Islamic scholars gathered here for the six-day 15th annual conference of the Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence) Academy (IFA) to discuss various topics, including challenges faced by Islam.
The conference will be formally declared open by Sayyid Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, Oman's Minister of Heritage and Culture, at a function today at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel. Then the delegates will meet twice a day for six days at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.
"We will discuss one topic per session and everyday two sessions will be held," said Dr. Mohammed Habib Ibn Al Khodja, Secretary General of the IFA, at a press conference to announce details of the conference.
The membership of Islamic Fiqh Academy, which is a subsidiary organ of Organisation of Islamic Conference, comprises Islamic Jurisprudence.
"It has been set up to examine contemporary life problems and to undertake an authentic and effective analysis thereof with the purpose of providing solutions based on the Islamic culture and open to forward looking Islamic thought," he added.
"The aim behind IFA was to set up with an objective of forming a common forum for the interpretational reflection ('Ijtihad') of Islamic jurisprudence, scholars and philosophers so as to provide the Ummah with an authentic Islamic answer to each question that may arise from the developments of contemporary life," Al Khodja said.
The academy is in the process of publishing a Fiqh Encyclopaedia which would address the major issues in old as well as new social dealings and the rules governing them.
There are 52 members in the academy and 10 Islamic scholars are designated including one from the Islamic minority of North America. There are three representatives from academies, one being operated in India, one in Al Azar and the third in Amman.
Every year, members meet and discuss contemporary issues which are not included in the Sharia but affect an individual and the community at large.
Al Khodja stressed that all decisions are taken by consensus.
Hundred and twenty delegates have arrived in Muscat to discuss among other things the threat posed to Islam, expropriation of private property for the public utilisation, credit cards, its wider use and issues of interest involved with it and Islamisation of education.
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