On selling pork and alcohol in the West and 'non-Muslim countries' In a fatwa issued by Dar-al-ifta, approved and signed by Ali Gomaa, the Egyptian Mufti stated that selling pork and alcohol is permitted in the West because "it is allowed taking the opinion of the scholars from the
Hanafi madhhab, who allow to deal with wrong contracts in non-Muslim countries." Another justification was that the Prophet let his uncle
Al-‘Abbas ibn ‘Abd al-Muttalib take usury in
Mecca when it was a non-Muslim city, and he did not prohibit him except in the year of the
Farewell Pilgrimage. During the fatwa, which was a reply to a question from a Muslim in Europe asking about whether it would be allowed for him to work in stores that sell alcohol and pork along with other products because he cannot find another job, Gomaa mentioned the terms "Dar-al-Harb" (House of War) and "Ahl al-Harb" (people of war) several times, and he gave a response that not only dealt with what the questioner had asked but also considered further points such as the taking of interest and gambling.
On female circumcision Since taking office, Gomaa issued a number of fatwas and statements that have made an impact in the media. He has issued a fatwa asserting that men and women enjoy equal political rights in Islam, including the right to become president of a modern state. He recently stated on national television that it is permissible in Islam for a woman to have hymen restoration surgery for any reason since Islam promotes protecting one's privacy and reputation and does not require a woman to provide proof of her virginity. In November 2006, he ruled that
female circumcision (also referred to as
female genital mutilation or FGM) should not be applied; this ruling is in accordance with Egyptian law, which also forbids female circumcision. This ruling came about after a conference instigated by research and a documentary on FGM in
Somalia by the German action group Target. The fatwa is now also used in Western Europe to combat FGM. On 24 June 2007, after an 11-year-old died under the knife undergoing circumcision, he decreed that female circumcision was not just "un-Islamic" but forbidden.
Views on women Gomaa has asserted that women are the spiritual equals of men, which he says is repeated in the Quran and words of the Prophet Muhammad. He mentioned that "Al Jeeli, one of the great thinkers of Islam, learned the Hadith [sayings of the prophet Muhammad] from fifty female sheikhs...Fifty female sheikhs! And yet there are those who deny that women have equal spiritual status in Islam. This is a disgrace." Gomaa has stated that the hijab is obligatory, but that woman who do not wear it are committing a minor sin as opposed to a major sin. He asserted that this is something known amongst the scholars, and that the only people who consider it a major sin are those not rooted in knowledge. As Grand Mufti of Egypt, Gomaa issued a fatwa that women can be judges, even as secular judges rejected this notion. According to Dr James Dorsey of
Nanyang Technological University, "Gomaa asserted in 2015 that women did not have the strength to become heart surgeons, serve in the military, or engage in sports likes soccer, body building, wrestling and weightlifting. A year later, Gomaa issued a fatwa declaring writer Sherif El-Shobashy an infidel for urging others to respect a woman’s choice on whether or not to wear the veil." His reasoning was that the obligation of the hijab is known in the religion from necessity, and that anyone who denies something known in the religion by necessity is a disbeliever.
Other views Before the Arab revolutions, Gomaa stated that Islam does not call for and has never known a theocratic state and that there is no contradiction between Islam and liberal democracy: "I consider myself a liberal and a Muslim, but this does not mean I am a secularist. The Egyptian [historical] experience has combined liberalism and Islam in the best of ways." After the Arab revolutions, he has been a staunch advocate for authoritarianism. In 2007, he "unequivocally told
The Washington Post that the death penalty for apostasy simply no longer applies." Ramadan al-Sherbini of
Gulf News later reported Gomaa clarifying that Muslims are not free to change their faith: "What I actually said is that Islam prohibits a Muslim from changing his religion and that apostasy is a crime, which must be punished." However, the Mufti still rejects the death penalty for apostasy. In 2009, posted on his website that he does not believe that apostasy is punishable by death. In fact, it was only two years ago that Sheikh Ali Gomaa made clear statements to the effect that apostasy is not punishable by death in Islam, a position that he holds to this day. Gomaa has publicly asserted that the anti-Semitic
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a forgery and made an official court complaint concerning a publisher who falsely put his name on an introduction to its Arabic translation.
Views on extremism Gomaa has taken a very clear stance against extremist interpretations of Islam. "He has become the most explicitly anti-extremist cleric in mainstream Sunni Islam." He says that the use of violence to spread Islam is prohibited and extremists have not been educated in genuine centers of Islamic learning: "Terrorists are criminals, not Muslim activists." He indicates, about religion in general including Islam: "Terrorism cannot be born of religion. Terrorism is the product of corrupt minds, hardened hearts, and arrogant egos, and corruption, destruction, and arrogance are unknown to the heart attached to the divine." Gomaa believes the best antidote to Islamic extremism is "traditional conception of
sharia law — along with knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence"
Views on ISIL Gomaa is highly critical of the rebel group
ISIL. In September 2014, he, alongside 226 other prominent Sunni scholars, was a signatory to an open letter denouncing ISIL and its religious tenets. In February 2015, he was noted for statements regarding the burning to death of Jordanian pilot
Muath al-Kasasbeh by ISIL in which he claimed to have proof that the burning was photoshopped and that the pilot was not in fact burned to death. He stated as proof of his claim that in the video published by ISIS, Al-Kasabeh stands still while being burned, something that would seem impossible.
On sculptures On 18 April 2006, an article entitled "Egypt's grand mufti issues fatwa: no sculpture" appeared stating: "Artists and intellectuals here say the edict, whose ban on producing and displaying sculptures overturns a century-old fatwa, runs counter to Islam. They also worry that extremists may use the ruling as a pretense for destroying Egypt's ancient relics, which form a pillar of the country's multibillion-dollar tourist industry." Jay Tolson defended Gomaa, saying that "while Gomaa did say that it was un-Islamic for Muslims to own statues or to display them in their homes, he made it very clear that the destruction of antiquities and other statues in the public sphere was unacceptable and indeed criminal. He is also on record deploring the Taliban's destruction of the great Buddhist statuary in Afghanistan." ==Egyptian Revolution==