The Supreme Court on Thursday asked for opinions from five Islamic scholars on the status and application of fatwa in the country.
The six-member Appellate Division bench headed by CJ ABM Khairul Haque directed the director general of Islamic Foundation to nominate five scholars and place their names before the court by March 21.
The court will ask the Islamic scholars to place written statements on fatwa to the court.
But they can also appear before the court to make verbal statement on the issue, the court added.
The supreme court made the order while hearing the appeal against the High Court verdict that declared fatwa illegal.
In his submission, counsel for the appellant, Barrister Abdur Razzak, told the court that the fatwa is a fundamental right of the Islamic scholars.
“Fatwa is an institution, which is an inseparable part of Islamic jurisprudence,” he said, adding that the abusers of fatwa can be punished after bringing them to the book of law.
On January 1, 2001, the HC declared all punishments imposed in the name of fatwa illegal. The verdict came following a hearing on a suo moto rule the court issued earlier which was apparently triggered by a newspaper report on hilla marriage (marriage with a third person).
Mufti Mohammad Toyeeb and Abul Kalam Azad in the same year filed the appeal against the HC verdict with the SC.
Meanwhile, Islami Andolon Bangladesh (IAB) and Bangladesh Kowmi Madrasah Chhatra Parishad demanded cancellation of the HC verdict and the Women Development Policy, saying that those go against the Holy Quran.
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