The work of religious institutions in general is to guide the society and to educate and instill good concepts in it, that is, all that benefits it in its life in general, and organizes its material and moral life, because the task of the religion is to provide better and more useful things in this world and in the afterlife for the creature , then these institutions will be helping factors to achieve the goal of the individual whether he felt so or did not feel.
For this reason, there were charitable, intellectual, educational, awareness institutions and others, and even political institutions if they were of a religious nature.
This applies to the Iraqi Fiqh Council, which is a house of fatwa and the gathering of Sunni scholars and Marja for Sunni Muslims in Iraq
Iraqi Fiqh Council was formed by a group of clerics and intellectuals after the conclusion of the fifth conference of Iraqi Scholars, which was held in Amman in April 2007, and the mosque of Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nu’man in Baghdad is taken as HQ for it, and it is interested in taking positions towards the problems of Iraq. The aim of the Council is to confront the extremist , Takfiri and sectarian ideas and adopt a balanced and moderate understanding of Islam, which combines the texts and the realization of the purposes of the Shari’a, so as to take into account the interests of human beings that do not conflict with the religious texts, and also combines between the Shariah rules and the necessities of our present era It also works to overcome the negative image of the religious symbol through the continuous development of the renewal of understanding of religion and life, taking advantage of the experiences of the great scholars to instill the great meanings in the hearts of the new generation.
One of the main objectives of the Council is to unify the word of the Iraqi people in order to miss the opportunity to the enemies of Iraq.
The Council is an independent legal authority for the Ahl al- Sunna Wal Jama’a, like the religious Marha in Iraq. It is neither governmental nor civil society organizations. It is concerned with and cares about the scientific and Shari’a institutions inside and outside Iraq for the purpose of achieving the desired objectives within the limits of Islamic Shari’a and extends bridges of cooperation, communication and exchange of experiences with the Organizations and institutions concerned with this specialization.
Since its establishment in 2010, the Iraqi Fiqh Council has a high status and enjoys great weight in the Iraqi society because of its noble national and humanitarian positions. After Iraq’s military victory over the organization of the terrorist ISIS, the Iraqi Fiqh launched an “Iraq without extremism” campaign to confront the terrorist organization ISIS ideologically, and strengthen ties of Islamic and national unity among all the components of the Iraqi people and the rejection of all forms of discrimination, violence and extremism.
And the Iraqi Fiqh Council supports all policies aimed at fighting corruption and spoilers in Iraq.
With regard to his position on participating in the parliamentary elections in Iraq, which is considered a form of political process in it, the position of the Iraqi Fiqh Council is clear and unambiguous.
The Iraqi Fiqh Council called on the Iraqis to participate actively in the elections, even with the intention of “reducing corruption”, as “a testimony that should not be concealed”.
The Iraqi Fiqh Council said that “based on the religious responsibility in the matter for the promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice and the duty to the Adhering to the truth and patience a take the right and patience and to avoid losing in this world and the Hereafter.”
The Fiqh Council added that “it sees the election as a form of testimony that should not be concealed,”
In order to consolidate the concept of national unity and respect for Christian religious beliefs and events in Iraq, the Iraqi Fiqh Council authorized the congratulations for New Year days, and the Fiqh Council said in a statement, the media of Rudaw net received a copy of it, ” Non-Muslims may be congratulated on New Year’s Day and exchanged gifts with them,” the Fiqh Council added ” . That “Christians are our brothers in the homeland and humanity and have been subjected to plagues like us and the image of our religion was distorted for many of them, and they have right upon us to explain and apologize to them.”
In order to establish the foundations of dialogue and understanding between all parties and segments of Iraqi society, more than one meeting was held between Barham Salih, President of the Republic of Iraq and members of the Iraqi Fiqh Council. These meetings emphasized the fight against corruption and stressed the importance of religious scholars in establishing values and principles and peace, rejecting extremism, Corruption, which promotes stability and prosperity, and the need to prefer the language of dialogue and rapprochement between religions and sects to miss opportunities for those who take religion as a cover and seek to undermine the country and the people.
The Iraqi Fiqh Council also has the respect and appreciation of the Arab and Islamic diplomatic missions operating in Iraq, where a number of ambassadors from various Arab and Islamic countries visited the Iraqi Fiqh Council of senior scholars for Daawa and fatwa at its General Headquarters at the Mosque of the Grand Imam Abu Hanifa al-Nu’man where they were received by Sheikh dr. Ahmed Hassan Taha and a number of members of the high Authority of the Council.
The two sides exchanged the role of the preachers and their importance at the present time and focus on the quality of the moderate discourse, which contributes to the spread of love and peace internally and externally. The ambassadors expressed their support for the approach of the Council and they blessed its efforts in spreading knowledge and al-Daawa to Allah in Baghdad and all governorates of Iraq.
Therefore, the Iraqi Fiqh Council is considered one of the vital institutions in Iraq and has many activities and events in addition to providing assistance to the displaced and refugees, including the sending of religious delegations to the places of the displaced to see their problems and provide assistance and issuing statements and fatwa about various developments and events, and it has already condemned the bombing of cities and killing innocent people and the displacement of people on the basis of sectarianism and criticized the crimes of the organization of the terrorist ISIS against Muslims and non-Muslims. People came to the Council to take religious fatwa on various issues and problems.
Based on all of the above, it became necessary to support the Iraqi Fiqh Council because it is the legal reference (Marjaa) to Ahl al-Sunna Wal Jama’a in Iraq. And for its role in preserving Islamic identity .Through which the Sunnis of Iraq can form a single cohesive group, and end the state of internal Sunni divisions. It is also the Iraqi government must take its advice when nominating officials of the Sunni Endowment and the post of Mufti of Iraq; it is the best to represent the Sunnis of Iraq.
Iraqi Studies Unit
Rawabet Center for Research and Strategic Studies