Al-Azhar Shia Fatwa

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The Al-Azhar Shia Fatwa (Arabic: فتوة الأزهر‎) is an Islamic fatwa issued by the renowned Sunni scholar Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot.

It is the fruit of a decade-long collaborative effort between a group of Sunni and Shi'a scholars at the Dar al-Taqreeb al-Madhahib al-Islamiyyah theological center at Al-Azhar University in Cairo. The aim of the effort, as the name of the center indicates (it translates as the "center for bringing together the various Islamic schools of thought"), is to bridge the gap between the various Islamic schools of thought, and to foster mutual respect, understanding and appreciation of each school's contributions to the development of Islamic jurisprudence.^[1]

After a long period of discussion, the Fatwa was announced on July 6, 1959. It can be summarized as follows:

1) "Islam does not require a Muslim to follow a particular Madh'hab (school of thought). Rather, we say: every Muslim has the right to follow one of the schools of thought which has been correctly narrated and its verdicts have been compiled in its books. And, everyone who is following such Madhahib [schools of thought] can transfer to another school, and there shall be no crime on him for doing so."

2) "The Ja'fari school of thought, which is also known as "al-Shia al- Imamiyyah al-Ithna Ashariyyah" (i.e., The Twelver Imami Shi'ites) is a school of thought that is religiously correct to follow in worship as are other Sunni schools of thought."

Today, both Sunni and Shi'a students study at and graduate from the Al-Azhar University.