Major Sins

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This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series Tazkiyah

Tazkiyah

Definition of Major Sins

Major sins are referred to as kabāir in Arabic, which is the plural of kabīrah. The word kabīrah literally means “big (something).” The phrase usually used in the Quran to refer to the major sins is kabāir al-ithmi wal-fawāhisha, which means “major sins and immoralities.” 1 They are sins that are huge in the sight of Allah and deserve punishment as a result. Another phrase used in the Quran is kabāira mā tunhauna ‘anhu, which means “major things that you were forbidden.” 2

Major sins are mentioned in the Quran three times clearly by name (Quran 4:31, 42:36-39, and 53:31-32) 3, twice by name but unclearly (Quran 18:49 and 54:52-53) 4, and at least once implicitly (Quran 49:7) 5. They are only mentioned in the Sunnah in the context of listing what the major sins are. 6

Allah says, in verse 4:31, ⟪If you avoid the major things that you are forbidden, We will remove from you your (other) sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise].⟫, and He says ⟪Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight ones (lamam). Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness.⟫ (53:32)

So, the main consequence of major sins is that a person who avoids them and fulfills his obligations is promised forgiveness for the rest of his sins and entrance into Paradise. 7

As for someone who commits major sins, does not repent from them, and comes with them on the Day of Judgement, Allah can choose to forgive him or punish him because he has no promise. 8

Another consequence of major sins is that they can only be forgiven by repentance. They cannot be erased by other good deeds without repentance 9, nor are they included in any promise that a deed will forgive sins of a period of time 10. They can only be erased by repentance, Hajj 11, or the direct decision of Allah. But, how much of the major sin is erased by repentance (or Hajj) is debatable. 12

The significance of the major sins and difficulty of removing them is why it is extremely important to learn what they are and how to avoid them.

However, the doer of major sins does not remain in Hell forever. Allah says ⟪Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.⟫ (4:48) 13, and the Prophet (SAW) reportedly said, “My intercession is for the people who comitted major sins in my Ummah.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)

The only sin that condemns people to Hell eternally is disbelief.

Definition of Minor Sins

A minor sin may be defined as any sin that is not major. So, the category includes any sin that falls into the promise of forgiveness when Allah says ⟪We will remove from you your (other) sins⟫. The word used to refer to them in this verse is sayyiāt (singular: sayyiah). 14 In the verse ⟪Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight ones (lamam)⟫, Allah uses the word lamam to refer to the minor sins. 15

Many scholars were reluctant to affirm the category of minor sins, because every sin is huge in terms of who is being disobeyed. So, they considered calling the sins “minor” disrespectful.

However, because the concept has basis in the verse of Surah Nisa and because they are only called “minor” in comparison to the major sins, most scholars said the category of minor sins does exist. 16

It is important to avoid even presumably minor sins for five reasons.

Firstly, the boundary between minor and major is impossible to pin down exactly, so one cannot ensure something is a minor rather than a major sin. At best, it is possible to list known major sins, but a sin not on the list can always be a major sin which Allah simply did not inform people about. That is why it is important to avoid all sins for fear that they turn out to be major sins.

Secondly, a person who minimizes minor sins is showing signs of low imān (faith), and his sins may even contribute to reducing his imān and lowering his status with Allah. A person with high imān would avoid disobeying God even in small things.

Thirdly, minor sins often lead to major sins. For example, looking lustfully paves the way to eventually committing the major sin of adultery.

Fourthly, some scholars argued a minor sin that is done consistently without repentance can count as a major sin. This is not accepted by everyone. 17

Fifthly, a person can be punished if his sins add up to weigh more than his good deeds when they are measured with the scales on the Day of Judgement, and sins add up if one is not careful. 18

How To Determine Major Sins

There is much difference of opinion among the scholars about what exactly falls into the category of major sins and how to determine them.

Many early scholars are reported to have defined the major sins by listing them specifically in different lengths. 19 There were lists of three, four, seven, eight, nine, or fifteen major sins.

Others defined the major sins through indicators which pointed to that sin being major. Some said any sin whose consequence is worse than a known major sin is also a major sin. 20 Some said it is anything that is harām in essence rather than due to something it causes. 21 Some said a major sin is anything that has a hadd punishment for it or has a promised punishment in the hereafter. Some said a major sin is anything that is prohibited in the laws of all the prophets. 22 Others said any intentional and purposeful disobedience of Allah’s law is a major sin. 23 Some said anything whose doer Allah has cursed or become angry with is a major sin. These views are not mutually exclusive.

However, the problem with these views is that they are too black-and-white and do not explicitly acknowledge the fact that different things prove a sin being major to different levels. So, this article classifies the indicators of a sin being major into different levels of certainty. This, then, leads to the classification of the major sins themselves into different classes depending on what types of indicators they have to prove their status.

As mentioned before, a major sin prevents a person from a guarantee of forgiveness and entrance into Paradise. So, the strength of an indicator is how strongly it indicates a sin blocks this guarantee of forgiveness. For example, saying, “The doer of X will go to Hell,” would contradict the guarantee of forgiveness definitively, but saying, “Allah destroyed a tribe who used to do X,” is less much less clear.

The indicators can be divided into four levels: definitive, strong, probable, and weak.

The following are definitive indicators (DI) that have no doubt in them:

  1. The Prophet calls it a major sin.
  2. The one who does it is said to enter Hellfire.

The following are some strong indicators (SI):

  1. Allah is said to be angry at the one who does it.

The following are some probable indicators (PI):

  1. There are historical or future reports of people who did that sin being punished in the world or hereafter.

In addition to the level of the indicator, one needs to consider clarity and authenticity.

Clarity refers to how clearly the indicator applies to the specific sin. There are two major sources of unclarity:

  1. When a word is vague about whether it includes the sin.
  2. When an indicator is applied to a group of people who are described with multiple sins. The multiple sins make it unclear whether the indicator applies to one specifically.

The meaning of authenticity is obvious.

Prophetic Lists of Major Sins

The Prophet (SAW) is reported to have listed some of the major sins, but he does not explicitly call any of the lists comprehensive. The following are some of those narrations:

  • The Prophet (SAW) said, when asked about the major sins, “[They are] shirk with Allah, murdering a person, and being undutiful to parents. Should I not tell you about the greatest of the major sins? False testimony (shahādat az-zūr).” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
  • The Prophet (SAW) said, “The major sins are shirk with Allah, being undutiful to parents, and false oaths (yamīn al-ghamūs).” (Sahih Bukhari) When asked about the meaning of yamīn al-ghamūs, the Prophet said, “The false oath through which he deprives a Muslim man of his property.” (Sahih Bukhari)
  • The Prophet was asked what sin was greatest in the sight of Allah, and he said, “That you set up a rival unto Allah even though He created you.” When asked what the next greatest sin was, he said, “That you kill your son fearing that he will eat with you.” When asked what the next greatest sin was, he said, “That you fornicate with the wife of your neighbor.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
  • The Prophet (SAW) said, “Avoid the seven destructive (sins).” People asked him, “What are they, O Messenger of Allah?” He said, “Shirk with Allah, magic, killing a soul Allah has forbidden except with right, consuming interest, consuming the wealth of orphans, fleeing on the day of battle, and slandering chaste, unwary, believing women.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)
  • In another narration, the Prophet (SAW) was asked about the major sins and said they are nine. He added to the above list, “Being undutiful to Muslim parents and violating the sacred house, your qiblah, in life or death.” (Sunan Abi Dawud, grading: Hasan)

The Prophet listed different sins at different times to different people, and that may be because he wished to emphasize different sins in different contexts.

Vagueness Problem

Some acts are classified as major sins but they are vague in terms of what they actually include.

For example, being undutiful to parents can include a wide range of actions from someone frowning at his parents to hitting them. Some parts of it are clearly much worse than others.

In the worst-case scenario, everything that falls into the vague phrase is considered a major sin. In the best-case scenario, only the extreme form of the phrase is a major sin. Then, there are many scenarios in between. It is difficult to know exactly where the line is, but some parts may more clearly be major sins than other parts.

The reason Allah and the Prophet keep this vagueness is to caution against every form of the sin. The vagueness creates fear in the heart of the listener that the supposedly smaller form of the sin he overlooks will also condemn him to Hell. 24

Categorizing Sins

Sins (and also major sins) may be divided into four categories in terms of their essence:

  1. Individual actions: This is what first comes to mind with the phrase “major sins.”
  2. Character 25
  3. Diseases of the Heart 26
  4. Failing to Perform Obligations

Some major sins fall into several of the categories, like different forms of being undutiful to parents can fall into individual actions, bad character, and failing to perform obligations.

List of Known Major Sins

The following is a list of some known major sins classified into five classes of certainty. None of the list is complete except Class 1 major sins from the category of individual actions. This is not a comprehensive list of all major sins that exist.

This article does not list the category of missing obligations.

Individual Actions (In Progress)

Class 1 major sins are those sins that have one or more authentic, definitive proofs for them being major sins.

In the compilation of this list, it became apparent that almost all Class 1 major sins except two were prohibited in the Quran. So, they were sub-categorized into Class 1-A which are prohibited in the Quran and Class 1-B which are not.

The following are all the Class 1-A major sins, not in any specific order:

  1. Shirk and Kufr (disbelief)

The following are Class 1-B major sins:

  1. Making Sculptures of Animate Beings

Class 2 major sins are those sins that have multiple strong indicators of being major sins without anything definitive or only fail to be in Class 1 due to slight authenticity or clarity problems.

The following is an incomplete list of Class 2 major sins:

  1. False Oaths in the Name of Allah

Class 3 major sins are those sins that have one strong indicator of being major sins, multiple probable indicators, or only fail to be in Class 2 due to slight authenticity or clarity problems.

The following is an incomplete list of Class 3 major sins:

  1. Eating Haram Meat

Class 4 major sins are those sins that have one probable indicator of being major sins, multiple weaker indicators, or only fail to be in Class 3 due to slight authenticity or clarity problems.

The following is an incomplete list of Class 4 major sins:

  1. Eating or Drinking from Gold and Silver Utensils
  2. Torturing Animals

Class 5 major sins are those sins that have a weak indicator or only fail to be in Class 4 due to slight authenticity or clarity problems.

The following is an incomplete list of Class 5 major sins:

  1. Listening to Music
  2. Wearing Entirely Silk Clothes

Character (In Progress)

Class 1 major sins

The following is an incomplete list of Class 1 major sins:

  1. Being Undutiful to Parents

Class 3 major sins

The following is an incomplete list of Class 3 major sins:

  1. Being a Liar

Class 4 major sins

The following is an incomplete list of Class 4 major sins:

  1. Being Careless With Urine

Diseases of the Heart (In Progress)

Class 1 major sins

The following is an incomplete list of Class 1 major sins:

  1. Shirk and Kufr
  2. Arrogance

Class 4 major sins

The following is an incomplete list of Class 4 major sins:

  1. Losing Hope in the Mercy of Allah

Class 5 major sins

The following is an incomplete list of Class 5 major sins:

  1. Feeling Safe from the Plan of Allah

Conclusion

Bilal ibn Sa’d is reported to have said, “Don’t look at how small a sin is, look at whom you are sinning against.”

Although this article lists some of the known major sins, one should not imagine that the list is comprehensive. It is only a starting point. Any sin could be a major sin which Allah did not inform us about.

The point of the article is only to teach what must be prioritized. So, may Allah help us avoid the major sins and avoid the minor sins, fulfill our obligations, and enter Paradise.

And Allah knows best.

Footnotes

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  1. Kabāir in the phrase kabāir al-ithmi wal-fawāhisha is mudhāf to al-ithmi but not al-fawāhisha. In English, that would mean “major” is an adjective for “sins” but not for immoralities. Reversing the order may make it clearer: “immoralities and major sins.”

  2. It is possible to argue the category of “major things that you were forbidden” is larger than “major sins and immoralities.” Perhaps the former includes failing to fulfill obligations like prayer and charity while the latter refers to something more specific like physical actions.

    This is further indicated by the observation that every time Allah mentions and praises those who avoid “major sins and immoralities,” He also describes them with other descriptions that point to them doing good actions, but he describes nothing else when he mentions those who avoid “major things that you were forbidden.” This may be because avoiding the “major things that you were forbidden” already includes fulfilling obligations while the other phrase does not.

  3. The passages are as follows:

    ⟪If you avoid the major things that you are forbidden, We will remove from you your (other) sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise].⟫ (4:31)

    ⟪What is with Allah is better and more lasting for those who have believed and upon their Lord rely and those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, and when they are angry, they forgive And those who have responded to their lord and established prayer and whose affair is [determined by] consultation among themselves, and from what We have provided them, they spend. And those who, when tyranny strikes them, they defend themselves,⟫ (42:36-39)

    ⟪And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth – that He may […] recompense those who do good with the best [reward] – Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight ones (lamam). Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness.⟫ (53:31-32)

  4. ⟪And the record [of deeds] will be placed [open], and you will see the criminals fearful of that within it, and they will say, “Oh, woe to us! What is this book that leaves nothing small (saghīrah) or great (kabīrah) except that it has enumerated it?”⟫ (18:49)

    ⟪And everything they did is in written records. And every small and great [thing] is inscribed.⟫ (54:52-53)

    It is possible the saghirah and kabirah in these verses refers to minor and major sins. However, it is more likely it is just an expression to convey the message that the record of Allah includes everything, big or small.

  5. ⟪He has made hateful to you disbelief, fusūq (defiance), and disobedience⟫ (49:7)

    Mentioning fusūq (singular: fisq), which means defiance or extreme disobedience, separate from general disobedience indicates there are two different levels of sin. One is fisq and the other is simple disobedience. One can correspond to the major sins and the other to the minor sins.

  6. See the section Prophetic Lists of Major Sins

  7. The position of Sunni Islam, contrary to the Mutazilah, is that all Muslims, regardless of their sins, will eventually enter Paradise. So, the promise for those who avoid major sins is not just that they will eventually enter Paradise because that is already guaranteed to every Muslim. The promise is that they will immediately enter Paradise on the Day of Judgement rather than entering Hell first like many of those who commit major sins.

  8. Allah says ⟪Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.⟫ (4:48)

    Allah says He forgives sins less than shirk for “whomever He wills.” So, it is up to His decision.

    Additionally, the Prophet (SAW) reportedly said, “Whoever commits one of those (sins) then is punished for it in the world, that is kaffārah (expiation) for him. Whoever commits one of those (sins) and Allah covers him, then his matter is up to Allah: He will punish if He wishes and forgive if He wishes.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)

  9. Good deeds are generally said to erase sins, because Allah said ⟪And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with sins.⟫ (11:114)

    However, most scholars said major sins are not included in this without repentance. There are several reasons for this exclusion.

    One reason is that the Prophet said, “The five prayers, one Jumuah to another Jumuah, and one Ramadan to another Ramadan are expiations for what [sins] are between them as long as the major sins are avoided.” (Sahih Muslim) This statement specifies that the obligatory prayers and fasts do not erase the major sins, and it is unlikely optional prayers and fasts will do so either because Allah is reported to have said, “My slave does not come close to me with anything more beloved to me than that which I have obligated on him.” (Sahih Bukhari).

    Another reason is that the verse uses the word sayyiāt to refer to sins, and this word is most commonly used for minor sins. It is the same word used in the verse 4:31 to contrast with the major sins.

  10. For example, the Prophet (SAW) reportedly said, “Fasting the day of Ashura, I anticipate from Allah, will expiate (the sins of) the year before it.” (Sunan Tirmidhi)

  11. The Prophet (SAW) reportedly said, “Whoever does Hajj and does not have sexual relations or commit disobedience will return like his mother gave birth to him.” (Sahih Bukhari and Muslim)

    However, not everyone agreed Hajj erases major sins. Some said it only erases them if the person is repentant, and their evidence is that “[do not] commit disobedience” excludes anyone who is unrepentant from a sin. They also use Allah saying about Hajj ⟪And remember Allah during [specific] numbered days. Then whoever hastens [his departure] in two days – there is no sin upon him; and whoever delays [until the third] – there is no sin upon him – for him who fears Allah.⟫ (2:203) Allah specifies ⟪for him who fears Allah⟫, and an unrepentant person cannot be called fearful of Allah.

  12. The scholars differed about whether repentance is sufficient to forgive major sins. Some said repentance is sufficient. Others said good deeds are necessary in addition to repentance.

    The first group can support its position with the Prophet (SAW)’s reported statement, “The one who repents from a sin like the one who has no sin.” (Sunan Ibn Majah) This hadith has weakness in it.

    The second group has in its favor Allah’s statement ⟪Except those who repent, believe and do righteousness; for those will enter Paradise and will not be wronged at all.⟫ (19:60) Allah always pairs repentance in the Quran with belief and doing good deeds.

    In their favor is also the consensus of the Muslim scholars that a person who has intercourse in the days of Ramadan needs to pay the kaffarah even if he repents. If repentance alone erased a sin, it would also waive any kaffarah. A kaffarah (expiation) is, by definition, for the purpose of erasing a sin.

    So, the second opinion is stronger.

    However, there are different possibilities in this second opinion. One possibility is that repentance and good deeds are two necessary conditions before any of the sin is erased.

    Another possibility is that repentance erases the “head” of the sin, while good deeds erase the “body” of the sin, in line with Allah saying ⟪Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.⟫ (11:114) So, repentance removes any record of a major sin from the person’s book of deeds while the weight of the sin stays and needs to be removed through good deeds.

    For example, a person who commits zina then repents will not come on the Day of Judgement with any major sin of zina recorded in his book. But, he would still have much of the heaviness and weight of the sin in his scales until he does good deeds to erase it. So, repentance is almost a key which allows good deeds to erase the mass of the sin.

    The aforementioned hadith can be interpreted to mean, “The one who repents from a major sin is like the one who does not have that sin in particular recorded.” So, the head of the sin is erased but the mass of it remains until it is cancelled out by good deeds.

    But, Allah knows best.

  13. This verse places the forgiveness of sins other than shirk under the will of Allah and within the realm of possibility, and since the afterlife is eternal, it is expected Allah will forgive them eventually.
  14. The word sayyiāt is usually used in the Quran to refer to minor sins but is also sometimes used to include major sins as well (Quran 10:27).

  15. The verse is, literally, ⟪Those who avoid major sins and immoralities except lamam⟫.

    The scholars differed about the meaning of ⟪except lamam⟫.

    Some said: Lamam refers to what happened in the past so Allah is saying past sins are forgiven.

    Others said: Lamam refers to a singular sin which is not repeated, so it refers to someone who falls into zina once then repents or falls into stealing once then repents.

    In these two opinions, the exception is intact and muttasil. But, it can also be interpreted as munqati.

    Some said: Lamam refers to coming close to the major sin without committing it, like a person who looks lustfully or kisses without falling but repents before falling into zina. This opinion is weak, because as will be discussed, there is no evidence to suggest kissing is a minor sin.

    Others said lamam refers to minor sins. So, Allah is saying the one who avoids major sins is forgiven even if he falls into minor sins.

    In the last two opinions, the exception is munqati because the exceptions (coming close to major sins, or minor sins) are not part of the original group (major sins and immoralities). Munqati exceptions are not uncommon in the Quran.

    The last is the preferred opinion because it aligns with the verse of Surah Nisa which also promises forgiveness for minor sins if the major sins are avoided.

  16. Ghazali said, “Denying the difference between major and minor sins is not befitting for a faqīh (scholar).” (Fath al-Bari 10/409)

  17. There is no extensive evidence for this concept, but it has been supported by many scholars.

    One evidence is the hadith where the Prophet (SAW) is reported to have said, “Beware of the belittled sins, because the parable of belittled sins is of a group of people who come to the middle of a valley and one comes with a stick, and another comes with a stick, and another comes with a stick until they are able to cook bread. [The belittled sins are destructive.] When the doer of these belittled sins is held to account for them, they will destroy him.” (Musnad Ahmad)

  18. Allah says ⟪So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.⟫ (Quran 99:7-8)

    He also says ⟪And those whose scales are light – they are the ones who will lose themselves for what injustice they were doing toward Our verses.⟫ (Quran 7:8-9)

  19. Most likely, they did not intend these to be comprehensive lists.
  20. An example given is how helping disbelievers by showing them where to attack Muslims is worse than fleeing from battle (which is a defined major sin). So, the former is also a major sin even though it is not specifically defined as a major sin.

    This example is weak. Although helping disbelievers in that way is obviously a major sin, that is probably because it is helping to commit a major sin (fighting and killing Muslims), not because its consequence is worse than another major sin.

    However, even if this were a good indicator, it cannot be alone. It still needs a definition of major sin so the consequences of those major sins can be compared to other sins.

  21. This is a weak opinion because there is no evidence for it. There are many known major sins that are forbidden due to some harm they cause, like consuming the wealth of orphans.
  22. This view has no evidence except intuition, and it is not a helpful methodology as no one knows all the other laws.
  23. This view is weak because things done without intention are not punished in the first place, so there would be no point to Allah saying He would forgive them.

    The view can be tweaked to say major sins are sins done purposefully with thought rather than with desire in the moment. So, it is not just intention that makes it major but being done fully purposefully with Allah’s prohibition of it kept in mind. Then, minor sins would be those sins done out of desire.

    This view is also weak. Firstly, there is consensus that adultery is a major sin even if done out of desire. Secondly, this view goes against the Quran. Allah says ⟪the major things you have been forbidden⟫ and ⟪major sins and immoralities⟫ which indicates that the sins themselves are divided into major and minor, not how you commit the sins.

  24. It is the same reason the exact night of Lailat ul-Qadr is unknown. It encourages people to strive to do good deeds in all the nights to get Lailat ul-Qadr. Likewise, not knowing exactly where the major sin is encourages people to avoid all parts of it in order to avoid the major sin.
  25. Consistent smaller actions that become a major sin as a character trait even though each action is not a major sin in itself.
  26. Evil thoughts and feelings in the heart.

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