The muftis heard petitions from ordinary people and responded with fatwas, short legal opinions explaining what they could or could not do in particular situations. They advised on such things as correct procedures for inheritance and the enforcement of problematic contracts; they also provided opinions for qadis on tricky questions of evidence or law that arose in court. Jurists would often act as muftis, but their tasks when playing these two roles were distinct. As Nawawi said, the fatwa of a mufti was concerned with particulars, descending from the abstraction of the law into the reality
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