I Begin With The Name Of Allah, The Most Merciful, The One Who Bestows Mercy
Alhamdulillah! Indeed, all praise is due to Allah. We praise Him and seek His Help and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah from our soul’s evils and our wrong doings. He whom Allah guides, no one can misguide; and he whom He misguides, no one can guide.
I bear witness that there is no god except Allah – alone without any partners. And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger.
O Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and the followers of Muhammad, just as You sent prayers upon Ibrahim and upon the followers of Ibrahim. Verily you are full of praise and majesty. O Allah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, just as You sent blessings upon Ibrahim and upon the family of Ibrahim. Verily, You are full of praise and majesty.
Dear brothers and sisters! Know that, abstaining from sins is crucial for all of Allah’s creation. It is a recipe for progress, development and success. It is the only thing that allows us to live a peaceful and happy life. To live as Allah intended us to live. Therefore, if you want happiness, live a sin-free life.
Respected servants of Allah! Wallahi sinning depletes our souls and it leaves us with nothing. It causes enormous pain and suffering. It causes extreme loneliness, guilt and emotional pain. It secludes us from the society. It misguides us, and misdirects our path. Most importantly, it lowers our chances of entering paradise unless if Allah forgives us.
My beloved people! Wallahi I have never known someone who excessively sinned, but did not regret it later on his life. Be it in this world or the hereafter. Those who do not regret a sin, they are misinformed and ignorant. They lack the necessary peace and understanding of what true life is. Therefore, any sane and righteous person, someone of knowledge and understanding, someone who strives for the happiness in the hereafter, they cannot view their sins as attributes of success, rather obstacles to the higher purpose. They in their understanding are in a state of regret and repenting to the All-Merciful.
So, what are some of the sins that are forbidden and that leave permanent scars in our souls. Not only do we get punished by the justice system in this world, but it will have negative consequences in the hereafter, the most important aspect of our life.
Dear brothers and sisters! Below are five major sins that we should absolutely avoid if we hope to live in paradise eternally. This is my personal list, and therefore has no authority in the importance of ranking. It is however based on my personal judgement.
- Associating partners with Allah
This is the worst of all sins. By doing such a thing, we are not worshipping and praising our creator for his majesty, but we are attributing false things to the one who creates everything. And Allah the Almighty says:
“Every sin is forgiven but that of Shirk (associating partners with Allah). And no man should die in such a state unless they wish to see light.”
- Committing murder
This is rather self explanatory. All of Allah’s creation is sacred. No person, regardless of their nationality, race, religion, tribe, region, political association, intelligence, and wisdom should be murdered. Allah is the creator of all life, and it is only Him who should take life away. He has created each soul with a purpose, and has destined for it a life span. A life that is purposeful, and that will be a catalyst and a means to change someone’s life.
- Committing adultery or fornication
In today’s society, to some people, the number of partners someone have slept with give him a status of success, however, in the hereafter it will serve to punish us, by giving us a status of an immoral soul. Sex was created and deemed appropriate by Allah between husband and wife to enjoy the company of each other, and to reproduce as He intended. Changing of partners, not only is it forbidden, but it is harmful to our health, as there are many sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Don’t let the society dictate your life, because purity in Allah’s eyes is more noble than all of His creations praise of you.
- Breaking trusts (Cin Amanah)
Allah says in the glorious Qur’an:
“O you who believe! Be not unfaithful to Allah and the Messenger, nor be unfaithful to your trusts while you know.” [Qur’an, 08:27]
Upholding trust is a virtue. Therefore, Allah defined believers as ones who uphold their trusts and covenants, including the public and private trusts, as well as the covenants they undertake in all the issues related to their public and private lives. Allah wants the people, each and every one of them, to observe their trusts and not to betray Allah and His Messenger or His creation.
Moreover, Imam Al-Baqir (AS) explains the Qur’anic verse [above] by saying that betraying Allah and the Messenger is to disobey them. As for misappropriating that which is entrusted to you, it is because every human being is entrusted with what Allah has imposed on him.
Allah wants people to live the deep sense of trust. He wants people to have regard for one another according to conduct and not outer appearance, for the Prophet (Peace be upon him) says:
“Do not look at how much they fast or pray, but look instead at their truthfulness and trustworthiness.”
These two traits are what signifies how much one is committed to the Islamic message.
It is narrated that Imam Al-Baqir (AS) once said:
“There are three things which Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious, has not permitted anyone to forsake: returning a trust to its owner, irrespective of whether he is a good person or an evil one; fulfilling one’s promises and covenants, irrespective of whether it has been made to a good person or an evil one; being good and kind towards one’s parents, irrespective of whether they are good or evil.”
It was also narrated that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) says:
“Whoever betrays a trust in this world and does not return it to its owners, he would die not embracing my religion and he will be met with Allah’s anger.”
- Theft
When you take something unlawfully, you are taking the sweat of someone who has worked hard for it. And how would you like for someone to take your possessions from you, the ones you have worked hard and have dedicated a lot of time for?
The Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) cursed the thief because he is a corrupt element in society, and if he is left unpunished, his corruption will spread and infect the body of the Ummah (Muslim community).
So, if you avoid the major sins, surely, you are going in the right path. Remember what Allah said in the glorious Qur’an:
“If you avoid the major (part) of what you have been forbidden (to do), We will cancel out for you your (other) evil deeds and will admit you (to Paradise) with a noble entry.” [Qur’an, 4:31]
And remember Allah forgives all sins:
It was narrated from Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) said:
“Allah has one hundred degrees of mercy, of which He sent down one among the jinn, mankind, the animals and the vermin, by virtue of which they show compassion and mercy to one another, and the wild animal shows compassion to its young. But Allah has kept behind ninety-nine degrees of mercy by virtue of which He will have mercy on His slaves on the Day of Resurrection.” [Narrated by Muslim]
Allah Most High says:
“Surely, Allah does not forgive associating anything with Him, and He forgives whatever is other than that to whomever He wills.” [Qur’an, 4:48 and 116]
Respected brothers and sisters! Below is a full list of sins that we should avoid by all means so that we will succeed here and the hereafter:
- Associating anything with Allah (Shirk)
- Murder (Kisan kai)
- Practising magic (Sihr)
- Not Praying
- Not paying Zakah
- Not fasting in the Month of Ramadan without excuse
- Not performing Hajj, while being able to do so
- Disrespect to parents
- Abandoning relatives
- Fornication and Adultery
- Homosexuality (sodomy) and Lesbianism
- Interest/Usury (Ribah)
- Wrongfully consuming the property of an orphan
- Lying about Allah and His Messenger
- Running away from the battlefield (legal battle)
- A leader’s deceiving of his people and being unjust to them (Zaluntar talakawa)
- Pride and arrogance (Girman kai da alfahari)
- Bearing false witness (Shaidar zur)
- Drinking Khamr/Alcohol (wine/giya)
- Gambling (Caca)
- Slandering chaste women (yiwa salihan mata sharri da kazafi)
- Stealing from the spoils of war (Gululi)
- Stealing (sata)
- Highway Robbery (fashi da makami)
- Taking false oath (rantsuwar karya)
- Oppression
- Illegal gain
- Consuming wealth acquired unlawfully
- Committing suicide
- Frequent lying
- Judging unjustly
- Giving and Accepting bribes
- Woman’s imitating man and man’s imitating woman
- Being cuckold
- Marrying a divorced woman in order to make her lawful for the husband
- Not cleaning or protecting oneself from urine
- Showing-off
- Learning knowledge of the religion for the sake of this world and concealing that knowledge, not teaching it to people
- Betrayal of trust (cin amanah)
- Recounting favours (yiwa juna gori)
- Denying Allah’s Decree
- Listening (to) people’s private and secret conversations
- Carrying tales
- Cursing
- Breaking contracts
- Believing in fortunetellers and astrologers
- A woman’s bad conduct towards her husband
- Making statues and pictures
- Lamenting, wailing, tearing the clothing, and doing other things of this sort when an affliction befalls
- Treating others unjustly
- Overbearing conduct toward the wife, the servant, the weak, and animals
- Offending one’s neighbour
- Offending and abusing Muslims
- Offending people and having an arrogant attitude toward them
- Trailing one’s garment in pride
- Men’s wearing silk and gold
- A slave’s running away from his master
- Slaughtering an animal which has been dedicated to anyone other than Allah
- To knowingly ascribe one’s paternity to a father other than one’s own
- Arguing and disputing violently
- Withholding excess water
- Giving short weight or measure
- Feeling secure from Allah’s plan and punishment
- Offending Allah’s righteous friends
- Not praying in congregation but praying alone without an excuse
- Persistently missing Friday Prayers without any excuse
- Usurping the rights of the heir through bequests
- Deceiving and plotting evil
- Spying for the enemy of the Muslims
- Cursing or insulting any of the Companions of Allah’s Messenger
- Kidnapping
- Taking illegal drugs and selling them
- Terrorism
- Spreading fake news
- Extremism
- Enmity
- Jealousness/Envy/ Hatred
- Armed Banditry
May Allah give us the knowledge, patience, wisdom and means to live a sinless life. One that is prosperous, and that will lead us to paradise.
O Allah, You have created our souls and it is for You to take them in death. Their death and their life is for You. If You cause them to live then preserve and protect them and if You cause them to die then forgive them. O Allah, we ask You for physical well-being; ameen.
Imam Murtadha Muhammad Gusau, the Chief Imam of Nagazi-Uvete Jumu’ah and the late Alhaji Abdur-Rahman Okene’s Mosques, Okene, Kogi State, Nigeria. He can be reached via: gusaumurtada@gmail.com or +2348038289761
