CAIRO: Al-Azhar's fatwa committee urged Muslims against eating fiseekh, a salted, dried fish traditionally eaten during the spring feast of Sham El-Nessim. The committee's chairman Sheikh Abdel Hamid Al-Atrash issued a fatwa (religious edict) against eating fiseekh after the Ministry of Health highlighted the health risks resulting from it. According to Al-Atrash, Muslims are forbidden from eating "rotten food that puts their health at risk. Al-Atrash suggested that they simply substitute fiseekh with other fish on Sham El-Nessim, so as not to forgo any tradition associated with the feast. Al-Atrash also called on the government to crack down on fiseekh vendors. However, Sheikh Ibrahim Negm, the official spokesperson of Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, told Daily News Egypt that Dar Al-Ifta did not issue any fatwa on the matter. Nonetheless, Negm agreed with Al-Atrash's opinion, saying it is important because it deals with the ill effects fiseekh can have on one's health. "Islam protects the human body and hence should deal with [similar] matters . Fatwas should address people's actions, behavior and habits, he explained. In 2006, Gomaa issued a fatwa against smoking cigarettes and in 2007, he issued a highly controversial one banning the practice of female genital mutilation.
