RECONTEXTUALIZING FASĀD IN THE QUR’AN: A SEMANTIC APPROACH TO ECO-THEOLOGY AND HUMANITARIAN ETHICS

Abstract

This study addresses the problem of whether fasād in the Qur’an functions as a monolithic concept or as a relationally dynamic term across distinct domains. It investigates two primary questions: how fasād is syntactically and semantically configured across selected passages, and how these configurations inform contemporary eco-theological and humanitarian ethics without collapsing contextual differences. Employing a literary-philological method that integrates Toshihiko Izutsu’s relational semantics with clause-level syntactic-agency analysis (iʿrāb and balāghah), the study examines four purposively selected contrasting passages: QS. Al-Baqarah [2]:11–12, Ar-Rūm [30]:41, Al-Qaṣaṣ [28]:4, and Al-Māʾidah [5]:32–33. Findings indicate that fasād maintains a relationally coherent basic meaning, defined as the disruption of a divinely valued order, yet is contextually differentiated by its agency configurations: highly specified and directly addressed in the hypocritical context of Al-Baqarah, maximally specified through an individually named actor in the political context of Al-Qaṣaṣ, diffuse and collectively attributed (aydī al-nās) in the ecological context of Ar-Rūm, and class-specified through defined legal categories in the juridical context of Al-Māʾidah. By linking these agency typologies to maqāṣid al-sharīʿah (ḥifẓ al-nafs, ḥifẓ al-niẓām, and ḥifẓ al-bīʾah), the study suggests that fasād denotes any act that threatens foundational human and ecological interests identified by maqāṣid scholarship. Integrating clause-level syntax into semantic models offers a more rigorous, checkable empirical baseline for Qur’anic ethical discourse, within the scope of the four contrasting passages examined.