- In 1171, the last Fatimid caliph, al-Adid,
was overthrown by a Kurdish commander, sala-
din (1174–93), who became the sUlta n of Egypt
and the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty (1174–
1250). This Sunni dynasty effectively put an end
to Ismaili influence in Egypt.
See also abbasid caliphate; christianity and
islam; ismaili shiism; Umayyad caliphate.
Further reading: Farhad Daftary, A Short History of the
Ismailis (Princeton, N.J.: Marcus Wiener Publishers,
1998); Heinz Halm, The Empire of the Mahdi: The Rise
of the Fatimids. Translated by Michael Bonner (Leiden
and New York: E.J. Brill, 1996).
fatwa
Most legal systems have a tradition that allows
experts to state their opinions with respect to
questions of law. In Islamic law, one way this is
done is by issuing a fatwa, which is an opinion
based on knowledge of the qUran and the sUnna
of Muhammad. It is given orally or in writing in
response to a question asked by a man or woman.
The legal aUthority who answers the question is
called a mUFti, an author of fatwas. He should be
knowledgeable in the sacred scriptures of Islam
and the sharia, though he is not required to follow
the rulings of a specific Islamic legal school (madh-
hab). The fatwa is different from a decision made
in a court of law by a judge (qadi) because it does
not require review of evidence and testimony from
two parties in the context of a legal hearing or trial.
Rather, it is an informed response to a question
that may concern, for example, a matter of wor-
ship, marriage and divorce, inheritance, business
and finance, crime, apostasy, or daily behavior.
Thus, a person might request a fatwa for some-
thing as seemingly trivial as to whether one can
brush his teeth in the daytime during the ramadan
fast (which might invalidate the fast for that day),
or as important as to whether a Muslim can live
in a country ruled by non-Muslims (which might
require a Jihad). The fatwa is only advisory, which
is underscored by the phrase “and God knows
best” (Allah aalam) that often occurs at its conclu-
sion. Indeed, fatwas may contradict each other,
in which case the questioners are left to decide
for themselves. Although many are given orally,
those that are issued by a powerful or influential
mufti may be written, collected, and published. In
the past, most fatwas addressed questions coming
from local Muslim communities, and this is still
often the case, as it is among Muslims living in
the United States and Europe. Since the introduc-
tion of the modern print and electronic media,
however, fatwas can reach a global audience.
Many leading Islamic organizations and religious
authorities now have Internet sites where people
can submit questions, receive advisory opinions,
and review opinions given in answer to questions
asked previously by others online.
See also fiqh; ijtihad; rUshdie, salman.Further reading: Muhammad Khalid Masud, Brinkley
Messick, and David S. Powers, Islamic Legal Interpre-
tation: Muftis and Their Fatwas (Cambridge, Mass.:
Harvard University Press, 1996); Rudolph Peters, Islam
and Colonialism: The Doctrine of Jihad in Modern History
(The Hague: Mouton, 1979).Faysal ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud (King
Feisal) (1906–1975) king of Saudi Arabia from
1964 to 1975 who inaugurated a significant program
of economic, governmental, and social modernization
and strove to unite Muslims against the spread of
socialism and communism during the cold war era
Faysal was the fourth son of Saudi Arabia’s first
king, Abd al-Aziz ibn Saud (r. 1926–53) and a
direct descendant on his mother’s side of mUham-
mad ibn abd al-Wahhab (d. 1792), the founder
of the puritanical Wahhabi movement. Faysal
was himself a religiously minded man, no doubt
shaped by his early upbringing in the household
of his maternal grandfather, a leading Wah-
habi authority. At the age of 14, he was the first
member of the Saudi family to visit England andFaysal ibn Abd al-Aziz Al Saud 233 J