fatwa
2 synonyms for fatwa, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Noun — A formal legal ruling or opinion issued by a mufti or other Islamic judicial authority.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
How to use fatwa
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
issue a fatwa
a fatwa against
under a fatwa
the fatwa was lifted
Fatwa is a neutral term borrowed directly from Islamic legal vocabulary and used in ordinary English news writing.
Etymology
Fatwa is borrowed from the Arabic word for a formal legal opinion, itself the verbal noun of a verb meaning to deliver such an opinion. The same root also gives English mufti, the title of the scholar who issues one.
Full origin of fatwa →Frequently asked questions
What does fatwa mean?
A fatwa is a formal legal opinion or ruling given by a mufti or other qualified Islamic authority on a point of religious law.
Is a fatwa always a death sentence?
No. Most fatwas are ordinary legal rulings on everyday religious questions; the sense of a fatwa calling for someone's death is a narrower, extended use.
Why is the word fatwa often linked to Salman Rushdie?
In 1989 the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa calling for the death of author Salman Rushdie over alleged blasphemy in his novel, and this case made the death-sentence sense widely known in English.
