The Islamic Hotline or El-Hatef El-Islami was first launched in Cairo nine years ago in August 2000 with the approval of Al-Azhar Al-Sharif, the highest Islamic Authority in Egypt and the Islamic world. The service proved popular with Egyptians answering millions of their inquiries on the provisions of Islamic Shariaa Law. The Islamic Hotline only utilizes the services of Sheikhs from Al-Azhar University, with an average of approximately 500 questions per day.

The company is registered and based in Egypt. Perhaps its greatest contribution to understanding the religion of Islam is Islamic Hotline Service’s Question and Answer resource: simply call any of the Service numbers, depending upon your country of residence, and record your question in the knowledge that it will be treated in the strictest confidence. Call back after 24 hours to find the answer to your question provided by a group of elite Azhar scholars. Equally important, the same scholars offer the caller a chance to listen to a series of short lectures on the most important principles (pillars) of Islam. The Islamic Hotline Service also provides simple explanations of all Qur’anic verses, while allowing the caller to appreciate the correct recitation of these verses, the specific vocabulary used, the original contexts of each revelation, and the scientific miracles accompanying them.

As a preliminary international step, in June 2009, the Islamic Hotline succeeded in launching its services in Europe, specifically through a local IVR number in the UK, and another in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as an International number. The service has therefore become available in Arabic, English and Urdu.  The “Question and Answer” facility is also available through Islamic Hotline website in the same three languages. The service will seek to maintain its current initiatives and hopes to expand further in the years to come. To find out more about the Islamic Hotline, please visit our website: www.islamichotline.co.uk

The book, The Response, is not the first to be published by the Islamic Hotline Service. A selection of legal opinions (fatawa), chosen and corrected by qualified scholars of Al-Azhar University was published under the title Ask the People of Knowledge.

In the same vein, the book presented to you now through this website is intended as a response to legal opinions that threaten to distort the essentially tolerant and forgiving nature of Islam. Those responsible for these opinions are unaware of the extent to which they are capable of hurting both people’s lives, and the negative impression of Islam and Muslims that they are presenting to those outside of the faith.

It is not enough for us to simply stand back and watch from a distance the misrepresentation of Islam and of Muslims. Any Muslim who cares about his or her faith realizes the grave risks that we now face from those who remain oblivious of the noble aims of Islam, and of the mercy that our faith has brought and continues to bring into the world. 

Representing the traditions of a group of people as if these somehow constitute the workings of Islam itself is wrong. Indeed, the practice attributes lies to God Almighty. Describing Islam with the characteristics – sternness, aggression, coarseness, and dryness – of the desert Arab nomads is, therefore, to commit a serious crime. The Sunna testifies to the fact that, whenever faced with two choices, the Prophet usually preferred the easier of the two, providing that it did not lead him into sin. It is also true that 'Aisha (r.a.), the wife of the Prophet (upon him be peace), remarked that “kindness lends beauty to all things, whereas a lack of kindness only renders them ugly”.

Our generation was educated by eminent scholars who helped us to love and to cherish our religion. We must follow in their footsteps: continuing the mission of Islam, fulfilling the tasks we are entrusted with, and offering the sustenance of Da'wa (call for Islam) to all. If we leave the future generations of Muslims to the mercies of those who fail to understand Islam, and the bounties contained within its message to humanity, we are committing an act of treason against our religion.
In order to inspire young people to follow the path of Islam, and to help them feel peaceful and secure in this life and in the life to come, it is our duty to spread Islam's message of tolerance and acceptance; similarly, we must strive to dispel the notion that Islam is rigid and exclusive. The importance of this strategy is shown in the Qur’an:

“For if thou had been stern and fierce of heart they would have dispersed from round about thee” (Q. 3:159)

These comments and responses have been prepared by a group of Al-Azhar scholars:

Professor Dr. Anas Abdel-Fattah Abou Shadi
o Professor of Comparative Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University.
o Doctorate in Comparative Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Al-Azhar University.
o Manager Assistant in Islamic Center in London for 4 years.

Professor Dr. Ahmad Eid ‘Abdel-Hamid
o Professor of Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Faculty of Sharia (Law), Al-Azhar Univeristy.
o Doctorate in Fiqh, Al-Azhar University.

Professor Dr. Muhammad Fou'ad Rashad
o Professor of Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Faculty of Sharia (Law), Al-Azhar Univeristy.
o Doctorate in Fiqh, Al-Azhar University.

Professor Dr. Ali Mansour Othman
o Professor of Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Faculty of Sharia (Law), Al-Azhar Univeristy.
o Doctorate in Fiqh, Al-Azhar University.

Professor Dr. Yasser ‘Abd al-‘Azim
o Professor of Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Faculty of Sharia (Law), Al-Azhar Univeristy.
o Doctorate in Fiqh, Al-Azhar University.

They have been revised by:

Professor Dr. Mahmoud Khayami Hassan
o Professor of Comparative Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University.
o Chairman, Islamic Studies Department, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University.
o Member of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

Professor Dr. Anas Abdel-Fattah Abou Shadi
o Professor of Comparative Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University.
o Doctorate in Comparative Fiqh (Jurisprudence), Al-Azhar University.
o Manager Assistant in Islamic Center in London for 4 years.

The Foreword of this book has been prepared by:

Professor Dr. Mohammed Ra'afat Othman
o Professor of Sharia (Law), Al-Azhar University.
o Former Dean, Faculty of Sharia (Law), Al-Azhar University.
o Member of Center of Islamic Research, Cairo **
o Member of Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

Translated from Arabic to English language and revised by:

Dr. Richard Gauvain
o Assistant Professor of Comparative Religions at the American University in Cairo, Egypt.

May God reward the author and publisher of this book and benefit Muslims the world over through its publication. God is All Powerful; Grace be to God at the beginning and at the end.