Boreal
Getting to Know Allah
Allah's Prohibited List
Allah's
list of offences that will earn your invitation to an eternity burning in Hell
is lengthy, by the standards by which such lists are measured, with the Ten
Commandments at the more succinct end.
Grave Sins - An Introduction
The Greater Sins (or Grave Sins) are those where the Koran, or a saying of Muhammad, explicitly states or implies that the sinner is going to Hell, or where there is a consensus among scholars that this is the case. It does not matter if the sin is committed in secret.
6:120 Avoid open and secret sins. Surely those who commit sin shall be punished for what they have perpetrated.
7:33 Say: “My Lord has only forbidden open and secret indecencies, sin, unjust aggression, and your association with Allah that for which He sent down no authority, and your saying about Allah that which you do not know.”
Abstain from the major sins and flagrant indecencies and Allah will overlook your minor transgressions.
53:31 And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and on the earth, that He may reward the evildoers for what they did, and reward the righteous with the fairest reward;
53:32 Those who avoid grave sins and foul acts, except for venial ones. Your Lord’s forgiveness is indeed ample. He knows you very well since He produced you from earth, and while you were still embryos in your mothers’ wombs. Do not commend yourselves, He knows very well who is the God-fearing.
It is crucial that you know the difference between an evil deed and a grave sin!
4:31 If you avoid the grave sins you are forbidden, We will remit your evil deeds and let you enter into an honourable place (Paradise).
Those whose "evil deeds" will be forgiven:
4:17 Allah has taken upon Himself to accept the repentance of those who commit evil in ignorance and then repent immediately after that. Those, He will forgive and Allah is All Knowing, Wise.
Those whose "evil deeds" will not be forgiven.
4:18 But not the repentance of those who commit evil deeds, and when one of them is faced with death, he says: “Now I repent”; nor the repentance of those who die as unbelievers. For these, we have prepared a very painful punishment!
Forty Derived Sins
17:38 The evil of all this is hateful in the sight of your Lord.
The forty greater sins in descending order of evilness, with "associating other gods with Allah" at the top of the list.
1. Shirk (polytheism), associating other gods with Allah.
2. Yās (despair), to doubt Allah’s Mercy.
3. Qunut (despondence), losing hope in Allah.
4. Not fearing Allah’s punishment.
5. Murder.
6. Parental disobedience.
7. Breaking up with relatives.
8. Usurping the property of orphans.
9. The charging of interest on borrowed money.
10. Fornication (adultery).
11. Sodomy.
12. Wrongfully accusing a chaste believer of adultery or homosexuality.
13. Drinking alcoholic beverages.
14. Gambling.
15. To neglect an obligatory religious duty.
16. Playing musical instruments or listening to music.
17. Singing.
18. Lying.
19. False oaths.
20. False testimony.
21. Concealing evidence.
22. Breaking a promise.
23. Misappropriation of property.
24. Stealing.
25. Short weighing or cheating in business.
26. Eating of what is unlawful.
27. Usurping the rights of others.
28. Avoiding Jihad.
29. Becoming A’Arāb after Hijrat, “the condition when a desert Bedouin before acquiring the necessary knowledge of religion turns back to his ignorant ways.”
30. Helping the oppressors.
31. Not helping the oppressed.
32. Sorcery.
33. Extravagance, e.g., wasteful expenditures.
34. Arrogance.
35. To war against Muslims.
36. Eating of carrion, pork and blood.
37. Omitting prayer intentionally.
38. Non–payment of Zakat (obligatory charity).
39. To consider the Hajj (mandatory pilgrimage) insignificant.
40. Persistence in minor sins (committing a lesser sin repeatedly).
Ten Deduced Sins
Greater Sins based on a consensus among scholars that the sinner is going the Hell.
41. Backbiting.
42. Telling tales.
43. Insulting a believer.
44. Intrigue, deception and breaking covenants.
45. Hoarding and selling on the black-market.
46. Disrespect of the Qur’an.
47. Disrespect of Ka’ba.
48. Disrespect to Masajid (mosque).
49. Disrespect of the Tomb of the Prophet.
50. Disrespect to the soil of Imam Husain’s Grave (Shia Islam).
Tips for Avoiding the Grave Sins
Amid all the hate and the cruelty, every now and then Allah will surprise you with the odd revelation about being kind and thoughtful, like the following which may prove helpful in navigating the mine field of grave sins.
Be kind to your parents.
Considering that Allah wants children to disown a mother or father who will not submit to His Will, the following revelations about being kind to your parents has to apply to believers only.
17:23 Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him and to be kind to your parents. If either of them or both reach old age with you, do not say to them “Fie”, nor tell them off, but say to them kind words.
17:24 And lower to them the wing of humility out of mercy and say: “Lord, have mercy on them, as they took care of me when I was a child.”
17:25 Your Lord knows best what is in your hearts. If you are righteous, He is All-Forgiving to those who repent. .
Give away some of your wealth.
17:26 And give the kinsman his due, and to the destitute and the wayfarer, and do not squander your wealth wastefully.
17:27 Surely the spindrifts are the brothers of the devils; and the Devil is ever ungrateful to his Lord.
If you have nothing to give, say something nice.
17:28 But if you turn away from them (the kinsman, the destitute and the wayfarer), seeking a mercy (because you have nothing to give and are seeking the bounty of your Lord) you expect from your Lord, then speak to them kindly.
The ever practical Allah suggests that you don’t give away so much of what you have so as to become like the recipient of your beneficence.
17:29 Do not keep your hand chained to your neck, nor spread it out fully, lest you sit around condemned and reduced to poverty.
17:30 Surely your Lord gives generously to whom He pleases, and He gives sparingly [to whom He pleases]. He knows and observes His Servants well.
Do not kill your children for fear of poverty.
17:31 Do not kill your children for fear of poverty. We will provide for you and for them. To kill them is a great sin.
This is not a universal declaration against killing your children! Allah expects you to kill your children if they abandon Islam or consistently question dogma (see Shared Prophets: Moses and Khidr, Boreal Books).
Remember the orphans.
17:34 Do not go near the orphan’s property except in the fairest way until he comes of age; and honour your pledge, because the pledge involves responsibility.
This would only apply to male orphans, as female orphans are usually married off when they reach puberty or earlier and except for their dowry, they normally own nothing (see Women and the Koran: "Orphaned Girls," Boreal Books).
Be honest in your weights and measures.
17:35 And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with a just balance. That is fair and better in the end.
Don’t be arrogant.
17:37 And do not walk in the land haughtily; for you certainly will not pierce the earth, nor equal the mountains in height.
Allah knows much about arrogance. He even admits to it.
59:23 He is Allah. There is no god but He, the King, the Holy, the Peace-Giver, the Faith-Giver, the Overseer, the All-Mighty, the Overlord, the Haughty. May Allah be exalted above what they associate.
59:24 He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most Beautiful Names; whatever is in the heavens and on the earth glorifies Him. He is the All-Mighty, the Wise.
Don’t believe those who say “let us bear your sins.”
29:11 And Allah certainly knows the believers and He knows the hypocrites. 29:12 The unbelievers said to the believers: “Follow our path and let us bear your sins”; but they will not bear any of their sins. Indeed they are liars.
29:13 They shall bear their own burdens, plus burdens upon burdens, and they will be questioned on the Day of Resurrection concerning what they used to fabricate.