The Words "Fatwā" and "Iftāʾ": Their Qur'anic Roots and the Ummah's First Muftīs
Answer
The codification of fatwās began taking shape from the very era of Prophethood itself, and this process has continued without interruption ever since — in every age, the fatwās of noble muftīs have undergone codification. For the details of this, an essay by the respected Ḥaḍrat Mawlānā Qāḍī Athar Mubārakpūrī is reproduced here, which he wrote for Jāmiʿ al-Fatāwā.
Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya
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