: a legal opinion or decree handed down by an Islamic religious leader
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The previous supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who had issued a fatwa banning its development, was killed by the US and Israel.—Abbas Al Lawati, CNN Money, 1 Apr. 2026 The policies pursued by the Islamic Republic in the 1990s—the death fatwa against Salman Rushdie and attempts to kill his associates, the terror bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina—gained it nothing but opprobrium.—Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 23 Mar. 2026 Khamenei had issued a religious edict, or fatwa, against developing nuclear weapons.—Jonathan Tirone, Fortune, 8 Mar. 2026 The most famous fatwa was issued by Ibn Taymiyyah, a fierce Sunni jurist of the fourteenth century, who preached a rigid interpretation of the Quran and strict adherence to the cultural habits of the great deserts of the Arabian Peninsula.—Literary Hub, 4 Mar. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fatwa