mufti

In Turkish müfti. It was a Turkish lawyer, who provided the fetva, i.e. written juristic advice. In the Osman Empire the highest honour in church jurisdiction was that of the chief mufti of Istanbul, who was often called sejhülislam, that is the old of Islam, from the 17th century. Although he was not a member of the sultan's council, the main legislative and judicial body, he had the casting vote in the juristic debates of kadhis and kadiaskers. Sultan Suleyman's famous sejhülislam, Ebessuud Efendi, expropriated the right to appoint judges and school masters, and became the most influential church lawyer. There were muftis in certain provinces of the empire. In Hungary the most influential one was the mufti of Buda, who played an important role in local juristic debates. They were highly qualified lawyers, who also had an important role in Muslim education. The library of the mufti of Buda was one of the richest local libraries.

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