Mufti

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This article is about an Islamic scholar. Mufti can also refer to civilian dress.

A mufti (Arabic: مفتي‎, muftī, Turkish: müftü) is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law (Sharia). In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population. A muftiat or diyanet is a council of muftis.

[edit] Qualifications

Turkish mufti, Spanish drawing of the 17th Century, Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana

A Mufti will generally go through an Iftaa course and the person should fulfill the following conditions set by scholars in order that he may be able to issue verdicts (fataawa). They are five:

First: He must be a Muslim.

Second: He must have reached the age of puberty.

Third: He must be just and trustworthy.

The scholars^[who?] have unanimously agreed upon these first three.^{[citation needed]}

Fourth: Ijma; "scholarly consensus". This is the opinion of a majority of the scholars.

Fifth: He must have the qualities of intellect and be of a good mind. ^[1]

[edit] The authority of the Mufti

An example of the influence of the mufti can be taken from this incident in Tunisia: Habib Bourguiba, the late President of Tunisia, once argued in 1961 (1381 Muslim Calendar) that "fasting" during Ramadan should not be observed for it reduces productivity. He then appeared on television with his cabinet, eating and drinking during Ramadan. Bourguiba then asked the Grand Mufti of Tunisia, Sheikh Altaher Ibn Ashoor (Arabic: الشيخ الطاهر بن عاشور‎), to issue a fatwa accommodating the desires of the state.

The Grand Mufti of Tunisia went on television and addressed the audience and read sura Al-Baqara:183 (2:183) :

O you who believe! Observing the fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may become the pious.

God said the truth (Arabic: صدق الله العظيم‎), and President Habib Bourguiba lied.

Then issued a fatwa that not observing Ramadan is a sin and whoever doesn't observe the fasting has knowingly rejected his well-known religious duty forcibly and added that fasting does not reduce productivity.

[edit] See also

• Shaykh Mufti Muhammad Akhtar Raza Khan al-Azhari- Grand Mufti of India
• Ahmad Bader Hassoun- Syrian Mufti
• Atassi family, Muftis of Homs, Syria
• Mufti Rafi Usmani - Grand Mufti of Pakistan
• Muftī Justice Sayyid Shujaat 'Alī Qadri rahmatullahi alayh - Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan
• Al-Habib Mohammad Ridwan Al-Jufrie - Grand Mufti from Indonesia

[edit] References

1. ^ Salaah-ul-'Aalam bi-Iftaa-il-'Aalim, (pg. 3 - 8), Haamid Ibn 'Ali Al-'Imaadi

[edit] External links

Look up mufti in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

•  "muftī". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911. 
• The Grand Mufti of Egypt's English Website