Ijtihād

Twelve members of the extremist Islamic group “Al-Takfir Wa Al-Higra” were recently seized. The group attempts to revive the activities of the old “Al-Takfir Wa Al-Higra” group led by Shukri Mustafa

The article is an overview of the answers the leaders of the Gama´a Al-Islamiya gave to four of the 30 questions directed to them concerning the initiative to renounce violence and the ijtihads it is based on.

A crisis erupted in the Brotherhood group following the resignation of the Secretary of the Brotherhood Bureau in Port Said. His resignation came as an objection to the deterioration of the conditions of the group. He said that he could not continue working in a group that is against renewal and ijtihad and that does not welcome free intellectuals.

The writer follows up a seminar held in the Journalists Syndicate. In the seminar, Dr. Youssef Al-Qaradawi discussed the issue of religious discourse. He stated that Islam accepts the idea of renewing the religious discourse in accordance with global changes. But it is not acceptable for the US to impose a religious discourse upon Muslims.

The author comments on the meaning of renewing the Islamic fiqh. He mentions three Muslim scholars as examples on how to renew the fiqh.

The author comments on how to understand a religious text in order to be able to give a right fatwa.

The author explains the concept of “Religious fundamentals that are known by necessity,” especially as it used a lot against any one who brings about a new ijtihad.

The author comments on the events of 11th meeting of the European Council for Fatwa and Research held in Stockholm, Sweden. He believes that the council gives courageous fatwas and ijtihads to handle problems of Muslims. He criticized the council´s perception of jihad.

The author comments on the problem of terrorism and how to solve it. He believes that the wars, which took place between the West and Muslims in the last two years, created a common realization of the reasons behind religious-disguised terrorism. They also created a new perspective of how to end it. He believes that the best solution is to save ijtihad from the hands of the followers of Bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahri, Sayyed Qotb and the likes

The author comments on an article by Ayda Al-Gohari titled “The phenomenon of Amr Khalid…the preacher of rich people who look for a meaning [in life].” He believes that the analysis of Ayda is dominated by a secular, Marxist point of view – which led her to concentrate on the effect of the religious discourse of Khalid on consolidating social class differences in society.