The Battle of Lepanto (1571) is the most significant naval war that took placein the Mediterranean. The Ottoman fleet was almost destroyed, with manyships sinking or being seized by the fleet of the Crusaders which was gatheredin Europe following the Ottoman conquest of Cyprus (1570-71). Following theOttoman conquest of Cyprus in 1570-71, the European Crusaders allied, andthe Ottoman fleet was almost completely destroyed, with many ships sinkingand others captured by the Crusader fleet. To recover from the defeat, theOttoman state decided to build a new imperial navy in the Imperial Shipyardas well as on the Black Sea’s Anatolian and Rumelian coasts. The expensesof such a huge enterprise were mainly covered by the state treasury butstatesmen, led by the sultan himself, also lend support. In addition, peopleof substance were encouraged to help the state in supplying the provisionand ammunition for the crew as well as the needs of the military troops. Inthis regard, two fatwas issued by Shaikhu’l-Islam Ebussuûd were effective.Pertev Pasha’s grants and promotions were also revoked after another fatwa declared that those fleeing the battle would perish whether they died or survived. The impact of three fatwas issued by Ebussuûd regarding the Siege of Cyprus and the Battle of Lepanto is examined in this article.