Obscenity, Wrong and Excess

Then, as to what is forbidden, Allah (swt) says that He forbids you fuḥsh, which means obscenity, and which refers in substance to everything held to be a sexual vice. In Islam that would be fornication; relations outside marriage, pre-marital — pre-marital; and if it is unlawful post-marital, yes, extra-marital. And of course homosexuality in Islam, the act of it, will also be included in this, as Allah mentions in the Qur'an. Drinking wine, gambling and all of this will be fuḥsh according to this.

What, then, is munkar? Munkar is more general: anything repugnant and wrong. It is, in substance, two things: anything the Sharīʿah holds to be repugnant, and anything that a sound fiṭrah, a sound mind and nature, would hold to be out of balance and wrong. So many say: this is not unlawful, brother; why do you say so? Well, it is not held to be socially decent. There are therefore two aspects of munkar, and many miss the second. They suppose there is no hadith about it; but there is a Qur'anic verse about it. Munkar includes that. Munkar is not only what the Sharīʿah forbids, but also what is held repugnant socially by good people.

And the third is baghy. What does baghy mean? Baghy means going over the limit, going beyond the boundary. And that may be in anything: whether in going beyond in one's treatment of another, in taking from someone beyond what is there, or in not giving another his due.