Majority Leader of the Parliament of the Maldives Mohamed Aslam has revealed amendments will be proposed to form the Fiqh Academy, which will be tasked with giving recommendations on religious issues. He made the statement while debating a proposal to maintain the Supreme Council of Fatwa.
Speaking at the Parliament, Majority Leader Aslam expressed concern over the attempts to use religious issues for political gain and noted all previous governments had prioritised religious matters. He questioned the motive behind the proposal to maintain the Fatwa Council and highlighted the first Ministry of Islamic Affairs was formed by the government of the Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) in 2008. He added the Fiqh Academy was formed at around the same time and that it should not be considered an improvement for the succeeding administration to change its name to the Fatwa Council.
The Fiqh Academy would be tasked with giving recommendations on religious issues that state institutions submit to the Parliament as well as investigating the divisive religious debates in the country and publishing fatwa or rulings on Islamic law. The government aims to amend the Religious Unity Act in the current parliamentary session to form the Fiqh academy.