change of fatwā and its backgrounds in sunnī jurisprudence

in the islamic schools’ opinions, change of fatwa (legal ruling) is among the important issues that has been discussed about both in contemporary and earlier periods. all schools have accepted the permissibility for the muftī’s change of fatwa as a general rule. in those schools’ point of view, it is permissible for the muftī to withdraw his fatwa. therefore, following answering the question as to what factors are effective in change of fatwa, the overall proposition of the writers of the present article is to study the sunnī jurists’ perspective to obtain some elements from their statements implied in terms of induction and to express its jurisprudential examples. the writers have, in general, considered six factors involved in the sunnī jurists’ change of fatwa, which include: 1. change in convention (‘urf) and the exigencies of time, 2. considerations of time, 3. change in the states of the people of the time, 4. reanalyzing the subject by the master jurist (mujtahid), 5. the master jurist’s revision in the principles and reasons of the previous fatwa, and 6. the master jurist’s access to new reasons.