MUSCAT - A galaxy of renowned Muslim scholars and intellectuals are discussing in the Omani capital Muscat on Saturday, April 4, how Islamic law can cope with the future.
"Man is not created for fun," Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalili, mufti of the Sultanate of Oman, told the opening of an international seminar on Islamic Fiqh (jurisprudence) and the Future.
"Man is entrusted with a heavy task that the earth and the heavens declared inability to shoulder.
"We, therefore, have to well-educate ourselves in order to carry out our duty."
The seminar brings together scholars and intellectuals from 14 countries from around the world.
The meeting, which runs till Tuesday, April 7, is attended by high-level officials from the Sultanate of Oman and is being hosted in Sultan Qaboos grand mosque.
Thirty-six papers and studies will be presented and discussed during the 4-day seminar by prominent scholars, academicians and experts from different parts of the Muslim world.
Key participants include Sheikh Ahmad Al-Khalilit, Prof. Wahbah Az-Zuhaiyi, President of the Syrian Scholars League and Prof. Muhammad K. Imam.
* Well-qualified
Organizers say the meeting aims at laying down the foundations of the so-called fiqh at-tawqu ` (Fiqh of Expectations) that will deal with future expectations and plans and rules regulating them.
"The seminar draws the attention of Muslim scholars to the necessity of bearing in mind the future expectations when issuing legal rulings that would affect the future," Khalid Musharrafi, the head of the Media Department at the Omani Ministry of Endowments, told IOL.
"While looking for the future, scholars should not ignore the fixed rules that Shari`ah came with."
Dr. Az-Zuhayli agrees.
"A well-qualified scholar should be aware of the surrounding circumstances and changeable conditions," he said.
"They should consider the future and its implications."
The meeting will also discuss solutions to the deepening global financial crisis.
"The seminar will discuss five papers related to the financial issue," Musharrafi told IOL.
"One of the submitted papers does focus on the practical solutions for solving the global financial problems."
