Popular Misconceptions
Some people use the term to mean an Islamic death sentence imposed upon a person. This is indeed one possibility among others (and would be in the case of something Haraam), though it is a rare use for a fatwā. The term's correct definition is broader, since a fatwā may concern any aspect of individual life, social norms, religion, war, peace, jihad, and politics. Most Islamic opinions (millions of fatwā have been issued over the 1,400 years of Islam's existence) deal with mundane issues faced by Muslims in their daily life, such as the customs of marriage, financial affairs, moral questions, et cetera. They are issued in response to questions by ordinary Muslims, and go unnoticed by those not concerned, while the much smaller number of fatwā issued on controversial subjects, such as war, jihad, and dhimmis (particularly by extremist preachers), sometimes get wide coverage in the media because of their political content (see examples below).
A fatwā is not automatically part of Islamic teachings. While the person issuing it may intend to represent the teachings of Islam accurately, this does not mean that that person's interpretation will gain universal acceptance. There are many divergent schools within the religion, and even people within the same current of thought will sometimes rule differently on a difficult issue. This means that there are numerous contradictory fatwā, prescribing or proscribing a certain behavior. This puts the burden of choice on the individual Muslim, who, in case of conflict, will be forced to decide whose opinion is more likely to be correct.
More recently, the term Fatwā has been associated with the female name Darsa. This trend is associated with the rise of auto correct software changing "Darsa" to "Fatwā." Due to the initial hilarity, the pseudonym has caught on and this popular misconception may need to be added to a new page with a redirect from this page.
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Famous quotes containing the word popular:
“Like other secret lovers, many speak mockingly about popular culture to conceal their passion for it.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)