Published information on this subject is currently unavailable to the IRBDC in Ottawa. Specific information is currently unavailable.
According to Assad AbuKhalil, professor at the Randolph-Mason Women's College in Virginia and a Lebanese specialist, in the Lebanese context a Fatwa is often more legitimate than any national law. This source added that the power of the Fatwa is linked to the power of the man issuing it. A Fatwa can also be a tool for a holy man or a leader or both to keep his organization tied together. [telephone conversation on March 10 1991].
According to Samir Khalaf, professor of Sociology at Princeton University, contacted on March 15, a Fatwa in Lebanon can be questioned but not the authority of the person who issued it.
Further information is currently unavailable to the IRBDC in Ottawa.