Stout wife beginning to accept husband's religious ruling (6)
I believe the answer is:
fatwah
'religious ruling' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'stout wife beginning to accept husband's' is the wordplay.
'stout' becomes 'fat' (similar in meaning).
'wife' becomes 'w' (abbreviation).
'beginning to' indicates taking the first letters.
The initial letters of 'accept husbands' is 'ah'.
'fat'+'w'+'ah'='FATWAH'
(Other definitions for fatwah that I've seen before include "Ruling issued by an Islamic scholar" , "Stern decree" , "Religious ruling" , "Decree issued by a Muslim authority" .)