Fatwa

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A fatwa (Arabic: فتوى) plural fatāwa (فتاوى), is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. Usually a fatwa is issued at the request of an individual or a judge to settle a question where ’’fiqh,’’ Islamic jurisprudence, is unclear. A scholar capable of issuing fatāwa is known as a Mufti.

Contrary to what is believed by many non-Muslims, and even by the majority of Muslims, a fatwa is not binding on all persons professing the Muslim faith. The only ones who are obliged to obey any specific fatwa are the mufti who issued it and his followers.

The Sheikh of Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Muhammad Sayid Tantawy, who is the leading religious authority in the Sunni Muslim establishment in Egypt, said the following about fatāwa issued by himself or the entire Al-Azhar University:

"Fatāwa issued by Al-Azhar are not binding; individuals are free to accept them or not. It is the right of Muslims in France who object to the law banning the veil to bring it up to the legislative and judicial authorities. If the judiciary decides in favor of the government because the country is secular, they would be considered to be Muslim individuals acting under compelling circumstances." [1]

Because Islam has no centralized priestly hierarchy, there is no uniform method to determine who can issue a valid fatwa and who cannot. Some Islamic scholars complain that too many people feel qualified to issue fatāwa.

Different Islamic clerics can issue contradictory fatāwa. The effect depends upon whether or not this takes place in a nation where Islamic law (sharia) is the basis of civil law.

In nations where Islamic law is the basis of civil law, fatāwa by the national religious leadership are debated prior to being issued. Thus, they are rarely contradictory. If two fatāwa were contradictory, the ruling bodies (combined civil and religious law) attempt to define a compromise interpretation that will eliminate the resulting ambiguity.

In nations where Islamic law is not the basis of law, Muslims often must face two contradictory fatāwa. In such cases, the fatwa deriving from leadership of their religious tradition would be honored. For example, Sunni Muslims would favor a Sunni fatwa over a Shiite one.

The overwhelming majority of fatāwa are on mundane matters (for examples see the archives linked below). Those declaring war or pronouncing death sentences are not at all representative, despite the attention they draw in media, but have become widely renowned.

One of the best known of these is the 1998 Fatwa proclaimed by Osama bin Ladin. See Osama bin Laden fatwa for details and List of famous fatwas for other examples.

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