FÂSIQ -  فاسق ‎

 

Etymology and Literal Meaning:

Fâsiq (فَاسِق ) is the active participle (ism al-fâ‘il) derived from the Arabic root f-s-q (ف-س-ق ), which literally means "one who emerges, breaks out, or strips off." Classically, it describes a ripe date bursting out of its protective skin or a mouse leaving its burrow. Linguistically, a fâsiq is one who abandons a protective boundary or deviates from the proper path. In general usage, the term denotes a person characterised by immorality, wickedness, or debauchery.

As an Islamic Term:

In Islamic terminology, a fâsiq is an individual who engages in willful disobedience toward Allah by transgressing His commands and deviating from as-sirâṭ al-mustaqîm.

(For further explanation, please refer to the compilation on As-sirât Al-mustaqîm.)

The Three Categories of Fâsiq Defined in the Sharî’ah:

• The Occasional Transgressor: One who sins occasionally due to human weakness, while fully recognising the transgression and feeling remorse for the ugliness of that sin.
• The Habitual Sinner: One who becomes fond of or persistent in sinning, allowing the habit of disobedience to dominate their lifestyle.
• The Defiant Rejecter and Justifier: One who commits sins while explicitly denying, rejecting, or making light of, or seeking justification for their haram status. This third degree is titled as fâsiq al-mutajâhir and it constitutes kufr itself, as it essentially means denying and rejecting the decisive decrees of Allah.

The Status of a Fâsiq in Ahl al-Sunnah:

According to Ahl al-Sunnah wa'l-Jamâ'ah, as long as a fâsiq has not reached this third category (defiant rejection), they still retain the title of mu’min.

Consequently, the term fâsiq functions as a broad, dual-faceted category in Islamic theology:

• It encompasses those who have lost their îmân and become kâfir due to their arrogant denial or derision of the laws of Allah.
• It also encompasses those who have preserved their îmân in their hearts but have severely compromised their religious life due to their active, unrepented sins.

Excerpts from the Risale-i Nur that elucidate this haqiqah:

Ghiybah can be permissible (jâiz) in a few specific cases:

…

Fourth: The one spoken about is a fâsiq al-mutajâhir. That is, he is not ashamed of his wrongdoing; rather, he takes pride in the sins he commits; he takes pleasure in his dhulm without being embarrassed, committing it openly without any shame.

 The Twenty-Second Letter/Conclusion

بِاسْمِهِ سُبْحَانَهُ

اَلسَّلاَمُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَ رَحْمَةُ اللّٰهِ وَ بَرَكَاتُهُ

My Azîz, Siddîq Brothers and the Young Heroes Among the Nur Students!

At the end of the Staff of Mûsâ — in some of its copies — there is a reply that I gave to a question asked by a brother of a great rûh, named Küçük Ali (Ali the Younger), who is a hero among the blessed students. Read it! Because certain detractors, in order to diminish the value of the Risale-i Nur to some degree, said to him: "Everyone knows Allah. An ordinary man believes in Allah just as a walî does," thereby attempting to portray the exceedingly high, invaluable and highly necessary reinforcements and fortifications of the Nur risales as excessive.

Now, in Istanbul, in order to deceive people and diminish the need for the haqiqahs of îmân within the Risale-i Nur, which everyone desperately needs like bread and water, certain munafiqs, who harbour a far more terrifying idea of anarchy and have fallen into kufr al-mutlaq, seek to oppose the Risale-i Nur by asserting "Every nation and everyone knows Allah. We do not really need new lessons about Him".

Whereas, to know Allah is to have a firm îmân in His rubûbiyyah encompassing the entire universe, to believe that everything, whether particular or universal, from the particles to the stars, is in the grasp of His control, coming into existence through His qoudrah and irâdah, to have îmân that He has no shariks in His dominion and in the sacred phrase لاَ اِلهَ اِلاَّ اللّٰهُ  and all its haqiqahs, and to affirm all of these through the heart. Otherwise, saying, “There is one Allah” while partitioning His dominion among causes and nature, attributing that dominion to them — hashâ — acknowledging causes as His infinite shariks and as ultimate points of reference, failing to acknowledge His irâdah and ‘ilm present with all things, refusing to acknowledge His inviolable commands and failing to acknowledge His attributes and the messengers and prophets He has sent; indeed, the haqiqah of îmân in Allah is not present in those words in any respect. Rather, he says it to attain a degree of consolation for himself against the worldly torment of the ma’nawî Jahannam within kufr al-mutlaq.

Yes, not denying is one thing, but having îmân is entirely different.

Yes, no conscious being in the universe can deny Al-Khâliq Zuljalâl, Whose existence is testified to by witnesses as numerous as the particles and elements of the universe. If he does so, he will remain silent and indifferent, because the entire universe will prove him wrong. But to have îmân in Him is to affirm Al-Khâliq in the heart with His attributes and names, by relying on the testimony of the whole universe just as the Qur’an Great in Dignity teaches; it is to acknowledge the commands He has sent through His messengers and to turn to Him in tawbah and feel regret in the heart when one sins and violates the commands. Otherwise, committing great sins freely but not offering istighfâr and being careless about them is proof that he has no share of îmân in Allah.

In any case... My children, an important event has caused me to briefly explain this long matter to you. For now, I look upon you as important students of the Risale-i Nur. Mustafa Oruç is very fortunate that, within a short time, he found you, who share his own system, rûh and steadfastness. While he was just one, he has now become ten Mustafas.

Said Nursî
Emirdağ Addendum-1 (202-203)