المنكر
al-Munkar
What is wrong and unacceptable, condemned by the sharia and not merely a matter of social custom; the opposite of al-maʿrūf.
What it means
Al-munkar is the wrong that is rejected and condemned by revelation. It is the opposite of al-maʿrūf. The Quran describes the Muslim community as one that enjoins the right and forbids al-munkar (3:104, 3:110). The word comes from a root meaning to deny or to disapprove. The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) taught, “Whoever of you sees a wrong, let him change it with his hand; if he cannot, then with his tongue; if he cannot, then with his heart, and that is the weakest of faith” (Sahih Muslim). The duty is carried out according to ability and with gentleness. In hadith science the word has a separate technical sense: a weak report that contradicts a stronger one.
Often misunderstood as
It is sometimes taken to mean what is socially disapproved, while the Quran bases it on what God has forbidden.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 46, listed as AL MUNKAR. The definition is restated here.