Obscenity, Hidden and Apparent

And the fourth is: avoid every form of obscenity, immorality and unchastity. Lā taqrabū al-fawāḥish: do not so much as come near unchaste things, for it is a slippery slope. One begins with a single thing; one begins to reveal a little; and then more and more: a picture put up online with a little hair showing, with a little of what should not be shown; and then it goes further and further. It is Shayṭān's pathway. Mā ẓahara minhā wa-mā baṭan: avoid obscenities, whether hidden or apparent. Allāhu akbar — there is a wholly new kind of hidden obscenity today. For before — twenty or thirty years ago — it was hard; not impossible, but hard to keep an obscenity within. But now the avenues of inward obscenity, through the medium of the telephone and the internet, and the consumption that goes on — especially in this lockdown there is, it appears, a greater consumption of obscenity. Mā ẓahara minhā wa-mā baṭan: that which is hidden, of which none else knows. This may be another way of looking at the verse.

The fifth, then, is: do not kill any nafs; do not kill anyone unrightfully — which is the great majority of cases; it simply may not be done. Islam has permitted it in certain particular ways. And dhālikum waṣṣākum bih: this is Allah's guidance to you, His counsel to you, that you may understand.

Then Allah gives the next: the sixth is, do not come near the wealth of orphans; and certain reasons are given there. And the seventh would be wa-awfū al-kayla wa-l-mīzāna bi-l-qisṭ: see that your balances are true, your scales true, your reckoning true; that what you give to others, what you sell to them, and how you deal with them, is all correct. Lā nukallifu nafsan illā wusʿahā: mistakes may be made in this — there may be some slight error — We do not hold anyone responsible beyond his capacity. Wa-idhā qultum fa-ʿdilū: and then the eighth is: when you speak, be just — wa-law kāna dhā qurbā, even where it bears against your own family and relatives. And the ninth would be: fulfil the covenant of Allah — wa-bi-ʿahdi Allāhi awfū; dhālikum waṣṣākum bihi laʿallakum tadhakkarūn. That is nine. The next verse, 153:

And this is My path, the straight path; fa-ttabiʿūh, so follow it, and follow not other paths, which would lead you away from it. Any other path a man takes will lead him away from some part of the path of Islam. So Allah says: We give you this guidance, that you may have taqwā and be God-fearing.