FISQ - فسق ‎

 

Sin. Immorality. Wickedness. Lewdness and debauchery. Not obeying the commands of Allah by being rebellious towards Him. Deviating from as-sirât al-mustaqîm.

As a Sharî’ah term: the one who commits fisq is called a fâsiq.

There are three degrees of fisq defined in the Sharî’ah:

1: Sinning occasionally while knowing and accepting that, that sin is ugly.

2: Being fond of sinning.

3: Sinning openly and freely by denying the ugliness of it. This third degree is the degree of kufr; a person at this degree is called mutajahir bi’l fisq. According to ahl al-Sunnah wa’l Jamâ’ah, a fâsiq can still hold some attributes of a mu’min unless he falls into the third degree.

(Please also refer to the compilation on As-Sirât Al-Mustaqîm.)

 

Mutajahir bi’l fisq. That is, he is not ashamed of evil but rather takes pride in the sins he commits; he finds pleasure in his dhulm, without being embarrassed, he sins in an evident fashion.

 The Twenty-Second Letter/Conclusion

 

اَلَّذِينَ يَنْقُضُونَ عَهْدَ اللّٰهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ مِيثَاقِهِ وَ يَقْطَعُونَ مَا اَمَرَ اللّٰهُ بِهِ اَنْ يُوصَلَ وَ يُفْسِدُونَ فِي الْاَرْضِ1

It describes and discloses what fisq is. As for the fisq, it is a deviation from haqq, transgressing the limits, breaking the fortified shell and leaving it. Fisq is either ifrât or tafrît in the three powers (quwwa): quwwa al-aqliyyah2, quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah3 and quwwa ash-shahawiyyah4. While ifrât and tafrît are the causes of rebellion against the pieces of evidence, which are the covenants (al-'uhûd) of Allah that exist in fitrah.5

Ifrât and tafrît are also two causes of sickness in personal life; the above âyah indicates this as the first attribute of fisq. They also incite rebellion in the face of social life and break the bonds and laws of society; the âyah indicates this as the second attribute of fisq. They are also the two causes of corruption and revolution that result in the corruption of the order of the earth; the âyah indicates this as the third attribute.

Yes, since fâsiq’s quwwa al-aqliyyah transgresses the limits of istiqâmah, he breaks the bonds of aqâid and smashes his eternal life that is his fortified shell, and through the transgression of quwwa al-ghadhabiyyah, he smashes the shell of social life, and through the transgression of quwwa ash-shahawiyyah, the power of animal appetites, he follows the desires of his nafs; therefore, compassion for his fellow man vanishes from his heart. He drags people with him to the swamp that he fell into and corrupts them, and he causes harm to mankind and corrupts the order of the earth.

Signs of Miraculousness (414)