48. What is a fatwa?

Fatwa literally means an ‘opinion’ and it is not legally binding. A fatwa is applicable only to the person who has asked for it, and it is he or she who can decide whether or not to accept it.

If a believer wants to know about his personal behaviour, for example, if he wants to know about his way of worship or whether his personal choices are in accordance with Islam, then he may visit an Islamic scholar and put these personal questions to him. And, that scholar may give him his opinion according to his knowledge of Islam. That is a fatwa. That is all there is to it.

Fatwa is non-binding and can only be solicited for one’s personal matters. For instance, a person cannot solicit a fatwa on the outfit worn by another person such as Sania Mirza. Fatwa cannot be solicited for another person. Doing this is unacceptable and forbidden in Islam.

The Sharia distinguishes between fatwa and qaza. The former refers to the opinion given by a mufti when someone consults him on a personal matter. Qaza, on the other hand, refers to a judicial verdict. No mufti is allowed to issue a qaza, which is the prerogative of only a state-authorized court and is binding on everyone. Qaza is given on an issue which is in the domain of a judge. In such matters a mufti is not supposed to issue fatwas on his own. In this case, either the government appoints a judge or someone gets a special sanction for issuing binding awards on the parties involved. In modern English language, qaza is equivalent to legislation.