1
Stage 1 of 3
fata
Arabic · medieval
"to give a legal ruling"
meant "to instruct by a legal decision"
2
Stage 2 of 3
fetwa
Arabic · medieval
"legal ruling"
named a formal ruling given by a mufti
3
Stage 3 of 3
fatwa
English · 1620s
"formal Islamic legal ruling"
entered English legal and religious vocabulary; gained wide notoriety after the 1989 Rushdie affair
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