mufti means A Muslim scholar and interpreter of sharia law, who can deliver a fatwa. It carries an Arena rating of 1642, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, mufti ranks #1,151 of 13,274 for Most Elegant Words, #2,907 of 13,274 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,229 of 13,274 for Funniest Words, #3,287 of 13,274 for Most Ingenious Words.
mufti is pronounced /ˈmʌfti/.
Why “mufti” is a great word
A jurisconsult qualified to issue formal, non-binding opinions on matters of Islamic law. The word derives from the Ottoman Turkish مفتي (müfti), from Arabic مفتي (muftī, 'one who delivers a formal opinion'), the active participle of the verb أفتى (aftā, 'to give a legal decision'). Unlike a qadi, who presides as a judge and issues binding rulings, or a civilian, whose term in British English denotes ordinary dress, a mufti's authority flows from scholarly reputation alone. It is the weight of a library distilled into a single answer, the quiet calibration of a question in a sunlit courtyard, the formal script of a fatwa that sways but never compels—a reminder that the highest guidance is an offering, not a decree, and wears no uniform at all.
Etymology
Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish مفتی (müfti), from Arabic مُفْتِي (muftī, “fatwa-deliverer”, literally “deliverer of formal opinion”).
noun
- A Muslim scholar and interpreter of sharia law, who can deliver a fatwa.“Mujtahidd's online claims have prompted an aggressive backlash against social media from the Saudi religious establishment. The grand mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdul-Aziz al-Sheikh, said in January that Twitter was a platform for "promoting lies" and a "dangerous practice" that should be avoided by Muslims. Commentators have described the phenomenon as symbolic of the growing political debate ”
- A civilian dress when worn by a member of the military or the police, or casual dress when worn by a pupil of a school who normally would wear uniform.“He had a suit of summer mufti, and a broad-brimmed blue beaver hat looped with leaves broken from the hedgerows in the lanes, and a Leander scarf tucked full of flowers: loosestrife, meadowrue, orchis, ragged-robin.”
Words closest in meaning
By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.
- fatwa 91% match — A formal legal decree, opinion, or ruling issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority. vs mufti →
- mujtahid 88% match — A lawyer entitled to exercise ijtihad. vs mufti →
- muhaddith 84% match — a scholar specialized in the study, collection, and interpretation of hadiths. vs mufti →
- taqlid 83% match — Conformity to traditional legal decisions in Shari'a jurisprudence. vs mufti →
- madhhab 82% match — A school of thought in Islamic jurisprudence. vs mufti →
- muezzin 81% match — The person who issues the call to prayer from one of the minarets of a mosque. vs mufti →
- posek 81% match — decisor; legal scholar who decides the Halacha in cases where previous authorities are inconclusive or no halakhic precedent exists. vs mufti →
- responsa 81% match — A body of written decisions and rulings given by legal scholars in response to questions addressed to them. vs mufti →