Al-Azhar says when you want an expert opinion, go to an expert CAIRO: Muslims should not refer to texts offering different interpretations of the Quran, and the institution of Al-Azhar should not be the only authorized religious organization to issue fatwas, said Gamal El-Bana, an Islamic writer, during an open discussion with the press Wednesday in a conference organized by Egypt s International Economic Forum. Renew your religion, said Prophet Mohamed. Change is the nature of life, El-Bana told participants. The 86-year-old Islamic writer is the brother of Hassan El-Bana, founder of the Muslim Brotherhood party. Islam is an open, liberal religion that depends on the mind . however Muslims minds have been on a vacation for the last 1,000 years, as the room for personal interpretations that was able to initiate new rules to fit life s new aspects was closed, El-Bana stressed. El-Bana encouraged Muslims to adopt Islamic teachings of hundreds of years ago and try to renew Islamic culture and theology to better meet contemporary social and economic needs. He criticized Al-Azhar for ruling and issuing edicts on Quranic issues by consensus, a mechanism he says has no origin in the Quran. The Islamic writer said this self-governance gave the institution of Al-Azhar the power to rule out or accept Quranic interpretations and thereby could "eliminate the independent thinking of all Islamic scholars. We have the original holy book that in itself is flexible and general . why do we want to specify everything and generate set rules? El-Bana asked. The Quran does not need interpretations; we are not required to understand everything in it. But Sheikh Mahmoud Ashour, a former deputy for Al-Azhar and a member of the Islamic Research Center, denied that Al-Azhar scholars had prohibited independent interpretation of the Quran. He also said that Al-Azhar was keeping up with modern times and issuing fatwas regarding such new technological developments as the Internet and surrogate pregnancy. Ashour also dismissed El-Bana's argument, saying it could have only been formulated by an "ignoramus. "If you are sick you go to a physician, not to an engineer. So if someone is seeking religious information they should go to authorized Islamic scientists. When asked whether there were restrictions on who is authorized to issue fatwas, Ashour said there is no such law. "Unfortunately, there is no punitive measure or any mechanism which restricts the issuing of fatwas, he said.
