Online Encyclopedia
Grand Mufti
The title Grand Mufti refers to the highest official of religious law in a Sunni Muslim country. The Grand Mufti issues legal opinions and edicts, fatwa, on interpretations of Islamic law for private clients or to assist judges in deciding cases. The collected opinions of the Grand Mufti serve as a valuable source of information on the practical application of Islamic law as opposed to its abstract formulation. The Grand Mufti's fatwas are binding precedents in areas of civil laws regulating marriage, divorce, and inheritance. In criminal courts, the Grand Muftis recommendations are generally not binding.
In the Ottoman Empire the Grand Mufti was a state official, and the Grand Mufti of Constantinople was the highest of these. The British retained the institution in some Muslim areas under their control and accorded the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem the highest political stature.
In countries such as Australia where the office of Grand Mufti recives no official seal of government imprimatur, clerics can be elected to the position by one segment of the Islamic community in that country and yet not be recognised by other Muslim communities in that country.
The following clerics, among others, carry the title of Grand Mufti:
- Republic of Albania's Grand Mufti, Censored page
- Australia and New Zealand's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Taj el-Din Al Hilaly
- Republic of Bashkortostan's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Talgat Tadzhuddin
- Bosnia and Herzegovina's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Mustafa Ceric
- Arab Republic of Egypt's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Ali Gomaa
- France's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Soheïb Bencheikh
- Lebanese Republic's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Muhammad Rashid Kabbani
- Sultanate of Oman's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Ahmed bin Mohammed al-Khalili
- Islamic Republic of Pakistan's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Rafi Usmani
- Jerusalem and Holy Land's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Ekrima Sabri
- Russian Federation's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Ravil Gainutdin
- Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Abdul-Azeez bin Abdullaa bin Muhammad Aal ash-Shaikh
- Syrian Arab Republic's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Ahmad Kuftaro (deceased September 1, 2004)
- Tunisia's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Kamal-u-Din Ja'eit
- Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus' Shaikh as-Sayyid Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Qubrusi al-Haqqani
- Republic of Uzbekistan's Grand Mufti, Shaikh Abdurahman Bakhromov .