fatwa

noun

fat·​wa ˈfÉ™t-wÉ™ How to pronounce fatwa (audio)
ˈfät-wä
: a legal opinion or decree handed down by an Islamic religious leader

Examples of fatwa in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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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 Iranian diplomats long have pointed to 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s comments as a binding fatwa, or religious edict, that Iran won’t build an atomic bomb. Jon Gambrell, Los Angeles Times, 20 Feb. 2026 See All Example Sentences for fatwa

Word History

Etymology

Arabic fatwā

First Known Use

circa 1889, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of fatwa was circa 1889

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Cite this Entry

“Fatwa.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fatwa. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.

More from Merriam-Webster on fatwa

Nglish: Translation of fatwa for Spanish Speakers

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fatwa

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