CLASS 1
PROHIBITIONS & MAJOR SINS
Prohibitions set by Allah S.W.T.
Praise be to Allah; we praise Him and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge with Allah from the evil of our own souls and from our evil deeds. Whomever Allah guides will never be led astray, and whomever Allah leaves astray, no-one will guide. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah Alone, with no partners or associates, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Slave and Messenger.
Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, has laid down obligations which we are not permitted to ignore, and has set limits which we are not permitted to transgress, and has set out prohibitions which we are not allowed to violate.
The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whatever Allah has permitted in His Book is allowed, and whatever He has prohibited is forbidden; whatever He has remained silent about is a concession, so accept the concession of Allah, for Allah is never forgetful.” Then he recited the ayah: “. . . and your Lord is never forgetful” [Maryam 19:64]. (Reported by al-Hakim, 2/375; classified as hasan by al-Albaani in Ghaayat al-Maraam, p. 14)
Allah has issued a threat to the one who transgresses His set limits and violates His prohibitions, as He says (interpretation of the meaning): “And whosoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, and transgresses His limits, He will cast him into the Fire, to abide therein; and he shall have a disgraceful torment.” [al-Nisaa’ 4:14]
Avoiding that which has been forbidden is a duty, because the Prophet ﷺ said: “Whatever you have been prohibited to do, avoid it, and whatever you have been commanded to do, do as much of it as you can.” (Reported by Muslim, Kitaab al-fadaa’il, hadeeth no. 130, Abd al-Baaqi edition).
It is well-known that some of those who follow their desires, who are weak at heart and have little knowledge, become irritated when they hear lists of prohibitions. They grumble and mutter, “Everything is haram, you haven’t left us anything that is not forbidden! You make our lives boring and miserable. You don’t talk about anything but what is haram, but religion is supposed to easy, not strict, and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.”
In response to such remarks, we say:
Allah, may He be glorified, rules as He wills and there is none to put back His judgement. He is All-Wise and Aware, and He allows whatever He wills and forbids whatever He wills, may He be glorified. One of the basic principles of our being His slaves is that we should accept whatever He decrees and submit fully to it. His rulings stem from His knowledge, wisdom and justice, and are not the matter of frivolity or foolish whims, as He says (interpretation of the meaning):
“And the Word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and in justice. None can change His words. And He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower.” [al-An’aam 6:115]
Allah has explained to us the governing principle behind the allowing and prohibiting of various things (interpretation of the meaning):
“. . . He allows them as lawful al-tayyibaat [(i.e., all good and lawful) as regards things, deeds, beliefs, persons, foods, etc.], and prohibits them as unlawful al-khabaa’ith (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: ‘Shall I not tell you of the most serious of the major sins?’ three times. We said, ‘Of course, O Messenger of Allah!’ He said, ‘Associating anything in worship with Allah . . .’” (Agreed upon; see al-Bukhari, no. 2511, al-Bagha edition).
Major Sins
Major sins are defined as what is forbidden by Allah and His Messenger in the Qur'an and the Sunnah in addition to what is narrated on the authority of early Muslims. Allah, the Most high, promises whoever avoids the major sins to expiate his minor sins.
Allah, the Almighty says, “If ye (but) eschew the most heinous of the things which ye are forbidden to do, we shall remit your evil deeds, and admit you to a gate of great honour”. (An-Nisaa :31)
In this text, Allah, the Most High, also promises whoever avoids the major sins to admit him to Paradise. Allah, the Almighty says, {Those who avoid the greater sins and indecencies, and when they are angry even they forgive;} (Ash-Shura:37)
Also it is stated in the Qur'an, {Those who avoid great sins and indecent deeds, save lesser offences, verily thy Lord is ample in forgiveness.} (An Najm:32)
Major sins are those which appear by name in the Qur’an or hadith as the subject of an explicit threat of punishment, prescribed legal penalty, or curse.
Minor sins may be forgiven from prayer to prayer, from one Friday prayer to another, and so forth, as there many acts and deeds through which minor sins are forgiven.
The Prophet ﷺ said, "The five prescribed Prayers, and from one Friday Prayer to another and from Ramadan to another entail forgiveness for what is between them as long as you do not commit the major sins.” Reported by Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Khuzaymah and Ahmed.
We as Muslims are obliged to learn about what the major sins are, so that we may avoid them. We have to bear in mind that some major sins are most heinous than another. This is because the Prophet ﷺ has enlisted Shirk (worshipping others with Allah) though a polytheist will suffer eternal torture in Fire and will never be forgiven.
The 70 Major Sins mentioned by Imam Shamsu ed-Deen Dhahabi in the book “Al Kaba’ir (Major Sins)”: -
Ascribing Associates To Allah, The Most High (Shirk)
Killing A Human Being
Sorcery
Not Performing the Prayer
Not Paying Zakat
Breaking One's Fast During Ramadan Without an Excuse
Not Performing the Hajj when able to
Showing Disrespect to One's Parents
Severing the Ties of One's Relatives
Adultery
Sodomy
Accepting Usurious Gain
Wrong Consuming an Orphan's Property
Lying About the Prophet
Fleeing From the Battlefield
The Leader Who Misleads His Followers, the Tyrant and the Oppressor
Arrogance, Pride, Conceit, Vanity and Haughtiness
Bearing False Witness
Drinking Alcohol
Gambling (Qimar)
Accusing a Woman of Adultery
Misappropriating Spoils of War, Muslim Funds or Zakat
Theft
Highwaymen Who Menace the Road
The Engulfing Oath
Taking People's Property Through Falsehood
Collecting Taxes
The Consumption of Haram
Suicide
Telling Lies
The Dishonest Judge
Bribery
Women Imitating Men and Vice Versa
The Pimp and the One Who Permits His Wife to Fornicate
Marrying Solely to Return to the Previous Husband
Not Freeing Oneself of All Traces of Urine
Showing off in Good Work
Learning Sacred Knowledge for the Sake of this World or Concealing It
Breach of Faith
Reminding Recipients of One's Charity to them
Disbelieving in Destiny
Listening to the People's Private conversations
The Talebearer who stirs up enmity between people
Cursing Others
Breaking One's Promise or Pledge
Believing Fortunetellers and Astrologers
A Wife's Rebellion Against Her Husband
Picture-making
Loudly Lamenting for the Dead or when Afflicted With an Adversity
Excess Against Others
Overburdening and Arrogance Against Others
Hurting One's Neighbor
Hurting or Reviling Muslims
Harming the Servants of Allah
Dragging the Hem of One's Garment Out of Conceit
Men Wearing Silk or Gold
Fleeing of the Slave
Slaughtering in Other Than Allah's Name
Falsely Claiming Someone is One's Father
Arguing, Picking Apart Another's Words, and Quarreling
Withholding Excess Water From Others
Stinting When Weighing or Measuring Out Goods and Similar Merchandise
Feeling Secure From Allah's Devising
Despairing of the Mercy of Allah and Losing of Hope
Forgoing the Congregational Prayer to Pray Alone Without A Legal Excuse
Constantly Missing the Friday and Congregational Prayer Without A Valid Excuse
Bringing Loss to the Bequest
Deception and Evil Schemes
Spying on the Muslims and Revealing Their Weaknesses
Disparaging the Companions of the Prophet
InShaAllah from the tomorrow we start studying a little details of each of these sins and their respective punishments.
TIPS FOR THE TEST
Do not have to memorize the Ayahs or Hadeeths word for word, get a good understanding of the message in it.
We should remember all the Major sins so that we can stay away from them but for the sake of the test you do not have to memorise them all.
ATTENDANCE/ASSIGNMENT
Please do this assignment before taking the test, there will be a question asked about the Assignment worth 10 marks in the test: -
Share & Invite at least 10 people to the course. – 3 Marks (Please read the note below).
Inform and discuss about any 3 Major Sins that you see common amongst your society with at least 3 friends or family members. – 6 Marks
Pray for the Ummah (that Allah helps the oppressed Muslims and that He gives Hidayah to those who are blessed with worldly success to help the Ummah). – 1 Marks
Note
Inviting
Those who have already invited whether on WhatsApp, Email, Fb or Telegram do not need to invite again .Those who invited a few and has the possibility of inviting more please do so.
Also note inviting does not mean that people have to join, our job is to spread the message, they have the option to join or not, but if you can personally also ask them to join then that can be a source of good for you and the person you are calling InShaAllah.
Discussing with Friends/Family
Please take this assignment as a motivation to start talking about Islam and make it part of your regular day (even if you do not know too much, spread the little that you know, as the Prophet ﷺ said “Convey from me, even if it is one verse”), most of us are too shy to talk about Islam but are ok to talk about anything under the sky.
You have the full week to do so.
There will be a question asked in the Test paper about the Assignment, you will have to mention what you did to get the marks accordingly.
May Allah make us all amongst those who call others to good by spreading the Deen of Allah and help us in this noble path.
May Allah help us all Learn the Good to apply it in our lives and the Evil to stay away from it!
Please do invite your friends & Family to the course.
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Happy Learning... JazakAllah Khair...
As Salam Aliakum Wa Rahmatullaahi Wa Barkaatuhu :)