News

Release of new analytic paper: Reducing the Role of Decision-Making Biases in Muslim Responsa

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In an event featuring the Grand Mufti of Egypt, the Chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs & Endowments, the Grand Mufti of Dubai, and al-Habib Ali al-Jifri, Tabah Foundation released its latest analytic paper “Reducing the Role of Decision-Making Biases in Muslim Responsa“.

The new paper presents errors in the process of issuing fatwa and proposes solutions for  reducing such errors and improving the accuracy of fatwas.

Tabah Foundation for Islamic Studies has released its newest research publication, titled Reducing the Role of Decision-Making Biases in Muslim Responsa. The brief sheds light on the errors that may occur in the process of issuing fatwas which may result from  employing heuristics, It also proposes solutions for reducing such errors and improving the accuracy of fatwas. The new publication was issued in both Arabic and English.

The event organized by Tabah to mark the release of the brief was attended by high profile Islamic figures, among them the Grand Mufti of Egypt Sheikh Ali Gumaa, H.E. Dr. Hamdan Musallam Al-Mazrouei, Chairman of the General Authority for Islamic Affairs and Endowments, Dr. Ahmed Abdul Aziz Al Haddad, Grand Mufti of Dubai and Managing Director of the Fatwa Department of Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities, al-Habib Ali- al-Jifri, Chairman of Tabah Foundation, along with a number of muftis and academics. Sheikh Musa Furber, researcher at the Tabah Foundation, delivered a talk that shed light on a number of errors that petitioners commit when dealing with issues for which they need a fatwa. He also addressed the impact of such errors on the process on issuing fatwas when scholars deal with matters relating to the contemporary context or newly occurring issues. This study analyzes such mistakes.

During the event, the researcher presented the concept of fatwa and the significance of the role of the mufti in the process of issuing fatwas. He identified four stages in the process of issuing a fatwa: conception (the petitioner describes a specific case and the mufti asks for additional details); adoption (the mufti matches the relevant features of the case to the relevant legal subjects); evaluation (where the mufti checks whether the pre-conditions, essential elements and associated conditions for the issue that has been identified have been met in the petition’s specific case, and its ensuing legal consequences); and response (the mufti re-examines the petitioner’s circumstances to ensure that applying the ruling will realize the petitioner’s interests without violating the overall objectives of the Shari‘ah).

Then the researcher addressed a number of patterns that could be attributed to heuristic-related biases affecting the mufti, which he categorized into ten patterns: The anchoring effect (focusing on a past reference or a single trait or piece of information); the availability effect (estimating the likelihood of events based upon the ease with which they can be recalled from memory); the confirmation bias (seeking out or interpreting information in a way that confirms one’s preconceptions); fundamental attribution error (over-emphasizing the role of personality traits when explaining one’s own behavior); the halo effect (allowing the observation of a positive trait in one area or aspect of an individual to influence a positive evaluation of other traits); the reverse-halo effect (allowing the observation of a negative trait in one area or aspect of an individual to influence a negative evaluation of other traits); the overconfidence effect (excessive confidence in one’s own ability and accuracy when answering questions); the primacy and recency effects (the tendency that items near the end of a list are the easiest to recall); the recency bias (recalling or giving greater weight to recent over earlier events); and the self-serving bias (the tendency to claim more responsibility for successes than for failures). The researcher briefly explained the impact of these patterns in the conception and adoption stages of fatwa.

After the talk, the floor was opened for a Q & A session. Dr. Ali Gomaa initiated the session with a comment on the use of the term “bias”, speaking of its accuracy in describing reality, its appropriateness resulting from its use in modern literature and from its established use in ordinary speech. He noted that bias is present in almost all disciplines, like engineering, medicine, astronomy and other sciences.
A practitioner of any of these sciences cannot separate himself from the opinions he or she holds. He also added that a mufti must pay attention to the triangle of fatwa: conception, adoption and response. Muftis must ensure that their conception resembles the reality of the case. They must be precise when listening to the case, because there could be a “miss-adoption” if they hear what they want to hear. Finally, they must be precise in using the established ruling by ensuring that it applies to the reality on which the fatwa is based.

H.E. Dr. Hamdan Al-Mazrouei focused in his commentary on the importance of the comprehension and conception of reality held by muftis, and how it reflects on his legal rulings in terms of prohibiting or permitting things to the individual or society. Dr. Ahmad al-Haddad’s speech revolved around research and its foundation in relation to two essential concepts: the fiqh of the self and the fiqh of reality. He also emphasized the significance of God-fearing as the most important attribute of the mufti in issuing fatwa. He also stressed the importance of considering the legitimate legal dispensation for the petitioner.

Al-Habib Ali al-Jifri stressed that this study demonstrated the importance of this subject matter. The real problem lies in the wide gap between a fast-paced, ever changing and complex reality, on the one hand, and the legal rulings appropriate to their historical realities that scholars and jurists have mastered, on the other. This understanding underscores the importance of muftis who have a deep understanding of our current reality. This will enforce the credibility of those in leadership positions in fatwa and Islamic discourse.

It is worth noting that the brief, Reducing the Role of Decision-Making Biases in Muslim Responsa, recommends conducting an independent study that examines the impact of relying upon heuristics in Islamic disciplines. It also recommends that fatwa institutes educate their muftis about the influence of biases, and that the same instruction is included in mufti-training programs, since doing so will ensure that petitioners receive fatwas that are more accurate and more likely to improve the quality of their lives.

Tabah Foundation’s Senior Scholars in -The Muslim 500- Annual List

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Members of Tabah Foundation’s senior scholars board were recently ranked among the top 50 most influential Muslims in the world in ‘The Muslim 500’ annual list prepared by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies in Amman, Jordan, in cooperation with the Prince Waleed bin Talal Centre for Muslim-Christian Understanding in Georgetown University.

Dr. Mufti Ali Gomaa appeared at No.12, Dr. Muhammad Sa’id Ramadan al-Bouti at No.20, Shaykh Abdullah bin Bayyah at No.31, and Habib Umar bin Hafiz at No.37. Tabah Foundation’s founder, Habib Ali al-Jifri, was also ranked and appeared at No.42.

The list aims to highlight the Muslim world’s most influential personalities based on their contributions to knowledge and society and the extent to which people benefit from them. This year’s edition also included details on the stance each of the top 50 ranked personalities took towards the Arab Spring uprisings.

 

SH Musa Furber Cited in “The National”

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Sh. Musa Furber, Senior Fellow Researcher in Tabah Foundation and scholar in Islamic Sciences,  was sourced for two important articles published in the famous ‘The National’ newspaper of UAE.The first article, published on 8th of Aug 2011,  was discussing the issue of scientists suggesting using maths to mark start and end of Ramadan, and how islamic scholars would agree or disagree with them.

“Their entire argumentation is based on engineering and mathematics, and if you want to make an argument to change a policy concerning the Muslim community, it had better be based on religious methodology. Otherwise, the learned scholars will never accept it.”  said Sh Musa.  [Read Full article here]

The second article, published on 9th of Aug 2011,  was on bioethics. The article discussed a controversial issue, where an in-vitro fertilisation centre in Abu Dhabi is to offer genetic screenings of embryos – a service that geneticists say is needed to prevent disorders related to interfamily marriage-, and what is the religious leaders situation from it.  [Read Full article here]

 

 

Tabah publishes summer edition of Clarity

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Tabah’s Communications and External Relations Department has published the second issue of Clarity, Tabah Foundation’s periodic newsletter, Summer 2011.

The periodical is a brief on the platform of world Islamic discourse and research activities.

Click here to download the newsletter

 

Musa Furber attended: Where Religion, Policy, and Bioethics Meet

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On April 10–11, 2011, Musa Furber (Research Associate), attended “Where Religion, Policy, and Bioethics Meet,” a conference on Islamic bioethics held at the University of Michigan. This conference was the first if its kind to be held in North America. Although Islamic bioethics has been a topic of interest to Muslim scholars since the 1970s, it has only recently become a topic of interest in Western and English literature. Islamic bioethics in the West is dominated by medical practitioners and social scientists who are not themselves versed in Islamic law and oftentimes antagonistic towards Islamic scholarship. This conference broke new ground by including a number of Muslim jurists amongst its speakers. The conference was attended by over 150 attendees, mostly from the medical community.

Among the conference’s topics were: the relationship of culture and society to bioethical values; the status of bioethics amongst Muslim physicians and in the Muslim world; bioethics within the healthcare system; and Islamic bioethics according to Islamic scholarship. Furber had the honor of being invited to present how traditional jurisconsults respond to bioethical dilemmas and the role of juridical councils. Furber had received many questions about bioethical issues when he was at Egypt’s Dar al-Ifta, so the invitation provided an opportunity for him to work with classical and contemporary jurisprudence – theoretical and applied. But more importantly: it was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate the Shari‘ah’s positive concern for the sanctity of life and human dignity.

Furber covered in his presentation the relationships between jurisprudence and medicine, the methodology jurists use when researching bioethical issues, the prerequisites for the individual carrying out Islamic legal research, the large number of contemporary bioethical issues that jurists have already addressed, the need for collaborative research for interdisciplinary issues such as bioethics, and the status of opinions issued by individual jurists and juridical councils. His presentation also touched on the need to seek legal rulings from qualified jurisprudence, and the shortcomings of generalizing the highly-contextualized fatawa found in newspapers and online. At the end of his presentation, he recommended that future discourse on Islamic bioethics in North America needs to include qualified jurisconsults.

Later during the conference, several Muslim physicians mentioned their surprise at learning about the range of bioethical issues that had already been covered by jurisconsults. Many attendees indicated their interest that jurisconsults and qualified Muslim scholars take an active role in future discussions. Several non-Muslim professors stressed the need for greater participation from representatives of normative Islamic scholarship as that is the Muslim voice that interests them.

In sha Allah, this is just the beginning of Tabah Foundation’s participation in Islamic bioethics, both abroad and locally. Many regional physicians have expressed their interest in learning about Islamic bioethics, for their own practice and to better serve the needs of their patients.

Engaging topics of applied ethics is one of Tabah’s research initiatives towards the renewal of contemporary Islamic discourse to fit the needs of humanity

 

Tabah Offcially Launches: Beyond Flak Attack

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Tabah Foundation officially launched it’s latest publication, “Beyond Flak Attack: A New Engagement with the Newsroom”, in Abu Dhabi on May 3rd 2011. The author, Nazim Baksh, and Hassan Fattah, Editor-in-Chief of The National, were in attendance and presented their ideas on the dynamics of Muslim-media engagement. They both called for an appreciation of the role of media and how Muslims can change the story if the story is not reflective of Islam’s nature. They explored how this change can take place and offered some insightful suggestions on ways in which we can move beyond simple flak.

Also in attendance were Khairi Ramadan, a broadcast journalist and prominent news affairs commentator from Egypt, and Sohail Nakhooda of Kalam Research, Dubai. Both offered their remarks and reflections on the proceedings of the event.

Full proceedings of the event will be available on our website soon, please check back for updates.

Related Links: Flak Attack [Full Article]

Visit by Mawlana Sibghatullah Mojaddedi to Tabah Foundation

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The first president of Afghanistan after Soviet occupation and premier Islamic scholar, Mawlana Sibghatullah Mojaddedi visited the offices of Tabah Foundation on Thursday, April 28th, and was received by Habib Ali al-Jifri, the General Director, Wassim Khashoggi, CER Director, Walead Mosaad, Education and Culture Manager, and Abaas Chaudhry, Associate Project Manager. Accompanying Mawlana Mojaddadi was his son and ambassador of Afghanistan to the UAE, HE Dr. Najibullah Mojaddadi.

Mawlana Mojaddadi served the jihad against Soviet troops in the 1980’s and was selected as the first President of Afghanistan after the exodus of Soviet troops from the country. He served for a previously agreed upon term of two months, at which point he voluntarily relinquished power in order to avoid the infighting that arose between the various Afghani factions after the Soviet occupation.

During the visit to Tabah, the situation of Muslims in Afghanistan was discussed, as well as the efforts undertaken for reconciliation and to bring stability and prosperity to the country. Mawlan Mojaddedi was also introduced to Tabah Foundation activities and areas of interest.

Abaas Yunas at NYU Abu Dhabi

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Tabah Foundation staff member Abaas Yunas and the Imam of NYU’s Islamic Center, Khalid Latif, took part in a discussion at New York University Abu Dhabi on Sunday 27th February on the commonalities and differences between Islam in the UAE and the US. The discussion centred around issues of identity, culture, religious understanding and the need to create open mediums of communication in order to quell the so-called “fear of the other.” The event was organised by NYUAD’s student affairs body and had students, staff and chaplains from the New York campus in attendance.

Michael J. Murray from the John Templeton Foundation visits Tabah Foundation

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Dr. Michael J. Murray from the John Templeton Foundation paid a visit to Tabah Foundation in Abu Dhabi, where he was received by Tabah’s General Director Al Habib Ali Aljifri and met with Tabah’s senior managers. Dr. Murray has been given an overview of the Foundation, its vision and key goals and the ongoing projects especially at the Research Department, in which he expressed his interest in finding ways of collaboration between the two foundations.

Dr. Michael J. Murray is vice president, philosophy and theology at the John Templeton Foundation, responsible for creating research initiatives that engage big questions in these fields and their intersection with the sciences.

Established in 1987 in Philadelphia, USA, The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality. It supports research on subjects ranging from complexity, evolution, and infinity to creativity, forgiveness, love, and free will. It encourages civil, informed dialogue among scientists, philosophers, and theologians and between such experts and the public at large, for the purposes of definitional clarity and new insights.