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USING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) TO DISSEMINATE THE UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE (FIQH) AND JURIDICAL OPINION (FATWA): A VIEW OF A TECHNOLOGIST By: MUHD ROSYDI BIN MUHAMMAD Department of Information Systems Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology International Islamic University Malaysia MARJAN BINTI MUHAMMAD Faculty of Syari’ah and Judiciary Islamic University College Malaysia

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Page 1: AND JURIDICAL OPINION (FATWA) - Semantic Scholar...of Islamic fiqh, fatwa and other numerous Islamic databases. Reflecting to this scenario, Sheikh Dr Yusof al-Qardhawi stated that

USING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY (ICT) TO DISSEMINATE THE

UNDERSTANDING OF ISLAMIC JURISPRUDENCE (FIQH)

AND JURIDICAL OPINION (FATWA): A VIEW OF A TECHNOLOGIST

By:

MUHD ROSYDI BIN MUHAMMAD

Department of Information Systems

Kulliyyah of Information and Communication Technology

International Islamic University Malaysia

MARJAN BINTI MUHAMMAD

Faculty of Syari’ah and Judiciary

Islamic University College Malaysia

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INTRODUCTION

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a dynamic field that gives a

great impact to the society. It drives many of today's innovations, offers enormous

potential for further innovations and developments, and brings changes to social life in

the coming decades. As we enter the new millennium, we experience one of the most

essential revolutions in our lives – the transition to an Internet-based society. One of the

major areas that is significantly affected by this silent revolution is the way we collect,

process and disseminate information in this new and competitive environment.

Malaysia for instance, has long acknowledged ICT as a powerful tool for

participating in global markets, promoting political accountability, improving the

delivery of basic services and enhancing local development opportunities. Moreover, ICT

is believed to be able to accommodate and speed up our entry into the information-based

environment.

Such great efforts have been carried by many Muslim scholars, scientists and

intellectuals in evaluating the impacts of ICT towards Islam, and at the same time

initiating ways to promote Islamic knowledge and information through the using of ICT,

particularly World Wide Web (WWW) technology. As a result of their efforts is the

proliferation of Islamic sites on the Internet as well as software, some of which are

devoted to Islamic education and propagation, while others being of more commercial or

entertainment nature. The author finds out there are about 1,784,410 website that are

directly and indirectly related to Islam.1 However, not all of these sites, which discuss

issues relevant to Islam, present accurate and reliable information based on the true

beliefs and practices of the Prophet (pbuh) and his companions. Thus, there is a need to

increase the number of sites providing resources based on these authentic teachings.

Since ICT is the global-focused technology, it is believed that it can be the most useful

platform for Muslims to disseminate Islamic knowledge and information. Another 1 Search result of AltaVista responding to the keyword of “Islam” as of 21st February 2003. The author

uses AltaVista search engine due to its fast response time, most up-to-date content and sorts the hits according to the level of importance of the information found.

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evidence of Muslim interest in ICT is the growing numbers of seminars, conferences,

workshops discussed about the issue. For example in 1999, Islamic Internet Conference

(MISIC'99) was held with the objective of utilizing the Internet to present and acquire

knowledge on Islam, sharing information among Muslims all over the globe, as well as

establishing personal and organizational networks. This event has become a yearly

programme under the supervision of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and

was renamed to "International Conference on Information Technology"2. In essence,

supports from ICT will enable the Islamic knowledge to be effectively transmitted to the

ummah.

This paper attempts to shed light on how to utilize the advancement of ICT in

order to disseminate the understanding of Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) and juridical

opinions (fatwa). It will focus on several issues i.e. relationships between ICT and Islam,

ICT applications, fiqh and fatwa in the digital era, current implementations of ICT in fiqh

and fatwa and obstacles faced while implementing ICT in this field as well as several

suggestions to improve it.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ICT AND ISLAM

Information Technology (IT) is defined as "the use of computers and

telecommunications for the processing and distribution of information in digital, audio,

video and other forms".3 Based on this definition and the fact that Quran is neither a

scientific text book nor a technological "how-to" manual, those who are unfamiliar with

Islam might be questioning themselves about the relationship between IT and the book

revealed more than 1400 years ago.

Al-Quran is the book of knowledge and the main source of reference in Islam,

which contains general principles applicable for all times and places. Islam – through

2 Yousif, Ahmad F., Information Technology in the 21st Century: An Islamic Perspective, Paper presented

at the International Conference on Information System & Islam, 5 – 7 Nov 2001, ISI2001, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

3 ibid

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Quran – stresses the importance of seeking both divine and worldly knowledge from the

very first revelation:

]خلق اإلنسان من علق* ك الذي خلق اقرأ بسم رب[ "Read in the name of your Lord who created * created man from a clot ….." 4

Muslims are encouraged to continuously seek and increase our knowledge as

those who possess more knowledge will be highly respected in Islam as Allah says:

] يعلمون والذين ال يعلموننقل هل يستوي الذي[

“Say: Are those who know equal to those who know not?" 5

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in most of his hadith has indicated the importance of

knowledge in our lives. In one of his famous hadith, he stated that acquiring all types of

knowledge is made obligatory to all muslims.

- رواه ابن ماجه – ))طلب العلم فريضة على كل مسلم ((

“Seeking knowledge (‘ilm) is compulsory to all muslims” – Narrated by Ibn Maajah

The Prophet (pbuh) and early Muslim scholars have possessed an exemplary

model on how one should deal with the knowledge. They employed whatever means

which were available at that time to access information, store, process and distribute their

ideas and knowledge. As a result of their positive attitudes towards knowledge, Islam

emerged as a great civilization for centuries.

The Islamic tradition has categorized knowledge into two categories. The first

category of knowledge is that rendered by Allah to man through revelation (wahyu). This

knowledge is regarded as the highest form of knowledge and eventually is made 4 Quran 96: 1 -2 5 Quran 39: 9

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compulsory on every Muslim to learn, comprehend and implement. The second type of

knowledge is that acquired by humans via rational inquiry based on experience and

observation, which normally concern with worldly matter.6 This latter form of knowledge

includes tanzur (observation), tadabbur (deliberation), tathakkur (recollection), tafakkur

(consideration), tabassur (understanding) and ta’aqul (rationalization), all of which are

mentioned in the Quran as mechanisms to gather knowledge. It is in the latter category

lies the field of ICT. 7

In this respect, ICT is not an alien to Islam. In fact, the technology has been

adopted and used – in a different way - by Muslim scholars in the early Islamic history.

Hence, the usage of ICT to promote Islamic knowledge is merely not a big issue.

Services and applications offered by the technology can be efficiently utilized in order to

distribute and increase the level of understanding Islamic knowledge.

APPLICATIONS AND TECHNOLOGIES OFFERED BY ICT

ICT offers various technologies that can be used by the humans in order to

facilitate their routine activities. It is said that ICT will be changing the way we work,

communicate, study, do business and other aspects of human life. One of the greatest

benefits to be gained from the use of ICT is Internet. The Internet is defined as a

worldwide connection of more than 72 millions computers that use Internet Protocol (IP)

to communicate. More than 190 countries and territories around the world are similarly

connected to the Internet, forming a worldwide telecommunications network.8 People

from all walks of life are using the Internet. According to Nua Internet Surveys9 as of

September 2002, 605.60 million people were online worldwide. Out of these numbers,

6.31 million users were from Africa, 187.24 million were from Asia and the Pacific Rim,

6 Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib, (1978), Islam and Secularism, Kuala Lumpur: ABIM, p. 74. 7 Yousif, Ahmad F., Information Technology in the 21st Century: An Islamic Perspective, Paper presented

at the International Conference on Information System & Islam, 5 – 7 Nov 2001, ISI2001, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

8 Hofstetter, Fred T., (2001), Internet Literacy, McGraw Hill, 2nd Ed., p. 2 9 Nua Internet Survey at http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/index.html

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190.91 million were from Europe, 5.12 were from Middle East, 182.67 million were from

North America and 33.35 million were from Latin America.

Figure 1 shows the tremendous growth of Internet technology globally. Looking

to the promising situation, it is expected that most of human activities will be greatly

influenced by this technology.

Figure 1: The Growth of Internet

Internet contains bundles of information that can be rapidly and easily accessed

by the users. A wide range of information can be obtained from on-line resources which

are pleasantly presented through the use of World Wide Web (WWW) technology. There

are lots of Islamic sites have been developed with the purpose of providing and

disseminating Islamic knowledge and information such as Al-Islam.Com (http://www.al-

islam.com), IslamiCity.Com (http://www.islamicity.com), Harf Information Technology

(http://www.harf.com), Islamweb.Net (http://islamweb.net), Answering Islam

(http://answering-islam.org), Alim (http://www.alim.org), Talk Islam

(http://talkislam.com), Jannah.Com (http://www.jannah.com), IslamOnline.Net

(http://www.islamonline.net), IslamQA.Com (http://www.islam-qa.com) and many more.

It becomes a new mechanism for Muslims all over the world to collect, exchange, share

and spread information about Islam. Through the websites, Muslims are given on-line

access to Quranic recitations and its’ translations, books of Hadith, books and problems

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of Islamic fiqh, fatwa and other numerous Islamic databases. Reflecting to this scenario,

Sheikh Dr Yusof al-Qardhawi stated that Internet is a very important tool to distribute

Islamic teachings and it can be a platform to unite Muslim community.10 In addition,

according to Michael Boyd, “Muslims around the world are making a connection with

their faith through the Net. There are websites through which they learn about their

religion, as well as how to spread it”.11

Another prominent application offered by the ICT is electronic mail (e-mail). E-

mail has revolutionized the way people communicate by enabling the users to

electronically sending, receiving and reading messages. Compared to other forms of

communication, it can save our precious time because we can only read e-mail when we

intend to do so. Thus, e-mail does not interrupt our workday. When we travel, we can

dial-up and read our e-mail using almost any telephone line anywhere in the world. We

can even avoid the need for a phone line if our computer is equipped for wireless

communications or if we have a cell phone that supports wireless e-mail.

Together with the e-mail, Internet technology offers Listserv, Newsgroup and

Web-based Forum. These applications will basically allow the Internet users to exchange

and share information digitally. Hence, it will enable Muslim scholars located in different

parts of the ummah to virtually gather in order to discuss, debate and solve problems as

well as challenges facing the ummah. Harf Information Technology

(http://www.harf.com) for instance, provides a mailing list service and Al-Islam.Com

(http://www.al-islam.com) provides on-line forum to users. This will allow the users to

interact, share and seeking latest information over the web.

Multimedia which encompasses animation, audio, video, graphic – both two

dimensional (2D) and three dimensional (3D) is another one of the most complex and

rapidly changing areas in ICT. It can be very entertaining, especially if we are equipped

10 Al-Qaradawi.Net at http://www.qaradawi.net 11 Yousif, Ahmad F., Information Technology in the 21st Century: An Islamic Perspective, Paper presented

at the International Conference on Information System & Islam, 5 – 7 Nov 2001, ISI2001, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

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with high-end computers, all the necessary plug-ins installed and access to the Internet at

a quiet time. Multimedia elements, if they are efficiently utilized can be useful tools to

improve the approach on how we present and distribute information. Audio and video

technologies are widely used by most of the websites in order to improve the way

information are delivered, rather than presenting them in the text-based format. Al-

Islam.Com (http://www.al-islam.com), IslamiCity.Com (http://www.islamicity.com) and

IslamOnline.Net (http://www.islamonline.net) are among the Islamic websites that enable

the users to listen for the khutbah or lectures conveyed by prominent Muslim scholars.

Moreover, virtual reality that involves 3D simulation of a real or imagined

environment using computers is widely implemented mainly in critical areas such as

engineering designs, medical research and imaging. It gives chance to users to “truly”

view and experience the simulated situation. Displaying in a virtual reality setting, an

object such as car can be viewed from various angles (top, bottom, right, left, side and so

on). We can also “virtually” sit inside the car, and even have test-drive on the car. Virtual

reality can be a useful technology to be adopted in developing certain Islamic application

such as practice and training for hajj. Users can be “practically” trained on how to

correctly perform hajj activities like tawaf, saei’ and getting into ihram garments. This

can enhance their understanding on how to carry out Islamic practices.

ICT also enables real-time communication among the users. For example, audio

conferencing allows them to hear what people are saying into a microphone during a chat,

while videoconferencing allows them to see the people as well. Since digital audio and

video transmissions contain many more bits of information than textual communications,

we need a faster connection to the Internet than is required for text-based chat. There is a

lot of research and development being conducted on compressing audio and video in

order to make them require less bandwidth. Hopefully some day in the future, as the

technology continues to develop, everyone will be able to use audio and video without

worrying about bandwidth limitations.

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The Internet is the richest source of information on the planet. According to

Bergman’s BrightPlanet white paper on deep Web, there were more than 100,000

searchable databases containing nearly 550 billion documents in 2000 of which 95%

were publicly available.12 Out of the number, there were more than 1,055,217 websites

related to Islam.13 The technology can facilitate students and scholars in conducting

research where they can find out lots of information as well as what has been done in the

area. While so much information is available online, however, finding accurate

information as requested is not always easy. Therefore, search engines can be used to

help the users to find out the most accurate information as they want to know. Currently,

there are lots of effective search engines such Google (http://www.google.com),

AltaVista (http://www.altavista.com), Lycos (http://www.lycos.com), Yahoo!

(http://www.yahoo.com), Excite (http://www.excite.com), WebCrawler

(http://www.webcrawler.com), InfoSeek (http://www.infoseek.com), DirectHit

(http://www.directhit.com) and many more. These search engines can be an effective

mechanism to be utilized in order to obtain valuable information on Islam.

Database system is among any other sophisticated application which is offered by

this advent technology. It is simply a system that handles the process of centralizing the

data, managing them efficiently and providing access to stored data. Database system is

very useful nowadays especially in the situation where we have vast amount of

knowledge and information to be properly managed. The current trend of database

technology is putting information resources available on the WWW, which is known as

Hypermedia Databases.14 Researchers now explore the role of hypermedia databases in

the Web and the growing use of websites to access information stored in database system.

The hypermedia database approach enables the users to access topics on the website in

whatever order they wish. For example, from the web page of the U.S. National Oceanic

12 BrightPlanet at http://www.brightplanet.com/deepcontent/tutorials/DeepWeb/deepwebwhitepaper.pdf 13 Shaikh Mohd Saifuddeen Shaikh Mohd Salleh, (2000), Merombak dan Membentuk Imej Islam dengan

Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi (ICT), an article in Memahami Islam Melalui Teknologi Maklumat & Komunikasi, Ed: Shaikh Mohd Saifuddeen Shaikh Mohd Salleh, p. 37-56, IKIM, Kuala Lumpur.

14 Loudan, K. C., Loudan, J. P., (2002), Management Information Systems: Managing The Digital Firm, 7th Ed., Prentice Hall, USA, p. 224.

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and Atmospheric Administration (http://www.nurp.noaaa.gov), one could link to other

web pages that provide various forms of information on the related issue.

Besides that, there is also an approach where internal database can be linked to

the web. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (http://www.epa.gov/enviro/)

website allows its employees and the general public to access its Environfacts data

warehouse. More and more organizations are using the web in order to provide an

interface to internal databases. One of the advantages can be gained from using the web

to access information from the internal databases is that, web browser software is

extremely easy to use and requiring much less training that the database query tools. For

business companies, it creates new efficiencies and opportunities for them while at the

same time, providing their employees with integrated firm-wide views of information.

Figure 2 shows the architecture on how the database technology can be linked to the

WWW.

Figure 2: Linking Database to the Web

Among other Islamic websites that adopt this approach are Al-Islam.Com

(http://www.al-islam.com) and IslamQA.Com (http://www.islam-qa.com). They are

providing Islamic knowledge and information particularly, in the field of fiqh and fatwa

by linking their databases to webs. It enables the users to search for the information using

the easiest and most effective way.

There are many more applications provided by the ICT, and Muslims should not

only be a passive observer to the advent of this sophisticated technology. They have to

become a major player as well as contributor to this technology, using and adapting

DBMS INTERNET

WEB BROWSER

WEB SERVER

HTML

APPLICATION SERVER

DATABASE

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whatever applications invented in order to enhance and accelerate the development

process of Islamic ummah.

FIQH AND FATWA IN THE DIGITAL ERA

Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh) is a core division of Islamic disciplines that concern

with various aspects, including worshipping ('ibadah), transactions (mu'amalah),

inheritance (mirath), criminals (jinayah), judiciary (qada'), marriage (munakahat),

international affairs (fiqh al-dawlah), politics (siyasah), etc. Having knowledge on fiqh

can guide an individual to righteously perform all of his activities and routines as

required by Islam. In this regard, Imam Abu Hanifah defines fiqh as “the ability of

oneself to know what he must possess and what is required from him”.15

Considering the importance of fiqh in our life, we must ensure that the knowledge

can be preached, and at the same time, reached by all levels of Islamic ummah. When

there is stagnation in the use of fiqh, the dynamic aspect of Islam will tear and unity of

the ummah will be stunned.

As for the fatwa, it is really required in this current rapid changing environment in

order to solve new problems that we might encounter. Since Islam does not provide a

clear-cut hukm for all cases and problems, it has underlined some general guidelines,

rules and methods on how to study, analyze, make ijtihad and finally issue any fatwa for

the problems arise. For instance, there is no specific hukm of Internet, e-commerce,

software piracy and other new emerging problems. Thus, people need clarifications from

Muslim scholars and experts on how to deal with these ijtihadic matters. Notwithstanding

the prolonged debates and discussions, Muslim scholars manage to scrutinize the

problems and eventually come out with certain hukm.

Hence, methodology adopted to spread information on this area needs to be

strategically planned and initiated in order to make sure that all of the priceless resources 15 Dr. Wahbah Zuhaili, (1997), Al-Fiqh Al-Islami Wa Adillatuhu, Vol. 1, Darul Fikr, Beirut.

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of fiqh and valuable collection of fatwa can be appropriately managed and competently

delivered to the society. All of the resources and information are commonly documented

and compiled into books. Nevertheless, with the advancement of technology these

sources are now accessible via internet and users can easily download and print out these

materials freely without buying them in the market. For instance, Al-Islam.Com

(http://www.al-islam.com) allows the Internet users to digitally read and even print out

some prominent heritage books on fiqh and fatwa like Al-Fatawa Al-Fiqhiyyah Al-Kubra,

Al-Fatawa Al-Hindiyyah, I‘lam al-Muwaqqi’in ‘an Rabbi al-‘Alamin, Al-Turuq Al-

Hukmiyyah, Al-Ahkam Al-Sultaniyyah, Al-Mughni, Al-Furuuq, Al-Mawsu’ah Al-

Fiqhiyyah and others. This can facilitate those who want to learn and get information

from these books. In short, fiqh and fatwa are exploring a new track to reach their users,

while the users are adopting a new approach – using ICT - on how to obtain and

disseminate the information.

USING ICT IN UNDERSTANDING FIQH AND FATWA

As said earlier, the advancement of ICT can be an efficient tool to disseminate

knowledge and improve the level of understanding of fiqh and fatwa among Muslims. In

analyzing the possibility to utilize ICT for the stipulated purpose, the author would like to

have a look into various technologies which are applicable to be adopted in preaching the

information on Islam.

(i) WWW Technology

WWW technology enables the users to conveniently obtain and display textual

information, recorded sounds or graphic images from variety of sources on the Internet. It

allows information to be conveyed in the most efficient scheme. In this respect, a great

number of Islamic websites have been developed with an objective to deliver information

and knowledge on fiqh and fatwa by adopting the ICT applications.

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Al-Islam.Com, (http://www.al-islam.com) managed by Harf Information

Technology, (http://www.harf.com) is one of the top Islamic websites. Figure 3 below

show the displays of Al-Islam.Com main page.

Figure 3: Main Page of Al-Islam.Com

It provides useful information, discussions and highlights on almost all aspects of

Islamic disciplines such as Quran, fiqh, usul fiqh, fatwa, qada’ and etc. Among the

valuable resources of this website are the heritage books of fiqh that are available in the

Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence software which amount to about 750,000 of

printed pages with full analysis and studies. In order to ensure the credibility and quality

of the information rendered on the page, they use morphological analysis technology –

study of the morphemes of a language and how they are combined to make a word. The

website can be displayed in several languages which are Arabic, English, Melayu,

Indonesia, Dutch, French and Turkish, however, fiqh and fatwa pages come in Arabic.

Figure 4 on the next indicates the display of fiqh and fatwa section of Al-

Islam.Com website.

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Figure 4: Fiqh and Fatwa Section

On this page, information on fiqh and fatwa can be electronically accessed. The

main disadvantage of this section is that information is presented in Arabic. It can limit

the access to those who understand Arabic only. It is suggested that information can be

presented in various languages.

Another beneficial website that actively works to confer information and

knowledge on fatwa is IslamOnline.Net (http://www.islamonline.net). It is a bilingual –

Arabic and English - website with universal messages and Islamic contents. Figure 5

indicates the page of Fatwa Bank.

Figure 5: Fatwa Bank in IslamOnline.Com

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In order to ensure that nothing on this site violates the fixed principles of Islamic

law (Shar'ia), the scholars who expert in Quran, hadith, fiqh, politics, economics,

sociology, technology, arts, and other fields are appointed as committee who are

responsible to maintain the website. The committee is headed by Sheikh Dr Yusof Al-

Qardhawi. IslamOnline.Net has a page named Fatwa Bank which stores information on

fatwa in its database, and allows the users to retrieve their requested information using

search engine. This is an example on how internal database can be linked to the Webpage

as discussed in the previous section. Fatawa or solutions are given by the prominent

Muslim scholars such as Abdul Kareem Zaidan, Abd Al-Majid Subh, Ahmad Sa’eed

Hawwa, Dr. Taha Jabir Al-‘Alwani and many more. Users can interact with the website

in order to obtain their requested fatwa.

If the requested fatwa can not be found in the database, users can submit their

questions to the scholars at “Ask The Scholar” page. The appointed scholars will respond

to your problem in a short time. WWW technology opens opportunities for better way of

communication and providing references to both Muslims and non-Muslims about Islam,

its sciences, civilizations and nations.

Another example of website that promotes fiqh and fatwa as its main objective is

IslamWeb (http://islamweb.net) as shown in figure 6

Figure 6: Fatwa Center for IslamWeb

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At Islamweb, efforts made are very comprehensive and encompass all aspects of

Islam such as Islamic belief (‘Aqidah), Qur'anic issues, hadith, Islamic jurisprudence

(fiqh), Prophet Muhammad's Noble Biography (sirah), methodology of da'wah, unique

examples of Islamic ideal conduct, stories of new converts to Islam, and many other

issues. Similarly to Fatwa Bank at IslamOnline.Com (http://www.islamonline.com), users

can search for any fatwa from the IslamWeb’s database, and at the same time can

compose and submit new problems to the site.

Islam Q&A (http://www.islam-qa.com) aims to provide intelligent and

authoritative responses to any question about Islam, whether it comes from a Muslim or a

non-Muslim, and to help solving general and personal social problems. Responses are

composed, prepared, approved, revised, edited, amended or annotated by Sheikh

Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid. It can be viewed in five languages which are Arabic,

English, French, Japanese and Indonesia. Among the subject areas include Islamic fiqh

and jurisprudence, Islamic history, Islamic social laws (including marriage, divorce,

contracts, and inheritance), Islamic finance, basic tenets and ‘aqidah of the Islamic faith

and tawhid, and Arabic grammar as it relates to the Quran and Islamic texts. An Islam

Q&A database is organized by subject areas, containing common as well as previously

asked questions. It is available for exploring, either by browsing the entire contents or

specific subject areas, or by searching for specific keywords as denoted in figure 7.

Figure 7: Jurisprudence and Islamic Ruling Page at Islam Q&A

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There are also personal sites for Muslim scholars which enables them to put

forward their ideas, opinions, lectures, khutbah and even fatwa. An example is the

website of Sheikh Dr Yusof Al-Qardhawi at http://www.qaradawi.net as shown below in

figure 8.

Figure 8: Fatwa and Hukm Page at Qaradawi.Net

It highlights on various current issues and problems faced by the Muslims all over

the world like human cloning, dividend and interest, purchase of Israel's products,

leadership of woman etc. It also has a page about fatwa and hukm which consists of many

interesting problems and cases handled by Al-Qardhawi himself.

In general, we find out that each of the Islamic websites provides e-mail, mailing

list and newsgroup applications. This can enrich users’ choices to search, share and

exchange the information and knowledge available via the Internet.

Looking at the current trend where webpage is widely employed to transmit

information, we have to ensure that a proper web development practice is applied while

developing the Web. Among other aspects that need to be taken into consideration during

the development process are:

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1. Informative: A good webpage author must try to anticipate the needs and

interests of the users as much as possible.

2. The Three C’s Webpage Design: Focus on three main areas i.e. quality

content, reader convenience and artistic composition. Good and informative

content should be given utmost priority when developing a webpage.

3. Perfect the Webpage Before Installation: All webpages should be written,

viewed and tested before being installed on a public server. This can avoid

any error or mistake with the web, which might affect its performance.

4. Split the Sites into Multiple Pages: It allows webpage readers to refer to

only portions of the site without referencing the entire site. It also becomes

faster to download and it is usually better to have a lot of smaller pages rather

than a few large ones.

5. Write Effective Webpage Title: We have to ensure that the titles must be

short, accurate and descriptive. It is very important to enhance the web

visibility on search engines.

6. Be Kind to “Back Door” Drop-ins: People can come into the websites

through “back door”. Therefore, the back door drop-ins must be kept in mind

and proper navigational tools should be set up so that readers can orient

themselves from any where they enter the website.

7. Keep Download Times Short: Instead of putting large graphics at the top of

your page, it is better to locate larger graphics at the bottom of the page.

With a proper supervision and planning, it is expected that WWW technology will

greatly contribute to the improvement of mechanisms used by Muslims to search, obtain,

present, share, exchange and disseminate Islamic information and knowledge.

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(b) Expert Systems

The interest and excitement about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) over recent

years has entered the lexicon of mainstream computer science and the other critical areas

such as engineering, science, medicine and etc. The technology can replicate the rational

behaviour and performance of human experts. This scenario leads towards the

development of expert systems that can really facilitate the human being. Muslims must

grab the opportunity and apply this advanced and sophisticated technology in order to

enhance the status Islam.

The expert system is an advanced computer programme which can, at high level

of competence, solve difficult problems requiring the use of expertise and experience; it

accomplishes this by employing knowledge of the techniques, information, heuristics

(rules of thumb) and problem solving processes that human experts use to solve such

problem. Such a system may completely fulfill a function that normally requires human

expertise, or it may play the role of an assistant to a human decision makers.16

The expert system also provides a way to store human knowledge, expertise and

experience in computers that can be assumed as a “clone” of human experts. It emulates

part of the human reasoning capabilities based on knowledge of expertise or specialist to

solve any kind of problems.17

In reflection to an Islamic environment, expert systems can be developed to

facilitate the development process of fiqh and fatwa. In this fast changing ambience,

Muslims are surrounded or even bombarded with new problems and issues all the time.

They can consult these built-in "software expert" for expert advice, opinions,

recommendations or solutions. Hence, the system is expected to study, analyze and

16 Gero, J. S. and Stanton, R., (1988), Artificial Intelligence Developments and Applications: Edited

Selection of Papers to the Australian Joint Artificial Intelligence Conference Sydney, Australia. 17 Ketata, C., Rockwell, M. C. and Riordan, D., (2000), Development of Expert System for Stream Sampling

in Mineral Processing Plants, Artificial Intelligence of Engineering, 14, p. 191 – 197.

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process the problems, and produce solution (hukm). The task is not easy but there are

large benefits that can be attained by Muslims if appropriate approach is taken.

If many expert systems have been developed to mimic doctors, financial analysts,

engineers, lawyers and geologists, why cannot an expert system imitate the expertise of

the expounder of Islamic law (mufti), mujtahid, jurist (faqih), or Muslim judge (qadhi). In

this context, cases-based reasoning (CBR), the descriptions of past experiences of human

specialists represented as cases, are stored in a database for later retrieval when the user

encounters a new case with similar parameters. The system searches for the stored cases

with problem characteristics similar to the new one, finds the closest fit and applies the

solutions of the old case to the new case. Successful solutions are tagged to the new case

and both are stored together with the other cases in the knowledge base. While, the

unsuccessful solutions are also appended to the case database along with explanations as

to why the solutions did not work.18 Figure 9 below illustrates how CBR works.

Figure 9: Case-based Reasoning Model

18 Loudan, K. C., Loudan, J. P., (2002), Management Information Systems: Managing The Digital Firm,

7th Ed., Prentice Hall, USA, p. 390.

System modifies the solution to better fit the

problem

System searches database for similar cases

System asks user additional

questions to narrow search

System finds closest fit and

retrieves solution

System stores problem and

successful solution in the

database

SuccessfulNO

Case database

User describes the problem

YES

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Working on this approach will enable the hukm of fatawa to be digitally collected,

managed and disseminated to the public. However, the development of the system needs

a mutual cooperation from both parties – ulama and technologists. They have to work

together and contribute their expertise in order to ensure the success of the system.

(c) Software and Application Programmes

A software is a computer programme – a set of commands or instructions that

aims to perform a certain task or computation. These commands are written in a language

that the computer can understand. They instruct the computer exactly what to do.19

Currently, there are a lot of Islamic softwares available online and in the market. Among

other available beneficial software on fiqh are Jurisprudence of Transactions (muamalat),

Jurisprudence of Inheritance (mirath), Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence and

Jurisprudence of Prayer.20

Jurisprudence of Transactions (muamalat) software provides extensive resources,

training, and discussions of seventeen major topics in the jurisprudence of transactions.

Search ability gives users instant access to details by word, word root, and topic searches.

Major topics considered include lease contracts, manufacturing, sales, advance payments,

currency transactions, bills or exchange, partnerships, and others. The software offers

references from various schools of law, including Fatawa Ibn Hajar, Al-Mabsut, and Al-

Mudawwanah Al-Kubra. The program also provides examples of modern applications of

fatawa authenticated by Islamic organization such as the Academy of Islamic

Jurisprudence in Jeddah and the Faisal Islamic Bank.

As beneficial as the Jurisprudence of Transactions (muamalat), software for

Jurisprudence of Inheritance (mirath) constructs a 'tree' of inheritance for all heirs of an

estate. After entering all names and the degrees of relationship, the program will

19 Sellapan, P., (1998), Information Technology in Business: A Guide to the Information Age, 2nd Ed, Times,

Kuala Lumpur. 20 The Bazar’s page on IslamiCity.Com (http://www.islamicity.com/bazar/)

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automatically calculate each heir's share, and explain the rules of distribution that have

been applied. The software will total up the value of an estate after entering all cash

assets, equities, bonds and other shares, gold and ornaments, and other assets, and goods

that will be inherited. Heirs' portions are automatically calculated and valued.

In this respect, Muslim software developers have to be proactive in developing

such Islamic-based software, which can really benefit the Islamic ummah.

OBSTACLES AND CHALLENGES IN THE ADOPTION OF ICT

FOR FIQH AND FATWA

The role of ICT is more pervasive nowadays than before. It has revolutionized the

way we do things and the way things are done for us or to us in the last decades. The

emergence of ICT has given many impacts and effects to our lives. For example, in the

past, students used to hand-write their school assignments. Today, they type those on the

computer and print them on the printer or even submit the assignments online using e-

mail.

The ICT has impacted us to one degree or another, and it will continue to impact

us even more in the future. Therefore, we have to facilitate and equip ourselves with

related knowledge on this area so that we can give our contributions towards the

betterment of the ummah. In light of the discussed topic, there are some obstacles faced

by Muslims in their way to embrace ICT as a new tool to actively mobilize Islamic

activities and tasks.

(a) ICT Illiteracy

One of the biggest challenges facing Muslims in utilizing ICT is the high rate of

illiteracy which presently exists in many Muslims countries. If the illiteracy rates cannot

be improved, it will be very difficult to promote ICT among them. On average, Muslim

scholars in the Islamic disciplines lack of computer literacy and expertise in ICT. Such

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incompetency can impede their ability to access and effectively use the technology.

Although the development of software programmes has eased access to information,

many of them do not want or refuse to use the technology.

Among the contributing factors to the scenario are the graduates of traditional

religious disciplines tend to focus on memorizing of the Quran, hadith, fiqh and other

disciplines, rather than understanding such knowledge. Thus, the traditional Islamic

educational system which excessively focused on memorization and placed little

emphasis on scientific and technological education has resulted to the failure of

producing graduates who are capable of using ICT in their professional careers.

In spite of the above, some efforts need to be initiated to overcome the problem

faced by students in the Islamic disciplines. A cohesive and integrated curriculum at all

educational level – primary, secondary, tertiary and university – must be constructed in

order to produce a competent and professional individuals, students and workers. The

curriculums need to be instilled with both Islamic values and technological knowledge to

enable them living in a competitive environment.

(b) Language

Failure to master in the ICT standard of lingua franca, which is English, can also

serve as a barrier for accessing and utilizing the technology. While some technologies

like fax, audio and video can be used in regardless of any language, other prominent

technologies such as Internet and browser require some knowledge of English in order to

benefit from the technology. We find out that the information provided by most of

Islamic sites is presented in English. This can be a major restriction for the Muslim users

to search for the information, which eventually resulted in frustration with the technology.

In this regard, Munawar Anees stated that none of the major Muslim languages plays a

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major role in this huge knowledge machine.21 Therefore, we need to come out with

strategic planning on how to educate and improve English language proficiency among

Muslims. An effort done by the Malaysian government to use English in Mathematics

and Science subjects need to be positively viewed by all parties. It might probably be a

stepping stone for the future comprehensive strategies to overcome the problem.

(c) Lack of Financial Resources

Some of the Muslim countries are among the poorest in the world. Even in those

countries which have high rates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), there is no even

distribution of resources. The acquisition of hardware, software, development projects,

training and maintenance requires an extensive outlay financial capital that simply

exorbitant to many Islamic countries. Due to this, access to such technology is still very

limited to these countries. The situation is aggravated with the lack of supports and

facilities provided for telecommunication system and information technology

infrastructures. In light of such predictions, Muslims countries in Asia and Africa will be

the least likely of ICT beneficiaries.

Alternatively, we can shift to the open source environment, which has recently got

its momentum in constructing our systems. Open Source refers to the process of using a

software and free redistribution of the source code. The basic idea behind the open source

is that when programmers can read, redistribute, and modify the source code for a piece

of software, the software will evolve in term of reliability, functionality and security. The

evolvement process takes place when people improve the software, adapt it to their

environment and fix the bugs.22

This new approach can assist those debt-ridden countries to improve their

information technology infrastructure at the minimal cost. In fact, the current trend shows

21 Yousif, Ahmad F., Information Technology in the 21st Century: An Islamic Perspective, Paper presented

at the International Conference on Information System & Islam, 5 – 7 Nov 2001, ISI2001, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

22 Open Source Initiatives OSI http://www.opensource.org

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that people tend to bring the concept of the open source into reality due to its cost

effectiveness.

(d) Cooperation and Collaboration Works Between Ulama and

Technologist

The success of such efforts can be measured through how far the cooperation and

collaboration works initiated between individuals, institutions and organizations are later

be implemented. In essence, it requires a comprehensive involvement from all relevant

parties. In adopting ICT to facilitate Islamic activities, it entails the collaboration works

between religious experts and technologists. It seems that many Islamic institutions and

organizations particularly in Malaysia such as Department of Islamic Development

Malaysia (JAKIM) and Islamic Understanding Institute of Malaysia (IKIM) have been

using ICT to facilitate their jobs and operate their transactions. However, the matter of

cooperation and coordination among those Islamic institutions and technological-based

organizations like Mimos Bhd (MIMOS), National ICT Security & Emergency Response

Centre (NISER) and Malaysian Science and Technology Information Centre (MASTIC)

can still be questioned. There should be some collaboration projects among these

organizations in developing such systems which can enhance the quality of Islamic

activities.

CONCLUSION

The ICT does not operate in a vacuum. It is a part and parcel of the society. Thus,

it affects the society in several dimensions – ethical, social and political. In light of the

topic discussed in this paper, there are various applications offered by ICT that can be

efficiently utilized in promoting Islamic teachings, particularly the areas of fiqh and fatwa.

There is already a platform where the ICT is aggressively adopted in the areas.

Thus, it is expected that Islam can benefit from such advanced technology.

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It is the responsibility of Muslims to use and master in this new technology, as

well as to put their efforts to learn and comprehend Islamic teachings. As Muslims, we

are responsible to preach and disseminate Islamic teachings. This process is in need for

an updated and sophisticated tool so that it can meet the ever changing requirements of

this turbulent environment.

In fact, ICT is presently considered as a determinant factor for the success of one

nation. Hence, Muslims need to equip themselves with the information and knowledge of

this advent technology which acts as the most powerful strength and power. It will enable

the Muslims to compete and survive in this competition. Allah (s.w.t) clearly encourages

Muslims to furnish themselves with power and strength as He says in the Holy Quran:

..]وا ما استطعتم من قوةوأعد[

“And be prepared (equipped) yourself with all of your efforts in gaining strength …”23

23 Quran 8: 60

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REFERENCES

BOOKS AND ARTICLES

Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naquib, (1978), Islam and Secularism, Kuala Lumpur:

ABIM

Al-Zuhaili, Wahbah, (1997), Al-Fiqh Al-Islami Wa Adillatuhu, Vol. 1, Darul Fikr, Beirut.

Gero, J. S. and Stanton, R., (1988), Artificial Intelligence Developments and Applications:

Edited Selection of Papers to the Australian Joint Artificial Intelligence Conference

Sydney, Australia.

Hofstetter, Fred T., (2001), Internet Literacy, 2nd Ed., McGraw Hill, U.S.A.

Ketata, C., Rockwell, M. C. and Riordan, D., (2000), Development of Expert System for

Stream Sampling in Mineral Processing Plants, Artificial Intelligence of Engineering,

14, p. 191 – 197.

Loudan, K. C., Loudan, J. P., (2002), Management Information Systems: Managing The

Digital Firm, 7th Ed., Prentice Hall, U.S.A.

Shaikh Mohd Saifuddeen Shaikh Mohd Salleh, (2000), Merombak dan Membentuk Imej

Islam dengan Teknologi Maklumat dan Komunikasi (ICT), an article in Memahami

Islam Melalui Teknologi Maklumat & Komunikasi, Ed: Shaikh Mohd Saifuddeen

Shaikh Mohd Salleh, p. 37-56, IKIM, Kuala Lumpur.

Sellapan, P., (1998), Information Technology in Business: A Guide to the Information

Age, 2nd Ed, Times, Kuala Lumpur.

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Yousif, Ahmad F., Information Technology in the 21st Century: An Islamic Perspective,

Paper presented at the International Conference on Information System & Islam, 5 – 7

Nov 2001, ISI2001, International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM).

WEBSITES

Alim (http://www.alim.org), Al-Islam.Com at http://www.al-islam.com Answering Islam at http://answering-islam.org) Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM) at http://www.islam.gov.my Harf Information Technology at http://www.harf.com Jannah.Com at http://www.jannah.com Islamic Understanding Institute of Malaysia (IKIM) at http://www.ikim.gov.my IslamiCity.Com at http://www.islamicity.com IslamOnline.Net at http://www.islamonline.net IslamQA.Com at http://www.islam-qa.com Islamweb.Net at http://islamweb.net Malaysian Science and Technology Information Centre (MASTIC) at

http://www.mastic.gov.my National ICT Security and Emergency Response Centre at http://www.niser.org.my Nua Internet Survey at http://www.nua.ie/surveys/how_many_online/index.html Open Source Initiative OSI at http://www.opensource.org Talk Islam at http://talkislam.com