Verse 31

Great and Small Sins and Expiation of Evils

There is no doubt that the verse, If you avoid great sins , confirms the division of sins into two categories: great and small; the latter has been mentioned here as ‘evils’. Likewise the verse 49 of Ch. 18 proves this fact: And the Book shall be placed, then you will see the guilty fearing from what is in it, and they will say: ‘‘Ah! woe to us! what a book is this! it does not omit a small one nor a great one, but numbers them (all)’’. Their fear of the book shows that small one and great one mean small sin and great sin.

As for al-Sayyiʾah, looking at its root and paradigm, it signifies a happening or action which brings evil. That is why sometimes it is used for those affairs or misfortunes which cause grief. God says: and whatever misfortune befalls you, it is from yourself (4:79); And they ask you to hasten on the evil before the good (13:6). Sometimes it is used for consequences and effects of sins in this world and the next, as God says: So the evil (consequences) of what they did shall afflict them ... (16:34); So there befell them the evil (consequences) of what they earned ... (39:51); this connotation actually corresponds with the first meaning. Also, it is often used for the sin itself, as God says: And the recompense of evil is punishment like it ... (42:40). In this sense it is sometimes used for sins in general, and covers great and small ones alike, as God says: Nay! do those who have wrought evil deeds think that We will make them like those who believe and do good—that their life and their death shall be equal? Evil it is that they judge (45:21). There are many other verses of the same implication. And sometimes it is used particularly for small sins, as in the verse under discussion: If you avoid great sins which you are forbidden, We will expiate from you your (small) sins; because if man avoids great sins, then nothing remains there except the small ones.

8:169In short, without any doubt, the verse proves that there are two categories of sins: great ones and small ones, when comparison is made between the sins themselves.

Also, there is no doubt that the verse is meant to show the divine grace and favor for the believers; it conveys to them the affectionate message of God that if they avoided some sins, He would expiate from them the other sins. Not that they are encouraged to commit small sins; the verse undoubtedly exhorts them to shun great sins, and if somebody committed a small sin thinking that it was of no importance and that there was no harm in doing it, it would turn that sin into the worst arrogance and transgression, as it would show his disdain to God’s command—and that is one of the greatest sins. What the verse implies is only this: The small sins will be forgiven because they are minor slips, and hardly can a man remain free from them, seeing that man has been created weak and ignorant and it is really difficult for him to avoid small errors when he comes under the influence of desire or ignorance. The verse in this respect describes the same reality which the following verse expounds: Say: ‘‘O my servants! who have acted extravagantly against their own souls, do not despair of the mercy of Allah; surely Allah forgives the faults altogether, surely He is the Forgiving, the Merciful: And return to your Lord and submit to Him ...’’ (39:53–54). No one can claim that this verse encourages man to commit sins, by opening the door of repentance and comforting them with it. In the same way, no objection can be raised against the verse under discussion. In fact, such verses revive dead hearts by giving them hope in place of despair.

The verse does not imply that it is impossible to identify great sins, and, therefore, one must avoid all sins, lest one commits great ones and falls into perdition. Such interpretation would be far-fetched. The verse implies that the addressees identify the major sins and recognize them from the relevant prohibitory orders. The least that can be said is that the verse obligates people to recognize the major sins in order that they could be on guard against them; at the same time they should not treat small sins lightly, because as you have been told, such attitude in itself is one of the mortal sins.

When man will know the great sins, and recognize and identify them, he will understand that these were the limits put by God, and no one transgressing that boundary would be forgiven unless he showed definite remorse and sincere repentance. This knowledge in itself will serve as a warning and prevent, him from sinning.

8:170As for the intercession, it is a fact. But you have seen in the preceding relevant discourses that it would not benefit a man who treats divine commands with disdain or takes repentance and remorse lightly. To commit a sin relying on intercession shows indifference and carelessness towards divine orders. This is such a major sin that it definitely closes all the ways of intercession.

The above talk makes clear what we have earlier said that the greatness of a sin is known from severe language of the prohibitory order or from threat of chastisement for it.

This sufficiently throws light on all the views given about great sins. [Many explanations are seen in Islamic books which are given here in short]:

Great sins are those for which God has threatened chastisement in the hereafter and prescribed a fixed punishment in this world.

Comment: Persistence in committing a minor sin is a great sin. The Prophet has said: ‘‘No great sin remains with repentance, and no minor sin remains (minor) with persistence.’’ It has been narrated by both sects; but the sharīʿah has not prescribed any fixed punishment for it. The same is the case with being friends with unbelievers and eating up interest, although these two are among the greatest sins forbidden in the Qur’an.

Great sins are those for which God has threatened punishment of fire in the Qur’an. (Some have added, ‘‘and in the traditions.’’)

Comment: This criterion is neither all-inclusive nor exclusive.

All those sins are great which show the doer as being indifferent to religion and heedless to the sharīʿah. This has been said by Imām al-Haramayn and appreciated by al-Rāzī.

Comment: This is called transgression and rebellion; and it is one of the mortal sins. There are many other mortal sins (even if they are not committed with obstinacy) like eating up an orphan’s property, incest, and unlawfully killing a believer.

That sin is great which is forbidden on its own, not because of some incidental concomitants.

Comment: It is in a way opposite to the preceding explanation. But transgression and indifference to the sharīʿah, etc. are among the mortal sins, while they are merely concomitants which turn into mortal sins when they occur with any sin.

8:171The sins mentioned in this chapter [The Women] from the beginning to the end of the verse 30 are great. Probably, the idea is that the words, great sins which you are forbidden, refer to the sins mentioned before this verse, e.g., misbehaving with relatives, eating orphan’s property, fornication, etc.

Comment: Generality of the verse does not agree with this restriction. Every deed prohibited by God is a great sin. (This explanation is attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās.) Perhaps it is because disobeying God is a very serious matter, a major transgression.

Comment: You have already seen that the division of sins into great and small is based on their comparison with one another, while this interpretation looks at the status of man, a humble servant, vis-a-vis God Who is the Lord of everything. Probably someone may be inclined to this view, thinking that the genitive construction in the clause, great sins which [lit., of what] you are forbidden, was explanatory. This, however, is not correct; because the implication then would be as follows: If you avoid all sins, We shall expiate from you your small sins. But if one avoids ‘all’ sins, where will the small sins come from?

If it is said that the verse speaks about expiation of the believers’ sins committed prior to its revelation, then it would be exclusively reserved for those who were present at the time of revelation, and it does not agree with generality of the verse.

If the verse is still taken as a general one, it would mean: If you firmly decide to avoid all sins, and then actually avoid them, We shall expiate your previous sins. But it is such a difficult condition that one can hardly find a single example of such fortitude; such a general and comprehensive verse cannot be applied to such a rare occurrence; because human beings are not free from evils and errors except those whom God takes under His especial protection. Think over it.

The small is that sin whose punishment is less than the total reward of its doer; and the great is that whose punishment is greater than the doer’s total reward. This interpretation is attributed to the Muʿtazilites.

Comment: It is an interpretation which is supported neither by this verse nor by any other in the whole Qur’an. Of course, the Qur’an says that certain sins cause forfeiture of deeds in certain cases, but it is not a general rule covering all sins—whether or not it is taken in the sense they mean. We have discussed in detail the meaning of forfeiture in the second volume of this book¹.

8:172They have also said that expiation of small sins is obligatory [on God] when a servant avoids great sins; and that it would not be proper then to mete out any punishment to him. But the verse does not prove this theory either.

Greatness and smallness are two aspects which are found in every sin. A sin is great when committed in disregard or indifference to the divine command; but the same sin is counted as small if done when one is incensed with anger, overcome by desire or frightened by cowardice all this is forgiven if one avoids great sins.

As the above criteria of greatness of sin may be combined under the heading of arrogance and transgression of limits, this explanation may be summarized as follows: Every forbidden sin is great if done with arrogance and haughtiness, otherwise it is small and forgiven if not accompanied with arrogance and haughtiness.

Someone has said: There are, in every evil and every divine prohibition, one or more great sins as well as one or more small sins. The greatest of all, in every sin, is indifference to divine order and prohibition, and disdain of the sharīʿah; it also includes repeatedly committing a sin, because such a person manifests his disrespect to, and carelessness about, divine orders or prohibitions; while God says: If you avoid the great sins of what you are forbidden, that is, the great sins which are found in every thing you are forbidden, We shall expiate from you your sins, that is, We shall forgive you the smaller aspects of that sin and shall not ask you about it.

Comment: It is correct that every sin done in a manner as to show the doer’s arrogance and haughtiness becomes a great sin. But it does not mean that it is the only criterion of the greatness of sins. There is no doubt that some sins are great in themselves even without the aforesaid arrogance, etc. Incest when compared to looking at a stranger woman, and murder in comparison to beating, are great sins—whether there was any arrogance there or not. Of course, if indifference, arrogance or haughtiness accompanied a sin, the prohibition will accordingly increase in severity and intensity; the sin will be even greater and the disobedience even more condemnable. Obviously, fornication under overwhelming influence of lust and ignorance is not like the same when committed arrogantly thinking that there was no evil in it.

8:173Moreover, the purported meaning (‘If you avoid in every sin its great aspects, We shall expiate from its smaller ones’) is in bad taste, not in harmony with the context of the verse: If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden, We will expiate from you your (small) sins ; as will be vouched by anyone who has a little familiarity with literary styles.

Now we come to al-Ghazālī’s reported² explanation which apparently is a synthesis of the above views; a gist of which is given below:

‘‘Sins are of two types—great and small—when compared with one another. For example, incest with a married woman within prohibited degree vis-a-vis looking at a stranger woman. At the same time, some sins become great when they appear with some serious aspects, for example, when a small sin is committed again and again, it becomes great, although to begin with it was not so.

‘‘It shows that sins are divided into two categories—great and small when looked at the actions, per se, in comparison with one another. Even so, they are also divided into these two categories when seen in the perspective of their evil effects and consequences—whether they nullify good deeds or merely reduce the rewards. If the evil deeds are stronger or more numerous than the good ones, the former would erase and nullify the latter; otherwise, the evil deed would be wiped off taking with it an equal amount of reward as its indemnity. Every act of obedience has a good effect on the soul; it raises it in rank, and extricates it from darkness of ignorance. Likewise, every disobedience has an evil effect, degrading the soul and pushing it into abyss of remoteness and darkness of ignorance.

‘‘When a man, who has acquired some light and purity through his obedience, commits a sin, then naturally the darkness of sin collides with the light of obedience. If the darkness of sin and consequences of evil overpower the light of obedience, then the latter is extinguished and forfeited. Such a sin is called great. If, on the other hand, the obedience with its light and purity overcomes the darkness of ignorance and dirtiness of sin, by sacrificing an equal amount of its light, then the remaining [albeit diminished] light and purity will continue to brighten and illuminate the soul. This is the meaning of al-tahābut (a Muʿtazilite theory that good and evil actions cancel each other); and it is exactly the meaning of forgiveness of small sins and expiation of evil deeds. Such sins are called small.

8:174‘‘Apparently it is not unreasonable to expect some cases where perfect equivalence might be found between evil and good deeds. It means that there may be a man in total abeyance having in his account neither any obedience nor any disobedience—without any light or darkness. But the words of God refute it, as He says: a party shall be in the garden and (another) party in the burning fire.[42:7]’’

al-Rāzī has refuted it, saying that this explanation is based on the Muʿtazilite tenets which, according to him, are wrong.

The author of Tafsīr al-manār in his turn has very severely reproached al-Rāzī on this line of argument. He says:

‘‘When this (that is, division of sins, per se, into great and small) is explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an, then is it imaginable that Ibn ʿAbbās would deny it? Not at all. On the other hand, ʿAbd al-Razzāq has narrated from him that he was asked: ‘Is the number of great sins seven?’ He said: ‘They are nearer to seventy.’ Ibn Jubayr has narrated that he had said: ‘They are nearer to seven hundred.’

‘‘Actually it is the Ashʿarites who are said to deny the division of sins to great and small. Probably those Ashʿarites who were of this view wanted to refute the Muʿtazilites—even if it took some explaining away. This may be seen in the writing of Ibn Fawrak, as he has confirmed the Ashʿarite view and has said: ‘All the sins of God are great; it is only relatively³ that one or the other of them is called great or small. The Muʿtazilites say that sins are of two categories, small and great; but it is not correct.’ Then he has written a far-fetched interpretation of the verse.

‘‘Well, should the verses and traditions be explained away, just for opposing the Muʿtazilites? Even in matters where they are right? People are not above such petty mindedness. Religious bigotry and partisanship have prevented many intelligent scholars from using their sagacity for their own benefit and that of their followers, and turned their books into a source of strife for the Muslims. They are too busy with polemical arguments to look at reality of religion. You will soon see how al-Rāzī quotes from al-Ghazālī and then refutes it just for this reason; but where is al-Rāzī from al-Ghazālī, and where is Muʿāwiyah from ʿAlī?’’ (The last sentences refer to the writings of al-Ghazālī and al-Rāzī which we have quoted earlier.)

8:175Be that as it may. What al-Ghazālī has written is sound to a certain extent; still it is not free from various defects and shortcomings:

1) According to him, the division of sins into great and small is based on mutual cancellation or reduction of reward and punishment. Again, he believes that sins are also divided into great and small on their own. But the two divisions do not always correspond. A person has a lot of reward to his credit; then he commits many sins which are known to be great in themselves and they drastically decrease his reward, leaving a small residue in his account. Now he commits a small sin and that cancels out the remnant of his reward. In both cases, what was great by one criterion, becomes small by another; and vice versa. Thus the two divisions are not always identical.

2) It is true that there occurs some collision between the effects of obedience and disobedience in certain cases. But it is not an all-encompassing principle. The hypothetic generality has never been supported by apparent meanings of the Qur’an and the sunnah. Let him show if there is any proof whatsoever from the Qur’an and the sunnah which could prove general and all-encompassing mutual cancellation and reduction between punishments of sins and rewards of obedience.

As for the detailed discourse about the noble and brilliant spiritual status, and the opposite vile, darkened condition, it is marred by the same defect. True that the spiritual light and darkness usually collide, acting on, and reacting to, each other—thus cancelling out, or reducing the strength of, the opposite force. But this too is not a general non-changing rule. Sometimes, virtue and evil both stay in their places, coexisting with each other, and bringing about a split personality. A Muslim, for instance, eats interest, swallows up people’s property, and turns a deaf ear to the cries of an oppressed victim of injustice, and at the same time pays particular attention to obligatory prayers, and entreats his Lord with utmost devotion and humility. Or, another one cynically sheds blood, shamelessly violates people’s honor and creates chaos and mischief on the earth, and then very faithfully carries out other religious commands with complete sincerity. It is the phenomenon the psychologists call schizophrenia or Jekyll and Hude syndrome, in which various opposing trends fight each other to gain the control of a man’s psyche; the man is continually distracted by this inner turmoil—until both traits become firmly set in their places and a sort of truce is affected between them: When one trait raises its head, the other disappears from the scene, leaving the field to its rival to stalk its victim, and pounce on it—as the above examples have shown.

8:1763) It follows from al-Ghazālī’s exposition that avoidance of great sins should not have any role in the expiation of small sins. Suppose there is a person who does not commit any great sin: not because he volitionally avoids it even when he has an urge and ability to do it; he rather does not do it only because he cannot do it. His small sins will however be cancelled by his good deeds, because in this case his rewards will be greater than his punishment—and it is exactly what the expiation of small sins means. And, it does not leave any meaningful function for volitional avoidance of great sins.

al-Ghazālī himself has written in Ihyāʾ al-ʿulūm: ‘‘Avoidance of great sin causes expiation of small sins when one shuns them in spite of ability and urge to do them. For example, a man gets hold of a woman and has a chance of establishing sexual relations with her, and yet he keeps aloof from it and restricts himself to looking or touching her. His inner struggle against his base desire is much more effective in illuminating his heart when compared to the darkness caused by his audacity in looking at her. This is what brings about expiation of small sins. If, on the other hand, he was impotent, or avoided it because of some other inability, or because of fear of the affairs of the hereafter, it would not lead to any expiation. Suppose, someone does not like liquor at all, and would not take it even if it was allowed, then his avoidance of liquor would not expiate the smaller sins which are considered preliminary stages of drinking, e.g., listening to music and songs. Of course, if someone longs to drink liquor and listen to music, and struggles with himself to avoid drinking and restricts himself to the listening to music, then probably his inner struggle to shun the liquor would remove from his heart the darkness brought about by the sin of listening to music. All these are the rules of hereafter.’’

Again he says in another place: ‘‘A darkness rising to the heart cannot be erased except by a light brought in by an opposite good deed and opposites have reciprocal relation with each other. It is therefore necessary that each evil should be erased by a good deed of the same category, in order that it could counteract it. Whiteness is removed by blackness, not by heat or cold. This step by step approach is a sort of favor in erasure of sins; because hope in this way is much stronger, and trust more effective than, for example, in a case when one continues performing only one type of worship—although this too has some role in the said erasure.’’

These words of al-Ghazālī clearly show that, according to him, only that avoidance can expiate minor sins which is done volitionally by preventing oneself from a longed for great sin. But his earlier quoted explanation does not necessarily lead to this conclusion.

8:177To sum it up, all that can be said here, relying on the Qur’anic verses, is this: It is true that the good and bad deeds cancel out, or decrease the force of, each other—in certain cases. But there is no evidence to show that every evil affects every good deed in this way, and vice versa. This fact may be appreciated if we look at moral and psychological conditions as they are the best tools for understanding the Qur’anic realities regarding reward and punishment.

As for the great and small sins, you have seen that the verse apparently connotes that, compared with one another, some of them are great and others small. For example, killing an inviolable person unjustly, visa-vis looking at a stranger woman, or drinking liquor claiming that it was allowed vis-a-vis drinking it when overcome by desire—without its having any connection at all with the theory of forfeiture and expiation.

Moreover, the verse, being without any restriction, clearly shows that God has promised him who avoids great sins to expiate all his small sins both, of past and future. Obviously this avoidance implies that every believer should avoid great sins as much as he can, in a way that it would constitute the avoidance in view of his particular situation. It surely does not mean that he should avoid it after first intending to do it and then shunning it. Anyone who has a cursory glance at the list of great sins will undoubtedly realize that the man has not been born yet who would be inclined to commit all of them and also have ability to do so—even if such a case is ever found, it would be so rare as to make it practically non-existent. It would be in bad taste to apply such a general verse to such a rare and imaginary case.

The verse therefore means that whoever avoids the great sins which are within his power and which his heart longs for, (and these are the great sins which he can and does avoid), God will expiate his small sins, whether or not the latter have any reciprocal relation with the former.

Question: Is this expiation, because of avoidance, in the sense that the avoidance, per se, is an act of obedience which brings the expiation in its wake, just like repentance? Or is it that when man does not commit sins, then he is left with only his small sins and good deeds, and then the good deeds expiate his small sins? As God says: surely good deeds take away evil deeds (11:114). Apparently, the verse (If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden, We will expiate from you your [small] sins), shows that the avoidance has something to do with the expiation. Otherwise, it would have been more appropriate to say that acts of obedience expiate evil deeds (as was said in the verse, surely good deeds take away evil deeds); or, that God will forgive small sins whatever they may be; there was no need then of setting forth a conditional sentence.

8:178A sin is great if the prohibitive order is given in a severe language, or if it contains threat of fire or something similar, whether it is found in the Qur’an or sunnah. But these criteria are not exclusive.

Examining Narrations

(1) al-Sādiq has said: ‘‘Great (sins) are those for which God has imposed (the punishment of) the fire.’’ (al-Kāfī)

(2) al-Bāqir has said about the great sins: ‘‘Every (sin) which God has threatened to punish with fire.’’ (Man lā yahduruh al faqīh) (3) al-Sādiq has said: ‘‘Whoever avoids that which God has threatened (to punish) with fire—if he is a believer—God will expiate his (small) sins from him, and will cause him to enter an honorable place of entering; and the seven great (sins) which impose (punishment of fire) are (as follows): Murder of an inviolable person; disobedience to parents; eating usury; going back to non Islamic places [where one cannot perform his/her Islamic worship] after hijrah [that is, after emigration to an Islamic centre]; slandering a married woman (of adultery); swallowing up orphan’s property; and fleeing from jihād.’’ (Thawāb al-aʿmāl) Author’s comments: There are many Shīʿī and Sunnī traditions which have enumerated great sins, some of which will be given later. Most of them count polytheism as one of the seven great sins, although the above tradition does not mention it; probably the Imām has removed it from this list because it is the greatest of the great sins; and the words, ‘‘if he is a believer’’, point to it.

(4) Abd al-Azīm b. ʿAbdillāh al-Hasanī has narrated from Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b. ʿAlī, (who narrates) from his father ʿAlī b. Mūsā al-Ridā (who narrates) from (his father) Mūsā b. Jaʿfar (peace be on them all!) that he said: ‘‘ ʿAmr b. ‘Ubayd al-Basrī came to see Abū ʿAbdillāh Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad al-Sādiq. When he saluted and sat down, he recited this verse: And those who shun the great sins and indecencies [42:37]. Then he stopped. Abū ʿAbdillāh said: ‘What made you to be silent?’ He said: ‘I would like to know the great sins from the Book of God.’ (The Imām) said: ‘Yes! O ʿAmr, the greatest of the great is to ascribe a partner to God, because God, the Mighty, the Great, says: Surely Allah does not forgive that any thing should be associated with Him [4:48;4:116]; and He has said: Surely whoever associates (others) with Allah, then Allah has forbidden to him the garden, and his abode is the fire; [5:72]. ‘‘ ‘After that comes despairing of God’s mercy, because God says: ... surely none despairs of Allah’s mercy except the unbelieving people [12:87];

8:179‘‘ ‘Then is feeling secure from God’s plan, because God says: But none feels secure from Allah’s plan except the people who shall perish [7:99];

‘‘ ‘And among (the great sins) is disobedience to parents, because God has counted a disobedient (child) as insolent (and) unblessed, in the verse [quoting Jesus]: And dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me insolent, unblessed [19:32];

‘‘ ‘And among them is killing a soul whom God has given protection to—except with [judicial] authority—as He says: And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it [4:93];

‘‘ ‘And slandering married women, because God says: Surely those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware (of the evil), are cursed in this world and the hereafter, and they shall have a grievous chastisement. [24:23];

‘‘ ‘And swallowing the property of an orphan, for He says: (As for) those who swallow the property of the orphans unjustly, surely they only swallow fire into their belies and soon they shall enter burning fire. [4:10];

‘‘ ‘And fleeing from jihād, as God says: And whoever shall turn his back to them on that day—unless he turns aside for the sake of fighting or withdraws to a company—then he, indeed, becomes deserving of Allah’s wrath, and his abode is hell; and an evil destination shall it be. [8:16];

‘‘ ‘And swallowing interest, because God says: Those who swallow down interest cannot stand except as one whom Satan has confounded with (his) touch does stand. [2:275]; and He (further) says: But if you do (it) not, [i.e., if you do not forgo the interest], then be apprised of war from Allah and His Messenger;[2:279]; ‘‘ ‘And sorcery, for God says:... and certainly they knew that he who bought it (i.e., sorcery) should have no share (of good) in the hereafter, ... [2:102];

8:180‘‘ ‘And fornication, because God says:... and he who does this (i.e., fornication) shall find a requital of sin; the punishment shall be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall abide therein in abasement. [25:68–69];

‘‘ ‘And false oath, for God says: (As for) those who take a small price for the covenant of Allah and their (own) oaths—surely they shall have no portion in the hereafter, and Allah will not speak to them, ... [3:77];

‘‘ ‘And defrauding; God says: ... and he who defrauds shall bring (with him) that which he has defrauded, on the Day of Resurrection; [3:161];

‘‘ ‘And withholding the obligatory zakāt, for God says: ... and (as for) those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in Allah’s way, announce to them a painful chastisement, on the Day when it shall be heated in the fire of hell, then their foreheads and their sides and their backs shall be branded with it; this is what you hoarded up for yourselves, ... [9:34–35];

‘‘ ‘And false testimony and concealing (true) testimony, because God says: and whoever conceals it [i.e., testimony], his heart is surely sinful;[2:283];

‘‘ ‘And drinking liquor, because God has made it equal to idolworshiping [in the verse 5:90];

‘‘ ‘And neglecting prayer or any of the things made obligatory by God, because the Messenger of God says: ‘‘Whoever neglects prayer intentionally, he goes out from the protection of God and the protection of His Messenger’’;

‘‘ ‘And breaking a promise and misbehaving with relatives, because God says (about these): (As for) those, upon them shall be curse and they shall have the evil (issue) of the abode [13:25].’ ’’

(Imām al-Kāzim, ) said: ‘‘Then ʿAmr b. ʿUbayd went away crying out loudly, and he was saying: ‘Perished he who spoke by his own opinion and contended with you in virtue and knowledge.’ ’’ (Majmaʿ al-Bayān)

Author’s comments: A hadīth of nearly the same meaning has been narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās through Sunnī chains. This tradition makes two things clear:

8:181First: The great sins are those which have been very strongly prohibited, either by using forceful language or by threatening with the fire, in the Qur’an or the tradition (as may be seen in the proofs put forward by the Imām). It clarifies the meaning of al-Kāfī’s hadīth, ‘‘Great (sins) are those for which God has imposed (the punishment of) the fire’’; and also that of Man lā yahduruh al-faqīh and al-Tafsīr of al-ʿAyyāshī, that great sins are those which God has threatened (to punish) with fire. The imposition and the threat mentioned in these traditions are general; they may be explicit or implied, in the Book of God or in the hadīth of the Prophet.

I think that the same is the import of the interpretation ascribed to Ibn ʿAbbās; and when he speaks about threat with fire he uses it in general terms which covers explicit as well as implicit threat, whether it is found in the Qur’an or the tradition. It is supported by another tradition found in al-Tafsīr of al-Ṭabarī, and attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās in which he says: ‘‘Great are those sins which God ends with (the threat of) fire, or (His) wrath or curse or chastisement.’’ This also makes it clear that what has been narrated from him in al-Tafsīr of al-Ṭabarī and other books that, ‘‘Every sin prohibited by God is great’’, does not give a different meaning of great sins; it merely says that every sin is great when looked at in the perspective of man’s insignificance vis-a-vis the majesty of his Lord, as was explained earlier.

Second: Some of the preceding and the following traditions give the number of the great sins as eight or nine (as some Sunnī traditions narrated from the Prophet do), or twenty (as seen in this tradition), or seventy (vide some other narrations). This difference reflects the difference in degrees of greatness of sins, as may be seen in the Imām’s words in this very tradition, ‘‘the greatest of the great is to ascribe a partner to God’’. (5) al-Bukhārī, Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, al-Nasāʾī and Ibn Abī Hātim have narrated from Abū Hurayrah that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God has said: ‘Keep away from seven mortal sins.’ They said: ‘And what are they? O Messenger of God!’ He said: ‘Ascribing a partner to God; slaying the soul that God has forbidden except by right; sorcery; devouring usury; devouring the property of an orphan; turning back (from the enemy) on the day of marching (to battle); and accusing the married believing women (of adultery) while they are unaware (of such false accusation).’ ’’ (al-Durr al-Manthūr)

8:182(6) Ibn Hibbān and Ibn Marduwayh have narrated from Abū Bakr b. Muḥammad b. ʿAmr b. Hazm, from his father, from his grandfather that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God wrote a letter to the people of Yemen, which listed obligatory and recommended deeds and indemnity for bodily injuries; and sent it with ʿAmr b. Hazm, who said: ‘It was written in the letter, inter alia, that the greatest of the great sins near God on the Day of Resurrection is associating someone/something with God; killing the soul of a believer without right; fleeing (from war) on the day of marching (to battle); disobeying the parents; slandering a married woman; learning sorcery, devouring interest; and devouring the property of an orphan.’ ’’ (ibid.)

(7) ʿAbdullāh b. Ahmad has narrated in Zawāʾid al-zuhd, from Anas that he said: ‘‘I heard the Prophet saying: ‘Well, surely my intercession is for those of my ummah who might have done great sins.’ Then he recited the verse, If you avoid the great sins which you are forbidden, We will expiate from you your (small) sins ...’’ (ibid.)