Major Sins and Tawbah: Lesson 11
Major Sins and Tawbah: Lesson 11
Major Sins and Tawbah: Lesson 11
Major Sins
and Tawbah
Today’s Agenda
• Review of Last Week’s Lesson (Lesson 11 – Intro to Qur’an)
• Part 3: Lesson Twelve – Major Sins and Tawbah
– What is sin and what are the consequences of committing sins
– Define and differentiate between major sins and minor sins
– Discussion of major sins
– Discussion of minor sins
– Repentance in Islam: Define and discuss importance
– Conditions of repentance in Islam
– Look at the “master of repentance”
fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
• Allah (swt) warns mankind that the ones whose bad deeds (sins) are
heavy will be in Hell.
• Striving to live the life of a believer (mu’min) and separate from the
likeness of the sinner (fasiq)
• Allah (swt), in His Mercy, has made the number of things that are
sins very small, and has made this life easy for someone to avoid sins
or to seek repentance for them.
fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
“O you who believe! Turn to Allah with sincere repentance: In the hope that your
Lord will remove from you your ills and admit you to Gardens beneath which
Rivers flow,- the Day that Allah will not permit to be humiliated the Prophet and
those who believe with him. Their Light will run forward before them and by their
right hands, while they say, "Our Lord! Perfect our Light for us, and grant us
Forgiveness: for Thou hast power over all things” At-Tahrem (The Banning); 66:8
fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
Exercise on Tawbah
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri (ra):
The Prophet said, "Amongst the men of Bani Israel there was a man who
had murdered ninety-nine persons. Then he set out asking (whether his
repentance could be accepted or not). He came upon a monk and asked him
if his repentance could be accepted. The monk replied in the negative and
so the man killed him. He kept on asking till a man advised to go to such
and such village. (So he left for it) but death overtook him on the way.
While dying, he turned his chest towards that village (where he had hoped
his repentance would be accepted), and so the angels of mercy and the
angels of punishment quarreled amongst themselves regarding him. Allah
ordered the village (towards which he was going) to come closer to him,
and ordered the village (whence he had come), to go far away, and then He
ordered the angels to measure the distances between his body and the two
villages. So he was found to be one span closer to the village (he was going
to). So he was forgiven." [Sahih Bukhari 4/676]
fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
Lessons Learned
1. We see that the man was trying to repent and change his ways.
2. The man was moving in that direction.
3. The man was a great sinner.
4. The man had an intention (niyya) of goodness and his
intention was followed by a corresponding act.
5. Allah saw and recognized his intention and the action which
followed that intention.
6. Allah, in all His Love and Mercy, created forgiveness for
the man.
fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
Conditions of Tawbah
3 conditions of repentance if the offense involves the Right of Allah:
1. To desist from committing it.
2. To feel sorry for committing it
3. To decide not to ever recommit it again.
Transliteration:
Allahumma 'Anta Rabbi La 'Ilaha 'Illa 'Anta
Khalaqtani Wa 'Ana `Abduka
Wa 'Ana `Alaa `Ahdika Wa Wa`dika Ma Astata`tu
'A`udhu Bika Min Sharri Ma sana`tu
'Abu'u Laka Bini`matika `Alayya Wa 'Abu'u Laka Bidhanbi
Faghfir Li, 'Innahu La Yaghfiru Adh-Dhunuba 'Illa 'Anta
Translation:
"O Allah! You are my Lord. There is no God except You. You created me and I am Your
slave. To the best of my ability, I will abide by my covenant and pledge to You. I seek Your
protection from the evil of my own creation. I acknowledge Your favors to me and
I admit my sins. So please forgive me for no one can forgive sins except You."
LESSON 11
Appendix
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fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
Glossary
Du'a: Prayer of supplication. May take the form of a spontaneous address to God, or of
particular formulas.
Hadith: A report verifying how the Holy Prophet performed an action, dealt with an incident or
reacted to a situation together with any dialogue which took place at the time.
Mu’min: A believer.
Fasiq: A sinner.
Shirk: The conscious or unconscious ascription of ultimate authority to someone or something
other than Allah.
Kaba’ir: A major sin, often called an enormity. Any sin entailing either a threat of punishment
in the Hereafter explicitly mentioned by the Qur’an or Hadeeth, a prescribed legal penalty
(Hadd), or being accursed by Allah or His Messenger
Sayyi’aat: Minor sins.
Jannah: Heaven
Hadd: A prescribed legal penalty for a major sin. Often requires some expiation of the sin.
fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
Glossary
Zakat: The obligatory annual alms given from property and wealth. This becomes due only
when a person has kept wealth above a certain limit for one year. The proportion (nisaab)
for cash and highly liquid assets is usually set at 2.5%
Riba: Usury
Tawbah: Repentance
Niyya: Conscious intention. It is the part of an action which affects the heart and is counted by
Allah. Without sincere intention no act, and particularly no act of worship, has any value.
Salaf: Pious Predecessors
Tawhid: The doctrine of the absolute unity and indivisibility of Allah.
Sunnah: The example of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in character and behavior. As what he did
was not from his own will but from his Lord he is both the exponent of the Qur'an in
practical human life and the model of perfect humanity. When Muslims follow the example
of the Prophet, even in one simple act they are making a link not only with the Prophet but
also with Allah.
It is the second source of the Shariah, after the Qur'an.
Nabi: A Prophet. Several are listed in the Qur'an. Not always a Rasul.
fall/winter 2007 | lesson 12: Major Sins and Repentance
FAQs
• What about the sins that I committed before I was Muslim?
All the sins that one commits before Islam are wiped clean. When someone
states their shahada, it is as if they are a new born. All sins are wiped away.
If you wronged a person, however, then it you should do what you can to
make amends or to right that wrong.
FAQs
• Are there any sins that are unforgivable?
All sins can be forgiven except the sin of associating partners with Allah
(shirk). This does not only relate to associating other gods with Allah. The
concept of shirk is much more extensive. If someone “lives for the dollar”
then their intention is to do something for the love of money, instead of for
the sake of Allah. We should all be careful in this and make sure that we
are not worshipping worldly things with Allah.
References
1. Based on text from Chapter 2: Tawbah [Repentance] , of The famous
collection of Ahadith Riyad us Salihin by Imam ul Islam Abu Zakariya
Yahya Ibn Sharaf An Nawawi