Tajahur bi-l-fisq
Al-Muājara bi-l-fisq (Arabic: المُجَاهَرَةُ بِالْفِسْق), also known as the Open Profession of Sin, denotes the act of committing a Sin publicly with full awareness of its illicit nature. Regarded as a catalyst for societal corruption, this practice is strictly prohibited in Islam. The classification of an act as tajahur bi-l-fisq is contingent upon four conditions: the sin must be definite and manifest; its commission must be intentional and conscious; and there must be public awareness of the act's prohibition.
Jurists deem tajahur bi-l-fisq to be haram and have delineated specific rulings applicable to the perpetrator. These include the obligation of forbidding the evil, the permissibility of humiliating the individual and engaging in backbiting against them, the forfeiture of their justice, and their disqualification from receiving Sharia Funds.
In narrations, tajahur bi-l-fisq is described as a cause of disgrace, a precipitant of punishment, and an impediment to Divine forgiveness. Furthermore, consequences such as the trivialization of religion, the promotion of sin, and the erosion of shame are attributed to it. Within penal jurisprudence, punishments including imprisonment and flogging have been prescribed for those who openly commit sin.
Status and Conceptology
Tajahur bi-l-fisq—also referred to in narrational and ethical sources as "tazahur bi-l-dhanb" (open manifestation of sin) and "tahattuk" (shamelessness)[1]—is defined as the commission of a sin in the view of others with full knowledge of its sinfulness.[2] The open commission of sin is cited as a factor that disrupts social order[3] and is classified as an instance of spreading indecency (ishāʿat al-fāḥisha);[4] as such, it is strictly forbidden in Islamic teachings.[5]
Jurists regard tajahur bi-l-fisq as haram[6] and posit that the applicability of the title "tajahur bi-l-fisq" depends on four conditions:[7] the definitiveness of the sin (fisq);[8] the public and manifest nature of its commission;[9] the intentional and conscious nature of the act;[10] and public awareness of the act's prohibition.[11]
Status
Certain Qur'anic verses, notably Qur'an 6:120 and Qur'an 24:19, are interpreted as articulating the prohibition of tajahur bi-l-fisq, wherein God promises punishment for the perpetrator.[12] Additionally, Imam Ali (a) stated in a narration that abstaining from the open commission of sins is superior to the execution of Shari'a punishment upon the sinner.[13]
In jurisprudential sources, this topic is discussed sporadically within the chapters on Jihad and prohibited gains (specifically in the discussion regarding exceptions to backbiting).[14] A stipulation of the covenant of protection (dhimma) for the People of the Book is the avoidance of openly commiting sin, such as drinking alcohol or consuming pork. It is established that in cases of open commission of sin, the dhimma contract is invalidated, and the perpetrator becomes subject to Shari'a punishment.[15]
Instances
Tajahur bi-l-fisq encompasses numerous instances; prominent examples include openly consuming alcohol, gambling, observing improper hijab, breaking the fast in public, and imitating non-believers.[16] According to some researchers, the dissemination of sinful acts in virtual spaces is jurisprudentially equivalent to their publication in the physical realm and thus constitutes an instance of tajahur bi-l-fisq.[17]
Jurisprudential Consequences for Open Sinners
An individual who openly commits Sin faces several jurisprudential consequences, including:
- Permissibility of backbiting: From the perspective of Sharia, one who openly commits sin loses the right to respect.[18] Consequently, according to narrations,[19] backbiting them is permissible.[20]
- The obligation of forbidding the evil toward the open sinner in the presence of others, provided influence is probable.[21]
- The permissibility of y and ceasing interactions with relatives who are open sinners.[22]
- The permissibility of humiliation.[23]
- Disqualification from receiving Shari'a funds, such as Zakat,[24] Khums,[25] and expiation.[26]
- The loss of individual justice and subsequent ineligibility to hold positions such as Imam of the congregation,[27] judiciary roles, or giving testimony in court.[28]
- Confiscation of the property of one who openly commits oppression, such as a tyrannical ruler; such property may be confiscated for the benefit of the Bayt al-Mal or as retaliation.[29]
Consequences
Religious texts enumerate various consequences of openly sinning, including the belittling of religion, the trivialization of Sin, and the promotion of shamelessness;[30] exclusion from the Divine presence, the transformation of a minor sin into a major sin, and the propagation of corruption within society.[31]
In the narrations of the Infallibles (a), the public commission of sin is also reckoned among the causes of abasement and disgrace[32] as well as the acceleration of Divine retribution.[33] A hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) identifies the person who openly commits fisq as a sinner whose transgressions are excluded from Divine pardon.[34]
Foundations for Punishing the Open Sinner
Pursuant to Article 836 of the Islamic Penal Code of Iran, any individual who publicly commits a sin that offends public decency shall be sentenced to punishment ranging from ten days to two months of imprisonment, or up to 31 lashes.[35] Religious scholars have adduced various theoretical foundations to substantiate these forms of punishment. Some researchers attribute the basis of societal penal regulations to God's will. This group argues that human reason cannot design a comprehensive legal system; consequently, the penal system must rely on Divine revelation.[36] The prevention of disruption to the social order constitutes another theoretical justification for punishing the open sinner. Husayn 'Ali Montazeri and Morteza Motahhari maintain that the enactment of penal laws and regulations preserves society from disturbance and chaos. Furthermore, they argue that the restriction of freedoms resulting from such laws aligns with the conduct of the wise.[37]
Monograph
On the subject of tajahur bi-l-fisq, the book Mawḍūʿ-shināsī-yi tazāhur wa tajāhur bi fisq (Conceptology of Public Sin and Open Profession of Fisq) was authored by Husayn San'at-pur at the Institute for the Conceptology of Jurisprudential Rulings. In this work, the author elucidates the primary criteria for the applicability of tajahur bi-l-fisq. He further identifies common societal sins committed publicly and concludes with a section detailing the jurisprudential rulings pertaining to the open sinner.[38]
Notes
- ↑ Mudarris, Khirad wa sipāh-i ū, vol. 1, p. 177.
- ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, under the root "j-h-r"; Gūharī and Āzādmanish, "Mabānī-yi fiqhī wa huqūqī-yi hurmat-i tazāhur bi fisq", p. 1347.
- ↑ Gūharī and Āzādmanish, "Mabānī-yi fiqhī wa huqūqī-yi hurmat-i tazāhur bi fisq", p. 1359.
- ↑ Qarā'atī, Gunāh-shināsī, pp. 108, 110.
- ↑ Qarā'atī, Gunāh-shināsī, p. 108.
- ↑ Sabziwārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 15, p. 244; Najafī, Muṣṭafā al-dīn al-qayyim, p. 127.
- ↑ Chūpānī, "Mabānī wa āthār-i fiqhī wa huqūqī-yi jarāyim-i mashhūd"; Gūharī and Āzādmanish, "Mabānī-yi fiqhī wa huqūqī-yi hurmat-i tazāhur bi fisq", p. 1351; Sanʿat-pūr, Mawḍūʿ-shināsī-yi tazāhur wa tajāhur bi fisq, p. 3.
- ↑ Īrawānī, Ḥāshiyat al-makāsib, vol. 1, p. 35.
- ↑ Arākī, al-Makāsib al-muḥarrama, p. 215.
- ↑ Anṣārī, Kitāb al-makāsib, vol. 1, p. 346.
- ↑ Īrawānī, Ḥāshiyat al-makāsib, vol. 1, p. 35.
- ↑ Gūharī and Āzādmanish, "Mabānī-yi fiqhī wa huqūqī-yi hurmat-i tazāhur bi fisq", pp. 1351-1352.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh, vol. 4, p. 31.
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence, Farhang-i Fiqh, vol. 2, p. 514.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-Kalām, vol. 21, p. 269.
- ↑ Gūharī and Āzādmanish, "Mabānī-yi fiqhī wa huqūqī-yi hurmat-i tazāhur bi fisq", p. 1355.
- ↑ Kāẓimī Muṭlaq and Mu'minī, "Imkān-sinjī-yi taḥaqquq-i tazāhur dar faḍā-yi majāzī wa jilwih-hā-yi ān", p. 81.
- ↑ Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence, Farhang-i Fiqh, vol. 2, p. 514.
- ↑ Ḥurr ʿĀmilī, Wasā'il al-Shīʿa, vol. 12, p. 289; Nūrī, Mustadrak al-wasā'il, vol. 8, p. 461.
- ↑ Anṣārī, al-Makāsib al-muḥarrama, vol. 1, p. 343; Mūsawī kho'eī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqāha, vol. 1, p. 340.
- ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 468.
- ↑ Mūsawī Gulpayigānī, Majmaʿ al-masā'il, vol. 1, p. 524.
- ↑ Anṣārī, Kitāb al-makāsib, vol. 1, p. 346.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabā'ī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā (al-Muḥashshā), vol. 4, p. 226.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabā'ī Yazdī, al-ʿUrwat al-wuthqā (al-Muḥashshā), vol. 4, p. 306; Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 344.
- ↑ Iṣfahānī, Wasīlat al-najāt, p. 593; Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 2, p. 125.
- ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Taḥrīr al-wasīla, vol. 1, p. 499.
- ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Taḥrīr al-aḥkām al-sharʿiyya, vol. 5, p. 316; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 41, p. 25.
- ↑ Lārī, Majmūʿ al-rasā'il, p. 316; Chūpānī, "Mabānī wa āthār-i fiqhī wa huqūqī-yi jarāyim-i mashhūd".
- ↑ Māzandarānī, Sharḥ al-kāfī, vol. 10, p. 143; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 14, p. 406.
- ↑ Salmānī and Nūrmuḥammadī, "Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi tazāhur bi fisq wa fujūr", p. 227.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 2, p. 428, hadith 1.
- ↑ Tamīmī Āmidī, Ghurar al-hikam, p. 707, hadith 100.
- ↑ Ḥimyarī, Qurb al-Isnād, p. 176, hadith 645; Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 8, p. 128, hadith 98.
- ↑ Gūharī and Āzādmanish, "Mabānī-yi Fiqhī wa Ḥuqūqī-yi Ḥurmat-i Tazāhur bi Fisq", p. 1357; Salmānī and Nūrmuḥammadī, "Barrasī-yi Fiqhī-yi Tazāhur bi Fisq wa Fujūr", p. 216.
- ↑ Salmānī and Nūrmuḥammadī, "Barrasī-yi fiqhī-yi tazāhur bi fisq wa fujūr", pp. 220-221.
- ↑ Muntaẓirī, Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi hukūmat-i Islāmī, vol. 8, pp. 309-310; Mutahhari, ʿAdl-i Ilāhī, p. 203.
- ↑ Mawḍūʿ-shināsī-yi Tazāhur wa Tajāhur bi Fisq, Website of the Center for the Conceptology of Jurisprudential Rulings.
References
- ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Ḥasan b. Yūsuf. Taḥrīr al-Aḥkām al-Sharʿiyya ʿalā Madhhab al-Imāmiyya. Edited by Ibrāhīm Bahādurī. 1st ed. Qom: Imam Sadiq (a) Institute, 1420 AH.
- Anṣārī, Murtaḍā. Kitāb al-Makāsib. 1st ed. Qom: World Congress for the Commemoration of Shaykh al-Aʿzam al-Anṣārī, 1415 AH.
- Arākī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. al-Makāsib al-Muḥarrama. 1st ed. Qom: In the Path of Truth Institute, 1413 AH.
- Chūpānī, Mahdī. Jurisprudential and Legal Foundations and Effects of Flagrant Crimes. Pazhūhish-nāmi-yi Ḥuqūq-i Islāmī, no. 30, 1388 Sh. (Persian)
- Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence. Farhang-i Fiqh Muṭābiq bā Madhhab-i Ahl-i Bayt (a). Qom: Encyclopedia of Islamic Jurisprudence Institute, 1387 Sh.
- Gūharī, Dāwūd, and Āzādmanish, Laylā. Jurisprudential and Legal Foundations of the Prohibition of Openly Committing Sin (Tazāhur bi-Fisq). In Proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Management and Humanities Research in Iran, University of Tehran, 1397 Sh. (Persian)
- Ḥimyarī, ʿAbd Allāh b. Jaʿfar. Qurb al-Isnād. 1st ed. Qom: Mu'assisih-yi Āl al-Bayt (a), 1413 AH.
- Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad. Lisān al-ʿArab. 3rd ed. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, 1414 AH.
- Imām Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Taḥrīr al-Wasīla. Tehran: Institute for Regulation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works, 1425 AH.
- Īrawānī, ʿAlī b. ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Ḥāshiyat al-Makāsib. 1st ed. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, 1406 AH.
- Iṣfahānī, Sayyid Abū al-Ḥasan. Wasīlat al-Najāt. Glosses by Imam Khomeini. 1st ed. Qom: Institute for Regulation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works, 1422 AH.
- Kāẓimī Muṭlaq, Ḥamīd, and ʿĀbidīn Mu'minī. Feasibility Study of the Realization of Openly Committing Sin (Tazāhur) in Cyberspace and Its Manifestations. Faḍā-yi Majāzī Legal Journal, vol. 1, no. 3, 1401 Sh. (Persian)
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb. al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī and Muḥammad Ākhūndī. 4th ed. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1407 AH.
- Lārī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Majmūʿ al-Rasā'il. Hyderabad: Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-Uthmaniyya, 1357 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i Nimūna. 1st ed. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Mudarris, Muḥammad Bāqir. Khirad wa Sipāh-i ū. Tehran: Kulaynī Press, 1372 Sh.
- Muntaẓirī, Ḥusayn-ʿalī. Mabānī-yi Fiqhī-yi Ḥukūmat-i Islāmī. Translated by Maḥmūd Ṣalawātī and Abū l-Faḍl Shukūrī. Tehran: Kayhān Press, 1408 AH.
- Mutahhari, Morteza. ʿAdl-i Ilāhī. Tehran: Sadra, 1402 Sh.
- Mūsawī Gulpayigānī, Sayyid Muḥammad Riḍā. Majmaʿ al-Masā'il. Edited by ʿAlī Karīmī Jahrumī, ʿAlī Thābitī Hamadānī, and ʿAlī Nayyirī Hamadānī. 2nd ed. Qom: Dār al-Qur'an al-Karīm, 1409 AH.
- Mūsawī Khū'ī, Sayyid Abū al-Qāsim. Miṣbāḥ al-Faqāha (al-Makāsib). Reported by Muḥammad ʿAlī Tawḥīdī. Qom: Dawari, 1377 Sh.
- Qarā'atī, Muḥsin. Gunāh-shināsī. Compiled by Muḥammad Muḥammadī Ishtihārdī. 8th ed. Tehran: Center for Lessons from the Qur'an, 1386 Sh.
- Sabziwārī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Aʿlā. Muhadhdhab al-Aḥkām fī Bayān al-Ḥalāl wa al-Ḥarām. 4th ed. Qom: al-Manār Institute, 1413 AH.
- Salmānī, Īrān and Muḥammad Riḍā Nūrmuḥammadī. Thematic Study of Tazāhur and Tajāhur bi-Fisq (Open and Flagrant Commission of Sin). International Conference on Religious Studies, Islamic Sciences, Jurisprudence and Law in Iran and the World, 1398 Sh. (Persian)
- Sanʿat-pūr, Ḥusayn. Mawḍūʿ-shināsī-yi Tazāhur wa Tajāhur bi Fisq. 1st ed. Qom: Specialized Center for Mahdism, 1399 Sh.
- Ṭabāṭabā'ī Yazdī, Sayyid Muḥammad Kāẓim. al-ʿUrwat al-Wuthqā (al-Muḥashshā). Compiled by Aḥmad Muḥsinī Sabzwārī. 1st ed. Qom: Islamic Publication Office, 1419 AH.
- Tamīmī Āmidī, ʿAbd al-Wāḥid b. Muḥammad. Ghurar al-Ḥikam wa Durar al-Kalim. Edited by Sayyid Mahdī Rajā'ī. 2nd ed. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmī, 1410 AH.