DUBAI -The United Arab Emirates looks set to appoint the world’s first female muftis in 2010, local daily the National reported on Tuesday.
The move in Dubai follows the issuing of a fatwa by Grand Mufti Ahmed al-Haddad in February authorising the new role for qualified Emirati women. So far six are being considered for the training programme.
While women already serve as religious advisers on female issues at the Abu Dhabi fatwa centre, the Dubai programme will be the first to allow them to work at the same level as their male counterparts.
The decision is not without controversy. Egypt's Al Azhar University, a powerful centre of Sunni scholarship, has rejected women becoming grand muftis. "The controversy over female muftis is not necessarily over this point, but about whether or not a woman should be appointed as the grand mufti of a state," Haddad said. "And that is not what we're trying to do at this point."
The training will start in the early part of next year and the programme is still accepting new applicants.