Praise be to Allah.
The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
explained the seven sins that doom a person to Hell in a
saheeh hadeeth that was narrated by the two Shaykhs, al-
Bukhaari and Muslim, in as-Saheehayn , in which it was
narrated that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him) said: “Avoid the seven sins that doom a person
to Hell.” We said: What are they, O Messenger of Allah? He
said: “Associating others with Allah (shirk); witchcraft;
killing a soul whom Allah has forbidden us to kill, except in
cases dictated by Islamic law; consuming orphans’ wealth;
consuming riba; fleeing from the battlefield; and slandering
chaste, innocent women.”
1.
The greatest of these sins is shirk (associating others with
Allah), which leads to doom with no hope of redemption,
and if a person dies in this state he will abide in Hell for all
eternity. Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning):
“Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah,
then Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will
be his abode. And for the Zalimoon (polytheists and
wrongdoers) there are no helpers”
[al-Maa’idah 5:72]
“And indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)), as it was to
those (Allah’s Messengers) before you: "If you join others
in worship with Allah, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be
in vain, and you will certainly be among the losers”
[az-Zumar 39:65] .
“It is not for the Mushrikoon (polytheists, idolaters,
pagans, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah), to maintain
the Mosques of Allah (i.e. to pray and worship Allah
therein, to look after their cleanliness and their building,
etc.), while they witness against their ownselves of
disbelief. The works of such are in vain and in Fire shall
they abide”
[at-Tawbah 9:17] .
2.
Witchcraft involves shirk because it is worshipping the jinn
and is seeking the help of the jinn to misguide people.
The practitioner of witchcraft is the one who deals with that
which causes harm to people by means of the jinn and
worshipping them instead of Allah. Sometimes he does
things that harm them of words, deeds and blowing on
knots; sometimes he does that by causing illusions to such
an extent that a thing may be seen as something other than
what it really is, as Allah, may He be glorified, said
concerning the sorcerers of Pharaoh (interpretation of the
meaning):
“…their ropes and their sticks, by their magic, appeared to
him as though they moved fast”
[Ta-Ha 20:66]
“So when they threw, they bewitched the eyes of the
people, and struck terror into them, and they displayed a
great magic”
[al-A‘raaf 7:116] .
Sometimes the practitioner of witchcraft does things to
harm people by means of the jinn and worshipping them
instead of Allah, by means of words, deeds and blowing on
knots, as Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of
the meaning): “And from the evil of the witches when they
blow in the knots” [al-Falaq 113:4].
And sometimes they do that by creating illusions, so that
they cause things to be seen as something other than they
really are. So a rope or a stick may be seen as a snake, or a
rock may be seen as an egg, or a person may be seen as
something other than he really is, and so on. Such a person
is one of the disbelievers and if it is proven before the
judge, it is obligatory for the ruler of the Muslims to
execute the practitioner of witchcraft.
It was proven from Ameer al-Mu’mineen ‘Umar (may Allah
be pleased with him) that he wrote to his governors in
greater Syria and elsewhere, instructing them to execute
every practitioner of witchcraft, male or female, because of
the great extent of their evil and the danger they posed.
3.
Killing a soul whom Allah has forbidden us to kill. This is a
serious crime of which Allah says (interpretation of the
meaning):
“And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense
is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of
Allah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for
him”
[an-Nisa’ 4:93] .
Killing a soul, or murder, is one of the most serious of
crimes, but it is a major sin of a lesser degree than shirk
(associating others with Allah). It is a major sin like
fornication/adultery, theft and so on. The one who does
that is not a disbeliever unless he regards it as permissible
to do that. Hence Allah, may He be glorified, says
concerning him:
“And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense
is Hell to abide therein, and the Wrath and the Curse of
Allah are upon him, and a great punishment is prepared for
him”
[an-Nisa’ 4:93] .
He will abide in that punishment forever if he regards it as
permissible; if he does not regard it as permissible, he will
abide therein for a long time, but it will come to an end. The
stay of the sinners (among the Muslims) in Hell will be
lengthy, but it will have an end. As for the disbelievers,
their stay will have no end. The Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Avoid the seven sins
that doom a person to Hell.” We said: What are they, O
Messenger of Allah? He said: “Associating others with
Allah (shirk); witchcraft; killing a soul whom Allah has
forbidden us to kill, except in cases dictated by Islamic
law…” Cases dictated by Islamic law include execution of
the previously married adulterer, by stoning; execution of a
person who kills another, when both are of equal standing;
execution in cases where there is a legitimate reason for
executing the criminal, such as banditry, in which the
criminal tries to harm travellers by seizing their wealth on
the road, or beating them or killing them – he is to be
executed because of his great evil.
4.
Consuming riba – this refers to dealing with riba which
Allah has prohibited. Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted, says concerning it (interpretation of the meaning):
“Allah has permitted trading and forbidden Riba”
[al-Baqarah 2:275]
“O you who believe! Fear Allah and give up what remains
(due to you) from Ribaa (from now onward) if you are
(really) believers.
And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allah
and His Messenger”
[al-Baqarah 2:278] .
Consuming riba is a major sin which it is essential to avoid.
Riba is of various kinds, riba nasee’ah and riba fadl:
Riba fadl is, for example, selling one dirham for two
dirhams, or one saa‘ of wheat for two saa‘s of wheat, or one
saa‘ of rice for two saa‘s of rice. This is riba fadl, which
means selling something for more of the same type or
commodity. This is not permissible.
Riba an-nasee’ah is, for example, selling a saa‘ of wheat for
two saa‘s of barley to be paid later, after one or two days,
i.e., the price is not to be taken until after the sitting in
which the deal is done. This is riba nasee’ah. It may be
selling one hundred dollars for one hundred pounds, or for
ten pounds, to be paid at another time, and it is not taken in
that sitting. This is called riba an-nasee’ah, and it is one of
the gravest of major sins.
5.
Consuming orphans’ wealth. The orphan is the one whose
father has died when he is small and has not yet reached
puberty. What is required in the case of orphans is to treat
them kindly, protect their wealth, make it grow and handle
it with proper care. The one who spoils the orphan’s wealth
and consumes it unlawfully is subject to a stern warning,
because the orphan is weak and he has transgressed
against him and consumed his wealth. This stern warning is
addressed to him, but he is not a disbeliever; rather he is a
sinner, so long as he does not regard that as permissible.
6.
Fleeing from the battlefield. When the Muslims meet the
disbelievers in battle, the one who flees and deserts his
brothers on the day of battle, when the disbelievers march
against the Muslims or the Muslims march against the
disbelievers – the one who flees and deserts his brothers is
subject to this stern warning (interpretation of the
meaning): “unless it be a stratagem of war, or to retreat to
a troop (of his own)” [al-Anfaal 8:16] that is, unless he is
recruiting to prepare himself, bring his weapon and put on
his armour in preparation for fighting, which does not do
any harm, or he is moving from one detachment to another,
or from one rank to another, or from one group to another,
as part of a plan against the enemy.
7.
Slandering chaste, innocent believing women. The one who
slanders chaste women, which means accusing them of
zina (fornication or adultery) – by saying: So and so
committed zina, or So and so called someone to commit
zina, but he is lying – this is one of the seven sins that
doom one to Hell and for which one deserves to be given
eighty lashes, as Allah, may He be exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning): “And those who accuse
chaste women, and produce not four witnesses, flog them
with eighty stripes” [an-Noor 24:4] . Slandering chaste
women is a major sin, as is slandering chaste men, but
because such accusations are usually made against
women, the text speaks of women. Nevertheless, if
someone slanders a chaste man, and says that he
committed zina, he has to produce four witnesses or else be
given eighty lashes.
These are the seven sins that doom a person to Hell,
because they are so evil. We ask Allah to keep us safe and
sound.
End quote. Adapted from the website of Shaykh Ibn Baaz:
http://www.binbaz.org.sa/20277
And Allah knows best.