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By my rough estimate and understanding, the term “fatawa” is intended to refer to the Islamic rulings on a contemporary question or inquiry that cannot be directly answered by a verse in the Qur’an. It seems to be the attempt of the Islamic faith to provide for their devote people a way to fully understand and abide by the rules and regulations given to them by Allah, in spite of the fact that culture, technology and entertainment are frequently changed and certain concerns may not have been directly addressed in the Qur’an.

Why, you might ask, does it matter what “fatawa” means and what it is intended to answer? To you, the occasional reader of this Sketch Blog and, frankly, to me as well, it probably does not matter. It is probably of little consequence and importance. But it just so happens that, while riding in a car with a friend this weekend, I found among the magazines on their floor a copy of the “Al Jumuah” magazine. “Your guide to Islamic life”, is what the cover read. She had gotten the magazine from an elementary student … not because of its contents, but because of the “pretty flowers on the cover”.

While reading through the magazine to pass the time on the short travel we were on, the article that most caught my attention, besides the editor’s introductory “Growing Marriage for a Lifetime”, was the “Fatawa”. In it were fascinatingly detailed rulings (by the AMJA … Assembly of Muslim Jurist of America) on how one must handle contemporary issues such as “body tattooing” (despite the propensity for youth to seek them) and “growing a beard in prison” (even though it would surely mean ridicule and persecution in our current stereotype-driven society). The one contemporary issue discussed in the article that was most intrigued me was that of “listening to music” and what the ruling was regarding its use for entertainment. Here is something from the article:

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Quandary – Bite a Zombie (uploaded by DRA Studio)

So here’s the question at hand … What happens when you bite a zombie?

Everyone knows the simple facts about zombies; that if you are bitten by a zombie, you become a zombie. If you want to kill a zombie you must destroy its brain. And if you want to keep your brains, you must kill zombies. Got it. Done. Reactive policy confirmed. Now what say we play like good soldiers and go on the offense. And not just the usual shotgun-to-the-head approach or the more UK cricket-bat-to-the-head approach. I’m talking about going toe to toe with a zombie, straight up eye for an eye. What happens when you give back to them what they have had coming for a long time? Give them the ol’ one-two neck bite? What happens?

Sound off in the comments and lets get this mystery quandri-zed!

So I am starting a new tag section here at the Sketch Blog, and I am calling it “quandary”. This will be for those posts where I will bring to you the reader some of the many curious life-altering wonderings I come across in my day-to-day.

Most will be frivolous in nature and they all with be completely void of real meaning, but my saying so is by no means permission for you to not base your life upon their conclusions. Especially since I expect your input in solving their mysteries; and frankly, if you are so willing to force the big yellow bus that is your opinion upon me, if I am walking down Main Street next week, and see you, it had better be behind the wheel and in the foam-padded driver seat of that bus.