Egypt enrols Russian imams in fatwa training

Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, the Egyptian authority responsible for issuing religious edicts, has trained imams from Russia on the issuance of fatwas against extremist ideologies. Dar al-Ifta said, in a report on its portal, that “the training programme for Russian imams aims to provide them with the ability to issue fatwas while adhering to the moderate […]

Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, the Egyptian authority responsible for issuing religious edicts, has trained imams from Russia on the issuance of fatwas against extremist ideologies.

Dar al-Ifta said, in a report on its portal, that “the training programme for Russian imams aims to provide them with the ability to issue fatwas while adhering to the moderate approach of Islam, and to monitor and analyze extremist ideas.”

In a statement, the mufti of Moscow and the chief imam of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque, Ildar Alyautdinov, said the graduates would serve Russian Muslims in various regions and republics across Russia.

The director of the training department at Dar al-Ifta, Amr al-Wardani, said the training curriculum included sciences related to the formation of the mufti at the Sharia and civil levels to reflect the image of moderate and tolerant Islam. The Dar al-Ifta training programme included one Russian woman, named Kavalova Elina, who works as a Sharia researcher.

Sheikh Khaled Emran, secretary-general for fatwas at Dar al-Ifta, told Al-Monitor that “The training programmes for Russian imams focus on a primary goal, which is to promote moderate discourse and the foundations of coexistence in society, and to discuss and monitor extremist ideas.

“The Islamic religion believes in gender equality when it comes to receiving knowledge. If a woman rises to the fore in preaching and issuing fatwas, she must be equipped with the skills to respond to religious women-related inquiries,” he said.

Muslims in Russia number around 20 million out of the country’s total population of 146 million citizens.

(al-monitor.com)