The Quranic Prohibition of Fasad
La tufsidu fi’l-ard: The prohibition appears in multiple suwar with different emphases. In 7:56 it follows an invitation to du’a (‘Call upon your Lord in humility and secretly’) — fasad is the opposite of du’a: where du’a is the humble orientation of the self toward Allah, fasad is the arrogant imposition of the ego-will upon the earth. In 2:205 the corrupt person ‘hastens to cause corruption on earth and destroy crops and animals’ — fasad as a kind of anti-cultivation.
Pharaoh as archetype: Fir’aun (Pharaoh) is the Quran’s supreme mufsid (agent of fasad): he claimed lordship (‘I am your highest lord’, 79:24), oppressed the weak (the Children of Israel), killed innocent babies, and disrupted the social covenant. The mufsid’s characteristic: istikbar (arrogance) — the refusal to recognize the limits on one’s authority that are grounded in divine sovereignty.
See also: Al Tajdid, Al Zulm, Adl, Al Qist, Tawhid Divine Unity, Musa Al Kalim, Akhlaq, Akhlaq
Fasad and Walayah
The inner fasad: In Ismaili ta’wil, the zahir fasad (political and social corruption) is the outer expression of an inner fasad of the heart. The mumin who drifts from walayah — who allows the world’s attachments to corrode the covenant’s freshness — is committing an inner fasad. The Da’i’s call to renew the misaq, to return to the majalis, to repay khums, is the islah (reform) that corrects the inner fasad before it becomes the zahir kind.
See also: Misaq The Covenant, Understanding Walayah, Imamah, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Al Tajdid, Tawba Repentance, Al Ghaflah, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution
See also: Al Tajdid, Al Zulm, Adl, Al Qist, Tawhid Divine Unity, Musa Al Kalim, Akhlaq, Akhlaq, Misaq The Covenant, Understanding Walayah, Imamah, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Tawba Repentance, Al Ghaflah, Dai Al Mutlaq Institution