Shaykh al-Islām (; ; , ''Sheykh-ol-Eslām''; , Sheikh''-ul-Islām''; , ) was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences.Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p 509-510. It first emerged in

Khurasan KhorasanDabeersiaghi, Commentary on Safarnâma-e Nâsir Khusraw, 6th Ed. Tehran, Zavvâr: 1375 (Solar Hijri Calendar) 235–236 (; , ) is a historical eastern region in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia, West and Central Asia that encompasses wes ...

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

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

s were particularly influential, while in the east it came to be conferred by rulers to

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' ( ; also spelled ''ulema''; ; singular ; feminine singular , plural ) are scholars of Islamic doctrine and law. They are considered the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious knowledge in Islam. "Ulama ...

who played various official roles but were not generally

mufti 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 ''fatāwa'' have played an important role thro ...

s. Sometimes, as in the case of Ibn Taymiyyah, the use of the title was subject to controversy. In the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, 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 (French spelling: cheikh-ul-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 The Ottoman Caliphate, the world's last widely recognized caliphate, was abolished on 3 March 1924 (Rumi calendar, R.C. 1340) by decree of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. The process was one of Atatürk's reforms following the replacemen ...

in 1924, the official Ottoman office of Shaykh al-Islām, already in decline, was eliminated.Brockett, Adrian Alan,
Studies in two transmissions of the Qur'an
' Modern times have seen the role of chief mufti carried out by

grand mufti A Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is a title for the leading Faqīh, Islamic jurist of a country, typically Sunni, who may oversee other muftis. Not all countries with large Sunni Muslim populations have Gra ...

s appointed or elected in a variety of ways.

Classical usage

Like other honorific titles starting with the word ''

sheikh Sheikh ( , , , , ''shuyūkh'' ) is an honorific title in the Arabic language, literally meaning "elder (administrative title), elder". It commonly designates a tribal chief or a Muslim ulama, scholar. Though this title generally refers to me ...

'', the term ''shaykh al-islam'' was in the classical era reserved for

and mystics. It first appeared in

in the 4th century AH (10th century AD). In major cities of Khurasan it seems to have had more specific connotations, since only one person held the title at any given time and place. Holders of the title in Khurasan were among the most influential ulama, but there is no evidence that they delivered

s. Under the Ilkhans, the

Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries.

and the Timurids the title was conferred, often by the ruler, to high-ranking ulama who performed various functions but were not generally muftis. In the Kashmiri Sultanate, it was implemented during the reign of Sultan Sikandar. He established the office of the Shaikhu'l-Islam under the influence of Sayyid Muhammad Hamadan, who had come to Kashmir in 1393 AD. In

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, it was given to influential jurists and had an honorific rather than an official role. By 700 AH/1300 AD in the central and western lands of Islam, the term became associated with giving of fatwas. Ibn Taymiyya was given the title by his supporters but his adversaries contested this use. For example, the

Hanafi The Hanafi school or Hanafism is the oldest and largest Madhhab, school of Islamic jurisprudence out of the four schools within Sunni Islam. It developed from the teachings of the Faqīh, jurist and theologian Abu Hanifa (), who systemised the ...

scholar 'Ala' al-Din al-Bukhari issued a fatwa stating that anyone who called Ibn Taymiyya "Shaykh al-islam" had committed disbelief (''

kufr ''Kāfir'' (; , , or ; ; or ) is an Arabic-language term used by Muslims to refer to a non-Muslim, more specifically referring to someone who disbelieves in the Islamic God, denies his authority, and rejects the message of Islam a ...

''). However, Shafiite scholar

Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī (; 18 February 1372 – 2 February 1449), or simply ibn Ḥajar, was a classic Islamic scholar "whose life work constitutes the final summation of the science of hadith." He authored some 150 works on hadith, history, ...

defended the title of Shaykh al Islam for Ibn Taymiyyah, saying in his own words, " His status as imam, sheikh, Taqiyuddin Ibn Taimiyah, is brighter than the sun. And his title with Shaykhul Islam, we still often hear from holy orals until now, and will continue to survive tomorrow..", which was recorded by his student al Sakhawi. The

Hanbali The Hanbali school or Hanbalism is one of the four major schools of Islamic jurisprudence, belonging to the Ahl al-Hadith tradition within Sunni Islam. It is named after and based on the teachings of the 9th-century scholar, jurist and tradit ...

madhhab A ''madhhab'' (, , pl. , ) refers to any school of thought within fiqh, Islamic jurisprudence. The major Sunni Islam, Sunni ''madhhab'' are Hanafi school, Hanafi, Maliki school, Maliki, Shafi'i school, Shafi'i and Hanbali school, Hanbali. They ...

scholar and follower of Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (himself also given Shaykh al Islam title by his contemporary) defended the usage of the title for him. Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Qayyim are both known for contradicting the views of the majority of scholars of all four schools of thought (Hanafi, Shafi'i,

Maliki The Maliki school or Malikism is one of the four major madhhab, schools of Islamic jurisprudence within Sunni Islam. It was founded by Malik ibn Anas () in the 8th century. In contrast to the Ahl al-Hadith and Ahl al-Ra'y schools of thought, the ...

, and Hanbali) of their time in

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and of later periods. There is disagreement on whether the title was honorific or represented a local mufti in Seljuq and early Ottoman Anatolia.

In the Ottoman Empire

In the

, which controlled much of the Sunni Islamic world from the 14th to the 20th centuries, the Grand Mufti was given the title Sheikh ul-islam (). The Ottomans had a strict hierarchy of

, with the Sheikh ul-Islam holding the highest rank. A Sheikh ul-Islam was chosen by a royal warrant amongst the qadis of important cities. The Sheikh ul-Islam had the power to confirm new

sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

s. However, once the sultan was affirmed, the sultan retained a higher authority than the Sheik ul-Islam. The Sheikh ul-Islam issued

s, which were written interpretations of the Quran that had authority over the community. The Sheikh ul-Islam represented the Sacred Law of

Sharia Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

h and in the 16th century its importance rose which led to increased power. The office of Sheikh ul-islam was abolished in 1924, at the same time as the

Ottoman Caliphate The Ottoman Caliphate () was the claim of the heads of the Turkish Ottoman dynasty, rulers of the Ottoman Empire, to be the caliphs of Islam during the Late Middle Ages, late medieval and Early Modern period, early modern era. Ottoman rulers ...

. After the National Assembly of Turkey was established in 1920, the office of Sheikh ul-Islam was placed in the Shar’iyya wa Awqaf Ministry. In 1924, the office of Sheikh ul-Islam was abolished along with the Caliphate. The office was replaced by the

Presidency of Religious Affairs A presidency is an Administration (government), administration or the Executive (government), executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of President (government title), president of a state or na ...

.Establishment and a Brief History
Presidency of Religious Affairs As the successor entity to the office of the Sheikh ul-Islam, the Presidency of Religious Affairs is the most authoritative entity in Turkey in relation to

Sunni Islam Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

Honorific recipients

The following Islamic scholars have been given the honorific title "Shaykh al-Islam": *

Abu Mansur al-Maturidi Imam Abu Mansur al-Maturidi (; 853–944) was a Hanafi jurist and theologian who is the eponym of the Maturidi school of kalam in Sunnism. He got his from Māturīd, a district in Samarkand. His works include , a classic exegesis of the Qur'a ...

(b. 231 AH) *

Al-Daraqutni Ali ibn Umar al-Daraqutni (; 918–995 CE / 306–385 AH), was a Sunni Muslim scholar and traditionist best known for compiling the hadith collection '' Sunan al-Daraqutni''. He is commonly celebrated in Sunni tradition with titles such as "Im ...

(b. 306 AH) * Abu Uthman al-Sabuni (b. 373 AH) *

Al-Bayhaqi Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī ibn Mūsā al-Khusrawjirdī al-Bayhaqī (, 994–1066), also known as Imām al-Bayhaqī, was a Sunni scholar widely known for being the foremost leading hadith master in his age, leading authority in th ...

(b. 384 AH) * Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi (b. 393 AH) * Abu Talib al-Makki (b. 386 AH) * Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi (b. 461 AH) * Khwaja Abdullah Ansari (b. 481 AH) * Al-Juwayni (b. 419 AH) * Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (b. 544 AH) *

Ibn al-Jawzi Abu al-Faraj Jamal al-Din Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Hasan Ali Al-Jawzi also known as Ibn al-Jawzi (16 June 1201) was a Muslim jurisconsult, preacher, orator, heresiographer, traditionist, historian, judge, hagiographer, and philologist who played ...

(b. 509 or 510 AH) *

Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani Burhān al-Dīn Abu’l-Ḥasan ‘Alī bin Abī Bakr bin ‘Abd al-Jalīl al-Farghānī al-Marghīnānī () (1135-1197) was an Islamic scholar of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence. He was born to an Arab family whose lineage goes back to Calip ...

(b. 530 AH) * Al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam (b. 577 AH) * Al-Mundhiri (b. 581 AH) * Ibn Daqiq al-'Id (b. 625 AH) * Al-Nawawi (b. 631 AH) *

Ibn Taymiyyah Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim ulama, ...

(b. 661 AH) * Taqi al-Din al-Subki (b. 683 AH) * Ibn al-Mulaqqin (b. 723 AH) * Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini (b. 724 AH) * Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi (b. 725 AH) *

Taj al-Din al-Subki Abū Naṣr Tāj al-Dīn ʻAbd al-Wahhāb ibn ʿAlī ibn ʻAbd al-Kāfī al-Subkī (), or Tāj al-Dīn al-Subkī () or simply Ibn al-Subki (1327–1370) was a leading Sunni Islamic scholar based in Egypt and Levant. He was a highly regarded jur ...

(b. 727 AH) *

(b. 773 AH) * Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam (b. 790 AH) * (b. 798 AH) * (b. 822 AH) * Zakariyya al-Ansari (b. 823 AH) *

Al-Suyuti Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (; 1445–1505), or al-Suyuti, was an Egyptians, Egyptian Sunni Muslims, Muslim polymath of Persians, Persian descent. Considered the mujtahid and mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century, he was a leading Hadith studies, muh ...

(b. 849 AH) * Ibn Kemal (b. 873 AH) * Shihab al-Din al-Ramli * Ebussuud Efendi (b. 896 AH) * Ibn Hajar al-Haytami (b. 909 AH) * Shams al-Din al-Ramli (b. 919 AH) * Ahmad Zayni Dahlan (b. 1231 or 1232 AH) * Hussain Ahmad Madani (b. 1296 AH) * Muhammad al-Tahir ibn 'Ashur (b. 1296 AH) * Baha'i Mehmed Efendi (b. 1595-6)

References

Notes

External links