fatwa
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of fatwa
First recorded in 1985–90, fatwa is from the Arabic word fatwā
Vocabulary lists containing fatwa
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Prosecutors allege that Matar was motivated by a fatwa that Ayatollah Khomeini, then leader of Iran, issued in 1989 following Rushdie's depiction of a fictionalized Prophet Muhammad in his novel "The Satanic Verses."
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Ditto for Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s encounter with wolves in the garden of his villa in Vermont, or Ruhollah Khomeini’s fatwa on Salman Rushdie.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025
AP: I remember you writing about how, after the fatwa, there was a period where fiction was a struggle.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
He then issued a religious edict, or fatwa, that allowed image-making and the depiction of living beings for scientific and educational purposes, so long as it did not lead to idolatry.
From New York Times ● Dec. 14, 2023
The fatwa remains active via a quasi-official religious foundation.
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2023
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
