Shaykh al-Islām

Shaykh al-Islām (Arabic: شيخ الإسلام, romanized: Šayḫ al-Islām; Persian: شِیخُ‌الاسلام, Sheykh-ol-Eslām; Urdu: شِیخُ‌الاسلام, Sheikh-ul-Islām; Ottoman Turkish: شیخ‌ الاسلام, Turkish: Şeyhülislam) was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences.^: 399 It first emerged in Khurasan towards the end of the 4th Islamic century.^: 399 In the central and western lands of Islam, it was an informal title given to jurists whose fatwas were particularly influential, while in the east it came to be conferred by rulers to ulama who played various official roles but were not generally muftis. Sometimes, as in the case of Ibn Taymiyyah, the use of the title was subject to controversy. In the Ottoman Empire, 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.^: 400

With the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924, the official Ottoman office of Shaykh al-Islām, already in decline, was eliminated. Modern times have seen the role of chief mufti carried out by grand muftis appointed or elected in a variety of ways.