فاسد

Moral-corruption label deployed by the state. Doorway to the legal category mofsed-fel-arz, which carries the death penalty.
What it means

Fâsed is Arabic for corrupt, rotten, spoiled. Persian uses it for literal spoilage and for moral or institutional corruption. The state deploys the moral sense against political and social targets, and the legal system formalizes it through the charge of mofsed-fel-arz (corrupter on earth).

The mechanics

Mofsed-fel-arz is a capital charge under Articles 286 of the Islamic Penal Code. The prosecutorial threshold is loose, and the charge has been used against protesters, including in Mahsa Movement death sentences. The word fâsed in regime media is the rhetorical preview of the legal step.

In our voice

The regime built its self-image on contrast with Pahlavi-era decadence, so fâsed is its working label for anyone outside the moral fence. We document it because the rhetorical use and the legal use sit on a continuum, and learners reading court reports need to recognize both.

Why this is in the glossary

Fâsed shows up in Friday sermons, judicial press releases, and state TV graphics. The Mahsa Movement death sentences traveled through this vocabulary. Knowing what the word does is part of reading Iranian legal news honestly.

Who deploys this slurState media (IRIB, Tasnim, Fars, Kayhan), Friday prayer leaders, judiciary spokespersons, prosecutors, Supreme Leader's officeWho it targetsDissident journalists, women defying compulsory hijab, protesters, ethnic-minority activists, dual-national prisoners, businessmen in disfavored factions. The word frames the target as morally outside the community before the legal proceedings begin.Why we glossarize itFâsed is the rhetorical antechamber to the capital charge mofsed-fel-arz. Documenting the everyday word is documenting the first step of a legal pipeline that ends in execution for some protesters.
فاسد
fased
morally corrupt (state-applied to dissidents)
adjectiveb1
Quick Reference
FA-sed
morally corrupt (state-applied to dissidents)
b1
⚫ SLUR. Moral-corruption label deployed by the state against political and social targets.

فاسد (fâsed) is Arabic for corrupt, rotten, spoiled. In Persian it covers both literal spoilage (rotten food) and moral or institutional corruption. The latter is where the political weight lives. The Islamic Republic was founded on a self-image of moral purity against the Pahlavi era’s accused decadence, so fâsed names anyone the regime needs to write outside the moral community. The word lands on women whose dress does not comply, on journalists who file from inside protests, on academics who sign open letters, on businessmen who back the wrong faction. The related noun fesâd (corruption) builds the legal category mofsed-fel-arz (corrupter on earth), which carries the death penalty.

Sources

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