INDEED, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth to cause corruption (Fasad-fil-Ardh) is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land…”(Surah Al-Maidah, 5:33).
The Quranic concept of Fasad-Fil-Ardh is a divine warning against actions that destroy peace, justice and social order. It encompasses far more than physical violence; it includes sedition, hate-mongering, ideological extremism and injustice that tears the fabric of society. Islam, in its essence, stands for the sanctity of life, the preservation of communal harmony and the enforcement of justice. Any deviation from this path is not piety, it is fasad.
Allah makes it clear in Surah Al-Maidah (5:32): “Whoever kills a soul… it is as if he had slain mankind entirely. And whoever saves one—it is as if he had saved mankind entirely.” This powerful verse places an unimaginable weight on the act of killing. No ideology, sector political grievance can justify such an act under the name of Islam. Terrorism, mob violence and hate crimes are not acts of jihad—they are manifestations of Fasad-Fil-Ardh.
The Last Prophet (PBUH), the messenger of mercy, embodied this divine principle throughout his life. HE never authorized bloodshed in the name of revenge or retaliation. On the contrary, HE said: “A believer is not one who curses, abuses, or harms others.” (Tirmidhi) Even in the face of hostility, his legacy was peace, patience and due process. Islam does not permit vigilantism. Rather, it demands verification and fairness before any action is taken.
This is emphasized in the Quranic principle from Surah Al-Hujurat (49:6): “O you who believe! If a wicked/disobedient person comes to you with any news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance and become regretful.” Mob justice, lynchings based on unproven allegations and sectarian or ethnic killings blatantly violate this command. They represent a distortion of Islam’s true teachings, not their defence.
Pakistan, as an Islamic republic, incorporates these principles within its constitutional and legal framework. The state’s anti-terrorism laws, particularly the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997, draw from the Quranic vision of preserving peace and punishing those who spread chaos and bloodshed. Military operations such as Zarb-e-Azab and Radd-ul-Fasad were clear acknowledgments of the state’s duty to combat internal fasad—not just through force, but through dismantling the ideological machinery behind extremism, challenges remain. Political manipulation, sectarian biases and gaps in legal enforcement sometimes undermine the alignment between Islamic values and state practice. When public outrage replaces legal procedure and when religious sentiment is hijacked for personal or political vendettas, fasad overtakes adal (justice).
The fight against Fasad-Fil-Ardhis not just a war on terror, it is a war for the soul of the society. It is a spiritual, legal and ethical obligation to restore the values that the Holy Quran and Blessed Prophet (P.B.U.H) who is Rehmat-Ul-Lil-Alamin upheld: justice, truth, restraint and compassion. Those who kill in the name of religion betray the very essence of the faith they claim to defend. If Pakistan seeks lasting peace and social cohesion, both its state apparatus and society must embrace the Islamic mandate: to reject and repudiate fasad in all forms and embrace justice with unwavering commitment.
—The writer is an alumnus of QAU, MPhil scholar and a freelance columnist, based in Islamabad.
