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is the only one harmed and the injury goes no further; such an act is not counted as “corruption.” (1) By contrast, anyone who invites others to disbelief, hypocrisy, or fornication is corrupting them. Were there no penalty for the fornicator, whoever felt the urge would entice whoever was willing, each party corrupting the other and both together corrupting society. But once the perpetrator is executed, the people cease their corruption.
(1) Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah says in al-Sarim al-Maslul, vol. 3, p. 734: “Corruption (fasad) is of two kinds. The first is inherent (lazim), the verbal noun of fasada – yafsudu, fasadan; the second is transitive (mutaʿaddi), the quasi-verbal noun of afsada – yufsidu, ifsadan. The latter applies only to someone who corrupts others; were the corruption confined to himself, the Quran would not say that he ‘strives upon the earth causing corruption.’ The phrase ‘upon the earth’ (fi al-ard) is used only when the mischief extends beyond the individual, as in the divine words: ‘No calamity befalls on the earth nor in yourselves except that it is inscribed in a Book’ (57:22); ‘We shall show them Our signs in the horizons and within themselves’ (41:53); and: ‘On the earth are signs for the certain, and within yourselves’ (51:20–21).”
يَخْتَصُّ بِهِ وَلَا يَتَعَدَّى ضَرَرُهُ إِلَى غَيْرِهِ: فَهَذَا لَا يُسَمَّى فَسَادًا (١).
بِخَلافِ الدَّاعِي إِلَى الكُفْرِ وَالنِّفِاقِ والزِّنَى، فَإِنَّ هَذَا أَفْسَدَ غَيْرَهُ، فَلَوْلا عُقُوْبِةِ الزُّنَاةِ لَكَانَ مَنِ اشتَهَاهُ يَدْعُو إِلَيْهِ مَنْ يُجِيْبُهُ إِلَيْه، فَيُفْسِدُ كُلٌّ مِنْهُمَا الآخَرُ، وَيُفْسِدِانِ النَّاسَ، فَإِذَا قُتِلَ فَاعِلُهُ انْتَهَوا عَنِ الفَسَادِ.
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(١) قال شيخ الإسلام في الصارم المسلول (٣/ ٧٣٤): (الفساد نوعان: لازم وهو مصدر فسد يفسد فسادًا، ومتعد وهو اسم مصدر أفسد يفسد إفسادًا، وهذا إنما يقال لمن أفسد غيره؛ لإنه لو كان الفساد في نفسه فقط لم يقل: سعى في الارض فسادًا، وإنما يقال في الأرض لما انفصل عن الإنسان، كما قال ﷾: ﴿مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ﴾، وقال تعالى: ﴿سَنُرِيهِمْ آيَاتِنَا فِي الْآفَاقِ وَفِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ﴾ وقال تعالى: ﴿وَفِي الْأَرْضِ آيَاتٌ لِلْمُوقِنِينَ (٢٠) وَفِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ﴾).