Applying Sharia Objectives in Fatwas for Women Visitors

Peace be upon you, and Allah's mercy and blessings.

All praise is for Allah, Lord of the worlds.

And the most perfect, most complete prayers and peace.

Be upon the one sent as a mercy to all worlds.

And upon his family and all his companions. Now then.

We praise Allah ﷻ that He made our homeland, Saudi Arabia.

Home to the two holy Haramain.

And made our noble kings forsake honorific titles.

And accept the title, Custodian of the Two Haramain.

And made all in our land take pride in what is offered to the Haramain.

We praise Allah that our homeland, Saudi Arabia, is the age's jewel.

Without disparaging other lands.

And every Muslim must know this homeland's rights.

And realize that defending it is jihad in the path of Allah.

And part of preserving Islam.

And realize that knowing what is due to our senior scholars

in our land, Saudi Arabia is an obligation.

Their merit should be recognized.

Their knowledge should be spread and their path should be followed.

This seminar is only part of our rulers' concern.

and of our scholars and those in charge of the Religious Affairs Presidency.

Led by H.E. Shaykh Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais.

to provide Sharia facilitation for visitors to the Haramain.

I am honored to take part in its work.

with a scholarly paper on applying Sharia objectives.

in ifta for female visitors to the Prophet's Mosque.

I structured the paper in four sections.

The first concerns fatwa and its importance in general.

especially in the Haramain. The second concerns Sharia objectives.

The third concerns the link between fatwa and Sharia objectives.

The fourth section covers the key objectives shaping

fatwas for female visitors to the Prophet's Mosque.

Esteemed scholars, there is no doubt fatwa is vital in conveying the religion.

It also guides believing women and men.

Those qualified for it sign on behalf of the Lord of the worlds.

They also do some of the work of the prophets and messengers AS.

For fatwa is informing others of a nonbinding Sharia ruling.

And the mufti is the one who informs of a Sharia ruling.

And the questioner is one asking about a Sharia ruling or needs to know it.

Because of its noble rank and seriousness, and its great impact.

The mufti must, for his own sake, exercise caution in it.

In ifta, he should follow the path of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

and the way of the Companions (RA), and weigh people by the Sharia scale.

What Allah wants from them, and what is good for them.

not by what pleases them or their wishes. He should be cautious when issuing fatwas.

Be calm and composed. Avoid issuing fatwas when preoccupied.

Listen well to the questioner.

Do not rush to answer until the questioner finishes.

unless the matter asked about is already known to him beforehand.

Perhaps a word at the end of the question changes its meaning.

and thus change the answer. Ask for details if the question needs it.

If the question involves custom, in wording or in practice.

Then he should ask about the questioner's customary usage.

This matter is very important in our topic.

I mean fatwa in the Haramain.

Because those seeking fatwa in the Haramain come from different countries.

They have varied cultures and different customs.

So if a question contains wording tied to custom, the mufti should ask.

the questioner what this word means for them.

And if the matter relates to customary practice.

Then he should ask about their customs.

Also among the very important matters, especially in our topic.

The mufti must avoid laxity in fatwa.

Laxity in fatwa is forbidden by scholarly consensus.

Rather, whoever is known for laxity in fatwa.

That disqualifies him from the office of ifta.

Al-Sam'ani RH said in Al-Qawati' about the mufti:

A mufti must guard himself against undue leniency.

Firm enough to avoid concessions outside the lawful way.

until he manifests Allah ﷻ's religion and fulfills his asker's right.

Ibn al-Salah RH said: a mufti may not be lax in giving fatwas.

Whoever is known for that must never be consulted for fatwas.

The scholars' statements on this are very numerous.

And this matter—I mean the danger of laxity in fatwa.

This often occurs in what is called activating the objectives of Sharia.

For we have found people who want to set the objectives against the texts.

They call the fiqh of texts traditional fiqh.

And they call the fiqh of objectives objective-based fiqh.

By Allah, by Allah, whoever separates fiqh from the objectives.

Rather, our imams in their fatwas observed the objectives of Sharia.

And our scholars to this day still observe the objectives of Sharia.

At the same time.

The mufti must not make caution his basic rule.

So that he leads the questioner to the stricter view, out of caution.

For caution is not the rule.

Rather, he directs the questioner to lawful ease within Sharia's rules.

The objectives of Sharia are wise, noble ends that Allah ﷻ intended.

from legislation in general and in particular, to worship Him.

and the betterment of people in this life and the Hereafter.

Our Lord Allah ﷻ is Wise and All-Knowing; He acts only with wisdom.

And He legislates nothing except with wisdom, Allah ﷻ.

The jurist should note the meaning with the wording.

and the intended wisdom.

The objectives must be known through a sound method.

and established through sound proof from the Quran and Sunnah.

and from ijma, the Companions' reports, and sound induction.

The objectives, when applied, must be free of what invalidates them.

What invalidates them is their contradicting the text.

By Allah, then by Allah, Sharia objectives cannot oppose the text.

How, when the text is Allah's revelation?

And the Sharia objective is what Allah ﷻ intends.

How, then, could the two ever contradict?

We have found people regarding the objectives in three camps.

One side neglects the objectives and does not consider them.

Another side applies them in the wrong way.

The middle path looks to what Allah ﷻ intends.

It fears Allah ﷻ in its consideration.

It applies the objectives in understanding texts and rulings from them.

There is no doubt the objectives are deeply tied to fatwa and fiqh.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah RH said.

The Prophet ﷺ used to consider the objectives.

Ibn Taymiyyah RH mentioned many incidents, then said:

This shows that the objectives are considered in adherence.

The objectives affect understanding the texts.

The objectives affect fiqh.

The objectives affect adherence.

Scholars have cited many texts related to this.

Al-Subki RH said in Al-Ibhaj on the full rank of ijtihad.

that it depends on three things. He then said: The third.

that through practice and study of Sharia objectives, he gains strength.

through which he understands what Sharia intends by it.

and what ruling is suitable for that case.

even if it was not explicitly stated.

Al-Shatibi RH said: ijtihad is attained by one with two qualities:

First: understanding the objectives of Sharia in their fullness.

Second: the ability to derive rulings based on understanding them.

Imam al-Sa'di RH also said: As for fatwa...

Fatwas also consider stronger views.

So too, the circumstances of the time are considered.

as are people's practices, public interests, and blocking harms.

Reality and actual cases show the greatest objective at work.

The main objective in fatwas for women visitors is legal ease.

The whole religion is ease. But one may face a circumstance.

It can make what is easy hard, and Sharia takes that into account.

Hence the maxim arose. Hardship brings ease.

If a matter becomes constrained, it is widened; if wide, narrowed.

Ease for women visitors may take this form.

She is given a fatwa in Madinah before she leaves this land.

She may do something that requires her to return to Makkah.

Her Umrah is invalid without doing so.

Or her Hajj is invalid without doing so.

So when she is given a fatwa that she must complete this in Medina.

Then this makes it easier for her.

Because if she returned home and was stranded there.

Then she was told her Umrah or Hajj would not be valid unless she returned.

And if she could not return, she would face great hardship.

Since applications have their own focus, I will mention only two examples.

One concerns the Sacred Mosque.

If a woman came from a distant country intending Umrah or Hajj.

Before her Umrah tawaf or tawaf al-Ifadah, her period came.

and she could not remain in Mecca.

Nor could she return after leaving.

And she could not stop the bleeding.

And there remained four possibilities.

The first possibility is to tell her that she is prevented.

and that she exits ihram as a prevented pilgrim does.

She would miss Umrah and Hajj. Such hardship is rejected by Sharia.

The second possibility is to tell her.

that she return to her country as she is.

and remain forbidden to her husband for the rest of her life.

Such hardship is rejected by Sharia.

The third possibility is to tell her.

that she stay in Makkah and not return to her country. And this too is hardship.

Only Allah knows its extent.

Al-Nawawi noted that leaving home and being far from it is a great hardship.

That is for men. So what about women?

The fourth possibility remains: that she fear Allah and take precautions.

And do her tawaf. This was held by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim RH.

The Permanent Committee gave this fatwa. It was set out brilliantly, as usual.

By the jurist of his age: Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen RH.

I end with the second example. Sorry for length: on the Prophet's Mosque.

Suppose a woman came from far away.

Longing to enter the Mosque of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.

This was her only chance, and it had come. When she reached Madinah, her period came.

And she knows the bleeding will not stop till after she leaves.

And she cannot stop the bleeding.

It may then be permitted for her to enter the mosque without praying.

Since the issue is disputed.

And because barring her would cause severe hardship and difficulty.

Allah ﷻ intends ease for us and does not intend hardship for us.

As some scholars said, the reason for barring a menstruating woman.

from entering the mosque for the mosque's sake.

And here she poses no risk if she keeps the mosque from being soiled.

These are maqasid-based reflections on such issues.

I ask Allah ﷻ to reward those who oversee the Haramain.

And I ask Him to grant the best reward to those who give fatwas there.

I thank the esteemed session chair and apologize for the length.

And Allah ﷻ knows best, and may He bless and grant peace to our Prophet ﷺ.