Some people think that "fatwa" means "death sentence".
From RationalWiki:
The best-known sort of fatwa in the West is that which calls for the death of a blasphemer; e.g., the fatwa by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini of Iran pronouncing a sentence of death against Salman Rushdie in 1989. For this reason, some Westerners believe the word "fatwa" to be a synonym for "death warrant."
From Wiktionary:
(rare, transitive) To make somebody the subject of a fatwa, especially a ban or death sentence.
From Captain Paul Watson: Fear and Loathing of Sharks in Western Australia (he used Fatah, which is the name of a Palestinian militant group, but "fatwa" is the only word that makes sense here)
This week, this same premier of Western Australia issued a shark-hating Fatah, calling for their total annihilation.
From A Fundamental Fight
When Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa, or death sentence, on Salman Rushdie for writing The Satanic Verses, 25 years ago, the novel became more than literature.
My assumption is that many people have heard about the Salman Rushdie fatwa, but haven't heard about more mundane, everyday fatwas, because only the former is newsworthy and relevant to non-Muslim people.
Is there any fallacy or bias that describes this process?