NYT: Fatwas in the digital age
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
August 10, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- The Internet, satellite television and even the telephone are increasingly being used in the Muslim world to issue fatwas -- religious decrees -- on issues as varied as whether women can pluck their eyebrows or good Muslims should read Harry Potter.

A fatwa is a ruling by a recognized Islamic scholar, often on a weighty matter. But the traditional definition is becoming blurred as Muslims turn to Islamic Web sites and ''tele-imams'' for advice on how to live their lives.

For example, going online turns up the fatwa on British author J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, banning reading about the boy wizard because of his ties to witchcraft. Another says plucking women's eyebrows is ''haram,'' or forbidden, because it alters God's creation. One exception: if the lady's bushy brows displease her husband.
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