Head of Dar Al Ifta:
Sheikh Mawlavi Maluk Shah (20220920)
Mawlavi Noorullah Munir (20220921)
Background:
Dar al-Ifta in Afghanistan -- an institute of Islamic scholars with authority to issue Shari'a-based decrees. Unlike the nonbinding declarations from the Dar al-Ifta in countries like Egypt and Saudi Arabia, Afghan clerics want their fatwas to be enforced by the courts and national police.
Mawlawi Abdul Rahim Shah Agha, one of the Ulema clerics asking Karzai for expanded powers, says the Dar al-Ifta must be independent from Afghanistan's government and foreign influence.
Islamic clerics on Afghanistan's Ulema Council are the country's religious authorities, but their opinions on questions of Islamic law are treated as guideposts rather than legally binding decrees.
Ex Lawmaker Baktash Siyawash argues that empowering the Ulema Council with legally binding fatwa authority would transform the clerics into a powerful, unelected fourth branch of government.
The clerics already have renounced Article 22 of the constitution, which says, "The citizens of Afghanistan -- whether man or woman -- have equal rights and duties before the law." |