Three Fatwas on Marriage in South India (Tiga Fatwa Perkahwinan di India Selatan)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31436/jia.v18i1.1045Abstract
With a history dating back to the era of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), Muslims in Kerala, the second largest community in the state, mark their centuries-evolved social and religious imprints in the south-western tip of India. Among the organisational platforms, Samasta (founded on 1926) led by traditional Sunnī Shāfiʿī scholars claims the largest number of followers and is deemed as a religious authority by the masses for setting their beliefs up and finding fatwas for their religious queries. In light of the manuscripts of fatwas, publications and interviews, this study scrutinises the genesis, craft, methods and legal bases behind fatwas of Samasta. Besides, it conducts a case study of three fatwas on marriage to cross-check the peculiarities specified in the craft of fatwa and analyse the matters surrounding the issuance of a fatwa in Kerala. This study concludes that the influence of ‘past’ is evident in the ‘present’ legal interpretation of Samasta scholars.
Keywords: Samasta, fatwa, marriage, Shāfʿī, SFC, Legal basis, iftā’, Kerala.
Abstrak
Berteraskan sejarah Zaman Nabi Muhammad (ﷺ), masyarakat Islam di Kerala yang merupakan koumuniti kedua terbesar di negeri ini mencorakkan evolusi sosial dan amalan agama di bahagian Tenggara India. Antara organisasi yang ada di Kerala, Samasta [yang diasaskan 1926] yang dipimpin oleh ilmuwan mazhab Shafiee Sunni mempunyai pengikut yang paling ramai. Mereka juga dianggap mempunyai kuasa dalam menentukan fatwa dalam hal ehwal agama. Ini jelas terlihat dari keterangan penulisan, pendokumentasi fatwa, penerbitan dan temubual yang telah dijalankan. Kajian ini menghalusi sumber rujukan, kaedah dan metodologi, penulisan fatwa serta rujukan perundangan fatwa yang dihasilkan oleh Samasta dan juga merupakan intipati kajian ini. Kajian kes terhadap tiga fatwa perkahwinan ini adalah untuk melihat persamaan, perbezaan dan keunikan dalam fatwa perkahwinan di Kerala dan menganalisa isu berkaitan fatwa di Kerala. Kajian ini juga menujukkan pengaruh “lampau” adalah satu bukti jelas dalam menterjemahkan perundangan “semasa” oleh ilmuwan Samasta.
Kata Kunci: Samasta, fatwa, perkahwinan, Shafie, SFC, asas perundangan, Kerala.
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Interview
As part of field study of this study, the researcher interviewed the key figures of the Samasta Fatwa Committee. The researcher had a discussion with late Zayn al-Dīn Musliyar, the previous chairman of the SFC, a few times and held three focused discussions in three different days as 19 August 2013, 4 March 2014, 28 October 2014. The researcher had a meeting with the previous convener of the SFC, late Bappu Musliyar on 7 February 2014. Moreover, the researcher discussed the topic and ideas with many experts in the area of present study including Dr. Zubair Hudawi (who completed Mphil thesis from Jawaharlal Nehru University on the topic “Development and Modernization of Religious Education in Kerala; Role of Samastha Kerala Jam'iyat al-Ulama,”), Dr. Jafar Hudawi Kolathoor (HoD, Fiqh and Usul al-Fiqh Department, Darul Huda Islamic University, Kerala) and C.P. Iqbal (senior staff in Samasta office in Ko-zhikkode).
