Fatwas: Muslim religious edicts are rarely about violence, war
Monday, May 22, 2006
By Moustafa Ayad, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Imagine the latest videotaped message from Osama bin Laden. He’s scowling and raising a finger, but instead of taking aim at Americans he’s holding forth on the bleaching of Muslim women’s eyebrows.
While most Westerners think of religious edicts — or fatwas — as orders to fight Americans and infidels, Muslim scholars, evangelists and spiritual leaders across the globe issue them on a daily basis — on eyebrow bleaching and hundreds of other mundane topics.
Read on… Although the article doesn’t dwell on it, it’s interesting to contrast of how both Osama bin Laden and the various fatwa internet sites represent the globalization of fatwa-issuing — you don’t have to ask your local imam anymore. So what happens when an eminent sheikh with a website disagrees with your local imam, or even your country’s Mufti?
So what’s the verdict on eyebrow bleaching, then? I bet it’s condemned as vanity while a hair transplant is a necessity because God meant men to have a full head of hair?
Out of curiosity I looked up “viagra” and “vibrator” in the Islamonline fatwa bank. Big surprise. Viagra is permissible in cases of sexual dysfunction, because sexual fulfillment is a legitimate human need, but not just for fun; vibrators are verboten because that counts as seeking sexual satisfaction outside marriage, and if spouses cannot satisfy each other they should seek medical treatment or Islamic counselling (imagine the possibilities!)
Wonder who actually sends in these questions…how earnest do you have to be to request permission use a vibrator. Or maybe it’s just a bunch of 15 year olds on a dare.