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Fisq (going out of God's law)

الفسق (الخروج عن منهج الله)

Sha'rawi holds that fisq originally means the date leaving its skin, and that the religion took the word as a description of one who goes out of God's law. He distinguishes a partial fisq, that of a disobedient believer who fails in one part of the law, from the greatest fisq, which is turning from the whole community of faith after the covenant and the testimony 123.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Prophetic Era
Region
Global / Diaspora
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

Ethics and character

Summary

Sha'rawi explains fisq by its original sense: a date that has ripened and shrunk leaves its skin. The religion took the word for one who goes out of God's law, as if the law surrounds a person in all his conduct 12.

Partial and greater fisq

Sha'rawi says every disobedient person is called a fasiq. Such a person still believes in the law but has gone out of one part of it. The fisq that the verse speaks of is the greatest kind: turning from the whole community of faith after the covenant and the testimony of prophets, peoples and God 2.

Why turning away happens

Sha'rawi holds that one who turns from the new religion is not persuaded by God's law and seeks another, and that laws made by people arise from desire and lead to corruption. He supports this with the subjection of creation to human service and with the view that humans alone bear the duty of choice 23.

Note on this entry

This is Sha'rawi's reading alone, taken from a scanned copy whose edition is not yet verified, and it is presented under his name. The distinction between partial and greater fisq is discussed in works of jurisprudence and creed, and those works have not yet been checked (needs_source). See also The covenant of the prophets and The submission of creation.

People and things also explored

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)· Ada' al-shahada (performing testimony: the duty on request, the excused witness, and the wording)· Manners of the Qur'an bearer· Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Adha (harm of a slight kind: removing harmful things and the duty not to harm)· Justice and grace (adl wal-fadl)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1576
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1577
  3. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p.1578
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Fisq (going out of God's law)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/fisq/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Wing

Words

Qur'an, hadith, poetry, and the languages and scripts of Muslim peoples. Related

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)

Paying a debt in the form owed is obligatory by consensus. A debt due now must be paid on demand when the debtor can pay; a deferred debt is not due before its term. Payment is made in like items, with value owed where there is no like; a better payment is allowed when unconditioned. Remission, gift, assignment, set-off and settlement take the place of payment. A solvent debtor who refuses is compelled, imprisoned and his apparent property sold; the majority hold that a bankrupt is put under interdiction and his property divided among creditors, against Abu Hanifa. The insolvent is given respite, and his debt may be paid from zakat if he borrowed for himself in a lawful matter. A dead person's debt attaches to his estate and takes precedence over bequests and inheritance.