Conference: “The ‘fatwa’ as a product and vector of Islamic legal culture,” Institute of Languages ​​and Cultures of the Mediterranean and the Middle East of the CSIC, September 29, 2021 @ 1:00 pm

The conference will expose the characteristics of the ‘fatwa’ and its operation, scope, actors (applicant and muftí) and requirements for its exercise, evolution from its origins to the enormous current expansion, the collections of ‘fetua’ and its great legal significance and historical-social impact. The political power of the ‘fatwa’ and ‘fatwa’ vis-à-vis political power will also be addressed through some decisive ‘fetua’ in crucial cases, which has at times placed the ‘mufti’ at the crossroads: its independence from political and social pressure and coercion, with serious consequences and even fatal outcomes for the ‘mufti’.

Francisco Vidal CastroHe is a professor of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Jaén and head of the HUM761 Research Group (Arab, Islamic and Christian Societies). One of his main lines of research started three decades ago is Islamic law in general and fettuas in particular. On the fetuas he has published a fortnight of works dedicated to their characteristics and operation or to the analysis of their content and information that contribute to the knowledge of the history and society that produces them. The last of them has been the coordination of the work of fetuses ( Nawazil ) compiled by the Andalusian of the Nasrid period Ibn Tarkat (ed. A. Ourkia, Jaén: 2019).