DUBAI: Dubai plans to appoint female muftis by the end of next year in an unprecedented step that could trigger opposition from conservatives, The National newspaper reported yesterday.

Six Emirati women are being selected for a training programme that starts early next year, the newspaper quoted the emirate’s grand mufti Ahmed Al Haddad as saying.

Haddad issued a religious edict or fatwa in February authorising women to become muftis and in May he called on qualified candidates to apply for a training programme that includes instruction in Shariah law and legal thought.

“A woman who is learned and trained in issuing fatwas is not limited to her role of issuing fatwas that relate to women only, but rather she is qualified to issue on matters of worship, jurisprudence, morality and behaviour,” the paper quoted him as saying.

Haddad played down the prospect of a major backlash from religious conservatives.

“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,” he said. “And this is not what we’re trying to do at this point.”

Last year, Egypt appointed its first female Islamic notary with the ability to perform marriages and divorces.

Since 2006, Morocco has trained female guides known as “mourchidates” who advise Muslims, especially in prisons, hospitals and schools.AFP

Sheikh Khalifa re-elected UAE president

ABU DHABI: H H Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahayan was re-elected president of the United Arab Emirates for a second five-year term yesterday, the official news agency WAM announced.

The Supreme Federal Council, made up of the rulers of the seven emirates in the UAE, selected Sheikh Khalifa, 61.

He first rose to the presidency as Abu Dhabi’s ruler in 2004.

The federal council designates both the president and vice president.