareness are also necessary for enlightening the younger generations and university students to elucidate the standard criteria of Ijtihād (efforts of interpretation) regarding Shariah issues, proper interpretation of Texts and explanation of the aḥādīth of the Prophet SAW.

Using suitable means (such as discussion seminars) for paving the way to an in-depth study on the subjects and terminologies of Shariah and encouraging scholarly Ijtihād that observes Shariah criteria and the well- known fundamentals of the Arabic language.

• Widening the scope of pro-active discussions with the supporters of this interpretation
• Encouraging specialists in Islamic studies to provide intensive scientific arguments and responses to their ideas in different areas, especially in ed- ucation curricula.
• Directing graduate students in Islamic doctrine, ḥadīth, and Shariah to se- lect topics in their university dissertations that explain the truth and strong- ly refute their claims and fallacies.
• Creating a task force under the auspices of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy in Jeddah and establishing a comprehensive library that compris- es all the materials published so far on the subject, along with the relevant responses in order to facilitate appropriate research and coordinate studies among various research institutions, within and without the Muslim

Indeed, Allāh is All-Knowing.