Majority Decision in the Light of the Shari‘a

Question

In religious madrasas there is a committee of several persons, called the consultative council (shura), for deliberating on and carrying out important matters — for example, the dismissal and appointment of employees, appointments to posts, promotion and demotion, construction, sources of income, the purchase of property, grain and the like, as well as emergencies; decisions in it are made by majority opinion.

Answer

The matters that come before the consultative council of religious madrasas call for a distinction. (1) Matters on which a nass (explicit text of the Qur’an or Sunna) exists — there the nass is what must be acted upon. (2) Matters on which there is no nass and which have two aspects — securing benefit and averting harm; there the consideration of averting harm prevails. (3)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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