١٨٤. عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْأَحْوَصِ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ فِي حَجَّةِ الْوَدَاعِ لِلنَّاسِ:
«…أَلَا وَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ قَدْ أَيِسَ مِنْ أَنْ يُعْبَدَ فِي بِلَادِكُمْ هٰذِهِ أَبَدًا وَلٰكِنْ سَتَكُونُ لَهُ طَاعَةٌ فِيمَا تَحْتَقِرُونَ مِنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ فَسَيَرْضَى بِهِ…».
184. Amr bin Ahvas (r.a.) says: I heard the Messenger of Allah saying to people when he was giving his sermon in his Farewell Pilgrimage:
“…Pay attention! Satan has forever lost his hope that in these lands he will never be worshipped. However, obeying him will be possible in acts (sins) that you see as minor, and he will be pleased with this…” (Tirmidhi, Fitan, 2/2159; Ibn Majah, Manasik, 76; Nasai, al-Sunan al-kubra, II, 444/4100. Also see Hakim, II, 32/2221; Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 454)
١٨٥. عَنْ عَبْدِ اللّٰهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«إِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحَقَّرَاتِ الذُّنُوبِ فَإِنَّهُنَّ يَجْتَمِعْنَ عَلَى الرَّجُلِ حَتَّى يُهْلِكْنَهُ»
وَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ضَرَبَ لَهُنَّ مَثَلًا كَمَثَلِ قَوْمٍ نَزَلُوا أَرْضَ فَلَاةٍ فَحَضَرَ صَنِيعُ الْقَوْمِ فَجَعَلَ الرَّجُلُ يَنْطَلِقُ فَيَجِيءُ بِالْعُودِ وَالرَّجُلُ يَجِيءُ بِالْعُودِ حَتَّى جَمَعُوا سَوَادًا فَأَجَّجُوا نَارًا وَأَنْضَجُوا مَا قَذَفُوا فِيهَا.
185. It was narrated from Abdullah b. Mesud (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) spoke as follows:
“Avoid sins that are seen as minor because they accumulate in an individual and eventually destroy that person.”
Then, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gave an example as follows about sins.
A group stops to rest in a desert. When the time comes for eating, each one brings a tree branch, then they put those together, and this way they construct a bonfire and cook their food by placing their food on it. (Ahmad, I, 402-403; V, 331)
١٨٦. عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهَا قَالَتْ: قَالَ لِي رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
«يَا عَائِشَةُ إِيَّاكِ وَمُحَقَّرَاتِ الْأَعْمَالِ فَإِنَّ لَهَا مِنَ اللّٰهِ طَالِبًا».
186. Aisha (r.anha) says: The Messenger of Allah told me the following:
“O Aisha! Stay away the acts that are belittled (even from the smallest of sins that are not paid attention to). This is because there is someone (an angel) in the sight of Allah who watches and records them.” (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 29; Darimi, Riqaq, 17; Ahmad, VI, 70, 151)
١٨٧. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا أَخْطَأَ خَطِيئَةً نُكِتَتْ فِي قَلْبِهِ نُكْتَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ فَإِذَا هُوَ نَزَعَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ وَتَابَ صُقِلَ قَلْبُهُ وَإِنْ عَادَ زِيدَ فِيهَا حَتَّى تَعْلُو قَلْبَهُ وَهُوَ الرَّانُ الَّذِي ذَكَرَ اللّٰهُ:
(كَلَّا بَلْ رَانَ عَلٰى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ)».
187. According to the narration from Abu Huraira (r.a.), the Messenger of Allah said the following:
“When a slave of Allah commits a wrongdoing, a black spot is stamped on his heart. If he manages to keep his carnal self from doing this, repents, and returns from sin, his heart is purified from this spot and polished. If he returns to sins, this stamp enlarges and in the end covers his whole heart. And this is the rusting of hearts that Allah the Exalted mentions in the following noble verse:
“By no means! But on their hearts is the stain of the (ill) which they do!” (Al-Mutaffifin; 83:14) (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 83/3334; Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 29. Also see Ahmad, II, 297)
Explanations:
Since all sins carry the meaning of disobeying Allah’s rules whether great or minor, they cause Him to be displeased and even attract His anger. For this reason, Bilal b. Sa’d, who is famous for his piety, said:
“Pay attention not the size of the sins but to whom you are rebelling!” (Abu Nuaym, Hilyah, V, 223; Ahmad, Zuhd, p. 460)
On the other hand, sins prevent knowing Allah and obeying Him truly ad appropriately by hanging like a thick curtain between Allah and the slave. Thus, just like the great sins, minor sins also contain dangers for one’s spirituality. For this reason they should never be belittled.
Sins move us away from Allah’s consent and please our eternal enemy, Satan. In our first hadith, we are informed that even the minor sins mean obedience to Satan and would please him. This is because Satan is trying to move mankind away from our Lord’s mercy and compassion as he has been casted away from divine mercy. In fact, he devoted his life to this. This is because when humans were first created, Satan was jealous of them and disobeyed Allah’s orders by being consumed with arrogance. Namely, mankind has a role in his being sent off from Paradise and mercy. For this reason, it is quite natural for Satan to sit on the way to Heaven and try to turn humans into travelers destined for Hell by using all kinds of deceptions and tricks. What is really strange is the humans’ falling for their eternal enemy and following him.
The only thing Satan does in order to reach his goal is to move him away from his religion. For this reason, after warning his nation in the Farewell Sermon with the expression in our hadith the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) says:
“Be very protective of your religion by staying away from the acts (sins) that you call minor and contempt.” (Haythami, III, 267)
In our second hadith, the Prophet explained as follows why minor sins should not be belittled:
“…because they accumulate in an individual and eventually destroy that person.”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also gives an example to this, and explains in the best fashion. Just like the cooking of food by the fire of small pieces of bush and branches, the minor sins accumulate and cause someone to fall into Hell.
Sometimes people don’t notice and they think that the sins that they committed are minor matters. In fact, it is a great crime in the sight of Allah. In respect to the incident of slandering our mother Aisha (r.anha), the mistake of humans’ seeing their sins as minor amtters is alluded to in the Noble Qur’an as follows:
“Were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, in this world and the Hereafter, a grievous penalty would have seized you in that you rushed glibly into this affair. Behold, you received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things of which you had no knowledge; and you thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of Allah.” (Al-Nur; 24:14-15)
Also, a person says a careless word and sees it as trivial. In fact, the crime he committed is great enough to destroy him but he does not know it. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said the following:
“Allah’s slave happens to say something without properly thinking and he ends up falling to the part of Hell that is further than the distance between the East and West.” (Bukhari, Riqaq, 23)
On the other hand, minor sins turn into the way that takes people to great sins. They gradually turn a person and throw him into the claws of great sins. Indeed Ibn Abbas said the following:
“If one repents from a great sin it does not stay as it is, it is forgiven. The minor sin on the other hand does not remain minor if one insists and becomes a great sin.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 456)
A person who does not place importance to sins does not stay where he is, God forbid, knowingly or unknowingly, advances. For this reason, Muslim scholars warned us saying:
“Minor sins take a person to great sin, and, in turn, great sins take him to unbelief.” (Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa, number: 2317)
In this matter, Abu Hafs (r.a.) says:
“As malaria is the bearer of the news of death, sins are the bearers of the news of unbelief.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 447)
Thus, the disease of seeing the wrongdoings and sins as minor should not be a characteristic of a believer. A believer should take all types of sins seriously and try to stay away from them. Abdullah b. Masud (r.a.) describes the spiritual state of believers in the face of sins:
“A believing person increases his sins in his imagination so much that it is as if he is sitting in the skirts of a mountain and the mountain will collapse on him. On the other hand, a mischievous person sees his sins as a fly that landed on his nose.” (Bukhari, Daawat, 4)
The Companions lived in this very spiritual state against the sins. Indeed, one of the great scholars of the generation following the Noble Companions, Hasan al-Basri, narrates his observations about this exemplary generation as follows:
“The companions of the Prophet (pbuh) used to perform even a small act if they see it as nice. On the contrary, they used to stay away even from a small thing if they see it inappropriate.” (Ibn Dunya, Mawsua, I, 89)
Anas (r.a.) warned some people who later lost their sensitivity in this matter:
“You people do (bad) deeds (commit sins) which seem in your eyes as tiny (minute) than hair while we used to consider those (very deeds) during the life-time of the Prophet as destructive sins.” (Bukhari, Ar-Riqaq)
In this regard, Musa Topbaş, may he rest in peace and mercy, says in his letters to his students:
“The state and perfection of the heart of a believer is displayed in his acts. Some among the most prominent of these beautiful acts are as follows:
Being humble all the time, not wasting his time knowing the value of his time and that his number of breaths are limited, loving the slaves of Allah and not struggling with them, treating others according to their religious levels, having the habit of covering others’ wrongdoings, being careful about haram and halal, and seeing as great even the matters everyone else considers as minor. This is because whoever sees his sin as minor – God forbid – sees the command of Almighty Allah as minor.”
In our third hadith, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) desired that believers reach the state of sincerity and control and avoid even the minor sins. Whether minor or major, all acts of humans are being recorded. There are angels recording the actions of a person without leaving them even for a moment. Our Exalted Lord informs us as follows:
“Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready (to note it).” (Qaf; 50:18)
Before all, God Almighty already hears, sees, and knows everything.
One day these records will be opened and the individual will find everything he committed in front of him. Anyone who has done well in the size of an atom will see that and the same for any evil doings.[1] The astonishment of the sinners is described as follows by Allah the Exalted:
“And the book (of deeds) will be placed (before you); and you will see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say, “Ah! Woe to us! What a book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!” They will find all that they did is placed before them: And not one will your Lord treat with injustice.” (Al-Kahf; 18:49)
The criminals were not paying attention to minor sins when they were in this world, and they used to see their wrongdoings as minor issues. When they continued with this mentality, in time, they fell into major sins, and they even did not place importance to them. In the end, they found themselves in the bosom of horrifying fear,
How wise the following words of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari are:
“A person performs a good act, and then commits minor sins by relying on the good act, and he faces Allah together with the great dangers that these sins caused. On the other hand, another person commits a sin. However, he lives in fear (by thinking the compensation for that sin) and finally goes to the sight of Allah in peace.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 456; Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari, XI, 330)
Thus, a believer should always be alert, keep away even from the minor wrongdoings that people do not place importance to, and live in a state of complete check and control.
A believer should be so sensitive in the matter of sin that he should even control the thoughts in his heart.
Umar (r.a.) said the following:
“Avoid the wish and desire that come to your heart prior to sin because that is the beginning of sin! If you do not avoid this desire, your hearts fall into heedlessness from Allah.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 458)
So, feelings, thoughts, and dreams are of great importance in the matter of leading a person to sin or goodness.”[2]
It is also possible to understand the following from our third hadith: in respect to worshipping Allah and avoiding sins, a man should warn his wife and should try to endow her with the consciousness of responsibility. Essentially, to be a pious Muslim in a family, both husband and wife must warn each other, forbid the evil, and encourage goodness and beautiful things.[3]
The influence and effects of sins on heart are told in our fourth hadith. Each sin is like a black spot stamped to the heart, just like a drop of black ink on a pure white paper… If the person leaves the sin and embraces repentance, then his heart gets cleaned. If he does not repent and continue, then these spots mount and cover the whole heart. After this, the heart is no longer sharp, its light goes away, its wise vision is blocked, and its surface is covered with dirt just like the rusting and steaming of a mirror. In time it hardens and stops recognizing the good. Afterwards, the person can commit even the greatest sins that scatter their poison into the soul without even feeling them. How nicely, the following words of Omar bin Abdulaziz express this fact:
“Prohibitions are a kind of fire. Only those whose hearts are dead reach out to them. If those who reach out to the prohibited things were alive, they would feel the pain of that fire.”
Therefore, those who commit major sins came to this state because of the darkening in their hearts due to the minor sins that they neglected.
Abu Turab an-Nahshabi says:
“There are three signs of a darkened heart:
- 1. The person’s not feeling any fear because of committing sins
- 2. Not feeling any joy out of obedience and worship
- 3. Advices having no influence on him.”
According to the narration, the Black Stone in the Ka’bah (Hajar al Aswad), which was whiter than milk or snow when it came down from the Heaven, darkened in time due to the sins of people who touched it.[4] Indeed it is said that the blackness is only in the visible part of the Black Stone and the part buried in the Ka’bah wall is still white.[5]
If sins can even darken a stone like this, what would it do to a heart, which is such an elegant being?
Those who do not pay attention to sins and who can even commit them while laughing deserve to cry tomorrow in the Hereafter. Indeed Abdullah b. Abbas (r.a.) says:
“Someone committing a sin while laughing enters Hell while crying.” (Ghazali, Ihya, III, 273)
Let us conclude our subject by citing some of the harms of sins:
• Sins call for Allah’s anger and cause the rewards to be wasted. How nice a lesson and warning the following narration provides:
According to Thawban’s narration, the Messenger of Allah told that:
“I know some people from my nation who come on the Day of Judgment with pure white good deeds like the Tihama Mountains. Allah the Magnificent and Exalted turns those rewards into scattered dust, makes them as if they did not exist.”
Thawban (r.a.) said:
“O Messenger of Allah! Please explain their state for us so that we do not unintentionally become one of them.
Upon this the Prophet (pbuh) said:
“They are your brothers in Islam. They are humans like you. They too gain rewards from the night (worship). However, when they are alone with the prohibitions of Allah, they violate and commit those prohibitions.” (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 29)
- Sins prevent provisions. Allah removes His blessings and favors from the sinner.
- Sins spoil the spirituality of the perpetrator, darken his heart, and cause to move away from the original nature of human beings. The sinner stays away from repentance cold-heartedly, unconscientiously, and without fear, rids of the feelings of shame and morality that make a person human.
- Sins and rebellious actions cause to get subjected to Allah’s torment. By attracting the troubles and problems, they harm the past, current, and future generations.
- Sin harms not only the perpetrator but also the others. If the person who sees the sinner expresses that he finds this act shameful, he may experience the same evil state in the future; if he backbites, he also commits a sin; and if he finds acceptable what the sinner does, he becomes a partner in that sin.
- Every sin leads to another and weakens the belief.
- Since Almighty Allah does not give the treasure of knowledge to a rebellious heart, sinners are deprived of true knowledge. Ibn Qayyim al-Jazviyyah says:
“There are such bad influences of sins that no one other than Allah knows them. One of these influences is to be deprived of knowledge because knowledge is light and is given to the heart, but sin puts it out.” (Munawi, Fayz, I, 155/113)
- Sins cause people to be deprived of angels’ repentance and asking for forgiveness and from the intercession of our Mater the Prophet.
- The sinner alienated from his self, relatives, and society is bound to be alone.
[2] It is pointed out in some ahadith that the thoughts and wishes that cross one’s heart have a directing influence and are regarded as prayer:
“When one of you wishes something, he should be careful as to what he is thinking of. This is because he can’t know what is recorded for him due to this wish.” (Ahmad, II, 357, 387; Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 457)
“When one of you wishes something, he should think big! This is because in this situation he is asking from his Exalted Lord and praying to Him.” (Ahmad, II, 357, 387; Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 457)
[3] Zekeriya Güler, 40 Hadiste Kadın ve Aile, Konya 2004, p. 338.
[4] See Tirmidhi, Hajj, 49/877; Ahmad, I, 307.
[5] See Said Bektaş, Fadlu al-Hajar al-Aswad wa Maqam Ibrahim, p. 36-38; Muhammed Ilyas Abdulghani, Tarihu Makka al-Mukarramah Qadiman wa Hadithan, p. 43.
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3. Not to belittle sins
١٨٤. عَنْ عَمْرِو بْنِ الْأَحْوَصِ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ قَالَ: سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ يَقُولُ فِي حَجَّةِ الْوَدَاعِ لِلنَّاسِ:
«…أَلَا وَإِنَّ الشَّيْطَانَ قَدْ أَيِسَ مِنْ أَنْ يُعْبَدَ فِي بِلَادِكُمْ هٰذِهِ أَبَدًا وَلٰكِنْ سَتَكُونُ لَهُ طَاعَةٌ فِيمَا تَحْتَقِرُونَ مِنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ فَسَيَرْضَى بِهِ…».
184. Amr bin Ahvas (r.a.) says: I heard the Messenger of Allah saying to people when he was giving his sermon in his Farewell Pilgrimage:
“…Pay attention! Satan has forever lost his hope that in these lands he will never be worshipped. However, obeying him will be possible in acts (sins) that you see as minor, and he will be pleased with this…” (Tirmidhi, Fitan, 2/2159; Ibn Majah, Manasik, 76; Nasai, al-Sunan al-kubra, II, 444/4100. Also see Hakim, II, 32/2221; Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 454)
١٨٥. عَنْ عَبْدِ اللّٰهِ بْنِ مَسْعُودٍ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ أَنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«إِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحَقَّرَاتِ الذُّنُوبِ فَإِنَّهُنَّ يَجْتَمِعْنَ عَلَى الرَّجُلِ حَتَّى يُهْلِكْنَهُ»
وَإِنَّ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ضَرَبَ لَهُنَّ مَثَلًا كَمَثَلِ قَوْمٍ نَزَلُوا أَرْضَ فَلَاةٍ فَحَضَرَ صَنِيعُ الْقَوْمِ فَجَعَلَ الرَّجُلُ يَنْطَلِقُ فَيَجِيءُ بِالْعُودِ وَالرَّجُلُ يَجِيءُ بِالْعُودِ حَتَّى جَمَعُوا سَوَادًا فَأَجَّجُوا نَارًا وَأَنْضَجُوا مَا قَذَفُوا فِيهَا.
185. It was narrated from Abdullah b. Mesud (r.a.) that the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) spoke as follows:
“Avoid sins that are seen as minor because they accumulate in an individual and eventually destroy that person.”
Then, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) gave an example as follows about sins.
A group stops to rest in a desert. When the time comes for eating, each one brings a tree branch, then they put those together, and this way they construct a bonfire and cook their food by placing their food on it. (Ahmad, I, 402-403; V, 331)
١٨٦. عَنْ عَائِشَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهَا قَالَتْ: قَالَ لِي رَسُولُ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ:
«يَا عَائِشَةُ إِيَّاكِ وَمُحَقَّرَاتِ الْأَعْمَالِ فَإِنَّ لَهَا مِنَ اللّٰهِ طَالِبًا».
186. Aisha (r.anha) says: The Messenger of Allah told me the following:
“O Aisha! Stay away the acts that are belittled (even from the smallest of sins that are not paid attention to). This is because there is someone (an angel) in the sight of Allah who watches and records them.” (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 29; Darimi, Riqaq, 17; Ahmad, VI, 70, 151)
١٨٧. عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ رَضِيَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ عَنْ رَسُولِ اللّٰهِ صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ قَالَ:
«إِنَّ الْعَبْدَ إِذَا أَخْطَأَ خَطِيئَةً نُكِتَتْ فِي قَلْبِهِ نُكْتَةٌ سَوْدَاءُ فَإِذَا هُوَ نَزَعَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ وَتَابَ صُقِلَ قَلْبُهُ وَإِنْ عَادَ زِيدَ فِيهَا حَتَّى تَعْلُو قَلْبَهُ وَهُوَ الرَّانُ الَّذِي ذَكَرَ اللّٰهُ:
(كَلَّا بَلْ رَانَ عَلٰى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ)».
187. According to the narration from Abu Huraira (r.a.), the Messenger of Allah said the following:
“When a slave of Allah commits a wrongdoing, a black spot is stamped on his heart. If he manages to keep his carnal self from doing this, repents, and returns from sin, his heart is purified from this spot and polished. If he returns to sins, this stamp enlarges and in the end covers his whole heart. And this is the rusting of hearts that Allah the Exalted mentions in the following noble verse:
“By no means! But on their hearts is the stain of the (ill) which they do!” (Al-Mutaffifin; 83:14) (Tirmidhi, Tafsir, 83/3334; Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 29. Also see Ahmad, II, 297)
Explanations:
Since all sins carry the meaning of disobeying Allah’s rules whether great or minor, they cause Him to be displeased and even attract His anger. For this reason, Bilal b. Sa’d, who is famous for his piety, said:
“Pay attention not the size of the sins but to whom you are rebelling!” (Abu Nuaym, Hilyah, V, 223; Ahmad, Zuhd, p. 460)
On the other hand, sins prevent knowing Allah and obeying Him truly ad appropriately by hanging like a thick curtain between Allah and the slave. Thus, just like the great sins, minor sins also contain dangers for one’s spirituality. For this reason they should never be belittled.
Sins move us away from Allah’s consent and please our eternal enemy, Satan. In our first hadith, we are informed that even the minor sins mean obedience to Satan and would please him. This is because Satan is trying to move mankind away from our Lord’s mercy and compassion as he has been casted away from divine mercy. In fact, he devoted his life to this. This is because when humans were first created, Satan was jealous of them and disobeyed Allah’s orders by being consumed with arrogance. Namely, mankind has a role in his being sent off from Paradise and mercy. For this reason, it is quite natural for Satan to sit on the way to Heaven and try to turn humans into travelers destined for Hell by using all kinds of deceptions and tricks. What is really strange is the humans’ falling for their eternal enemy and following him.
The only thing Satan does in order to reach his goal is to move him away from his religion. For this reason, after warning his nation in the Farewell Sermon with the expression in our hadith the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) says:
“Be very protective of your religion by staying away from the acts (sins) that you call minor and contempt.” (Haythami, III, 267)
In our second hadith, the Prophet explained as follows why minor sins should not be belittled:
“…because they accumulate in an individual and eventually destroy that person.”
The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) also gives an example to this, and explains in the best fashion. Just like the cooking of food by the fire of small pieces of bush and branches, the minor sins accumulate and cause someone to fall into Hell.
Sometimes people don’t notice and they think that the sins that they committed are minor matters. In fact, it is a great crime in the sight of Allah. In respect to the incident of slandering our mother Aisha (r.anha), the mistake of humans’ seeing their sins as minor amtters is alluded to in the Noble Qur’an as follows:
“Were it not for the grace and mercy of Allah on you, in this world and the Hereafter, a grievous penalty would have seized you in that you rushed glibly into this affair. Behold, you received it on your tongues, and said out of your mouths things of which you had no knowledge; and you thought it to be a light matter, while it was most serious in the sight of Allah.” (Al-Nur; 24:14-15)
Also, a person says a careless word and sees it as trivial. In fact, the crime he committed is great enough to destroy him but he does not know it. Indeed, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said the following:
“Allah’s slave happens to say something without properly thinking and he ends up falling to the part of Hell that is further than the distance between the East and West.” (Bukhari, Riqaq, 23)
On the other hand, minor sins turn into the way that takes people to great sins. They gradually turn a person and throw him into the claws of great sins. Indeed Ibn Abbas said the following:
“If one repents from a great sin it does not stay as it is, it is forgiven. The minor sin on the other hand does not remain minor if one insists and becomes a great sin.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 456)
A person who does not place importance to sins does not stay where he is, God forbid, knowingly or unknowingly, advances. For this reason, Muslim scholars warned us saying:
“Minor sins take a person to great sin, and, in turn, great sins take him to unbelief.” (Ajluni, Kashf al-Khafa, number: 2317)
In this matter, Abu Hafs (r.a.) says:
“As malaria is the bearer of the news of death, sins are the bearers of the news of unbelief.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 447)
Thus, the disease of seeing the wrongdoings and sins as minor should not be a characteristic of a believer. A believer should take all types of sins seriously and try to stay away from them. Abdullah b. Masud (r.a.) describes the spiritual state of believers in the face of sins:
“A believing person increases his sins in his imagination so much that it is as if he is sitting in the skirts of a mountain and the mountain will collapse on him. On the other hand, a mischievous person sees his sins as a fly that landed on his nose.” (Bukhari, Daawat, 4)
The Companions lived in this very spiritual state against the sins. Indeed, one of the great scholars of the generation following the Noble Companions, Hasan al-Basri, narrates his observations about this exemplary generation as follows:
“The companions of the Prophet (pbuh) used to perform even a small act if they see it as nice. On the contrary, they used to stay away even from a small thing if they see it inappropriate.” (Ibn Dunya, Mawsua, I, 89)
Anas (r.a.) warned some people who later lost their sensitivity in this matter:
“You people do (bad) deeds (commit sins) which seem in your eyes as tiny (minute) than hair while we used to consider those (very deeds) during the life-time of the Prophet as destructive sins.” (Bukhari, Ar-Riqaq)
In this regard, Musa Topbaş, may he rest in peace and mercy, says in his letters to his students:
“The state and perfection of the heart of a believer is displayed in his acts. Some among the most prominent of these beautiful acts are as follows:
Being humble all the time, not wasting his time knowing the value of his time and that his number of breaths are limited, loving the slaves of Allah and not struggling with them, treating others according to their religious levels, having the habit of covering others’ wrongdoings, being careful about haram and halal, and seeing as great even the matters everyone else considers as minor. This is because whoever sees his sin as minor – God forbid – sees the command of Almighty Allah as minor.”
In our third hadith, the Messenger of Allah (pbuh) desired that believers reach the state of sincerity and control and avoid even the minor sins. Whether minor or major, all acts of humans are being recorded. There are angels recording the actions of a person without leaving them even for a moment. Our Exalted Lord informs us as follows:
“Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready (to note it).” (Qaf; 50:18)
Before all, God Almighty already hears, sees, and knows everything.
One day these records will be opened and the individual will find everything he committed in front of him. Anyone who has done well in the size of an atom will see that and the same for any evil doings.[1] The astonishment of the sinners is described as follows by Allah the Exalted:
“And the book (of deeds) will be placed (before you); and you will see the sinful in great terror because of what is (recorded) therein; they will say, “Ah! Woe to us! What a book is this! It leaves out nothing small or great, but takes account thereof!” They will find all that they did is placed before them: And not one will your Lord treat with injustice.” (Al-Kahf; 18:49)
The criminals were not paying attention to minor sins when they were in this world, and they used to see their wrongdoings as minor issues. When they continued with this mentality, in time, they fell into major sins, and they even did not place importance to them. In the end, they found themselves in the bosom of horrifying fear,
How wise the following words of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari are:
“A person performs a good act, and then commits minor sins by relying on the good act, and he faces Allah together with the great dangers that these sins caused. On the other hand, another person commits a sin. However, he lives in fear (by thinking the compensation for that sin) and finally goes to the sight of Allah in peace.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 456; Ibn Hajar, Fath al-Bari, XI, 330)
Thus, a believer should always be alert, keep away even from the minor wrongdoings that people do not place importance to, and live in a state of complete check and control.
A believer should be so sensitive in the matter of sin that he should even control the thoughts in his heart.
Umar (r.a.) said the following:
“Avoid the wish and desire that come to your heart prior to sin because that is the beginning of sin! If you do not avoid this desire, your hearts fall into heedlessness from Allah.” (Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 458)
So, feelings, thoughts, and dreams are of great importance in the matter of leading a person to sin or goodness.”[2]
It is also possible to understand the following from our third hadith: in respect to worshipping Allah and avoiding sins, a man should warn his wife and should try to endow her with the consciousness of responsibility. Essentially, to be a pious Muslim in a family, both husband and wife must warn each other, forbid the evil, and encourage goodness and beautiful things.[3]
The influence and effects of sins on heart are told in our fourth hadith. Each sin is like a black spot stamped to the heart, just like a drop of black ink on a pure white paper… If the person leaves the sin and embraces repentance, then his heart gets cleaned. If he does not repent and continue, then these spots mount and cover the whole heart. After this, the heart is no longer sharp, its light goes away, its wise vision is blocked, and its surface is covered with dirt just like the rusting and steaming of a mirror. In time it hardens and stops recognizing the good. Afterwards, the person can commit even the greatest sins that scatter their poison into the soul without even feeling them. How nicely, the following words of Omar bin Abdulaziz express this fact:
“Prohibitions are a kind of fire. Only those whose hearts are dead reach out to them. If those who reach out to the prohibited things were alive, they would feel the pain of that fire.”
Therefore, those who commit major sins came to this state because of the darkening in their hearts due to the minor sins that they neglected.
Abu Turab an-Nahshabi says:
“There are three signs of a darkened heart:
According to the narration, the Black Stone in the Ka’bah (Hajar al Aswad), which was whiter than milk or snow when it came down from the Heaven, darkened in time due to the sins of people who touched it.[4] Indeed it is said that the blackness is only in the visible part of the Black Stone and the part buried in the Ka’bah wall is still white.[5]
If sins can even darken a stone like this, what would it do to a heart, which is such an elegant being?
Those who do not pay attention to sins and who can even commit them while laughing deserve to cry tomorrow in the Hereafter. Indeed Abdullah b. Abbas (r.a.) says:
“Someone committing a sin while laughing enters Hell while crying.” (Ghazali, Ihya, III, 273)
Let us conclude our subject by citing some of the harms of sins:
• Sins call for Allah’s anger and cause the rewards to be wasted. How nice a lesson and warning the following narration provides:
According to Thawban’s narration, the Messenger of Allah told that:
“I know some people from my nation who come on the Day of Judgment with pure white good deeds like the Tihama Mountains. Allah the Magnificent and Exalted turns those rewards into scattered dust, makes them as if they did not exist.”
Thawban (r.a.) said:
“O Messenger of Allah! Please explain their state for us so that we do not unintentionally become one of them.
Upon this the Prophet (pbuh) said:
“They are your brothers in Islam. They are humans like you. They too gain rewards from the night (worship). However, when they are alone with the prohibitions of Allah, they violate and commit those prohibitions.” (Ibn Majah, Zuhd, 29)
“There are such bad influences of sins that no one other than Allah knows them. One of these influences is to be deprived of knowledge because knowledge is light and is given to the heart, but sin puts it out.” (Munawi, Fayz, I, 155/113)
[1] Al-Zilzal; 99:7-8.
[2] It is pointed out in some ahadith that the thoughts and wishes that cross one’s heart have a directing influence and are regarded as prayer:
“When one of you wishes something, he should be careful as to what he is thinking of. This is because he can’t know what is recorded for him due to this wish.” (Ahmad, II, 357, 387; Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 457)
“When one of you wishes something, he should think big! This is because in this situation he is asking from his Exalted Lord and praying to Him.” (Ahmad, II, 357, 387; Baihaqi, Shuab, V, 457)
[3] Zekeriya Güler, 40 Hadiste Kadın ve Aile, Konya 2004, p. 338.
[4] See Tirmidhi, Hajj, 49/877; Ahmad, I, 307.
[5] See Said Bektaş, Fadlu al-Hajar al-Aswad wa Maqam Ibrahim, p. 36-38; Muhammed Ilyas Abdulghani, Tarihu Makka al-Mukarramah Qadiman wa Hadithan, p. 43.
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