The Ayatollah as Miss Manners.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills - Ali Sistani - Brief Article

I had thought that "fatwa" was a pronouncement of heavy import--like "eliminate the heathen from our midst"--laid on the faithful by some ayatollah. I'm grateful to Philip Kennicott of The Washington Post, who has explained that this is not at all the case. One fatwa issued by Ayatollah Ali Sistani says that facelifts are permissible. Another, Fatwa 2638 to be exact, says "there is no objection to...