PROHIBITION OF SINS

All acts prohibited by Allah (s.w.t) as stated in the Glorious Qur’an, communicated by the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and explained and elaborated by Ahlul Bayt (a.s.), are sins. Sins may be Greater or Smaller. The Merciful Allah (s.w.t.) promises to forgive and excuse Smaller Sins if we avoid Greater Sins as mentioned in Surah al-Nisa Ayah 31, “If you shun the Greater Sins which are forbidden, We will do away with your Smaller Sins and cause you to enter an exalted dwelling.”

The Commander of Faithful Imam Ali (a.s.) said, “Death occurs to a person in one of three ways; our devotees who obeys our commands and does not sin is given the good news of everlasting bounties. Our opponents shall forever be involved in Divine punishment. The person who has been unjust to his soul will find himself in an unsure condition. His death will be accompanied with terror and fear. Allah will remove him from Hell on our intercession. Act (rightly) and obey the commands of Allah. Do not consider the Divine punishment to be trifle, and certainly there are such people who would not be able to receive our intercession till after 3,00,000 years.”

The Infallible Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “By Allah, I fear for you the Barzaq. It is the grave. Its duration commences from the time of death until the Day of Judgment.”

Making Salat as light is counted among the Greater Sins. Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.) said, “Our intercession is not for those who consider prayer (Salat) as unimportant.”

Intercession should neither raise false hope nor to be a cause to be arrogant.

The Infallible Musa al-Kazim (a.s.) said, “Our Shias are only those who follow us (in every respect), walk into our foot-steps and imitate our actions.”

Verbal claim of being a Shia is insufficient if they do not follow the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) and Ahlul Bayt (a.s.)

According to Allama Majlisi, there are four types of Taqwa:

Wara at-Tabiri, which means to abstain from prohibited things. Wara as-Salihin, which means to abstain from doubtful things. Wara al-Muttaqin, which means to abstain from even permissible things so that one is absolutely protected from Haram. Wara as-Sadiqin, which means to avoid everything that is not religious to avoid waste of time in useless acts.

According to Ibne Abbas, the Noble Messenger (s.a.w.a.s.) said, “Love of Ali consumes the sins like fire consumes wood.”

Sayyid Muhammad al-Kazim Tabatabai Yazdi, an eminent jurist of the School of Ahlul Bayt (a.s.) had categorized four ways of recognizing Greater Sins:

All those sins are Greater which have been specifically termed as Greater in the Glorious Qur’an and the Traditions.

All those sins are Greater about which the Glorious Qur’an and Hadiths explicitly state that those who commit these sins will enter Hell.

Any sin, which is clearly Greater than a sin specified as Greater one in the Glorious Qur’an and Hadith; is also Greater.

Any sin which has all along being regarded as Greater by the scholars and the jurists, should also be considered as Greater.

According to the Infallible Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq (a.s.), the following are the Greater Sins in the light of the Glorious Qur’an: Shirk (to attribute partners), to despair from Mercy of Allah, not fearing the retribution of Allah, disobey parents, kill a believer, slander for adultery, usurp orphan’s property, retreat from struggle, take interest, magic, adultery, false oath, betrayal of trust, fail to pay zakat, false witness, conceal evidence, drink wine, willfully avoid prayers, fail to perform any obligatory religious act, break ties with relatives.

Apart from the above, some more acts have been included as Greater Sin by the Infallible Imam Ali ar-Reza (a.s.) in a letter to Mamun ar Rashid which are: eating dead animals, blood and pigs, consuming Haram wealth, gambling, cheating in business, homosexuality, not acknowledging the bounties of Allah, cooperating with oppressors, lying, arrogance, squandering wealth, spend in the ways not permitted by Allah, consider Hajj as unimportant, enjoy vain occupation and persist in sins.

               Source: Greater Sins by Ayatollah Sayyid Abdul Husayn Dasteghaib Shirazi