Malaysian Fatwa Websites Studies - USIM

Malaysian Fatwa Websites StudiesNajwa Hayaati Binti Mohd AlwiGeneral Studies CenterIslamic University College of Malaysia,Bandar Barzc Nilai, 71800, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan ,Tel : 06-7988758, Fax : 06-7988238, E-mail : najwa@admin.kuim.edu.myABSTRACTCurrently Malaysia has 14 mufti's departmenthead by a mufti (scholar) for each department.This department located at each state inMalaysia. With the emergence of ICT usage,fatwa is also hope to be promulgated using theInternet or speciJically the websites to theMuslims through out the world. This fundamentalpaper will discuss the websites that are use forfatwa promulgation in Malaysia. The mainobjective of the research done is to identz&whether fatwa website are develop for each stateand identi& the functions of the website. Themethodology used is website search and then gothrough the features whether the website relatedto the needs and functions. Some of the findingsdiscover that many of muftis departmentdeveloped the websitesfor the fatwa. Anyway thefunction and services provided are limitedFurthermore usability features in a website beingnot$ed and tabled for discussion. The findingsalso discuss the challenges that limit the websiteextend usage.Keywordsfatwa, promulgation, website.1.0 INTRODUCTIONNowadays, the information, communication andtechnology have been extensively employed sinceit has been well recognized by many people. Theacceptance of ICT is also not only from the city orurban area but also from the rural community.This new phenomenon has transformed the wayof executing daily job and the communicationsprocess which make the life more efficient andeffective.In the Muslim's living, beside Al Quran andSunnah, fatwa has also become one of thesignificant references. The dynamicdevelopment in science and technology hasstimulated numerous new issues that needexplanation through fatwa. Allah S.W.T has said:"Therefore ask of those who possess the Message(knowledge) ifyou don't know"(Al-Quran. An-Nahl 16:43)The fatwa will guide the Muslim toward theproblems that occurred and this will also ensurethe integrity of Islam and unity of Muslim.The process of issuing and managing fatwa has tobe done carefully and ethically by the authorizedparties since fatwa involved sensitive issues andthus whatever decision of fatwa made will give abig impact to the Muslim society. Currently theprocess of fatwa issuing in Malaysia does takequite some time before the fatwa would bereleased to the Muslim. The collecting andgathering information, the discussion, theagreement from the authorities and thepromulgation acquire more the time and energy.Therefore the usage of ICT in the processes couldreduce the time and minimize redundant task.Nevertheless before using the ICT , planning anddesigning of ICT tools must carefully take placeso that it will work effectively and meet the goalof using the ICT.At present Malaysia has 14 mufti's departmenthead by a mufti (scholar) for each department.This department which located at each state inMalaysia had produced many fatwa that relevantto the Muslim society needs. With the emergenceof ICT usage, fatwa is also hope to beThis paper was presented atInternational Conference on Information andCommunication Technology onThe Muslim Worlds 2006

promulgated using the Internet and specificallythe websites to the Muslims through out theworld. This paper will discuss the fundamentalstudy that has been carried out on Malaysia Fatwawebsite.2.0 SIGNIFICANT OF WEBSITE INPROMULGATION OF FATWAWith the evolutions of communicationtechnology, more information can be reachedthrough websites on the Internet either it is theconstructive or destructive information. Currentlynot many Islam related information is publishedon the Internet. Thus it is wise to put fatwa at thesame par with others important information. Thiscan be done by making the fatwa ready for everyone at any time and anywhere.Previously, the decision of fatwa being spread orannounce to the public using two methods whichare printed media and electronic media. Thepromulgation of fatwa via printed media such asbooklet, pamphlet, brochure and magazine orusing electronic media announcement such as TVor radio or even in a seminar and sermon are notenough to benefit every people. The printedmaterial will take more time to be produced andto be circulated. Even so, the printed material stillcannot reach all Muslim in this world. Thismethod also will involve a huge expenditure. Onthe other hand, the promulgation throughelectronic media is a one-time announcement.Once it is over it will not be played again andthose who do not have the chance to listen orwatch the announcement through electronic mediawill not be informed about the fatwa. Thereforepromulgation through this method is seemedincomplete.The objective of promulgation of fatwa is toannounce the decision that had been made by theauthorized parties about certain issues related toIslam. Therefore it is essential to make an effortso that all Muslim are aware of the new releasedfatwa or even the previous fatwa that had beenissued.Therefore to complement the above methods thefatwa issued is also promulgate by using theInternet. The information about fatwa can beaccess faster and easier since it is available in theInternet. Normally a website will be set up andevery Internet user can search on fatwa of certainissues that they would like to know. For example,to get fatwa decision about botox usage that havebeen decide or gazetted in Malaysia, and supposeif the information is available in the Internet, therelated information could be gathered faster.Publishing fatwa on the Internet is actually givingthe opportunity to the fatwa information to beretrieved by everyone. Therefore, a necessaryelement to be considered when placing theinformation on the Internet is the security andlegitimate issues. The services providers of fatwahave to make sure all the information about fatwaare trustful and reliable. This is important sincethe information published will be a guidance orreference to the Muslim for heir daily activities.Using this method also allows every peopleincluding non Muslim all over the world to get toknow about Islam. The information published onthe Internet can be reviewed and shared byeveryone who has the online connectionthroughout the world. Consequently, this makethe fatwa widely spread to more people andconcurrently give positive and accurateinformation about Islam.The information can't be accessed or retrieved ifthere is no service provider for fatwa in theInternet. Therefore it is important to set up asystem where all of information about fatwa iscollected and this information is made availableon the website to be access by Muslim throughInternet access. A website and a database aboutfatwa should be plan and design by the peoplewho understand . the fatwa management andassisted of the ICT skilled people to implementthe design. This is essential to develop a qualityand reliable system.The infrastructures need to be well considered.Suitable type of hardware and software willensure the proper result of the ICTimplementations in certain management. As wellinfrastructure, the man power and skill is essentialtoo. The ICT is useless without the user or theperson to manage and handle all of the ICT tools.The ICT skilled person together with the fatwaknowledge can plan and design what are thesuitable information and communicationtechnologies and tools needed in order to makethe fatwa available in the Internet.3.0 OBJECTIVES'This paper was presented atInternational Conference on Information andCommunication Technology onThe Muslim Worlds 2006

The research was done based on the three mainobjectives. First objective is to identify whetherfatwa website are develop for each state. This isvery important to acknowledge since not alldepartment in each states has the capabilities toinitiate the website due to some reasons. Secondobjectives is to identify the function or usage ofthe website developed. This can be seen throughthe features and services offer by the website.Lastly the research would like to identify thechallenges in making a website as a source ofinformation.department to another.Table I: Fatwa websites in Malaysia.5.1 Fatwa website for each department.There are 14 mufti departments in Malaysia. Notevery department has initiated the website forfatwa. 71.4% has the website for fatwa while28.6% do not have. This data is based on the webresearch done until 1st July 2006. The table 1shows the address of the websites for eachdepartment.Anyway from the listed website only 60% of the4.0 METHODOLOGYaddresses are usable. 40% of the addresses arereported as bad link. The result is shown in tableThe methodology used in collecting data for this 2.research is by website search. Once the address isfound it is necessary to ensure the website exist orTable 2: Usability ofthe websitenot. The next step is then going through thefeatures whether it related to the needs andfunctions. The process is more to the comparisonprocess for each reliable fatwa website. Additionto that a set of questionnaire is developed togather further information about the ICT usageand responses from the mufti departments wereanalyzed.5.0 FINDINGSFrom the analysis of the website search, findingsmanage to derive. Some of the findings discoverthat many of mufti's department developed thewebsites for the fatwa. Anyway the function andservices provided are various from one3. 1 Pulau Pinang ~:Nww\v.sukpp.nc,v.~i~v/--~nuili/nitifti.ht~nl1 4,Iittp:/l~~w~~.~nains.gov&Negeri Scmbilan--index mutti1 II1 8.I9.10.TerengganuKedah--Selangorhltp:1/ni~t1iii~sIa~n gov m\/terellgcallLIhttp://mufii.islam.gov.m /kedah)?hish gov.my/ " P i i i c a t i o nThe5.2 Function and usage of Fatwa website.Using ICT or specifically publishing the fatwa inthe web will give the opportunity to the Muslim tohave legitimate references from reliable sourcesand with faster access. The promulgation of fatwausing the website does offer enormousimplications to the Muslim. Information is easilyaccessed and gathered. In addition to that, manypeople and researcher can have the informationabout fatwa from the Internet.Second finding from this research is the functionor usage of the website developed. According tothe research done, there are two main hnctions ofthe website which are to promote or provideinformation about the Mufti's department of eachstate and second is to provide a platform orreference of fatwa decision. 100% of the usablewebsite had served the information about theMufti's Departments state. The information thatcan be found such as history of the department,laper was presented at'onference on Information andTechnology onmus slim Worlds 2006

divisions, information that related to fatwa andfalaq, relevant links especially related to fatwa.50% of the website provides the fatwa decisionthat can be read by the surfer. Most of the fatwapublished were the gazette fatwa at each state.This information can be found by choosing thelink that will bring the surfer to the e-fatwa portalor from the state database of website itself.The language used for the website is Malaylanguage. Only Melaka provide the English as thealternative language to the surfer in the website.All website provide interactive environment thesurfer can post any questions or communicatesing. forum provided. The interactiveenvironment though can be classified as theasynchronous communication since the surfercannot get the answer promptly. The websiteprovides a sufficient human computer interface(HCI). The information visualization is attractiveand suits the concept of Islamic website. Theaccessing time is also can be consider tolerable.5.3 Challenges in making a website as asource of information.Cyber Islamic environments have the potential totransform aspects of religious understanding andexpression within Muslim contexts, and the powerto enable elements within Muslim populations todialog with each other (Bunt, 2003); Access to theInternet specifically a website is important inGililding a strong networking and promulgatingthe fatwa to the Muslim. Nevertheless there arechallenges that limit the website extended usagewhich are known to all the website and internet asthe best information provided not considering thelegitimization of the content itself.The department still shortage in number of staff.Normally the officer manages the website updateand maintenadce besides his official job. OnlyMufti Department of Selangor has an InformationSystem Officer that handles the entire ICT relatedtask. Therefore most of the person handle ormanage the website are limited of ICT skills yetthey cope with the task adequately. Figure 1shows the problems that encounter by the staff inMufti DepartmentsSystemfimsFigure I: The problems faced by the respondents whileusing the ICT.Table 3: Features ofMalaysian fahva websiteProblems can never be avoided while using the* .., .,x..;,r. $.t:.hll,fti, :rg .igb?,py. ... :...ICT. Most of the problem faced by the,..:$~Pa.rr;;:p.~:1,anguage ,. ,~-.,5.~,,.,,a,,v.:. .,. ,,>I departments is virus attacking. Due to this most of. I,~~:.~~?~~Mclaka 1 2J J I J tolerable the files have been affected. This will delay thePulau Pinang1 J J J tolerableaction of decision-making and disseminating.Persk1d v' d tolerableSarawakI J J J tolerable Lack of skills becomes the second obstacles.Terengganu IJ J 4 tolerableSelangor1d,tolerableThe challenges and limitations that occur inpreparing the website for each department includelimited workforce and skills and inadequate ICTinfrastructure and equipment.From the interview sessions, the specific skillsthat most of the departments need are the skills onsystem administration, website design, anddatabase management. The person as well mustknow to overcome the technical problems. Otherproblems that have been facing by thedepartments besides the problems that have beenmentioned above are the computer malfunction,fast changes of technology, and financialproblems.Most of the Mufti's department shares the serverwith the Majlis Agama Negeri, According to theresearch done one of the reason of inadequate ICTinfrastructure and equipments is because oflimited budget.6.0 CONCLUSIONDeveloping a website for the purpose ofpromulgation fatwa does offer enormousimplications to the Muslim. ICT could be thesuitable tools to enhance the management anddissemination of fatwa if it is well plan anddesign. Information is easily accessed andThis paper was presented atInternational Conference on Information andCommunication Technology onThe Muslim Worlds 2006

I .gathered. Many people and researcher can havethe information about fatwa from the Internet.Furthermore, more people can access theinformation easily and thus encourage to the useof fatwa as apart of reference in the Muslim life.The effort of uploading the information of fatwain the Internet by Mufti's Department must beacknowledged and credited. Despite thechallenges and limitation that they are facing stillthey manage to prepare the website of fatwa to thesurfer.For dissemination purpose, placing informationon the internet is one of the quick ways. At anyrate it is important for the user to ensure theinformation come from the trustable sources andis reliable. The information providers also have toemphasize on the securities issues so that theinformation special fatwa that are published in theInternet is not being edited and manipulated byirresponsible parties.Mohd Daud Bakar. 1997. Instrumen FatwaDalam Perkembangan Perundangan Islam.5(1) Jurnal Syariah I.n.a. 2004. "Fatwa Hasjl Perbincangan SecaraJemaah". Utusan Malaysia. 16 Jan. pg 8n.a 2003. Sinopsis Sejarah Perlaksanaan E-Syariah, Jabatan Kehakiman SyariahMalaysia, PNB 2003.Stephan Fallows & Rakesh Bhanot. 2002.Educational Development & ICT: Anintroduction. Educational Developmentthrough Information and CommunicationTechnology. SEDAUthman El-Muhammady. 1998. Bank Fatwa dunInternet. Abdul Monir Yaacob, Wan RoslailiAbd Majid (ed). Mufti dan Fatwa Di NegaranegaraAsean.http:/lwww.e-fatwa.pov.niy/e-fatwa aspl~ttp:l!www.isla~n.n,ov.myl~ttp:ll~nuftiperak.n,ov.myhttp;//www.jaheik.gov.myhttp:l!www.e-fatwa.~ov.mylrnufti/fatwalist?lDhttp:Nwww.e-fatwa.~ov.m~Irnut&BIBLJOGRAPGHYAl-Quran al-KarimAbdul Ghani Shamsudin. 1998. Ijtihad, Mufti dunInternet. Abdul Monir Yaacob & WanRoslaili Abd Majid. Edisi 1. Mufti dan Fatwadi Negara-negara Asean: n.pb.Abdulmajid H. Mohamed. E-Fiqh; Foundationsfor ICT-Supported Fiqh. InternationalSeminar on Islamic Thoughts: Islam: Past,Present and Future.2004Adel M. Abdul Aziz. 2003.SejarahPerkembanganFatwa. Institut Pengurusan dan PenyelidikanFatwa Sedunia (INFAD).Alter, S. 2002. Information Systems, TheFoundation Of E-Business. Fourth Edition,New Jersey: Prentice Hall.Bill Daley. 2005. Computers Are your future2005. New Jersey, Pearson Prentice HallInternational Edition. Page 7.Bunt E. 2003. Islam in Digital Age: E-Jihad,Online Fatwas and Cyber IslamicEnvironments. Pluto Press: London.ICTFatwa Negeri Perak, Jabatan Mufti Negeri PerakTaklimat Pembangunan Dan Perlaksanaan e-Fatwa, Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia.This paper was presented atInternational Conference on Information andCommunication Technology onThe Muslim Worlds 2006