Fasiq


Fasiq is an Arabic term referring to someone who violates Islamic law. As a fasiq is considered unreliable, his testimony is not accepted in Islamic courts. The terms fasiq and fisq are sometime rendered as "impious", "venial sinner", or "depraved".

Origin

Fasiq is derived from the term fisq, "breaking the agreement" or "to leave or go out of."
In its original Quranic usage, the term did not have the specific meaning of a violator of laws, and was more broadly associated with kufr. Some theologians have associated fasiq-related behaviour to ahl al-hawa.

Theological debate

Amongst the terms uses in geopolitics, in the period leading up to the 1979 Iranian Revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini described the Shah of Iran as fasiq.