Major sins in Islam are defined as what Allah and His Messenger forbid in the Qur’an and Sunnah, as well as what is narrated on the authority of early Muslims.
Allah promised that whoever avoids the major sins will have his minor sins forgiven.
Allah Said:
If you abstain from the major (sins) out of what you have been forbidden from, We shall write off your minor sins, and shall admit you to a noble entrance. – Quran 4:31
The Prophet (pbuh) 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.”
We are obliged to learn about what the major sins are in order to avoid them. Scholars of Sacred knowledge are of different opinions about the number of major sins. It is argued that they are only seven owing to the Prophet’s (pbuh) saying,
“Avoid the seven heinous sins: Worshipping others with Allah, sorcery, taking a life which Allah has made sacred except in the course of justice, devouring usury, appropriating the property of the orphan, fleeing from the battlefield, and charging believing women, unmindful though innocent, with adultery.”
Ibn Abbas holds that they are likely counted as seventy, not seven.
That is a good point of view because enumeration is not intended in the Hadith.
As a matter of fact, any sin entailing either a threat of punishment in the Hereafter explicitly mentioned by the Qur’an or Hadith, a prescribed legal penalty is called a major sin. We have to bear in mind that some major sins are most heinous than another. Below is the list of the 70 major sins in Islam.
- 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 do so
- 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
May Allah forgive us our sins and protect us from all kinds of sins.