This paper will discuss the perspectives of Makhlūf al-Minyāwī (1819-1878) and Muḥammad Qadrī Pasha (1821-1886) towards codification of personal status law (al-aḥwāl al-shakhṣiyya) in Egypt. Throughout this time period the codification of personal status law in Egypt entailed two important components: The first was the need to find valid and sound opinions from Sunnī schools of Islamic law, and the second was placing these rulings and opinions into the structure and language of modern European legal codes, usually the French legal code. This paper will demonstrate that the ‘ulamā’ who both advocated and wrote codes of personal status law had a nuanced view of both French law and the Sharī‘a, which enabled them to see this as an opportunity for Islamic law in the modern age, not a threat against it. Specifically, these two scholars shared a particular view towards al-siyāsa al-shar‘iyya, ijtihād, and talfīq, which emerged as the key ingredients for codification of Islamic law in Egypt in the late 19th century and early 20th century.