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Greater sins (kaba'ir)

الكبائر

Al-Sha'rawi gives the scholars' definition of a greater sin: one for which God threatens punishment in the next life or which carries a prescribed penalty. He holds that avoiding greater sins expiates lesser ones, and that persistence in a lesser sin makes it grave. He sets out a list of greater sins drawn from the Qur'an, and recounts an exchange in which Ja'far al-Sadiq enumerates them for Amr ibn Ubayd 12345.

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Ethics and character

Summary

Al-Sha'rawi gives the scholars' definition of a greater sin: one for which God threatens punishment in the next life, or which carries a prescribed penalty. He holds that avoiding greater sins expiates lesser ones. 12

Avoidance and expiation

He explains that avoidance means keeping away from the occasions of sin, that expiation removes punishment and that the cancelling of good deeds removes reward. He holds that persistence in a lesser sin makes it grave. 62

The list drawn from the Qur'an

He lists greater sins drawn from verses, among them shirk, murder, disobedience to parents, adultery, usury, eating orphans' wealth, flight from battle, false witness, wine, neglecting prayer, breaking covenants and severing kinship. He also treats sorcery and withholding zakat in other passages. 478910

The exchange with Ja'far al-Sadiq

He recounts that Amr ibn Ubayd asked Ja'far al-Sadiq about greater sins from the Book of God, and that Ja'far listed them with their proofs. 31112

Not checked here

No academic treatment of the definition or of the lists is set out in these pages (needs_source). The lists are given as the book attributes them, without a verdict.

Opinions on the question

The question: What is a greater sin, how does it differ from a lesser one, and does avoiding greater sins expiate the rest?

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

A greater sin is one with a threat or a prescribed penalty; no sin is grave with repentance, and no lesser sin is excused with persistence

Sha'rawi gives the definition attributed to 'the scholars' and says persistence makes a lesser sin grave; he attributes the rule to the scholars without naming them {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p. 2155}.

Held by: Muhammad Mutawalli al-Sha'rawi

More opinions (2)

Academic viewSecondary opinion

A scholarly treatment of the definition of a greater sin and of the lists has not yet been added

No academic reading is set out in these pages; it needs a named source (needs_source).

Other viewOther opinion

The list attributed to Ja'far al-Sadiq in his exchange with Amr ibn Ubayd, as Sha'rawi reports it

Sha'rawi reports that Ja'far al-Sadiq listed greater sins with verses: shirk, despair of God's mercy, feeling safe from God's plan, disobedience to parents, murder, false accusation, usury, eating orphans' wealth, flight from battle, adultery, false witness, perjury, deceit in booty, wine, neglecting prayer, breaking covenants and severing ties of kinship {cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p. 2156}{cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p. 2157}{cite:tafsir-sharawi-khawatir-scan-vol-2 p. 2159}.

People and things also explored

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)· Ada' al-shahada (performing testimony: the duty on request, the excused witness, and the wording)· Manners of the Qur'an bearer· Biting and the liability for injury it causes (add)· Adha (harm of a slight kind: removing harmful things and the duty not to harm)· Justice and grace (adl wal-fadl)· Pardon (afw) in purity, worship, contracts and penalties· Covenant (ahd) and the duty to keep it; oath by the covenant of God

Sources

  1. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2150
  2. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2155
  3. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2156
  4. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2157
  5. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2159
  6. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2152
  7. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2158
  8. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2166
  9. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2174
  10. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2175
  11. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2160
  12. Sha'rawi's Khawatir around the Holy Quran, volume one (scan copy) , p. 2161
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “Greater sins (kaba'ir)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/concept/al-kaba-ir/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-23.

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Ideas

Beliefs, concepts, sciences and schools, explained in plain words. Related

Ada' al-dayn (paying a debt: its ruling, the manner of payment, insolvency and the debts of the dead)

Paying a debt in the form owed is obligatory by consensus. A debt due now must be paid on demand when the debtor can pay; a deferred debt is not due before its term. Payment is made in like items, with value owed where there is no like; a better payment is allowed when unconditioned. Remission, gift, assignment, set-off and settlement take the place of payment. A solvent debtor who refuses is compelled, imprisoned and his apparent property sold; the majority hold that a bankrupt is put under interdiction and his property divided among creditors, against Abu Hanifa. The insolvent is given respite, and his debt may be paid from zakat if he borrowed for himself in a lawful matter. A dead person's debt attaches to his estate and takes precedence over bequests and inheritance.