The European Council for Fatwa and Research (ECFR) is a

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

-based private foundation, founded in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 29–30 March 1997 on the initiative of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe. The council is a largely self-selected body, composed of Islamic clerics and scholars, presided over by

Yusuf al-Qaradawi Yusuf al-Qaradawi (; or ''Yusuf al-Qardawi''; 9 September 1926 – 26 September 2022) was an Egyptian Islamic scholar based in Doha, Qatar, and chairman of the International Union of Muslim Scholars. His influences included Ibn Taymiyya, Ibn ...

Goals and methodology

The stated goal of the ECFR is to issue

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

s that serve the needs of Muslims in Europe. The ECRF draws on all major schools of Sunni law as well as other traditional legal principles, such as objectives of sharia, concern for the public good, local custom, and the prevention of harm, in an effort to derive fatwas suitable for life in Europe. This methodology is intended to address situations which would be difficult to manage under a stricter interpretation of Islamic law, including using the doctrine of ''darura'' (necessity) to permit traditionally prohibited actions. The rulings of ECFR are nonbinding and are adopted through social acceptance.

Membership

As of 2007, roughly two-thirds of the ECFR's 35 members resided in North America and Europe and the rest were from Muslim-majority countries.

, a prominent Egyptian-born jurist residing in Qatar, has served as the chairman of the ECFR since its founding. The composition of the membership was intended to buttress legitimacy of the Council both in the West and in the Muslim world.

Positions and reception

A 2001 ECRF ruling allowed a female convert to Islam to remain married to her non-Muslim husband, based in part on the existence of European laws and customs which guarantee women the freedom of religion. Rulings of this kind have been welcomed by some, but also criticized by others as being overly eclectic in legal methodology and having potential to negatively impact the interpretation of sharia in Muslim-majority countries. In August 2005, ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' reported that although the council's stated goal was to help Muslims integrate into European society, it is dominated by non-Europeans who have little grasp of what is acceptable in the West. A member of the Council cited the

anti-Semitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

forgery known as the

Protocols of the Elders of Zion ''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated text purporting to detail a Jewish plot for global domination. Largely plagiarized from several earlier sources, it was first published in Imperial Russia in 1903, translated into multip ...

in a position paper arguing that Muslim families are under threat in Europe. It also reported that "the council is part of a web of organizations that spread ideology close to the Muslim Brotherhood throughout Europe".

Cooperation with other Islamic organisations in Europe

# Al-Maktoum Charity Organisation, Dublin,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

# Millî Görüş (German and other sections) # Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe # European Islamic Council in Belgium

Members of the ECFR

, President of ECFR (

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

) # Faisal Maulawi, Vice-President (

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

). # Hussein Mohammed Halawa, General Secretary (

) # Dr. Ahmad Jaballah (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) # Dr. Ahmed Ali Al-Imam (

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

) # Mufti Ismail Kashoulfi (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) # Ahmed Kadhem Al-Rawi (United Kingdom) # Ounis Qurqah (France) # Rashid al-Ghannushi (Tunisia) # Abdallah Bin Bayyah (

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

) # Abdul Raheem Al-Taweel (

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

) # Abdullah Ibn Ali Salem (

Mauritania Mauritania, officially the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, is a sovereign country in Maghreb, Northwest Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Western Sahara to Mauritania–Western Sahara border, the north and northwest, ...

) # Abdullah Ibn Yusuf Al-Judai, (United Kingdom) # Abdul Majeed Al-Najjar # Abdullah ibn Sulayman Al-Manee' (Saudi Arabia) # Dr. Abdul Sattar Abu Ghudda (Saudi Arabia) # Dr. Ajeel Al-Nashmi (

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

) # Al-Arabi Al-Bichri (France) # Dr. Issam Al-Bashir (Sudan) # Ali Qaradaghi (Qatar) # Dr. Suhaib Hasan Ahmed (United Kingdom) # Tahir Mahdi (France) # Mahboub-ul-Rahman (

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

) # Muhammed Siddique (

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) # Muhammad Ali Saleh Al-Mansour (

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

) # Dr. Muhammed Al-Hawari (Germany) # Mahumoud Mujahed (

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) # Dr. Mustafa Cerić (

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

) # Nihad Abdul Quddous Ciftci (Germany) # Dr. Naser Ibn Abdullah Al-Mayman (Saudi Arabia) # Yusf Ibram (

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

) # Salah Soltan (

, United States) # Salem Abdelmeguid (

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

) # Jasser Auda (

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

) Half of the members are from the European continent and half are from the Arabian Peninsula, Northern Africa or Northern America. This is a breach of the internal rules of the ECFR, as members not residing in Europe "must not constitute more than 25% of the total members of the Council at any one time".

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1997 establishments in England Islamic organisations based in Ireland Fatwas Islamic organizations established in 1997 Organizations affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood