The appointment of female mufti in Malaysia: An analysis on the views of Fatwa members and Syariah experts

Discussions on the appointment of woman as mufti in Malaysia are new and uncommon. In the history of the institutions of fatwa in Malaysia, woman has never been appointed as mufti, however there aren’t any, neither in the Islamic nor Malaysia laws prohibiting women from issuing fatwas and being a mufti. This study was aim at finding the views of Fatwa Members and Syariah Experts with regards to the appointment of female mufti in Malaysia. This study was of a qualitative type and utilizing focus group discussion’s method. It was found out that the focus group members enormously agreed to the point that it was possible for women to issue fatwas. However in reality, several issues should be first considered and solved before the appointment of woman as mufti could be realized. Thus, for the realization on the appointment of female mufti in Malaysia in the near future, a model of female mufti’s jurisdiction should be design and develop.