---
title: "What is Fatwa? | IslamicOpenFinance™"
description: "A juristic opinion on a Shariah question; in finance, usually a Shariah board's ruling on a product or transaction."
url: https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/fatwa/
lang: en-GB
source: "IslamicOpenFinance"
---

[Glossary](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/) / [Shariah governance](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/#governance)

Shariah governance

# Fatwa

A juristic opinion on a Shariah question; in finance, usually a Shariah board's ruling on a product or transaction.

A fatwa is a juristic opinion on a matter of Shariah. In the definition used in IFSB-21 and IFSB-26, it is an opinion given by the Shariah board on any matter pertinent to Shariah issues, based on the appropriate methodology. In finance a fatwa or resolution typically approves a product structure subject to conditions, and whether it binds anyone beyond the institution depends on the issuing body and the jurisdiction.

## Sources

- [IFSB-21 Core Principles for Islamic Finance Regulation (Islamic Capital Market Segment), 2018: Definitions, Fatwa](https://www.ifsb.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IFSB-21-December-2018_En.pdf)

This entry explains a term; it is not a Shariah ruling. Approving a product is for each institution's own Shariah board and regulator.

## Related terms

[**Shariah supervisory board** An independent panel of Shariah scholars that approves an institution's products and oversees its Shariah compliance.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah-board/) [**Central Shariah board** A national or regulator-level Shariah authority whose rulings set or harmonise Shariah positions across a jurisdiction.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/central-shariah-board/) [**Shariah** Islamic law and its principles; in finance, the rules that contracts, products and institutions are expected to comply with.](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah/)

**Shariah governance**

1. [Shariah supervisory board](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah-board/)
2. [Shariah governance system](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah-governance-system/)
3. [Shariah review](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah-review/)
4. [Shariah audit](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah-audit/)
5. [Shariah non-compliance risk](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah-non-compliance-risk/)
6. [Purification of income](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/purification/)
7. [Central Shariah board](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/central-shariah-board/)
8. [Shariah compliance function](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/shariah-compliance-function/)

[All 221 terms](https://islamicopenfinance.com/glossary/)