DUBAI: Dubai plans to appoint female muftis by the end of next year.

Six women are being selected for a training programme that starts early next year, said UAE grand mufti Ahmed Al Haddad.

He issued a religious edict 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 Sharia 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 them on matters of worship, jurisprudence, morality and behaviour," he said.

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

"The controversy 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.