obscenities lest he or she expose him/herself to the Wrathof Allaah
The Almighty and disgrace in the eyes of people. Although vulgarity is
certainly dispraised and forbidden, foul words indeed abound.
Motives behind this behavior
Obscenity originates from wickedness and ignobility. It is either
motivated by the intention of harming others or isa habit acquired
from socializingwith evil and debauched people,who are accustomed to
insultingothers. Whatever the case, Allaah The Almighty has forbidden
crude language in the verse (which means): {Allaah does not like the
public mention of evil except by one who has been wronged. And ever is
Allaah Hearing and Knowing.} [Quran 4:148]
Moreover, in His Book, He illustrated obscenity as characteristic of
hypocrites, describing their conduct with believers, saying (what
means): {But when fear departs, they lash you with sharp tongues,
indisposed toward [any] good.} [Quran 33:19]
A believer does not imitate the insolent and crass people, preferring
to stick to chivalry for the sake of preserving his or her honor. It
was said in this regard,"Tolerating an abusive man is better than
being like him and forgiving the ignorant is better than copying him."
Examples of obscenity
There are many situations and times when people of weak faith and bad
manners resort to vulgarity. Imam Al-Ghazaali exemplified that by
saying: "Situations of obscenity are various. They can generally be
limited to any state that a person feels ashamed to overtly divulge.
In this case, explicit words are considered obscenity. Therefore, one
must discuss such issues in vague terminology." Most of the relevant
examples would be those concerning sexual intercourse and its related
matters. While wicked people employ graphic and crass words when
speaking about this, the righteous avoid such crude language and
express themselves with figurative speech. Are we not aware that even
Allaah The Almighty spoke indirectly about sexual intercourse,
mentioning instead,words like touching, entering with [women] and
companionship?
There is also obscenity in making remarks about women or defects in
men that they may be ashamed of, such as a limp orbaldness. Any such
comments, if necessary, should not be explicitly referred to.
The Prophet classified obscenity as a branch of hypocrisy and said,
"Indeed, Allaah hates the indecent and obscene person." Moreover, he
mentioned that vulgarity leads to Hell, when he said: "Modesty is from
faith, and faith is in Paradise; [whereas], obscenity is from
severity, and severity is in Hell."