Against the historical and literary background of the Ḥanafī opinions from eastern Iran as discussed Chapter 8, this chapter deals with the three distinctive opinions regarding the ‘āqila that developed there, as presented in Chapter 7. It tries both to reconstruct the historical context within which each of the opinions came into being, and to follow their path in the legal literature. This route starts from the fatwā collections in which they were first compiled and preserved, and continues to the standard literature into which they were eventually incorporated. This chapter also touches upon the evolution of the ‘āqila over the last few centuries, a process that reflects the weakening of social solidarity and of clan loyalties in Muslim societies.