Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

Asalam alaikum

I read on the net somewhere that persistence in commiting of a minor sin considering it insignificant and thinking that Allah SWT will not punish us for it, makes it a major sin. Is it true? Plz give reference for ur answer.

I got into an argument with a relative of mine on this issue. She claimed that Allah SWT has said that a time will come when just being on the right faith will be considered enough to be entered into Paradise and the minor sins will not be considered at all. That is, we would be accounted more severely for our sins than the people who were present at the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW because of our difficult environment and the consequential difficulty on staying on the right path. She thinks it was easier for them to stay on the right path due to the presence of Prophet Muhammad SAW among them.

I would like to know your view with reference on the matter.

Jazakillah Khair

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Answer:

Committing minor constantly makes it major

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

Your Question: I read on the net somewhere that persistence in commiting of a minor sin considering it insignificant and thinking that Allah SWT will not punish us for it, makes it a major sin. Is it true? Plz give reference for ur answer.

Firstly, we need to determine what deed constitutes a ‘major’ sin and what deed constitutes a ‘minor’ sin.

Any sin whereby Allah and His Messenger (saws) have either listed it amongst the ‘major sins’ or Shariah has prescribed a punishment for it would be regarded as a ‘major’ sin (eg. Shirk, disbelief, hypocrisy, apostasy, murder, zina, burglary, theft, etc.). All the other sins would be considered ‘minor sins’ in the context of Shariah or Islamic Jurisprudence.

There is a general false misconception amongst the Muslim Ummah that it is ‘okay’ to commit minor sins; for Allah forgives all ‘minor’ sins. But Allah is our witness, every person will bear the burden of his evil in the Majestic Presence of The All-Mighty Lord on the Day of Judgment, regardless of whether the sin committed was classified as ‘major’ or ‘minor’! Allah Subhanah has commanded the believers who sincerely believe in Him and the Last Day to eschew and stay far away from any and all sins, whether they are open and manifest, or secret and hidden. A sin is a sin, and unless one sincerely seeks repentance from their Lord Most Merciful, that sin will be brought forth to account on that Inevitable and Tumultuous Day of Resurrection.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 6 Surah Anaam verse 120:

120 Eschew all sins, open or secret! Those who earn sin will get due recompense for their "earnings."

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 99 Surah Zalzalah verse 8:

8 And (on the Day of Judgment) anyone who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it.

Without an iota of a doubt, Allah Subhanah is The Most Merciful and does forgive the sins of his repentant slaves; but one should remember that He is also the most severe in retribution and punishment.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 15 Surah Hijr verses 49-50:

49 (O Prophet (saws): Tell My slaves that I am indeed the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful;

50 And that My Penalty will be indeed The Most Grievous Penalty.

‘Minor’ or small sins are those errors which one does in ignorance, and one may or may not even be aware of the magnitude of ‘minor’ sins one commits…..indeed the Lord Most Merciful forgives a multitude of such ‘minor’ sins through good deeds like ‘wudu’, voluntary and obligatory fasts, voluntary and obligatory salah, giving of sadaqah, performing Umrah and Hajj pilgrimage, remembrance of Allah, etc.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 11 Surah Hud verse 114:

114 And establish regular prayers at the two ends of the day and at the approaches of the night: for those things that are good remove those that are evil: be that the word of remembrance to those who remember (their Lord).

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa Verse 31:

31 If ye (but) eschew the most heinous of the things (major sins) which ye are forbidden to do, We shall expel out of you all the evil in you (minor sins), and admit you to a Gate of great honor.

But to intentionally insist or persist in constantly transgressing the prescribed Boundaries of the Lord, assuming that the Lord Most High will not hold one accountable for one’s sins as long as they are ‘minor’….is to make a mockery of the Grace and the Mercy of the Lord Most Merciful. The scholars and jurists in Islam are unanimous in their opinion that if one insists or persists in doing a ‘minor’ sin again and again, it would constitute a ‘major’ sin in the Scales of Justice of the Lord Most Just.

Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 4 Surah Nisaa verses 17-18:

17 Allah accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and repent soon afterwards; to them will Allah turn in mercy; for Allah is full of knowledge and wisdom.

18 Of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil until death faces one of them and he says "Now have I repented indeed"; nor of those who die rejecting faith: for them have We prepared a punishment most grievous.

Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 3 Surah Ale Imraan verse 135-136:

Allah likes such good people very much, who, if ever they commit a base deed or wrong their own soul by the commission of a sin, remember Allah instantly, and ask for forgiveness from Him for their shortcomings. For who, but Allah, can forgive sins? (And Allah loves those) who do not knowingly persist in the wrongs they did. These will be rewarded with forgiveness from Allah, and with Gardens beneath which canals flow, and they will reside therein forever! How excellent is the reward of those who do good deeds!

Hadrat Abu Hurairah (r.a.) said: ‘The Messenger of Allah (saws) said, "Allah, the Exalted, becomes Angry; and His Anger is provoked when a person does what Allah has declared unlawful.''

Related by Bukhari and Muslim.

Your Question: …..I got into an argument with a relative of mine on this issue. She claimed that Allah SWT has said that a time will come when just being on the right faith will be considered enough to be entered into Paradise and the minor sins will not be considered at all. That is, we would be accounted more severely for our sins than the people who were present at the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW because of our difficult environment and the consequential difficulty on staying on the right path. She thinks it was easier for them to stay on the right path due to the presence of Prophet Muhammad SAW among them. I would like to know your view with reference on the matter.

In light of the Guidance of the Quran and the Sunnah it is absolutely evident that a deed, good and/or evil, is magnified according to when, where, and under what situations, conditions, society, age, or era it is committed.

For example a sin committed in the Sacred House of Allah in Makkah is greater than the same committed in any other place on earth; or the abomination of ‘zina’ committed by an aged person is graver in the Sight of Allah Subhanah than one committed by a young person who is hugely influenced by the pangs of youth, etc.

Thus to answer your question, indeed one who saw the Prophet of Allah (saws) and his noble companions in their presence, or was present in an age when the Glorious Quran was being revealed, or was a citizen of a pious righteous society….and that person was involved in an act of sin….indeed that sin would be much greater and graver in the Sight of Allah Subhanah than if that same sin was committed by one who finds himself living in an impious and an ungodly society at another place or time or era.

Alternatively, if one strove to stay on the ‘Sirat al-Mustaqeem’ and persevered in doing good deeds in today’s age and era of manifest ‘fitnah’…..obviously the doing of such good would hold greater weight in the Sight of Allah Subhanah than a similar deed done in the era of the Prophet (saws), or during the time of the Rightly Guided Khalifahs, or during the time of the noble companions of the Prophet (saws), or in a righteous or pious society and era.

Al-Tirmidhi Hadith 179 Narrated by Abu Hurayrah

Allah's Messenger (saws) said: ‘(You are living) in an age that when he who abandons even one-tenth of that which is prescribed, courts destruction. After this there will come a time when he who observes (even only) one-tenth of what is now prescribed will be saved!’

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your brother and well wisher in Islam,

Burhan