Course Name: Ādāb al-Fatwā II
The fatwā represents revelation. As such, it must be free of contradiction and inconsistencies, as far as humanly possible. The course Ādāb al-Fatwā works towards this end. Using a specific collection of contemporary fatwas, the student is trained to critically analyze both the question and the answer. The teacher begins by asking the student to present his thoughts and critiques on a fatwā of the latter’s own choosing. Then, the teacher points out the flaws he sees, radically reframing the answer almost every time. The critique is objective and teaches the student to be firm in presenting his argument without compromising on the Islamic adab.The teacher shows the student to look for the pivot of the issue and to extract the acontextual “laboratory” ruling. The process builds within the student an ability to organize and categorize universal concepts, relating to both takwīn (cosmology) and tashrī’ (revealed law).
