Yet fatwas can also be progressive and bring widespread change. Issued by respected Islamic scholars known as ulama, fatwas are guidelines for the ummah, the worldwide Muslim community, which numbers between 1.3 and 1.5 billion people, according to the CIA Factbook.
The draft text of several progressive fatwas were discussed last week by the ulama at the International Consultation on Islam and HIV/AIDS, organised by the charity, Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), in Johannesburg, South Africa.
One fatwa would approve the use of funds from the zakat (mandatory alms giving) for HIV-positive people, whether Muslims or non-Muslim, regardless of how they contracted the virus, as long as they are poor.
Another fatwa would approve the use of condoms by married discordant couples, where one is HIV-positive and the other is not, to avoid infection.
The findings are not final. As first-opinions, they will be discussed next year at regional and national consultations.
"These are two [potentially] revolutionary rulings here," said Dr Ashgar Ali Engineer, chairman of the Centre for Study of Society and Secularism, in Mumbai, India.
