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| Source: Muis. Cover of the book. |
A translated and adapted version of the original Malay publication titled Fatwa-Fatwa Singapura Jilid 1: Sains, Perubatan dan Kesihatan, the book is part of the Fatwa Rulings Compilation and Analysis series. The series is itself part of the Fatwa Rulings Documentation Project, which aims to increase awareness and enhance the understanding of readers on fatwas produced by Singapore's Fatwa Committee, and how the committee's development and thinking has changed since 1968.
Beyond the 29 fatwa texts related to issues of science, medicine and health, the publication also provides sociohistorical context behind the issues discussed by the fatwas. Commentaries summarise and explain revisions for fatwas, as well as distil the Islamic legal principles, concepts and thinking processes employed by the Fatwa Committee in fatwas particularly for those which involve novel ijtihād*.
The first volume also provides insights into the challenges faced by the Fatwa Committee members since its founding, and what it continues to face in ensuring that relevant fatwas are produced in the context of Singapore's technologically advanced and multicultural society.
Such norms and values encourage citizens to respect different faiths and cultures and allow them each to thrive, and also to embrace each other as fellow Singaporeans. "These norms and values are not as visible, but they are at the heart of what it takes to sustain our multicultural society. They are also continuous work. Our religious and community leaders, educators and parents, and all of us as citizens, play important roles in deepening these values of respect and fellowship as citizens in our next phase of making history," he noted.
Singapore's Fatwa Committee has had a crucial role to play in the country's multicultural environment, Shanmugaratnam said, paving the way for the Central Provident Fund and insurance nominations to be accepted as valid ways of transferring wealth within Muslim families, for example.
He also lauded the Fatwa Committee's sustained engagement within the Muslim community to discuss the objectives and rationale of fatwas. "Through this engagement, the committee is able to explain why it may at times decide to depart from the positions of religious bodies elsewhere in the Islamic world. It is also how our Muslim religious leaders help engender trust and confidence in fatwas that are suited for Muslims living in Singapore. The Committee’s independent thinking, guided by their ethical and moral commitments and a keen eye on the public interest, augurs well for the future of Islam in Singapore, and also for our multiculturalism in Singapore," he said.
Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram, the Mufti of Singapore recounted at the same conference how the Fatwa Committee has revised fatwas as technology has advanced, revealing new implications and challenges.
He noted that "the earnestness shown by the Fatwa Committee to not only protect the community from possible harm or probable transgression of their religious injunctions that can be caused by uncertainties and sense of anxiety", and also the Committee's "desire to provide religious guidance that would propel them forward in riding the waves of scientific and technological advancements" departs from the approach still taken by many muftis or fatwa institutions, where in situations of uncertainty and probable occurence of both benefit and harm, tend in general to emphasise
the obligation to avoid harm.
"A legal maxim widely utilised to justify this approach is dar' al-mafasid muqaddam 'ala jalb al-masalih (درء المفاسد مقدم على جلب المصالح), or 'the evasion of harms is to take precedence over establishing benefits'. This legal maxim is useful, as the failure to eliminate dangers or harms would normally impede the realisation of benefits in the lives of individuals and communities."
Rather than exclude new developments, Dr Mohamed Fatris said Muslims must "develop a high degree of confidence to not only be consumers of these scientific achievements, but as active contributors that effectively take part in their further developments", quoting a saying from the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) that "the best of peoples are those who bring the most benefits to others (أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ)".
"In the midst of uncertainties from uncharted perils of cloning, the Fatwa Committee decided to stay true to the spirit of bolstering scientific discoveries, that has long been the tradition of Islamic scholarship that shaped its history for centuries. This is evident in the fatwa on cloning issued in February 2000, where the Committee laid an important foundation in addressing issues of new scientific discoveries. In the concluding part of the fatwa text, the Fatwa Committee advises the Muslim community against assuming that there exists a contradiction between Islam and new scientific discoveries," he said, noting that scientific discoveries are meant for "establishing general benefit and good".
While acknowledging that the commitee is bounded by principles of the shari'ah, Dr Mohamed Fatris also said, "A dignified and responsible fatwa authority is one that provides guidance to real challenges faced by the community in their respective world, within the temporal space and physical environment that they are in."
Interested?
View the Muis video about how fatwas have evolved in Singapore (subtitles in English for parts in Malay)
*Ijtihad (اجتهاد) refers to the reasoning or analytic process of answering a question in the Islamic legal context.
Singapore's Fatwa Committee has had a crucial role to play in the country's multicultural environment, Shanmugaratnam said, paving the way for the Central Provident Fund and insurance nominations to be accepted as valid ways of transferring wealth within Muslim families, for example.
He also lauded the Fatwa Committee's sustained engagement within the Muslim community to discuss the objectives and rationale of fatwas. "Through this engagement, the committee is able to explain why it may at times decide to depart from the positions of religious bodies elsewhere in the Islamic world. It is also how our Muslim religious leaders help engender trust and confidence in fatwas that are suited for Muslims living in Singapore. The Committee’s independent thinking, guided by their ethical and moral commitments and a keen eye on the public interest, augurs well for the future of Islam in Singapore, and also for our multiculturalism in Singapore," he said.
Dr Mohamed Fatris Bakaram, the Mufti of Singapore recounted at the same conference how the Fatwa Committee has revised fatwas as technology has advanced, revealing new implications and challenges.
He noted that "the earnestness shown by the Fatwa Committee to not only protect the community from possible harm or probable transgression of their religious injunctions that can be caused by uncertainties and sense of anxiety", and also the Committee's "desire to provide religious guidance that would propel them forward in riding the waves of scientific and technological advancements" departs from the approach still taken by many muftis or fatwa institutions, where in situations of uncertainty and probable occurence of both benefit and harm, tend in general to emphasise
the obligation to avoid harm.
"A legal maxim widely utilised to justify this approach is dar' al-mafasid muqaddam 'ala jalb al-masalih (درء المفاسد مقدم على جلب المصالح), or 'the evasion of harms is to take precedence over establishing benefits'. This legal maxim is useful, as the failure to eliminate dangers or harms would normally impede the realisation of benefits in the lives of individuals and communities."
Rather than exclude new developments, Dr Mohamed Fatris said Muslims must "develop a high degree of confidence to not only be consumers of these scientific achievements, but as active contributors that effectively take part in their further developments", quoting a saying from the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) that "the best of peoples are those who bring the most benefits to others (أَحَبُّ النَّاسِ إِلَى اللَّهِ أَنْفَعُهُمْ لِلنَّاسِ)".
"In the midst of uncertainties from uncharted perils of cloning, the Fatwa Committee decided to stay true to the spirit of bolstering scientific discoveries, that has long been the tradition of Islamic scholarship that shaped its history for centuries. This is evident in the fatwa on cloning issued in February 2000, where the Committee laid an important foundation in addressing issues of new scientific discoveries. In the concluding part of the fatwa text, the Fatwa Committee advises the Muslim community against assuming that there exists a contradiction between Islam and new scientific discoveries," he said, noting that scientific discoveries are meant for "establishing general benefit and good".
While acknowledging that the commitee is bounded by principles of the shari'ah, Dr Mohamed Fatris also said, "A dignified and responsible fatwa authority is one that provides guidance to real challenges faced by the community in their respective world, within the temporal space and physical environment that they are in."
Interested?
View the Muis video about how fatwas have evolved in Singapore (subtitles in English for parts in Malay)
*Ijtihad (اجتهاد) refers to the reasoning or analytic process of answering a question in the Islamic legal context.
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