A Deaf Fatwa on Facebook, How Many to Tango in Cairo…….
The folks at al-Azhar, the shaikhs, must have a lot of time on their hands. The “former” head of the Fatwa Committee at al-Azhar Shaikh Abdelhameed al-Atrash (the deaf) has just issued a fatwa banning the entry into Facebook. This after the steep rise in adultery and divorce in Egypt which the sheikh attributes to Facebook. He said the website is an instrument of "ruin" and that it encourages and facilitates illicit relations, especially by bored wives…….. (And I always thought it took two to tango, even in Egypt). He said that Facebook is a double-edged sword (very original) that can be used for calling people to Allah, or it can be used for other purposes, and that those “other purposes” now dominate….
I must be missing something on Facebook. I knew there was more to it than just bantering about “what the hell you are doing right now”, but all this?
If he is the “former” head of the committee, doesn’t that mean he is out of the loop and can’t issue his own fatwas? I think I might start issuing my own fatwas on various issue from now on. I shall first declare myself a Mufti of my domain, which is whatever I wish to opine on.
I assume he is no relation to the famous late singer and musician Fareed al-Atrash, who never issued any fatwa on anything, but was a very good artist. Not as good as his sister Ismahan who died young in a car crash near the Pyramids and was reputed to have been a double agent. (Talking WW II not Eyeraq).
Cheers
mhg
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