The Grand Mufti is the head of regional muftis, Islamic jurisconsults, of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman Empire and has been later adopted in a number of modern countries.
Image: Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad (cropped)
Image: Shawki Allam
Image: Muhammad Ahmad Hussein (cropped)
Image: Ahmed bin Hamad al Khalili
A mufti is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion (fatwa) on a point of Islamic law (sharia). The act of issuing fatwas is called iftāʾ. Muftis and their fatwas played an important role throughout Islamic history, taking on new roles in the modern era.
A mufti reading in his prayer stool, by Jean-Léon Gérôme (c. 1900)
Ulugh Beg Madrasa, Samarkand (est. 1422)
Muhammad Abduh, who served as the second Grand Mufti of Egypt (1899-1905) in the Egyptian Dar al-Ifta
Tobacco protest fatwa issued by Mirza Shirazi