Many of us were taught earlier in their childhood that they will be punished if they do something wrong and rewarded if they do the right thing. It is not just a religious dogma but a well-known principle in the organization of society. Theoretically, those who follow the commands or obey the law are rewarded and those who disobey are punished. This is at least the basic general theory, and practically the foundation of law and order . Religion argues that he who is mindful of the creator and his might should refrain from wrong action because of the punishment which follows wrong actions. There is a common argument from disbelievers that is is not explainable why some wrong-doers seem to never be punished and continue spreading mischief in the world. Some people will argue that the punishment will be meted out in the hereafter. But is it really so that some people can escape the punishment for their sins in this world and be accountable only in the next world or is the punishment of sins io be meted in this world first ? Are some sins less harmful that others or is every wrong-doing the cause of a calamity?
A sin is a transgression of God known will. God’s will is expressed in religious scriptures in form of commandments , warnings and prescriptions to the believers. Almost one third of the quran is said to be about these warnings and it is the case with other divine revelations. It is said that a righteous person will struggle to abide to the commandments of God whereas a disbeliever will follow his whims and desires as mind naturally turns towards sinful acts.
Broadly speaking, the main cause of dangers and difficulties faced by people in this world is their sins. Abstaining from wrong actions is there beneficial for a successful life no matter if is is just by fear God or by shyness and shame. There is no greatest protection of faith that refraining from wrong actions. The prophet said:” When the adulterer commits adultery he is not a believer, and when the wine-imbiber drinks alcohol he is not a believer and when the thief steals he is not a believer.”Because of sins a man’s honor is affected and his number of enemies can increase. The livelihood can diminish or be lost because of sin. The prophet said that a man can be deprived completely from livelihood due to sin. Moreover a learned man can be made forgetful and unlearned due to sin.
The punishments of sin in this world are similar to some tests that people go through according to destiny, Some are are inward such as blindness of mind or a reprobate sense . A strong delusions as well as hardness of heart can also be caused by sins and disobedience. Others are outward such as the curse of God upon the creatures and all other evils that befall us in our bodies, names, estates, relations, and employments . The ultimate reward for obeying God and dying as a believer is paradise. God says: I have prepared for my righteous servants a reward that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard and no heart of a living man can conceived. Another explanation says that the lowest level is paradise is as the greatest kings on earth and that the last person in paradise will get a space as big as ten time the space in this world.
Sins can start in the mind through infidelity and hypocrisy. Sins can also arise from greed for satisfaction of whims and desires such as fornication, theft, eating the property of the weak. Sins can also have their roots in the devilish nature of men such as hatred, rebellion, cheating and fraud.
Sins can be classified in various ways. The first way is to distinguish between sins that occurs as breach of the duty towards God and towards men. The sins arising from breach of duty towards God are to give up prayers, fasting, and other fundamental pillars of religion. The sins arising from the breach of duty towards men are to Kill unjustly, to misappropriate the properties of others, to destroy the rights of others, etc.. .These sins cannot always be forgiven by repentance as they might returning back what was misappropriated or asking for forgiveness to the owner of the property and rights. Another way of classifying sins in to distinguish between major and minor sins. Scholars are not unanimous about major and minor sins but there are some sins that are acknowledged as major sins. Major sins are according to imam Ghazali the things which ruin life or ruin the means of livelihood. These include murder and theft. The greatest of all major sins is disbelief and association of partners with God(kufr). Another range of sins appear in connection with life, property, religion , name and fame. According to Ibn Qayyim ,Sins may be divided into minor sins and major sins, according to the texts of the Qur’an and Sunnah, the consensus of the early generations, and how they are regarded by scholars.”
According to Al Qurtubu, a major sin is any sin which Allah mentioned after it Hellfire , wrath, curse or punishment”.
At-Tabaraani narrated in al-Mu‘jam al-Awsat (5709) from Abu Sa‘eed al-Khudri (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “The major sins are seven: associating others with Allah (shirk); killing a soul whom Allah has forbidden us to kill, except in cases dictated by Islamic law; slandering chaste women; fleeing from the battlefield; consuming riba; consuming orphans’ wealth; and going back to living in the desert like Bedouin after having migrated (hijrah).” But scholars agree that this is not intended to limit the number of major sins to seven.
Indeed major sins must be avoided and can also be forgiven through repentance. But there are also situations in which a minor sins might become a major sin. For instance if someone commits a minor sins repeatedly, it becomes a major sin. Another reason why a minor sin can become a major sin is when someone gets pleasure in commuting sin. The sign of being a believer is that one must regret and repent after committing a sin. He who enjoys sins and even commit them in public, no matter how insignificant they are, they become major sins. It is said that a man committed sins then repented and did divine service for a couple of years but his repentance was not accepted. God reveals to him that the pleasure of sins still lies in his mind.
Another situation in which a minor sin might turn into a major sin is when the sin was veiled by God to prevent others to take it as an example and was disclosed by the sinner. A sin committed in front of others will encourage them to do the same and will automatically turn into a major sin. Moreover, the minor sins of a learned man will become major sins. The reason for this is that since the learned man is a mirror for his followers, some of them repeat his actions as a matter of fact. So if he performed a single wrong action without correcting, that action will be follow by many other people.
There is a story from a book of the people of Israel that a learned man misguided the people by innovation, then repented and did a lot of good deeds for a long while. God revealed to his prophet to tell him: “ If his sin would have been confined between him and me , I would have forgiven him. How can I forgive one who misguided my servants? I will throw him into hell along with them.
Allah knows best, may he guide us and forgive us our sins…
