Definition of fatwa
: a legal opinion or decree handed down by an Islamic religious leader
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Recent Examples of fatwa from the Web
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Most responded to a fatwa, or religious edict, from Iraq’s most influential cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and joined an array of militias, some of them backed by Iran.
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Coleman showed the text of bin Laden’s fatwa to prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
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Rap-rocker Shahin Najafi flees Iran for Germany after a fatwa is issued for his death because of a song critical of the regime.
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But first he and his co-conspirators had to honor the fatwa issued by ISIS to kill Geller.
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This was the second episode in a row that ignored the fatwa.
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The fatwa is the epitome of this — the world actively wants to kill him.
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Hollywood is full of stories of the talent making ridiculous demands and issuing absurd fatwas to protect their egos.
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The Ministry of Interior instructed the mufti at the time to issue a religious fatwa justifying why women driving is bad.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'fatwa.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of fatwa
Arabic fatwā
NEW! Time Traveler
First Known Use: circa 1889
in the meaning defined above
See Words from the same yearOther Religion (Eastern and Other) Terms
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Learn More about fatwa
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Nglish: Translation of fatwa for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of fatwa for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fatwa
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