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 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. Scribes reviewed queries directed to Ottoman muftis and rewrote them to facilitate issuing of fatwas. In Mughal India and Safavid Iran the chief mufti had the title of sadr.
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 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 Scribes reviewed queries directed to Ottoman muftis and rewrote them to facilitate issuing of fatwas In Mughal India and Safavid Iran the chief mufti had the title of sadr