List of well-known fatwas

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A fatwa (Arabic: فتوى‎), is a legal pronouncement in Islam, issued by a religious law specialist on a specific issue. See the article fatwa for more information on what a fatwa is.

This is an incomplete list, which may never be able to satisfy certain standards for completeness. Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.

1 Fatwa regarding theology
2 Fatwa Against Production, Stockpiling and use of Nuclear Weapons
3 Fatwa Against Terrorist Acts in Spain
4 Fatwas promoting violence against a particular individual
5 Fatwas for broader violence
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Fatwa regarding theology

al-Azhar Shia Fatwa on July 6, 1959:

"The Jafari fiqh of the Shi'a is a school of thought that is religiously correct to follow in worship as are other Sunni schools of thought."

[edit] Fatwa Against Production, Stockpiling and use of Nuclear Weapons

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei issued a fatwa forbidding the production, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons on August 9, 2005. The full text of the fatwa was released in an official statement at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. ^[1]

[edit] Fatwa Against Terrorist Acts in Spain

Spanish Muslims proclaimed a fatwa against Bin Laden in March of 2005 ^[2]. They said that he had abandoned his religion and they urged other Muslims to make similar proclamations. They were followed in July of 2005 by the Fiqh Council of North America, a ruling council that issued a fatwa against providing support to terrorist groups (see Istihlal).

[edit] Fatwas promoting violence against a particular individual

Fatwas involving violence are more likely to be well-known than other fatwas, especially to non-Muslims. One possible reason is that non-Muslims regard most fatwas as not affecting them, but fatwas involving violence can potentially affect them.

[edit] Jerry Falwell

In an interview given on September 30, 2002, for the October 6 edition of 60 Minutes, Jerry Falwell said: "I think Muhammad was a terrorist. I read enough by both Muslims and non-Muslims, [to decide] that he was a violent man, a man of war."

The following Friday, Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari, the spokesman of Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khameini, issued a fatwa for Falwell's death, saying that Falwell was a "mercenary and must be killed," and, "The death of that man is a religious duty, but his case should not be tied to the Christian community."

[edit] Salman Rushdie

One of the first well-known fatwas was proclaimed in 1989 by the Iranian Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, against Salman Rushdie‘s novel The Satanic Verses. The argument related to an ostensibly blasphemous statement from an early biography of Prophet Muhammad, regarding incorporating pagan goddesses into Islam’s strongly monotheistic structure. Khomeini died shortly after issuing the fatwa. In 1998 Iran stated that it is no longer pursuing Rushdie’s death; however the decree was again reversed in early 2005 by the present theocrat, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In 1991, Rushdie's Japanese translator, Hitoshi Igarashi, was stabbed and killed in Tokyo, and his Italian translator was beaten and stabbed in Milan. In 1993, Rushdie's Norwegian publisher William Nygaard was shot and severely injured in an attack outside his house in Oslo. Thirty-seven guests died when their hotel in Sivas, Turkey was burnt down by locals protesting against Aziz Nesin, Rushdie's Turkish translator.

More information related to reactions to The Satanic Verses can be seen at Salman Rushdie: The Satanic Verses controversy.

[edit] Taslima Nasreen

Fundamentalists in Bangladesh proclaimed a similar fatwa against Taslima Nasreen in 1993, against a series of newspaper columns in which she was critical of the treatment of women under Islam. The next year she wrote Lajja (Shame) which described the abuse of women and minorities. Again there were calls for her death, and her passport was confiscated. Within the legal system, she felt that she may have faced a jail term of up to two years, but it is very likely that she would have been murdered within the jail. She managed to escape the country via Calcutta, was granted asylum in Sweden, and currently lives in Paris.

[edit] Isioma Daniel

Mamuda Aliyu Shinkafi, the deputy governor of Zamfara state in Nigeria, issued a fatwa in November 2002 calling for the death of journalist Isioma Daniel for comments suggesting that Muhammad may have chosen a wife from one of the Miss World contest ^[3]. Other Muslim authorities have questioned the validity of the fatwa ^[4].

[edit] Fatwas for broader violence

Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, jointly with Ayman al-Zawahiri, proclaimed a fatwa in 1998 in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders, declaring, "The ruling to kill the Americans and their allies – civilians and military – is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it, in order to liberate the al-Aqsa Mosque [in Jerusalem] and the holy mosque [in Mecca] from their grip, and in order for their armies to move out of all the lands of Islam, defeated and unable to threaten any Muslim. This is in accordance with the words of Almighty God, 'and fight the pagans all together as they fight you all together,' and 'fight them until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there prevail justice and faith in God.'" For more information, see: Fatāwā of Osama bin Laden.