fatwa<\/em> \u2014 issued on 14 February 1989\u00a0by\u00a0the Ayatollah\u00a0Ruhollah Khomeini, the\u00a0Supreme Leader of Iran \u2014 that called\u00a0for his assassination. \u00a0Rushdie was obliged to go into hiding for a very long time.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because of that story many people in the West assumed, quite wrongly, that the word\u00a0fatwa<\/em>\u00a0actually means<\/em> \u201cdeath sentence.\u201d \u00a0Thus, because,\u00a0in this specific case, the fatwa<\/em> did indeed declare Salman Rushdie to be deserving of death, they assumed that the sentence \u201cKhomeini issued a fatwa\u201d was synonymous with \u201cKhomeini issued a death sentence.\u201d \u00a0I can\u2019t count the number of times that I heard people jokingly talking about \u201ctaking out a fatwa<\/em>\u201d on somebody or other.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mistake is rather like, say, hearing that \u201cJudge Jones prounounced sentence the defendant\u201d and then assuming that the noun\u00a0sentence<\/em>\u00a0actually means<\/em> the pronouncing of a death sentence upon someone, or fining him $10K, or sending him to prison for 10-25 years, or whatever the content of the judge\u2019s sentence might happen to be.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Anyway, here\u2019s an article that I wrote in 2002 for an encyclopedia. \u00a0It\u2019s on the concept of a fatwa:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fatwa. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
An advisory opinion issued by a recognized authority on law and tradition in answer to a specific question.\u00a0 Fatwas<\/em> can range from single-word responses (e.g., \u201cYes,\u201d \u201cNo,\u201d or \u201cPermitted\u201d) to book-length treatises.\u00a0 Although typically focused on legal matters, fatwas<\/em> also treat more general religious issues, including theology, philosophy, creeds, and \u2018ibadat<\/em> (religious obligations or acts of worship).\u00a0 Traditionally, despite numerous exceptions (particularly since the eleventh century), the issuer of fatwas<\/em>, termed a mufti<\/em>\u2014whose authority derives from his knowledge of law and tradition\u2014has functioned independently of the judicial system, indeed often privately.<\/span><\/p>\nWhile court rulings rely on the sifting of evidence and conflicting testimonies, muftis assume the facts presented by their questioners, which, obviously, can bias the answer.\u00a0 Moreover, a fatwa<\/em> differs from a court judgment, or qada<\/em>, not only in its wider potential scope\u2014for instance, although \u2018ibadat<\/em> are essential parts of Islamic law, they transcend the jurisdiction of the courts\u2014but because the qada<\/em> is binding and enforceable, \u201cperformative,\u201d while the fatwa<\/em> is not.\u00a0 Instead, it is \u201cinformational,\u201d and, while decisions of shari\u2018a<\/em> courts usually pertain only to the specific cases they adjudicate, thus setting no legal precedents, fatwas<\/em> are very often collected, published, and cited in subsequent cases.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bibliography<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nSchacht, Joseph.\u00a0 Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence<\/em>.\u00a0 Oxford and New York: Clarendon Press, 1979.<\/span><\/p>\nWeiss, Bernard G.\u00a0 The Spirit of Islamic Law<\/em>.\u00a0 Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1998.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Victoria, British Columbia<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Many people have heard the word fatwa. \u00a0Most famously, particularly for people in the West above a certain age, the word will ring a bell in connection with the case of the Anglo-Indian novelist Salman Rushdie. \u00a0In 1988, Rushdie wrote a\u00a0novel titled \u00a0The Satanic Verses\u00a0that provoked\u00a0a major international controversy\u00a0because of its disrespectful, even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
What is a "fatwa"?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Many people have heard the word fatwa. \u00a0Most famously, particularly for people in the West above a certain age, the word will ring a bell in\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is a "fatwa"?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Many people have heard the word fatwa. \u00a0Most famously, particularly for people in the West above a certain age, the word will ring a bell in\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-07-21T06:13:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-09-05T15:52:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/04\/Sharia-law-Billboard.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html\",\"name\":\"What is a \\\"fatwa\\\"?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-07-21T06:13:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-09-05T15:52:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Many people have heard the word fatwa. \u00a0Most famously, particularly for people in the West above a certain age, the word will ring a bell in\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What is a “fatwa”?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What is a \"fatwa\"?","description":" Many people have heard the word fatwa. \u00a0Most famously, particularly for people in the West above a certain age, the word will ring a bell in","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What is a \"fatwa\"?","og_description":" Many people have heard the word fatwa. \u00a0Most famously, particularly for people in the West above a certain age, the word will ring a bell in","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2018-07-21T06:13:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-09-05T15:52:59+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2017\/04\/Sharia-law-Billboard.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html","name":"What is a \"fatwa\"?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-07-21T06:13:26+00:00","dateModified":"2018-09-05T15:52:59+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Many people have heard the word fatwa. \u00a0Most famously, particularly for people in the West above a certain age, the word will ring a bell in","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/07\/what-is-a-fatwa.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What is a “fatwa”?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63154"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63154\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Shari\u2018a-related](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/04\/Sharia-law-Billboard.jpg\")
<\/a>