Saudi Arabia's General Mufti Abdel Aziz Alel Sheikh called for tougher sanctions on those who issue fatwas without being enough qualified to do so. Speaking at the opening session of an international conference on fatwas in the Saudi city of Mecca yesterday, he said satellite channels resort to people who just spoil people's life through their contradictory and confusing fatwas. He also said prison was the main sanction to be inflicted to those people who spread chaos among Muslims. Muslim World League Secretary General Abdullah bin Abdul Mohsin Al-Turki focused in his speech on how important fatwas are and how much Muslims need them to practice their rituals. He also stressed on the necessity to raise people's awareness of the gravity of fatwas and the problems they can cause when they are issued by people who "do not know anything about religion and issue fatwas without being qualified for that". This four-day conference is being attended by more than 170 religious jurists and scholars from across the globe. Among them is Egypt's Mufti Ali Gomaa and the President of the International Union for Muslim Scholars Yousuf al-Qaradawi. In his speech delivered on behalf of Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Mecca Emir Khaled Faysal said one of the most dangerous challenges currently being faced by the Muslim World is chaotic fatwas issued by non-specialists, whom he said give the enemies of Islam more pretexts to attack Islam and Muslims. "Time has come for the Muslim World to firmly stand up against this chaos and let moderation prevail over extremism" he added.
