The Permanent Committee for Scholarly Research and Ifta (also the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, ) is an Islamic organization in
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 ...
established by the King that issues rulings in Islamic jurisprudence (
fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
) and prepares research papers for the
Council of Senior Scholars, which advises the king on religious matters. Its members are drawn from the Council of Senior Scholars, of which it is a committee, and consist of the most senior
Sunni
Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr () rightfully succeeded him as the caliph of the Mu ...
scholars of fiqh in Saudi Arabia, including the
Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia as its head. The issuance of
fataawa in Saudi Arabia is limited to members of the Council of Senior Scholars and a few other clerics.
[
]
Establishment
The committee was established along with the Council of Senior Scholars by royal decree on August 29, 1971 (8th of Rajab 1391 AH) by King Faisal ibn Abd al-Aziz of Saudi Arabia.[Islamopedia: "Standing Committee for Scholarly Research and Issuing Fatwas, (Saudi Arabia)"]
retrieved from archive.org March 13, 2014 Under section four of the decree, it stated,
''“The Permanent Committee has been left the task of selecting its members from amongst the members of the Council (of Senior Scholars) in accordance with the Royal Decree. Its aim is to prepare research papers ready for discussion amongst the Council (of Senior Scholars), and issue fataawa on individual issues. This is by responding to the fatwa-seeking public in areas of 'aqeedah, 'ibaadah and social issues. It will be called: The Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fataawa (''al-Lajnah ad-Daa'imah lil-Buhooth al-'Ilmiyyah wal-Iftaa''.)”''
It is possible to write to the Permanent Committee asking for a fatwa on a specific topic. Since its inception, the Permanent Committee has replied to Muslims not only in Saudi Arabia but in many other countries, seeking rulings in Fiqh
''Fiqh'' (; ) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence.[Fiqh](_blank)
Encyclopædia Britannica ''Fiqh'' is of ...
(Islamic jurisprudence) on a variety of questions, including Hadith
Hadith is the Arabic word for a 'report' or an 'account f an event and refers to the Islamic oral tradition of anecdotes containing the purported words, actions, and the silent approvals of the Islamic prophet Muhammad or his immediate circle ...
(sayings of Muhammad), Ibadah
''Ibadah'' (, ''‘ibādah'', also spelled ''ibada'') is an Arabic word meaning service or servitude. In Islam, ''ibadah'' is usually translated as “worship”, and ''ibadat''—the plural of ''ibadah''—refers to Islamic jurisprudence ( ...
(worship), and Aqeedah
''Aqidah'' (, , pl. , ) is an Islamic term of Arabic origin that means "creed". It is also called Islamic creed or Islamic theology.
''Aqidah'' goes beyond concise statements of faith and may not be part of an ordinary Muslim's religious ins ...
(Islamic creed) issues.
In their fataawa, the Permanent Committee strive for thoroughness. All fataawa are derived from evidence from the three sources of Islamic knowledge: the Qur'an
The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
, authentic Sunnah
is the body of traditions and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad that constitute a model for Muslims to follow. The sunnah is what all the Muslims of Muhammad's time supposedly saw, followed, and passed on to the next generations. Diff ...
, and understanding of the rightly guided companions of the Prophet Muhammad. The fataawa writers will usually explain all the potential Islamic viewpoints of an issue and will then explain, which in their view is the most authentic opinion based on the evidence. The fatwas issued by the committee have been arranged in a compendium of 32 volumes.
Authority
In 2010, Saudi King Abdullah decreed that only officially approved religious scholars would be allowed to issue fatwas in Saudi Arabia, namely the 21 member Council of Senior Scholars, the country's highest religious body, and the (four or five) member Permanent Committee, whose members are drawn from the Council of Senior Scholars.[Carnegie Endowment: "Saudi Fatwa Restrictions and the State-Clerical Relationship" by Christopher Boucek]
October 27, 2010
A new committee affiliated with the Permanent Committee and headed by Sheikh Saleh bin Mohammed al-Luhaydan from among the prestigious Salafi scholars of the modern era was created by the Council of Senior Scholars to supervise the issuance of fatwas and prevent unauthorized scholars from issuing any. All imams and preachers were instructed by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs to abide by the edict and explain it their Friday sermons and violators were reprimanded.[
]
Members
Current
As of early 2014 the members of the committee include
Former
* Abd al-Aziz ibn Baz (Former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia)
* Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al ash-Sheikh (Former Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia)
*Abdullah al-Ghudayyan
Abdullah ibn Abdur-Rahman al-Ghudayyan (1926 – 1 June 2010) was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar, a leading proponent of the Salafi form of Islam and a member of the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars. His ancestry was of the tribe of Banu Anbar. ...
*Abdullah Ibn Jibreen
Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Rahman ibn Jibrin (; 193313 July 2009), known simply as Ibn Jibrin, was a Saudi Islamic scholar who was a member of the Council of Senior Scholars and Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas in Saudi Arab ...
*Bakr Abu Zayd
Bakr Abu Zayd (Arabic: ) (born~ 1944 – 5 February 2008) from the tribe of Banu Zayd of Quda'a, was a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar, a leading proponent of the Salafi form of Islam and a member of both the Saudi Council of Senior Scholars an ...
*Abdullaah Ibn Hasan al-Qu'ood
References
External links
The Official website of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Issuing Fatwas
-- English language
fatwa-online.com
— summary of the Permanent Committee
aliftaFatwas.WordPress.Com
— The Permanent Committee for Islaamic Research & Verdicts
{{Portal, Saudi Arabia
Islamic organisations based in Saudi Arabia
Fatwas