: a legal opinion or decree handed down by an Islamic religious leader
Examples of fatwa in a Sentence
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The death threats began soon after the publication in 1988 of his fourth novel, The Satanic Verses, when the Ayatollah Khomeini, supreme leader of Iran, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie’s death over what some viewed as the book’s irreverent depiction of Muhammad.
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David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 25 Jan. 2026
He wasn’t even born when the fatwa happened.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 22 Jan. 2026
Gibney’s film, Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, slated in the Premieres section, centers on the titular author who was almost killed in a stabbing in 2022 by a man attempting to fulfill the Ayatollah Khomeini’s longstanding fatwa on Rushdie.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 10 Dec. 2025
That the idea of the possibility of weaponization, or at least the boast that Iran is capable of building a bomb, has been openly floated in the past year is an indication that a race for a bomb is not out of the question, despite Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatwa prohibiting it.
—Big Think, 25 Nov. 2025
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David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 25 Jan. 2026
He wasn’t even born when the fatwa happened.
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 22 Jan. 2026
Gibney’s film, Knife: The Attempted Murder of Salman Rushdie, slated in the Premieres section, centers on the titular author who was almost killed in a stabbing in 2022 by a man attempting to fulfill the Ayatollah Khomeini’s longstanding fatwa on Rushdie.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 10 Dec. 2025
That the idea of the possibility of weaponization, or at least the boast that Iran is capable of building a bomb, has been openly floated in the past year is an indication that a race for a bomb is not out of the question, despite Ayatollah Khamenei’s fatwa prohibiting it.
—Big Think, 25 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for fatwa
Cite this Entry
“Fatwa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fatwa. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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