The Al-Azhar Shia Fatwa, known in Arabic as The Shaltoot Fatwa (Arabic: فتوى شلتوت), is an Islamic fatwa issued in 1959 on the topic of Shi'a–Sunni relationsbySunni scholar Shaikh Mahmood Shaltoot. Under Shaltut, Sunni-Shia ecumenical activities would reach their zenith.[1]
| Al-Azhar shia fatwa | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Created | 17 Rabiʽ al-Awwal 1378 H (1959 M) |
| Author(s) | Mahmud Shaltut |
| Subject | practicing Shia jurisprudence is permissible, as is practicing the jurisprudence of the four Sunni mazhab. |
The fatwa is the fruit of a decade-long collaborative effort between a group of Sunni and Shia scholars at the Dar al-Taqreeb al-Madhahib al-Islamiyyah ("center for bringing together the various Islamic schools of thought") theological center at Al-Azhar UniversityinCairo. The aim of the effort is to bridge the gap between the various Islamic schools of thought, and to foster mutual respect, understanding and appreciation of each school's contributions to the development of Islamic jurisprudence.[2] However, despite the ecumenical fatwa, while Shaltoot was Grand Imam of Al-Azhar he refused to establish an independent Shia chair at the University, which was one of the greatest aspirations, especially, of the Shia members of the Dar al-Taqreeb.[3]
It is claimed that this fatwa, which admits Shias, Alawites, and Druze, who had been considered heretics and idolaters for hundreds of years, into mainstream Islam, was inspired by Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.[4] Nasser saw it as a tool to spread his appeal and influence across the entire Arab world.[5]
In 2012, due to drift towards Islamism in Al-Azhar, and the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood into leadership, the dean of the Faculty of Islamic Studies at Al-Azhar issued a fatwa strongly opposed to the 1959 fatwa. It forbade worship according to the Shia tradition and condemned as heretics anyone who insulted the wives or companions of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Al-Azhar also published a book condemning the Shia.[6] However after the 2013 Egyptian coup d'état, Shaykh Ahmed el-Tayeb of Jamia Al'Azhar again reiterated Shaikh Shaltoot's position in an interview[7]
But perhaps the most far reaching change [initiated by Nasser's guidance] was the fatwa commanding the readmission to mainstream Islam of the Shia, Alawis, and Druze. They had been considered heretics and idolaters for hundreds of years, but Nasser put an end to this for once and for all. While endearing himself to the majority Shia of Iraq and undermining Kassem [the communist ruler of Iraq at the time] might have played a part in that decision, there is no doubting the liberalism of the man in this regard.
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