Objectives

  • Since the vision is an accurate description of an ambitious future, and the mission is a faithful summary of the most important objectives, the strategic objectives are therefore a set of outcomes that the institution seeks to accomplish through multiple and diverse programs, activities, and initiatives capable of fulfilling the mission, and thus the vision. Based on this understanding, the objectives of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy are set to achieve the following outcomes:
  • Achieve intellectual harmony and integration between jurists from recognized schools of Islamic jurisprudence and experts in the field of human, social, natural, and applied sciences to elucidate the positions of Shariah towards contemporary life issues.
  • Promote collective Ijtihad (Ijtihad jama’e) on contemporary life questions and issues, in order to elaborate Shariah-based solutions, and clarify valid preferences among several legal opinions on the same issue, in accordance with the interests of Muslims -whether individuals, communities, or States- and in full harmony with the legal arguments and ultimate purposes of Shariah.
  • Coordinate between authorities of Ifta and institutions of jurisprudence inside and outside the Muslim world to avoid contradictions and hostilities between opinions on the same issue, especially on general issues that may cause conflicts.
  • Reject denominational intolerance, religious fanaticism, and excommunication of Islamic doctrines and their followers through spreading the spirit moderation, openness, and tolerance among the followers of different schools of law and sects.
  • Refute baseless fatwas that negate Islamic principles, established rules of Ijtihad, and scholarly Islamic schools of law without giving any recognized evidence.
  • Provide Shariah rulings on subjects arising from the lived reality to facilitate the development of legislations, laws, and regulations in line and harmony with the provisions of Shariah.
  • Express Shariah opinions directly when requested and translate them into the lived reality revolving around the challenges facing the Islamic Ummah, and on the documents issued by the OIC, international Islamic and non-Islamic organizations.
  • Issue fatwas to Muslim communities and organizations outside the Muslim world in a way that would preserve the values of Islam, its culture and traditions, which also aims at protecting their Islamic identity, with due respect to the essentials of citizenship and residence in non-Muslim societies.
  • Promote cooperation, rapprochement, and complementarity between scholars of different schools of law regarding the fundamental principles of religion, reinforcement commonalities, respect of differences, and maintaining ethics of the jurisprudence of divergence while giving due weight to the opinions of the different schools of law when the Academy issues fatwas and resolutions.
  • Renew the science of Islamic jurisprudence by developing it from within and through the rules of legal deduction, principles, rules, and objectives of Shariah.
  • Conduct constructive interreligious and intercultural dialogue, in order to cooperate for the benefit of humanity, in coordination with the Secretariat General of the OIC.

Means

  • The objectives are the finalities and outcomes that the Academy aims to achieve while the means are the procedures which represent the mechanisms, activities, and programs used to reach those outcomes. The Academy adopts many means, namely:
  • Issuing resolutions and fatwas on issues of concern to Muslims, translating them into contemporary languages and disseminating them as widely as possible in order to encourage embracing the Islamic approach of moderation and temperance, which shall protect Muslims from fanaticism, extremism, negligence, and unreliable opinions.
  • Organizing specialized scientific conferences and symposia to discuss specific issues or problematic or multidisciplinary topics, which require jurisprudential research and discussion on a broader scale than normally provided by the Academy Council’s meetings.
  • Providing jurisprudential advice over documents issued by the OIC or any other Islamic or non-Islamic organizations, whenever the Academy is requested to do so.
  • Establishing a directory of Ifta authorities and councils, as well as jurisprudential institutions and academies inside and outside the Muslim world, with the view to identifying entities and bodies with which the Academy may cooperate and coordinate relations.
  • Establishing centers for Islamic studies in some of the focal areas outside the Muslim world; cooperating with existing centers in order to promote the objectives of the Academy, monitor publications on Islam in their regions, and refute any misrepresentation of Islam.
  • Publishing comprehensive jurisprudential encyclopedias that address contemporary issues in various areas of life and focus on issues addressed in jurisprudence treatises. These publications should be formulated in a language accessible to the culturally and media literate public.
  • Encouraging jurisprudential research about contemporary challenges, new developments, and current issues through the divisions and committees of the Academy in cooperation with universities and other academic institutions, with regard to contemporary life problems, challenges and latest issues.
  • Drafting model laws in various areas (in the three official languages) that require the codification of Shariah provisions, taking into consideration differences between schools of law, and ensuring their translation and dissemination throughout the Muslim world for easy reference in the amendment process of existing legislations, laws, and regulations.
  • Reviving the Islamic jurisprudence heritage, with particular emphasis on the books dealing with the fundamentals of jurisprudence, the ultimate purposes of Shariah, jurisprudence and comparative jurisprudence; publishing unpublished works in the above fields after examining them; and translating the classics of this type of heritage into major Muslim world languages and beyond.
  • Elaborating a comprehensive dictionary of Islamic jurisprudence and fundamentals of jurisprudence terms (in the three official languages), which defines each term accurately and precisely while expressing meanings in a simple and intelligible language.
  • Publishing the Academy’s works, resolutions, and fatwas, and the most significant research presented therein, in the Academy’s scientific journal and on its website, and publicize and translate them into important Muslim world languages and beyond.
  • Seeking assistance from experts specializing in various scientific and applied fields to study and research the topics submitted to the Academy.
  • Publishing a peer-reviewed journal based on firm scientific principles to serve research and studies on issues related to Shariah and Islamic jurisprudence, and in which some of the research of scholars and academics in these fields will be published.