Editing Fatwa (section)

===Institutions===

Before the 11th century CE, anyone who possessed scholarly recognition as an Islamic jurist could issue fatwas. Starting around that time, however, the public office of mufti began to appear alongside the private issuing of fatwas. In [[Khurasan]], the rulers appointed a head of the local ulama, called ''[[shaykh al-Islam]]'', who also functioned as the chief mufti. The [[Mamluk Sultanate (Cairo)|Mamluks]] appointed four muftis, one for each of the four Sunni madhhabs, to appellate courts in provincial capitals. The Ottomans organized muftis into a hierarchical bureaucracy with a chief mufti of the empire called ''shaykh al-Islam'' at the top. The Ottoman ''shaykh al-Islam'' (Turk. ''şeyhülislam''), was among the most powerful state officials.{{sfn|Messick|Kéchichian|2009}} Scribes reviewed queries directed to Ottoman muftis and rewrote them to facilitate issuing of fatwas.{{sfn|Messick|Kéchichian|2009}}{{sfn|Dallal|Hendrickson|2009}} In [[Mughal India]] and [[Safavid Iran]] the chief mufti had the title of ''sadr''.{{sfn|Dallal|Hendrickson|2009}}

[[File:Samarkand, Registan, Ulugbek Medressa (6238565020).jpg|thumb|[[Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand]] (est. 1422)]]

For the first few centuries of Islam, muftis were educated in informal study circles, but beginning in the 11th and 12th centuries, the ruling elites began to establish institutions of higher religious learning known as [[madrasa]]s in an effort to secure support and cooperation of the ''[[ulema]]'' (religious scholars). Madrasas, which were primarily devoted to the study of law, soon multiplied throughout the Islamic world, helping to spread Islamic learning beyond urban centers and to unite diverse Islamic communities in a shared cultural project.{{sfn|Berkey|2004}}

In some states, such as Muslim Spain, muftis were assigned to courts in advisory roles. In Muslim Spain jurists also sat on a ''[[shura]]'' (council) advising the ruler. Muftis were additionally appointed to other public functions, such as [[Muhtasib|market inspectors]].{{sfn|Masud|Kéchichian|2009}}

==== In Shia Islam ====

While the office of the mufti was gradually subsumed into the state bureaucracy in much of the Sunni Muslim world, Shia religious establishment followed a different path in Iran starting from the early modern era. During Safavid rule, independent Islamic jurists (''mujtahids'') claimed the authority to represent the [[Muhammad al-Mahdi|hidden imam]]. Under the Usuli doctrine that prevailed among Twelver Shias in the 18th century and under the [[Qajar dynasty]], the ''mujtahids'' further claimed to act collectively as deputies of the imam. According to this doctrine, every Muslim is supposed to choose and follow a high-ranking living ''mujtahid'' bearing the title of ''[[Marja'|marja' al-taqlid]]'', whose fatwas are considered binding, unlike fatwas in Sunni Islam. Thus, in contrast to Sunni muftis, Shia ''mujtahids'' gradually achieved increasing independence from the state.{{sfn|Dallal|Hendrickson|2009}}