In summation, this section briefly surveyed the field of limited scholarly work on contemporary Muslim women’s online sexual health issues within a discursive Islamic tradition, showcasing the tensions between women’s modern expectations and experiences of sex as including of mutuality and reciprocity and traditional notions located in textual sources and classical juristic doctrine. It detailed the Internet’s potential for new usages and practices particularly in activism and decision-making, and clarified its role as a democratic, innovative and easily accessible space providing anonymity and ease in health seeking behaviour, particularly around sex and sexuality. The assertions in this section point to the Internet’s ability to provide a portal into the contemporary discursive Islamic landscape, of which fatwas “constitute an important aspect “, by virtue of providing us with “insight into the dynamics of continuity and change in the Islamic tradition” (Larsen 2015: 202).
In the next section, I provide an appraisal of current research on online fatwas within minority contexts. I also detail the importance of online fatwas as accounts of women’s sexual reproductive health concerns, culminating with an overview of recent research on the fatwas of mufti Ebrahim Desai and his website, askimam.org. This is because the primary sources utilized in this study to gather information on Muslim women’s sexual agency in contemporary contexts are Desai’s online fatwas on his website askimam.org.
nature, which could be difficult to discuss in an offline encounter with a religious authority figure (Bunt 2003; Chawki 2010).
It is useful here to contemplate the link between the attainment of piety (by pleasing God in all worldly interactions and activities) and sexual intimacy as revealed by Hoel and Shaikh (2013) in their nuanced analysis of the sacredness of sex. Scholars suggest the moral juridical nature of fatwas means that they are sought by individuals including women, towards the attainment of piety even in sexual dealings. This accords with the two qualifiers already mentioned for studying gender and sexuality online, namely a democratic open space for deeply personal and sensitive doctrinal issues to be raised, and the anonymity afforded by the virtual realm (Marcotte 2010;
Piela 2010; Kort 2006). The Internet, as already noted, functions as a mediator of religious practice, where some religious opinions and questions are easier to articulate in cyberspace than the physical world.
Ensuing from this, my research on the sexual agency of women in online fatwas intends to delve into this relatively unexplored area. In addition, scholars note too that the enhanced interactivity and depth provided by Internet sites and the transnational audiences they attract allow fatwa sites to influence and shape Muslim opinion in transnational contexts and contribute to the transformations of religious understandings and expressions in relation to existing norms in those contexts (Kutcsher 2009; Mazrui and Mazrui 2001; Bunt 2003).
Amongst some of the concerns in existing research on online fatwas is that it is difficult to gauge the impact of the fatwas because of the fluid nature of the Internet, and the implications of placing sensitive information online where the contexts are not entirely understood by participants. Other considerations include questions on how the mufti’s process and access the information. In relation to the fatwas of mufti Ebrahim Desai, the effect or influence of the mufti’s advice cannot be gauged (Bunt 2003) but the interlocutionary space provided by the fatwas can still tell stories of ordinary people’s lives, thus tying in with both Campbell’s (2012) thesis above on the nature of online religion as an indicator of societal realities, and Mathee’s (2013) description above of the story-telling nature of a fatwa. The clear benefits for ordinary people to be able to access scholarly opinions on issues of Islamic jurisprudence can
also pose a threat to classical jurisprudential rules. The proliferation of cyber fatwas results in “fatwa shopping” which creates “confusion, uncertainty and discordance”, and “deharmonizes Islamic jurisprudence online”. In addition, the tensions created between modern practices and classical doctrine lead to competition between the different juriconsults for their political legal interpretations to be authoritative and legitimate over each other’s (Illar 2010: 591).
In the offline world, the process of asking for a fatwa on intimate personal issues, characterised in the exchange between the question of the questioner and the answer of the mufti, is a regular occurrence, but the information is not publicly available for study. Only a few studies have been done in South Africa on the content of contemporary fatwas, one of these on gelatine (Mitha 2012) and another on ulama divorce records (Toefy 2002). In the online world, fatwas are more easily accessible and available for research and those in minority contexts further accord with previously mentioned research on Islam and the Internet: increased individualisation and privatization of faith, an undermining of established religious authority, displacing of traditional authority structures, and potentially influencing educational and legislative policies.
Vit Sisler’s work on “Islamic cyber-counselling” on four minority context fatwa websites demonstrates that since the Internet enables fatwas to be generated depending on the amount and type of petitions websites aggregate, it allows for a
“bottom-up approach”, permitting ordinary Muslims, the petitioners, to “set the agenda for the issues to be discussed on most …websites”, and constituting “a new manifestation of a Muslim umma where there is independence from traditional religious authority and institutional hegemony…” (2011: 1152-1153).
In an earlier study on the conflicts and negotiations in fatwas between Islamic law and European legal systems, Sisler argues that through the new public sphere of the Internet, “different and often conflicting concepts of coexistence between Islam and the state are negotiated” (2009: 51). The concepts that emerge out of these interactions can subsequently inform and influence the legislative processes involved with incorporating aspects of Islamic law into the secular legal system, like the
already present incorporation of mediation and arbitration institutions for Muslim marriages into European legal systems.
Other research on online fatwas include the difference between private and state mufti’s (Kutscher 2009) and analytical comparisons of private websites in minority contexts, including the fatwa sites of mufti Ebrahim Desai (Bunt 2013: 167-179;
Chawki 2010; Kort 2006; Kutscher 2009). The most recent research by Larsen (2015) dealt with fatwas on spousal rights and roles in Western European contexts where marriages of mutuality and shared responsibilities prevail. Larsen showed how petitioners grappled with the dissonance between their modern lived realities of marriage and the legal norms dictating wifely obedience stemming from foundational sources. Mufti’s answers, in turn, reflected attempts to promote reconciliation, to protect the “stability of the Muslim family in the West” and to stay “within the parameters of the dominant legal opinions in transnational Muslim fatwa discourse delineat [ing] the boundaries within which they can deliver new fatwas” (Larsen 2015: 216).
2.4.1 Askimam.org
Ask-imam represents a Muslim institution/individual in a minority context, which has acquired a broad global audience for its opinions, which are sought from a variety of religious perspectives. Several new ‘fatwas’ emerge on the site everyday, making this a site likely to receive substantial return visits from interested surfers.
The questions themselves indicate some of the challenges facing Muslims today, although it is not possible to quantify the effect or influence that this information has on individuals or communities (Bunt 2003: 171).
Sisler (2009: 65) argues that askimam.org appears to be “a technically-updated mirror” of the site ask-imam.com, which is described by Bunt (2003: 167-172) as well organized and easily searchable, presenting “English language resources and opinions” and giving a local South African Imam international prominence. Through his website Desai has acquired a global audience and generated numerous concise fatwas in categories like marriage, prayer, women and health and wellness (Bunt 2003: 167-168).
Answers on the website reflect the religious outlook of the Deoband Hanafi school of thought and are concise, do not always provide substantial textual analysis and justifications, and acknowledge the difference between ijtihād and fatwas.51 His approach “follows casuistic and legalistic interpretations of sharī‘a (Islamic law) focussing more on individual deeds and their requirements” (Sisler 2009: 65).
The range of questions on his site reflects many themes addressed on other sites, and are handled with “seriousness and sensitivity” (Bunt 2003: 167-68). Answers though tend to diverge from those on Muslim majority sites, reflecting more the contemporary challenges of Muslims in minority contexts (Bunt 2003; Chawki 2010;
Kutscher 2009; Kort 2006). This is salient since scholars have noted that some fatwa sites in Muslim minority contexts are more open and pragmatic in dealing with contemporary challenges and others are more conservative and limited (Kutscher 2009; Chawki 2010). Studies on Desai’s online fatwas make arguments for both conservative (Kutscher 2009: 39) as well as reforming trends (Kort 2006: 378-380), the latter particularly on the issue of domestic violence.
In an analytical comparison of fatwas dealing with Muslim perspectives of non- Muslims in a minority context, Kutscher describes askimam.org as “conservative” and
“supporting counter-societal developments” probably due to the “mufti’s ideological geographical and educational environment”. He contends the apartheid system of
“non-integration” may have somewhat contributed to the Desai’s conservative and mono-doctrinal orientation (2009: 39).
In contrast, Kort (2006: 378) demonstrates reforming trends in Desai’s fatwas relating to domestic abuse. Referring to a particular fatwa generated on the earlier site, ask- imam.com, she states: “Desai powerfully comes out and says to men that it is totally unacceptable and un-Islamic to harm their wives in any way, regardless of what the Quran may or may not say”. She calls this the “most revolutionary step towards Islamic reformation on the issue of violence against women”. In Kort’s assessment,
51 Bunt (2003: 172) asserts that Desai and his team don’t regard themselves as mujtahids (those scholars who engage in ijtihād). Their process of iftā is regarded by them instead as taqlīd (the practice of following the opinions of others, or even of an established school of law). See Chapter four on the typologies of muftiship.
Desai promotes “self-accountability, reform and a no-harm approach”, affecting a strong move away from traditional conservative perspectives on domestic abuse.
In summation, this section provided an overview of fatwa sites and online fatwas as an important feature of the discursive Islamic landscape by virtue of providing insights into the changing relationship between legal argument and interpretation and people’s social realities as portrayed in them. The anonymity provided by the online space allows for the generation of fatwas on a range of issues including sexual reproductive concerns. Recent research on askimam.org argues for both conservative and reforming trends on the website. Kort’s study on domestic abuse which took the latter position, was the only one I located which focused on sexual health within the fatwas of mufti Ebrahim Desai on askimam.org, exposing a substantial gap in the research on how South African-based online fatwas are “telling stories” (Mathee 2011: 26) on women’s sexual health and to what extent contemporary experiences and social realities influence these fatwas.