Fatwa in the context of Muftis

Sharia (/ʃəˈriːə/; Arabic: شَرِيعَة, romanized: sharīʿah, lit. 'path [to water]', IPA: [ʃaˈriːʕa]), also transliterated as Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah, is a body of religious law that form the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology sharīʿah refers to immutable, intangible divine law, in contrast to fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), which refers to its interpretations by Islamic scholars. Sharia, or fiqh as traditionally known, has always been used alongside customary law from the very beginning in Islamic history; it has been elaborated and developed over the centuries by legal opinions issued by qualified jurists – reflecting the tendencies of different schools – and integrated with various economic, penal and administrative laws issued by Muslim rulers; and implemented for centuries by judges in the courts until recent times, when secularism was widely adopted in Islamic societies.

Traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources for al-sharia: the Qur'an, sunnah (or authentic ahadith), ijma (lit. consensus) (may be understood as ijma al-ummah (Arabic: إجماع الأمة) – a whole Islamic community consensus, or ijma al-aimmah (Arabic: إجماع الائـمـة) – a consensus by religious authorities), and analogical reasoning. It distinguishes two principal branches of law, rituals (Ibadah) and social dealings (Muamalat); subsections family law, relationships (commercial, political / administrative) and criminal law, in a wide range of topics assigning actions – capable of settling into different categories according to different understandings – to categories (ahkam) mainly as: mandatory, recommended, neutral, abhorred, and prohibited. Beyond legal norms, Sharia also enters many areas that are considered private practises today, such as belief, worshipping, ethics, clothing and lifestyle, and gives to those in command duties to intervene and regulate them.

Fiqh ([fiːk]; Arabic: فقه [fiqh]) is the term for Islamic jurisprudence. Fiqh is often described as the style of human understanding, research and practices of the sharia; that is, human understanding of the divine Islamic law as revealed in the Quran and the sunnah (the teachings and practices of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions). Fiqh expands and develops Shariah through interpretation (ijtihad) of the Quran and Sunnah by Islamic jurists (ulama) and is implemented by the rulings (fatwa) of jurists on questions presented to them. Thus, whereas sharia is considered immutable and infallible by Muslims, fiqh is considered fallible and changeable. Fiqh deals with the observance of rituals, morals and social legislation in Islam as well as economic and political system. In the modern era, there are four prominent schools (madh'hab) of fiqh within Sunni practice, plus two (or three) within Shi'a practice. A person trained in fiqh is known as a faqīh (pl.: fuqaha).

Figuratively, fiqh means knowledge about Islamic legal rulings from their sources. Deriving religious rulings from their sources requires the mujtahid (an individual who exercises ijtihad) to have a deep understanding in the different discussions of jurisprudence.

A madhhab (Arabic: مَذْهَب, romanized: madhhab, lit. 'way to act', IPA: [ˈmaðhab], pl. مَذَاهِب, madhāhib, [ˈmaðaːhib]) refers to any school of thought within Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni madhhab are Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi'i and Hanbali. They emerged in the ninth and tenth centuries CE and by the twelfth century almost all Islamic jurists aligned themselves with a particular madhhab. These four schools recognize each other's validity and they have interacted in legal debate over the centuries. Rulings of these schools are followed across the Muslim world without exclusive regional restrictions, but they each came to dominate in different parts of the world. For example, the Maliki school is predominant in North and West Africa; the Hanafi school in South and Central Asia; the Shafi'i school in East Africa and Southeast Asia; and the Hanbali school in North and Central Arabia. The first centuries of Islam also witnessed a number of short-lived Sunni madhhabs. The Zahiri school, which is considered to be endangered, continues to exert influence over legal thought. The development of Shia legal schools occurred along the lines of theological differences and resulted in the formation of the Ja'fari madhhab amongst Twelver Shias, as well as the Isma'ili and Zaydi madhhabs amongst Isma'ilis and Zaydis respectively, whose differences from Sunni legal schools are roughly of the same order as the differences among Sunni schools. The Ibadi legal school, distinct from Sunni and Shia madhhabs, is predominant in Oman. Unlike Sunnis, Shias, and Ibadis, non-denominational Muslims are not affiliated with any madhhab.

The transformations of Islamic legal institutions in the modern era have had profound implications for the madhhab system. With the spread of codified state laws in the Muslim world, the influence of the madhhabs beyond personal ritual practice depends on the status accorded to them within the national legal system. State law codification commonly drew on rulings from multiple madhhabs, and legal professionals trained in modern law schools have largely replaced traditional ulama as interpreters of the resulting laws. In the 20th century, some jurists began to assert their intellectual independence from traditional madhhabs. With the spread of Salafi influence and reformist currents in the 20th century; a handful of Salafi scholars have asserted independence from being strictly bound by the traditional legal mechanisms of the four schools. Nevertheless, the majority of Sunni scholarship continues to uphold post-classical creedal belief in rigorously adhering (Taqlid) to one of the four schools in all legal details.

Islamic advice literature may include collections of stories or anecdotes such as legal opinion, interpretation of religious text, legal theory, guidance, consultation, or Islamic stories.

Islamic advice literature is usually printed on small leaflets and often involves advice from individuals or authorities. In contrast to Fatwa, Tafsir, and Fiqh, Nasîhat and advice literature can come from secular sources, and are not required to be written by Ulama (Islamic scholars). Unlike Fiqh, Tafsir, Fatwa, or Nasîhat based on them, advice can go beyond the realm of religious scripture and may take support of otherwise not easily admissible Hadith or religious rulings in order to make normative pleas.Its reliance has been on traditional and self-renewing information about social, authoritative, or religious themes.

The experiences of Muslim women (Arabic: مسلمات Muslimāt, singular مسلمة Muslimah) vary widely between and within different societies due to culture and values that were often predating Islam's introduction to the respective regions of the world. At the same time, their adherence to Islam is a shared factor that affects their lives to a varying degree and gives them a common identity that may serve to bridge the wide cultural, social, and economic differences between Muslim women.

Among the influences which have played an important role in defining the social, legal, spiritual, and cosmological status of women in the course of Islamic history are the sacred scriptures of Islam: the Quran; the ḥadīth, which are traditions relating to the deeds and aphorisms attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions; ijmā', which is a scholarly consensus, expressed or tacit, on a question of law; qiyās, the principle by which the laws of the Quran and the sunnah or prophetic custom are applied to situations not explicitly covered by these two sources of legislation; and fatwā, non-binding published opinions or decisions regarding religious doctrine or points of law. In the Islamic understanding, children are not held responsible; gender roles, obligations or restrictions become clear when a person reaches the age of maturity.

A mufti (/ˈmʌfti/; Arabic: مفتي [muftiː], listen) 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 fatāwa have played an important role throughout Islamic history, taking on new roles in the modern era.

Tracing its origins to the Quran and early Islamic communities, the practice of ifta crystallized with the emergence of the traditional legal theory and schools of Islamic jurisprudence (madhahib). In the classical legal system, fatwas issued by muftis in response to private queries served to inform Muslim populations about Islam, advise courts on difficult points of Islamic law, and elaborate substantive law. In later times, muftis also issued public and political fatwas that took a stand on doctrinal controversies, legitimized government policies or articulated grievances of the population.

Islamic family jurisprudence (Arabic: فقه الأسرة الإسلامية, faqah al'usrat al'iislamia) or Islamic family law or Muslim Family Law is the fiqh of laws and regulations related to maintaining of Muslim family, which are taken from Quran, hadith, fatwas of Muslim jurists and ijma of the Muslims. It contains pubertal, marital, sexual, child upbringing, adoption and fostering, inheritance, criminal and other related subjects. The subject mainly discusses on foster relationship, marriage, divorce, Ila, li'an, Raj'ah, Khul', Zihar, Iddah, custody and maintenance of children etc. From the political aspects, Muslim family law is a part of almost every national constitution of the world regarding religious (Muslim) laws, especially of the Muslim-majority countries.

Following the foundation of the Ottoman state, the title of Sheikh-ul-Islam (Turkish: Şeyhülislâm), formerly used in the Abbasid Caliphate, was given to a leader authorized to issue legal opinion or fatwa. His office was known as the Şeyhülislâm Kapısı, Bâb-ı Fetvâ, or Bâb-ı Meşîhat (The Sheikh's Porte). During the reign of Sultan Murad II, (1421–1444, 1446–1451) the position became an official title, with authority over other muftis in the Empire. In the late 16th century, the Shaykh al-Islam were assigned to appoint and dismiss supreme judges, high ranking college professors, and heads of Sufi orders. Prominent figures include Zenbilli Ali Cemali Efendi (1445–1526), Ibn-i Kemal (Kemalpaşazade) (1468–1533), Ebussuud Efendi (1491–1574) and al-Kawthari (1879–1952).

Istihlal (Arabic: استحلال istiḥlāl) is a term used in Islamic jurisprudence, or fiqh, to refer to the act of regarding some action as permissible, or halaal, although it is haraam; the implication is that such a regard is an erroneous and improper distortion of Islamic law. The word "istihlal" is derived as Stem X of the Arabic consonantal root ح-ل-ل meaning "to untie", "to solve", "to dissolve", "to open", "to release", etc.

The term "istihlal" came to prominence in the Western news media on 11 March 2005, the first anniversary of the Madrid bombing attacks of 2004, when the Islamic Commission of Spain (La Comisión Islámica de España) issued a fatwa, or religious opinion, denouncing Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda for engaging in istihlal with respect to the waging of jihad through terrorism, and the killing of women, children, and noncombatants.

Sexuality in Islam, particularly Islamic jurisprudence of sex (Arabic: الفقه الجنسي) and Islamic jurisprudence of marriage (Arabic: فقه النكاح) are the codifications of Islamic scholarly perspectives and rulings on sexuality, which both in turn also contain components of Islamic family jurisprudence, Islamic marital jurisprudence, hygienical, criminal and bioethical jurisprudence, which contains a wide range of views and laws, which are largely predicated on the Quran, and the sayings attributed to Muhammad (hadith) and the rulings of religious leaders (fatwa) confining sexual intercourse to relationships between men and women.

All instructions regarding sex in Islam are considered parts of, firstly, Taqwa or obedience and secondly, Iman or faithfulness to God. Sensitivity to gender difference and modesty outside of marriage can be seen in current prominent aspects of Muslim cultures, such as interpretations of Islamic dress and degrees of gender segregation. Islamic marital jurisprudence allows Muslim men to be married to multiple women (a practice known as polygyny).

Shaykh al-Islam (Arabic: شيخ الإسلام, romanized: Shaykh al-ʾIslām, lit. 'Elder (sheikh) of Islam') was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences. It first emerged in Khurasan towards the end of the 4th Islamic century. In the central and western lands of Islam, it was an informal title given to jurists whose fatwas were particularly influential, while in the east it came to be conferred by rulers to ulama who played various official roles but were not generally muftis. Sometimes, as in the case of Ibn Taymiyyah, the use of the title was subject to controversy. In the Ottoman Empire, starting from the early modern era, the title came to designate the chief mufti, who oversaw a hierarchy of state-appointed ulama. The Ottoman Sheikh al-Islam performed a number of functions, including advising the sultan on religious matters, legitimizing government policies, and appointing judges.

With the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924, the official Ottoman office of Shaykh al-Islām, already in decline, was eliminated. Modern times have seen the role of chief mufti carried out by grand muftis appointed or elected in a variety of ways.