Ordering Religion, Organizing Politics: The Regulation of the Fatwa in Contemporary Islam

There has recently been a proliferation of voices calling for urgently regulating the production of fatwas (ḍawābiṭ al-fatwā, tanẓīm aliftā’) in the Muslim world. A specific diagnosis of the situation seems to be widely shared, one that cuts across the usual lines of religious and political orientation: For state and non-state actors, be they traditional ulama, Islamists, or secularists, the production of fatwas is now deregulated beyond control. contradictory religious opinions have been a feature of the Islamic tradition since the very beginning and have not always been perceived as an embarrassment. The phenomenon of competing fatwas thus represents a larger “crisis” within religious institutions. The proliferation of contradictory religious opinions has become a central issue of debate in both Muslim-majority societies and Muslim-minority communities.