View source for Shaykh al-Islām

[[File:Shaykh al-Islām in different languages.jpg|260px|thumb|Shaykh al-Islām in different languages]]
{{Short description|Arabic honorific for an outstanding Islamic scholar}}
{{Usul al-fiqh}}
'''Shaykh al-Islām''' ({{lang-ar|شيخ الإسلام|Šayḫ al-Islām}}; {{lang-fa|شِیخُ‌الاسلام}}, ''Sheykh-ol-Eslām''; {{lang-ur|شِیخُ‌الاسلام}}, Sheikh''-ul-Islām''; {{lang-ota|شیخ‌ الاسلام}}, {{lang-tr|Şeyhülislam}}<ref>{{cite journal|author=Hogarth, D. G.|title=''Reviewed Work: Corps de Droit Ottoman'' by George Young |journal=[[The English Historical Review]]|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|volume=21|issue=81|date=January 1906|pages=186–189|doi=10.1093/ehr/XXI.LXXXI.186 |jstor=549456}} - CITED: p. 189: "'Sheikh-ul-Islam,' for instance, should be written 'Sheiklı ul-Islam,' and so forth. This mistake is common, but none the less a mistake." - Review of ''[[Corps de Droit Ottoman]]''</ref>) was used in the classical era as an honorific title for outstanding scholars of the Islamic sciences.<ref name="bosworth">{{EI2|volume=9|author1=J.H. Kramers-[R.W. Bulliet] |author2=R.C. Repp |title=Skaykh al-Islam }}</ref>{{rp|399}}<ref name="princeton">Gerhard Böwering, Patricia Crone, Mahan Mirza, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought, p 509-510. {{ISBN|0691134847}}</ref> It first emerged in [[Khurasan]] towards the end of the 4th Islamic century.<ref name="bosworth" />{{rp|399}} In the central and western lands of Islam, it was an informal title given to jurists whose [[fatwa]]s 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 [[mufti]]s. Sometimes, as in the case of [[Ibn Taymiyya|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'''<!--French has affinity to the late Ottoman Empire around and after [[Tanzimat]], and its influence and importance is described at [[Languages of the Ottoman Empire]] // Also minority languages of Christians and Jews are footnoted under French as French was the common educated language among them, and foreigners (Turkish officials knew French too)-->{{#tag:ref|[[Languages of the Ottoman Empire|In languages of ethnic minorities]]:<ref name=StraussConstp40>{{cite book |last=Strauss |first=Johann|chapter-url=https://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/menalib/download/pdf/2734659?originalFilename=true |year=2010 |chapter=A Constitution for a Multilingual Empire: Translations of the ''Kanun-ı Esasi'' and Other Official Texts into Minority Languages | editor=Herzog, Christoph|editor2=Malek Sharif|title= The First Ottoman Experiment in Democracy|location= [[Würzburg]]|pages= 21–51 }} ([http://menadoc.bibliothek.uni-halle.de/urn/urn:nbn:de:gbv:3:5-91645 info page on book] at [[Martin Luther University]]) - Cited: p. 40 (PDF p. 42)</ref><!--Source has Greek text with transcription, but with others, only transcription-->
* {{lang-bg|Шейх юл-ислям}} (Šeyx-ul-Islyam)
* {{lang-el|Σεϊχ‐ουλισλάμ}} (Seïchoul-Islam)
* {{lang-hy|Շեյխ ալ-Իսլամ}} Šeyx-iwl-islami
* {{lang-lad|şeh ul islam}}
|group=note}}) performed a number of functions, including advising the sultan on religious matters, legitimizing government policies, and appointing judges.<ref name="bosworth" />{{rp|400}}<ref name="PEIPT">{{cite encyclopedia|author=James Broucek|title=Mufti/Grand mufti|editor1=Gerhard Böwering |editor1-link=Gerhard Böwering | editor2=Patricia Crone | editor2-link=Patricia Crone |encyclopedia=The Princeton Encyclopedia of Islamic Political Thought|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=2013}}</ref>

With the [[abolition of the Caliphate]] in 1924, the official Ottoman office of Shaykh al-Islām, already in decline, was eliminated.<ref name=Brockett>Brockett, Adrian Alan, ''[https://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/2770 Studies in two transmissions of the Qur'an]''</ref> Modern times have seen the role of chief mufti carried out by [[grand mufti]]s appointed or elected in a variety of ways.<ref name=princeton/>

== Classical usage ==
Like other honorific titles starting with the word ''[[sheikh]]'', the term ''shaykh al-islam'' was in the classical era reserved for [[ulama]] and mystics. It first appeared in [[Khurasan]] in the 4th century [[Hijri year|AH]] (10th century AD).<ref name="bosworth"/>{{rp|399}} 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 [[fatwa]]s. 

Under the [[Ilkhans]], the [[Delhi Sultanate]] and the [[Timurids]] the title was conferred, often by the ruler, to high-ranking ulama who performed various functions but were not generally muftis.<ref name="bosworth"/>{{rp|400}}

In the [[Kashmir Sultanate|Kashmiri Sultanate]], it was implemented during the reign of [[Sikandar Shah Miri|Sultan Sikandar]]. He established the office of the Shaikhu'l-Islam under the influence of Sayyid [[Muhammad of Hamadan|Muhammad Hamadan]], who had come to Kashmir in 1393 AD.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hasan|first=Mohibbul|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/71835146|title=Kashmīr under the sultāns|date=2005|publisher=Aakar Books|isbn=81-87879-49-1|location=Delhi|oclc=71835146}}</ref>

In [[Syria]] and [[Egypt]], 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.<ref name="bosworth" />{{rp|400}} For example, the [[Hanafi]] scholar [['Ala' al-Din al-Bukhari]] issued a fatwa stating that anyone who called Ibn Taymiyya "Shaykh al-islam" had committed disbelief (''[[Kafir|kufr]]'').<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=eFmKGFZTTcoC&dq=%22Ibn+Taymiyya+the+title+Shaykh+al-Islam+%22&pg=RA1-PA16 Correct Islamic Doctrine/Islamic Doctrine by Ibn Khafif]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RwPnCAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Ibn+Taymiyya+the+title+Shaykh+al-Islam+%22&pg=PA323 The Biographies Of The Elite Lives Of The Scholars, Imams & Hadith Masters by Gibril Fouad Haddad]</ref> However, [[Shafiʽi school|Shafiite]] scholar [[Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani]] 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.."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Baits |first1=Ammi Nur |title=Gelar Syaikhul Islam untuk Ibnu Taimiyah |url=https://konsultasisyariah.com/34546-gelar-syaikhul-islam.html |website=Konsultasi Syariah |publisher=Dewan Pembina Konsultasisyariah.com |access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref><ref name="al-Sakhawi">{{cite web |last1=Sakhawi |first1=Shams al Din| author-link1=Al-Sakhawi|title=كتاب الجواهر والدرر في ترجمة شيخ الإسلام ابن حجر |url=https://al-maktaba.org/book/33565/709 |website=al maktabat al shaamilat al haditha| date=1999 |access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref>, which was recorded by his student [[Al-Sakhawi|al Sakhawi]].<ref name="al-Sakhawi"/> The [[Hanbali|Hanbalite]] [[madhhab]] 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]], and Hanbali) of their time in [[Damascus]] and of later periods.<ref name="livnat=211">{{cite journal|first=Livnat |last=Holtzman |title=Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya |journal=Essays in Arabic Literary Biography |date=January 2009 |page=211 |url=https://www.academia.edu/1057824 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |first1=Caterina |last1=Bori |first2=Livnat |last2=Holtzman |title=A Scholar in the Shadow |journal=Oriente Moderno |date=January 2010 |page=19 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2565390}}</ref>

There is disagreement on whether the title was honorific or represented a local mufti in [[Seljuk dynasty|Seljuq]] and early [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] Anatolia.<ref name="bosworth" />{{rp|400}}

== In the Ottoman Empire ==
{{Further|List of Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire}}
[[File:Djemaleddin Effendi.jpg|thumb|Sheikh ul-islam [[Mehmet Cemaleddin Efendi]] during the reign of [[Ottoman Sultan]] and [[Ottoman Caliphate|Caliph]] [[Abdul Hamid II]]]]

In the [[Ottoman Empire]], 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 ({{lang-ota|Şeyḫülislām}}). The Ottomans had a strict hierarchy of [[ulama]], 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]]s. However, once the sultan was affirmed, the sultan retained a higher authority than the Sheik ul-Islam. The Sheikh ul-Islam issued [[Fatwa|fatwas]], which were written interpretations of the Quran that had authority over the community. The Sheikh ul-Islam represented the Sacred Law of [[Sharia|Shariah]] 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]]. After the [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|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 [[Abolition of the Caliphate|abolished along with the Caliphate]]. The office was replaced by the [[Presidency of Religious Affairs]].<ref name="Establishment and a Brief History">[https://www.diyanet.gov.tr/en-US/Institutional/Detail//1/establishment-and-a-brief-history Establishment and a Brief History], Presidency of Religious Affairs</ref> 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]].<ref name="Establishment and a Brief History"/>

== Honorific recipients ==
[[File:Tabaqat al-Subki.jpg|thumbnail|right|Book cover image, printed in 1906 in [[Cairo]], written on it: [[Volume (bibliography)|Volume]] II of ''[[Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra]]'' by Shaykh al-Islam [[Taj al-Din al-Subki]]]]
The following Islamic scholars have been given the honorific title "Shaykh al-Islam":
* [[Abu Mansur al-Maturidi]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Gibril Fouad Haddad|author-link=Gibril Fouad Haddad|title=The Biographies of the Elite Lives of the Scholars, Imams and Hadith Masters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwPnCAAAQBAJ|date=2015|publisher=Zulfiqar Ayub|page=141}}</ref> (b. 231 AH)
* [[Al-Daraqutni]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lucas |first1=Scott C. |authorlink= |title=Constructive Critics, Ḥadīth Literature, and the Articulation of Sunnī Islam The Legacy of the Generation of Ibn Saʻd, Ibn Maʻīn, and Ibn Ḥanbal | publisher=[[Brill Academic Publishers|Brill]]| date=2004 |isbn=9789004133198 |page=368}}</ref> (b. 306 AH)
* [[Abu Uthman al-Sabuni]] (b. 373 AH)<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam]]|translator=[[Gibril Fouad Haddad]]|title=The Belief of the People of Truth | publisher=[[As-Sunnah Foundation of America]]| date=1999 |isbn=9781930409026 |page=57}}</ref>
* [[Al-Bayhaqi]] (b. 384 AH)<ref>Encyclopedia of Sahih Al-Bukhari By Abu-`Abdullah Muhammad-Bin-Isma`il Al-Bukhari</ref>
* [[Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi]] (b. 393 AH)<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2019-07-05 |title=Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi: No need to discuss the reliability of Imams like Abu Hanifa - Darul Tahqiq |url=https://www.darultahqiq.com/abu-ishaq-al-shirazi-no-need-discuss-reliability-imams-like-abu-hanifa/,%20https://www.darultahqiq.com/abu-ishaq-al-shirazi-no-need-discuss-reliability-imams-like-abu-hanifa/ |access-date=2023-11-05 |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Abu Talib al-Makki]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Islamic Mysticism and Abu Talib Al-Makki: The Role of the Heart|date=2012|first=Saeko|last=Yazaki|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0415671101|page=122}}</ref> (b. 386 AH)
* [[Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi]] (b. 461 AH)<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Kamal al-Din ibn Abi Sharif]]|editor=Muhammad al-'Azazi|title=الفرائد في حل شرح العقائد وهو حاشية ابن أبي شريف على شرح العقائد للتفتازاني|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FfpHDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT20|date=2017|language=ar|publisher=[[w:de:Dar al-Kotob al-ilmiyah|Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya]]|location=[[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]]|isbn=9782745189509|page=19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=[[Khalid al-Baghdadi]]|title=حاشية مولانا خالد النقشبندي على السيالكوتي على الخيالي على شرح التفتازاني على العقائد النسفية|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IFg_EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA4|date=2021|language=ar|publisher=[[w:de:Dar al-Kotob al-ilmiyah|Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya]]|location=[[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]]|isbn=9782745190345|page=4}}</ref>
* [[Khwaja Abdullah Ansari]]<ref name="bosworth"/>{{rp|400}} (b. 481 AH)
* [[Al-Juwayni]]<ref>M. M. Sharif, A History of Muslim Philosophy, 1.242. {{ISBN|9694073405}}</ref> (b. 419 AH) 
* [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=wTDcAAAAQBAJ&dq=%22al-fakhr+al-razi%22&pg=PA113 Islam and Other Religions: Pathways to Dialogue by Irfan Omar]</ref> (b. 544 AH)
* [[Abu'l-Faraj ibn al-Jawzi|Ibn al-Jawzi]] (b. 509 or 510 AH)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-09-04 |title=Ibn al-Jawzi on Sufism |url=https://istigatha.wordpress.com/2006/09/04/ibn-al-jawzi-on-sufism/ |access-date=2023-11-05 |website=On Istigatha |language=en}}</ref>
* [[Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani]] (b. 530 AH)<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Mona Siddiqui]]|title=The Good Muslim: Reflections on Classical Islamic Law and Theology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NgmjUI9s0f8C|date=2012|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|isbn=9780521518642|page=13|quote=The Hidaya is a classic book of Islamic jurisprudence by Sheikh al-Islam Burhan al-Din 'Ali b. Abu Bakr al-Marghinani (d. 1197).}}</ref>
* [[Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam|Al-'Izz ibn 'Abd al-Salam]]<ref>{{cite book | title=Islamic Law and the State: The Constitutional Jurisprudence of Shihab Al-Din Al-Qarafi (Studies in Islamic Law & Society) | url=https://archive.org/details/islamiclawstatec00jack | url-access=limited | last1=Jackson| first1=Sherman| isbn=9004104585|publisher=Brill|page=[https://archive.org/details/islamiclawstatec00jack/page/n25 10]|date=1996}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PM7wz92Tq6oC&dq=%22Shaykh+al-Islam+al-%27Izz+ibn+%27Abd+al-Salam%22&pg=PA8 Allah's Names and Attributes (Islamic Doctrines & Beliefs)  by Imam Al-Bayhaqi (Author), Gibril Fouad Haddad (Translator)]</ref> (b. 577 AH)
* [[Al-Mundhiri]] (b. 581 AH)<ref>{{cite book |author=مغلوث، سامي بن عبد الله |title=أطلس أعلام المحدثين (Atlas of Hadith Scholars)|publisher=al-ʿUbaikān li-n-Našr|date=31 December 2018|isbn=9786035091886|pages=314}}</ref>
* [[Ibn Daqiq al-'Id]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=_i1tAAAAMAAJ&q=%22The+final+link+in+the+chain+of+authorities+going+back+to+the+speaker+is+Shaykh+al-Islam+Ibn+Daqiq+al-%27Id%22 Islamic Culture - Volume 45 - Page 195]</ref> (b. 625 AH)
* [[Al-Nawawi]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=eFmKGFZTTcoC&dq=%22Shaykh+al-Islam+al-Nawawi%22&pg=RA1-PA11 Correct Islamic Doctrine/Islamic Doctrine - Page 11.]</ref> (b. 631 AH)
* [[Ibn Taymiyyah]]<ref name="Kitab al-Iman">{{cite book |last1=Ibn Taymīyah |first1=Aḥmad ibn ʻAbd al-Ḥalīm|author-link1=Ibn Taymiyyah |last2=Al-Ani |first2=Salman Hassan |last3=Ahmad Tel |first3=Shadia |title=Kitab Al-Iman Book of Faith |date=2009 |publisher=Islamic Book Trust |isbn=9789675062292 |page=3, Quoting al uqud al durriyah min manaqib shaykh al islam ibn Taymiyyah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_Cxpfjri6o0C |access-date=16 November 2021 |ref=al uqud al durriyah min manaqib shaykh al islam ibn Taymiyyah}}</ref><ref name="bosworth" /> (b. 661 AH)
* [[Taqi al-Din al-Subki]]<ref>Mohammad Hassan Khalil, Islam and the Fate of Others: The Salvation Question, Oxford University Press, 3 May 2012, p 89. {{ISBN|0199796661}}</ref> (b. 683 AH)
* [[Ibn al-Mulaqqin]]<ref>{{cite book |last1= Ayub |first1=Zulfiqar |authorlink= |title=THE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE ELITE LIVES OF THE SCHOLARS, IMAMS & HADITH MASTERS Biographies of The Imams & Scholars | publisher=Zulfiqar Ayub Publications| date=2 May 2015 |isbn= |page=291}}</ref> (b. 723 AH)
* [[Siraj al-Din al-Bulqini]]<ref>{{cite journal|title=knowledge.uchicago.edu
|url=https://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/746?ln=en|journal=Mamlūk Studies Review Vol. VI (2002)
|volume=6|year=2002|page=118|doi=10.6082/M1XP7300|author1=The Middle East Documentation Center (MEDOC) At The University Of Chicago}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=RwPnCAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Shaykh+al-Islam%2C+Siraj+alDin+al-Bulqini%22&pg=PA236 The Biographies Of The Elite Lives Of The Scholars, Imams & Hadith Masters by Gibril Fouad Haddad.]</ref> (b. 724 AH)
* [[Zain al-Din al-'Iraqi]]<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Al-Bayhaqi]]|translator=[[Gibril Fouad Haddad]]|title=Allah's Names and Attributes|date=1999|publisher=[[Islamic Supreme Council of America]]|isbn=9781930409033|volume=4 of Islamic Doctrines & Beliefs|page=113}}</ref> (b. 725 AH)
* [[Taj al-Din al-Subki]]<ref>[http://sunnah.org/tasawwuf/scholr27.htm Tasawwuf al-Subki]</ref> (b. 727 AH)
* [[Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani]]<ref>{{EI2 | volume=1 |page=791}}</ref> (b. 773 AH)
* [[Al-Kamal ibn al-Humam]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dar-alifta.org/AR/ViewScientist.aspx?sec=new&ID=85&LangID=1|title=The Biography of Imam al-Kamal ibn al-Humam|publisher=[[Dar al-Ifta' al-Misriyya]]}}</ref>(b. 790 AH)
* {{ill|Sharaf al-Din al-Munawi|ar|يحيى بن محمد المناوي}}<ref>THE BIOGRAPHIES OF THE ELITE LIVES OF THE SCHOLARS, IMAMS & HADITH MASTERS Biographies of The Imams & Scholars page 281</ref> (b. 798 AH)
* {{ill|Kamal al-Din ibn Abi Sharif|ar|كمال الدين بن أبي شريف}}<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Ibn al-Imad al-Hanbali]]|editor=مصطفى عبد القادر عطا|title=شذرات الذهب في أخبار من ذهب|trans-title=Particles of Gold in Chronicles on Those Who Passed Away|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZWx7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT61|date=2012|language=ar|volume=8|publisher=[[w:de:Dar al-Kotob al-ilmiyah|Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya]]|location=[[Beirut]], [[Lebanon]]|page=62}}</ref> (b. 822 AH)
* [[Zakariyya al-Ansari]]<ref>{{EI2 | volume=11 |page=406}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=u49xBAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Shaykh+al-Islam+Zakariyya+al-Ansari%22&pg=PA99 Safinah Safinat al-Naja' - The Ship of Salvation]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=kdEsWyzLnD8C&dq=%22Shaykh+al-Islam+Zakariyya+al-Ansari%22&pg=PA56 Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire by John O. Hunwick]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=htx8BAAAQBAJ&dq=%22were+Shaykh+al-Islam+Zakariyya+al%E2%80%94Ansari%22&pg=PA77 The Archetypal Sunni Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of Al-Bajuri by Aaron Spevack]</ref> (b. 823 AH)
* [[Al-Suyuti]]<ref name="Mamluk">{{cite book |last=Ghersetti |first=Antonella |title=Al-Suyūṭī, a Polymath of the Mamlūk Period Proceedings of the Themed Day of the First Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies (Ca' Foscari University, Venice, June 23, 2014)|publisher=[[Brill Academic Publishers|Brill]]|date=18 October 2016|isbn=9789004334526|page=259}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Sayyid Rami Al Rifai|title=The Islamic Journal From Islamic Civilisation To The Heart Of Islam, Ihsan, Human Perfection|publisher=Sunnah Muakada|date=3 July 2015|isbn=|page=37}}</ref> (b. 849 AH)
* [[Ibn Kemal]]<ref>{{cite book|editor=[[Oliver Leaman]]|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2wS2CAAAQBAJ|date=2015|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|isbn=9781472569455|page=198|quote=IBN KEMAL (873–940/1468–1534) The famous shaykh al-Islam of the Ottoman Empire and one of the most prolific writers of Ottoman intellectual history, Shams al-Din Ahmad b. Sulayman b. Kamal Pasha, known more commonly as Ibn Kemal}}</ref> (b. 873 AH)
*[[Shihab al-Din al-Ramli]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNNICwAAQBAJ&dq=شهاب+الدين+الرملي+شيخ+الإسلام&pg=PT819|author=IslamKotob|page=72|title=The chosen guard from the flags of the centuries - المختار المصون من أعلام القرون)|date=January 1995 }}</ref>
* [[Ebussuud Efendi]]<ref>{{cite book|editor=[[Oliver Leaman]]|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2wS2CAAAQBAJ|date=2015|publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]]|isbn=9781472569455|page=78}}</ref> (b. 896 AH)
* [[Ibn Hajar al-Haytami]]<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=PfuXZaumtq4C&dq=%22Shaykh+al-Islam++al-Haytami%22&pg=PA152 The Prophets in Barzakh/The Hadith of Isra' and Mi'raj/The Immense Merrits of Al-Sham/The Vision of Allah by Al-Sayyid Muhammad Ibn 'Alawi]</ref> (b. 909 AH)
* [[Shams al-Din al-Ramli]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_65HCwAAQBAJ&dq=شمس+الدين+الرملي+شيخ+الاسلام&pg=PA294|author=IslamKotob|page=78|title=The softness of summer and the harvest of fruits from the biographies of notables of the first class of the eleventh century 2 - لطف السمر و قطف الثمر من تراجم أعيان الطبقة الأولى من القرن الحادي عشر 2)}}</ref> (b. 919 AH)
* [[Ahmad Zayni Dahlan]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Muhammad Hisham Kabbani|author-link=Muhammad Hisham Kabbani|title=The Naqshbandi Sufi Tradition Guidebook of Daily Practices and Devotions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zzxUSTpTZ6UC|date=2004|publisher=[[Islamic Supreme Council of America]]|isbn=9781930409224|page=187}}</ref> (b. 1231 or 1232 AH)
* [[Hussain Ahmed Madani]]<ref>{{Cite web|last=Metcalf|first=Barbara D.|date=|title=Husain Ahmad Madani, Maulana|url=http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t349/e0047|url-access=subscription|access-date=2022-04-24|website=Oxford Islamic Studies Online}}{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Syeda|first=Lubna Shireen|date=2014-08-10|title=A study of jamiat-ulama-i-hind with special reference to maulana hussain ahmad madani in freedom movement (A.D. 1919-A.D.1947)|url=http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/10603/54426|journal=Ambedkar University|language=English|volume=|pages=|via=}}</ref> (b. 1296 AH)
* [[Muhammad al-Tahir ibn 'Ashur]] (b. 1296 AH)
* [[Baha'i Mehmed Efendi]] (b. 1595-6{{sfn|Lewis|1986|p=915}})

==See also==
*[[:Category:Shaykh al-Islams of the Religious Council of the Caucasus]]
*[[:Category:Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire]]
*[[Allamah]]
*[[Mufti]]
*[[Sheikh]]
*[[Sheikh (Sufism)]]
*[[Mawlānā]]
*[[Hadrat]]
*[[Grand Mufti]]
*[[Hujjat al-Islam]]
*[[Seghatoleslam]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=note}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|The New York Times/Defense Committee Corners Supplies|NYT 1915 "Defense Committee Corners Supplies"}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060505225813/http://www.diyanet.gov.tr/english/tanitim.asp?id=4 Presidency of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Turkey]

{{Organisation of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sheikh ul islam}}
[[Category:Shaykh al-Islāms| ]]
[[Category:Islamic honorifics]]
[[Category:Sheikh-ul-Islams of the Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Islamic scholars]]
[[Category:Ottoman Empire]]
[[Category:Knowledge]]
[[Category:History-related lists]]