Fatwa
A religious-legal ruling or opinion issued by a qualified jurist; an instrument that has at times, such as the tobacco boycott, carried wide political consequences.
Read in context →At a glance
- Definition
- Formal religious ruling of a jurist
- Historic example
- Tobacco fatwa (1891)
- Binding in Shiism
- On the marja's emulators
Detail
A fatwa is a formal religious ruling or opinion issued by a qualified jurist (a mufti or marja) in response to a religious question. The fatwa has a place in both Shia and Sunni jurisprudence, though how binding it is varies by school and by the relationship of emulation; in Shiism, muqallids are obliged to follow their marja's fatwas in practice. Fatwas range from everyday matters of worship to major social and political questions. In modern Iran and the wider Muslim world some fatwas — such as Mirza Shirazi's Tobacco fatwa of 1891 or political fatwas of the revolutionary era — have had profound historical impact. This section addresses key fatwas and their function in Iranian history and politics.
Related entities
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Iranica — 'Fatwā'
- Britannica — 'Fatwa'
- N. Keddie, 'Religion and Rebellion in Iran: The Tobacco Protest'