Mu'tamad

Mu'tamad is the position later authorities of a school settled on for teaching and issuing fatwas.

What it means for me: This word solves a confusing puzzle: how can one school hold two different positions? A school carries reports, narrations, and views from its own scholars across centuries. The mu'tamad is the one later authorities chose for practice. Naming it that way is honest about the other views that still exist.

Example: You ask about a question, and the answer says the mu'tamad is one thing, though another position is also reported. That is a careful answer, drawn from inside one school, not a mix of unrelated views.

Do not confuse with: Rajih, the weightier view. Mu'tamad holds inside one school, regardless of who holds it. Rajih is what a specific scholar's own study points toward, in any school.

If scholars differ: Schools use words like 'well-known', 'most apparent', and 'most correct' to mark this status. Later scholars sometimes differ on which position deserves that label when their sources conflict. The difference is named here as a difference and not decided; the mufti is the reference.