Major Sins Sermon (2): The Six Destructive Sins

The Prophet (peace be upon him), naming the sins most destructive to a community, said: "Avoid the seven destructive sins." In the first part of this sermon we examined shirk, the gravest of the seven. In this second part we take up the remaining six: sorcery, unjust killing, consuming an orphan's wealth, riba (usury), fleeing on the day of battle, and slandering chaste believing women. Each one wounds an individual; together, they corrode a society.

1. Sorcery (Sihr)

The word sihr literally means "that whose cause is hidden." In the religious sense, it refers to a hidden, unreal influence — sleight, illusion, deception — that works by appearing to be real. Imam Fakhr al-Razi listed eight kinds of sihr in Mafatih al-Ghayb; the classical commentator Elmalili Hamdi Yazir grouped them into "pure deception and lies" and "the misuse of some genuine knowledge."

Sorcery is not in itself a miracle. It has a cause, but the cause is concealed from the observer, so the act appears wondrous. The Qur'an, in the story of Prophet Musa and the sorcerers of Pharaoh, lifts that veil:

فَأَلۡقَوۡاْ حِبَالَهُمۡ وَعِصِيَّهُمۡ وَقَالُواْ بِعِزَّةِ فِرۡعَوۡنَ إِنَّا لَنَحۡنُ ٱلۡغَٰلِبُونَ ‎ فَأَلۡقَىٰ مُوسَىٰ عَصَاهُ فَإِذَا هِيَ تَلۡقَفُ مَا يَأۡفِكُونَ ‎ فَأُلۡقِيَ ٱلسَّحَرَةُ سَٰجِدِينَ ‎ قَالُوٓاْ ءَامَنَّا بِرَبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ

So they cast their ropes and staffs and said, "By the might of Pharaoh, surely we shall be the victors." Then Musa cast his staff, and at once it swallowed up the falsehood they had thrown. The sorcerers fell down in prostration and said, "We have believed in the Lord of the worlds."

— Surah Ash-Shu'ara 26:44-48

The "snakes" the sorcerers brought were ropes and staves filled with mercury that moved with the heat of the sun. When Musa's staff resolved the illusion in a single gesture, the sorcerers — who knew their own craft better than any spectator — fell into prostration. The lesson: sorcery's power lies entirely in the ignorance of the audience; a single truth dissolves it.

The Prophet warned both the practitioner and the customer in the same breath:

Whoever goes to a fortune teller or a soothsayer and believes what he says has rejected what was revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him).

— Sahih Muslim, Greetings, no.

According to Abu Hanifa, Malik, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal, one who learns and practises sorcery exits Islam. A Muslim who seeks remedy through a sorcerer is implicated in the same sin, since approaching such a practitioner is itself an act of approval.

2. Killing a Soul Without Right

Every human being is born with rights, the foremost of which is the right to life. Allah gave this right; no creature has authority to take it. Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:32 declares that taking one soul without right is as if one had killed all of humanity. Allah Most High says:

وَلَا تَقۡتُلُواْ ٱلنَّفۡسَ ٱلَّتِي حَرَّمَ ٱللَّهُ إِلَّا بِٱلۡحَقِّ

Do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden, except in the course of justice.

— Surah Al-Isra 17:33

And the consequence is severe:

وَمَن يَقۡتُلۡ مُؤۡمِنࣰ ا مُّتَعَمِّدࣰ ا فَجَزَآؤُهُۥ جَهَنَّمُ خَٰلِدࣰ ا فِيهَا

Whoever kills a believer intentionally — his recompense is Hellfire, wherein he will abide eternally. The wrath and curse of Allah are upon him, and He has prepared for him a great punishment.

— Surah An-Nisa 4:93

The Prophet (peace be upon him) said that on the Day of Judgment, the first matter to be adjudicated among people concerning the rights of others is bloodshed (Sahih al-Bukhari, Diyat). And taking one's own life (suicide) is, under Islamic teaching, also a major sin — because the slave has used a power over life that was never granted to him.

3. Consuming the Wealth of an Orphan

In every society, the most defenceless are the orphaned. Their family is whatever community lifts a protecting hand toward them. The Prophet promised that whoever cares for an orphan will be his neighbour in Paradise (Sahih al-Bukhari, Adab). The exact opposite warning is given to one who pretends to safeguard an orphan and consumes his property:

إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ يَأۡكُلُونَ أَمۡوَٰلَ ٱلۡيَتَٰمَىٰ ظُلۡمًا إِنَّمَا يَأۡكُلُونَ فِي بُطُونِهِمۡ نَارࣰ اۖ وَسَيَصۡلَوۡنَ سَعِيرࣰ ا

Those who consume the wealth of orphans unjustly are only swallowing fire into their bellies; and they will burn in a blazing flame.

— Surah An-Nisa 4:10

Surah Al-Isra 17:34 adds: "Do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, until he reaches his maturity." A relative, guardian, or neighbour who eats an orphan's property under the cover of caretaking — and never returns it — is building a debt that will be due in both this world and the next.

4. Consuming Riba (Usury)

Riba is income earned outside the bounds of permissible gain. Surah Al-Baqarah declares:

ٱلَّذِينَ يَأۡكُلُونَ ٱلرِّبَوٰاْ لَا يَقُومُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَقُومُ ٱلَّذِي يَتَخَبَّطُهُ ٱلشَّيۡطَٰنُ مِنَ ٱلۡمَسِّۚ ذَٰلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمۡ قَالُوٓاْ إِنَّمَا ٱلۡبَيۡعُ مِثۡلُ ٱلرِّبَوٰاْۗ وَأَحَلَّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡبَيۡعَ وَحَرَّمَ ٱلرِّبَوٰاْ

Those who consume riba will not stand on the Day of Resurrection except as one stands who is struck by Satan into madness. That is because they say, "Trade is just like riba." But Allah has permitted trade and forbidden riba.

— Surah Al-Baqarah 2:275

Riba is the system by which the lender's idle waiting itself is treated as the source of return — collected from the borrower's pressure, not from any shared production or risk. The Prophet (peace be upon him) cursed all four roles in a riba transaction: the one who takes, the one who gives, the one who writes the contract, and the witnesses (Sahih Muslim, Musaqat).

Islam does not prohibit profit or shared risk; it prohibits guaranteed, time-based gain divorced from production. Partnerships, leasing, sales, wages — all remain permissible.

5. Fleeing on the Day of Advance

Islam is rooted in the word silm (peace, safety). But living in peace requires being prepared for war. Defence of one's homeland, honour, family, and faith is a religious obligation. So the Qur'an treats turning one's back at the moment of battle as a major sin:

وَمَن يُوَلِّهِمۡ يَوۡمَئِذࣲ دُبُرَهُۥٓ إِلَّا مُتَحَرِّفࣰ ا لِّقِتَالٍ أَوۡ مُتَحَيِّزًا إِلَىٰ فِئَةࣲ فَقَدۡ بَآءَ بِغَضَبࣲ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ وَمَأۡوَىٰهُ جَهَنَّمُۖ وَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡمَصِيرُ

Whoever turns his back to them on such a day — unless swerving as a stratagem of war, or regrouping with another company — has indeed brought upon himself the wrath of Allah, and his abode is Hellfire. What an evil destination.

— Surah Al-Anfal 8:16

The verse names two permissible exceptions: tactical manoeuvre for renewed engagement, and joining a different unit. Outside these, to leave one's companions in mortal danger is a violation of the ethics of combat — bringing defeat in this world and Allah's wrath in the next. The rank of the martyr is so high precisely because the temptation to flee is so real.

6. Slandering Chaste Believing Women

Slander is the attribution of a wrong one did not commit. Its worst form involves honour and chastity, because it can destroy in a single hour a reputation that took a lifetime to build. The Qur'an sets an exacting evidentiary bar for it:

وَٱلَّذِينَ يَرۡمُونَ ٱلۡمُحۡصَنَٰتِ ثُمَّ لَمۡ يَأۡتُواْ بِأَرۡبَعَةِ شُهَدَآءَ فَٱجۡلِدُوهُمۡ ثَمَٰنِينَ جَلۡدَةࣰ وَلَا تَقۡبَلُواْ لَهُمۡ شَهَٰدَةً أَبَدࣰ اۚ وَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡفَٰسِقُونَ

Those who accuse chaste women and then do not produce four witnesses — flog them with eighty lashes, and never accept their testimony thereafter. They are the ones defiantly disobedient.

— Surah An-Nur 24:4

Allah imposes the bodily penalty, the legal disqualification (their witness is never accepted again), and the moral verdict (fasiqun) all at once. Surah An-Nur continues with the famous Incident of Slander (al-Ifk), in which Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her), the wife of the Prophet, was slandered; the Qur'an itself descended to vindicate her. The lesson of that story is that the cost of slander is not only the prescribed punishment but a stain that the whole society carries until the truth is restored.

A further verse measures the weight of any slander against any believer:

وَٱلَّذِينَ يُؤۡذُونَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتِ بِغَيۡرِ مَا ٱكۡتَسَبُواْ فَقَدِ ٱحۡتَمَلُواْ بُهۡتَٰنࣰ ا وَإِثۡمࣰ ا مُّبِينࣰ ا

Those who harm believing men and believing women for what they have not earned have indeed taken upon themselves a slander and a manifest sin.

— Surah Al-Ahzab 33:58

Stories — The Consequence of the Destructive Sins

Qarun's Wealth

Qarun was of the people of Musa (peace be upon him), and Allah had given him such wealth that strong men struggled to carry the keys to his treasuries. When his community advised him, "Seek the abode of the Hereafter with what Allah has given you, and do not forget your share of this world," he replied, "I was given this only because of knowledge I possess." He paraded through the streets in finery, and those whose hearts loved this world said, "If only we had what Qarun has." The end is recorded in Surah Al-Qasas 28:81-82: Allah caused the earth to swallow him with his palace. By morning, the same admirers were saying, "It is Allah who extends provision to whom He wills." The moral disposition behind orphan-eating, usury, and unjust gain is the same as Qarun's: "This wealth is mine, by my own merit; the rights of others on it are mine to decide."

The People of Lot

The community of Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) had institutionalized moral perversion and the robbing of travellers. They told their prophet, "Get away from us." When the angels of punishment came to him as guests, the community attempted to attack even them. Allah turned their cities upside-down and rained stones of baked clay (Surah Hud 11:82-83). The story warns that when major sins become systematic in a society — when violations of life, dignity, and chastity become normal — the community has corroded itself from within. The destruction it then faces does not come from outside; it comes from rot it has fed for years.

Talut and Goliath — The Courage to Stand

When Talut led his army across the river, most of his soldiers failed the trial of patience; on the day of battle, many of them said, "We have no power today against Goliath and his troops." The few who remained — a small band that included the young Dawud — said, "How often has a small group, by Allah's permission, overcome a great group" (Surah Al-Baqarah 2:249). They held the field, and the victory was theirs. The sin of fleeing from battle, beyond the question of numbers, is at heart a failure of trust in Allah's promise; the antidote is the certainty that "Allah is with the patient."

The Sorcerers Who Repented

The sorcerers of Pharaoh — whom we encountered earlier — had been gathered with promises of money, position, and royal protection. When they saw, with their own trained eyes, that what Musa brought was no sleight of hand but a real intervention from the Lord of the worlds, they fell into prostration without delay, defying Pharaoh's threat of crucifixion. Repentance is the open door behind every one of the six sins of this sermon. None of them closes it. Whoever turns back is received.

Putting Protection Into Practice With VAAZ

The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah collection in the VAAZ app features Al-Adl (the perfectly Just), Al-Hakam (whose every ruling is wise), and At-Tawwab (the Acceptor of Repentance) — the names that, lived with daily, are the inner antidote to these six sins. The dua archive contains Sayyid al-Istighfar, the master supplication of forgiveness, to be read once a day after a sin of any kind. For the first half of the series, see Major Sins Sermon (Part 1); for the inner heart-training, see Sermon on Tawbah and Sermon on Taqwa.

Allah Most High has said: "Do not despair of the mercy of Allah; indeed, Allah forgives all sins" (Surah Az-Zumar 39:53). Of any sin, however great, that one stops insisting on and turns from in true repentance, no closed door remains between the slave and his Lord.

References

1. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Ash-Shu'ara 26:44-48.
2. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Isra 17:33.
3. The Noble Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa 4:93.
4. The Noble Qur'an, Surah An-Nisa 4:10.
5. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Baqarah 2:275.
6. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Anfal 8:16.
7. The Noble Qur'an, Surah An-Nur 24:4.
8. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Al-Ahzab 33:58.
9. The Noble Qur'an, Surah Az-Zumar 39:53.
10. Sahih Muslim, Book of Greetings (Going to fortune tellers); Book of Musaqat (Curses on parties to riba).
11. Sahih al-Bukhari, Book of Adab (One who cares for an orphan); Book of Diyat (First adjudicated matter on Judgment Day).
12. Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Commentary on the Qur'an (The black mark on the heart).

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