Fiqh for Muslim Minorities

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Fiqh of Muslim
Minorities
I.Saujan
Temporary Assistant Lecturer in Islamic Law &
Legislation
Department of Islamic Studies
savjaniqbal@seu.ac.lk

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The definition of the fiqh of minorities
 The linguistic meaning of the word 'minority' is the opposite of 'majority' and
means rarity or decrement.
 This meaning is most prominent in the technical definition of the term; the
definitions revolve around the meaning of minority as a group of people,
inferior in number and different in certain characteristics, usually color,
religion, or culture, from a larger group of which it is an integral part.
 Dr. Ali Montaser al-Kattani defines 'minority' as, "A group of people living
among a numerical majority and sharing a characteristic differing from
the larger group and, in consequence, are treated differently from the
majority."

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 Some scholars have defined the term as "a sub-ordinate group whose
members share characteristics differing from those of the
surrounding society. This group considers itself a community under
the domination another majority group that enjoys superior societal
privileges and who aim to deprive it of fully participating in the
social, economic or political life and limit their role in the majority
society.“
 The fiqh of minorities may be defined as "the legal rulings relating to
Muslims living among a non-Muslim sovereign group.“
 The idea of fiqh al-aqalliyyat, which translates as “juristic interpretations
specific to minorities” or simply as “the jurisprudence of Muslim minorities”.

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 The jurisprudence of Muslim minorities was introduced in the 1990s by two prominent
Muslim religious figures, Shaykh Dr. Taha Jabir al-Alwani of Virginia, and Shaykh Dr.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi of Qatar.
 Al-Alwani coined the term fiqh al-aqalliyyat and used it for the first time in 1994 when the
Fiqh Council of North America, under his presidency, issued a fatwa (legal opinion)
allowing American Muslims to vote in American elections.
 It was Developed as a means of assisting Muslim minorities in the West in practicing
their faith, it deals with the problems Muslims face in countries where they are minorities
(including India, Sri Lanka) and focuses more on special and exceptional rulings for
those special circumstances.
 Examples: problems concerning permitted food (halal) and eating with non-Muslims,
the dates of holidays (the position of the moon), and marriage to non-Muslim women,
requesting citizenship, exercising the right to vote, the conflict of interests when the
adopted country is involved in a war with a Muslim country.
 fiqh al-aqalliyyat is necessary to facilitate the relationship between the Muslim minority
and the non-Muslim majority

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The Legal Methodology of fiqh al-aqalliyyat
 The legal methodology of fiqh al-aqalliyyat as follows:
I. Ijtihad
II. Maslaha (Public Interest)
III. Darura (Necessity)

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