What is "fatwa"?

"Some people use the term to mean an Islamic death sentence imposed upon a person the word "fatwa" is an Arabic word, and it literally means "opinion"."  This seems to be a key point according to the Wikipedia article on this subject.

The opening paragraph of that article said that "in Sunni Islam any fatwā is non-binding, whereas in Shia Islam it could be considered by an individual as binding, depending on his or her relation to the scholar".

So it seems that the world has different opinions about how seriously to take fatawa.  ("Fatawa" is the plural of "fatwa".)

I was drawn to this subject when somebody pointed out on Twitter that some have used fatwa to exploit Syrian women.  It sounded to me that people were taking words beyond what the Koran said, and interpreting the meaning to justify themselves in doing nasty things.

I think self-justification is wrong ... but very human.  It is in our nature to want to think that we are good, when we are actually sinful.  I found it assuring to find another person also expressing that fatawa need not be taken as law - they should be read in context of the background and culture of the mufti scholar who puts it together.

Some fatwa are hard for me to believe, eg. that a curse will be on people who take photographs, except for reason of necessity.  What do you think about such rules?

Do you think people understand the Scriptures in ways to justify their own actions?  The Quran?  The Bible?  What do the Scriptures actually mean?  How does God really expect us to behave?  What does He want us to believe?  Are there expectations and understandings that transcend the boundaries of culture?

What do you believe?