Major Sins in Islam: The Complete List From Quran and Hadith
Every Muslim reaches a point in their faith journey where they start asking harder questions. Not just “what should I do” but “what am I supposed to avoid, and why does it matter so much.” That question sits at the heart of understanding what Islam classifies as a serious wrongdoing, a topic the Quran and the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) address directly and repeatedly.
This guide walks through what scholars actually mean by a major sin, why the number changes depending on which source you read, and how the entire concept connects back to one simple idea: repentance is always open, and Allah’s mercy is bigger than any mistake.
What Counts as a Sin in Islam?
Before naming individual sins, it helps to understand the framework Islam uses to classify wrongdoing. The Quran and Sunnah do not treat all sins as equal. Some carry an explicit warning of punishment, either in this life or the next. Others are treated more like slips, the kind of everyday shortcomings every human being commits.
Islamic scholars divide these into two broad categories.
- Sagha’ir (minor sins) are smaller lapses. Things like a harsh word spoken in frustration, missing a voluntary act of worship, or a moment of impatience. The Quran teaches that consistent good deeds, like the five daily prayers, wipe these away naturally.
- Kaba’ir (major sins) are serious violations that come with a specific warning in the Quran or a clear condemnation from the Prophet Muhammad. These are not accidental slips. They usually involve intention, repetition, or a direct rejection of something Allah has commanded.
If you have ever typed “what are the major sins in islam” into a search bar hoping for a straight answer, here it is in short form: a major sin is any act for which Allah has promised punishment in the Quran, cursed the doer through the Prophet, or attached a fixed legal penalty to in this world. That definition, drawn from the companion Ibn Abbas, is the closest thing to a scholarly consensus that exists on the subject.
For a broader academic overview of how sin is categorized across Islamic tradition, the entry on Islam from Britannica offers useful background on the theological framework behind these terms. If Arabic terms like kaba’ir and sagha’ir feel unfamiliar, a structured Quran translation course can help you follow the original verses these classifications are built on, rather than relying only on secondhand summaries.
Major Sins Islam Warns About Most Directly
Long before anyone compiled extended lists, one hadith set the baseline. The Prophet Muhammad was asked directly about the gravest sins, and his answer forms the foundation that later scholars built on. This is the passage most commonly cited when people search for the sins Islam identifies as most severe.
According to hadith collected in Sahih al Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, the Prophet listed seven sins as al mubiqat, the destroyers:
- Shirk, associating partners with Allah in worship
- Magic or sorcery (sihr)
- Killing a soul that Allah has forbidden killing, except through due legal process
- Consuming interest (riba)
- Consuming the wealth of an orphan
- Fleeing from the battlefield during a legitimate jihad
- Falsely accusing chaste, believing women of adultery
These seven are considered the gravest because each one either breaks a person’s relationship with Allah directly or causes serious harm to another human being who cannot easily defend themselves, such as an orphan or someone falsely accused. You can read the original hadith collections in full detail through Sunnah.com, which hosts searchable, translated versions of Bukhari, Muslim, and the other major hadith compilations.
The Extended List of Seventy Major Sins
While the seven above form the core, later scholars, most famously the eighth century scholar Imam al Dhahabi, expanded the list based on other Quranic verses and hadith. His work, known as Al Kaba’ir, is where most extended lists of seventy sins originate. Organizing them by theme makes the list far easier to absorb than reading seventy numbered points in a row.
Sins against Allah directly
Shirk, abandoning the five daily prayers, refusing to pay zakat despite having the means, breaking one’s fast in Ramadan without a valid excuse, avoiding Hajj despite being financially and physically able, practicing magic, and denying Allah’s decree (qadar).
Sins involving the tongue and speech
Lying about Allah or His Messenger, frequent and habitual lying, bearing false witness, backbiting, spreading rumors between people, cursing others, and breaking sworn promises.
Sins against family and society
Disrespecting one’s parents, cutting off ties with relatives, oppressing others, spying on people without justification, betraying trusts placed in you, and mistreating one’s spouse or household.
Financial and property related sins
Dealing in riba, stealing, taking bribes, consuming wealth through unlawful means, cheating in weights and measures, and usurping inheritance rights.
Sins of the body and personal conduct
Adultery and fornication, homosexuality, drinking alcohol, gambling, arrogance, showing off in acts of worship, and men wearing gold or silk.
Sins connected to belief and the unseen
Visiting fortune tellers and believing their claims, feeling secure from Allah’s plan, and losing hope in Allah’s mercy despite being in a state of sin.
If you grew up hearing this list discussed in Urdu or Hindi speaking households, you may know it better as the gunah e kabira list, a term used widely across South Asian Islamic literature and lecture series to describe the exact same seventy sins compiled by al Dhahabi.
It is worth noting that later scholars like Ibn Hajar al Haythami pushed this count even further, identifying closer to 467 individual major sins once every Quranic warning and prophetic condemnation is counted separately. The number was never meant to be a fixed tally. It was a way for scholars to map out the full scope of what Allah has warned against, using different levels of detail.
Which One Is the Worst Sin in Islam?
Among every sin listed above, one stands apart from the rest in severity. Scholars across every school of thought agree that shirk, associating partners with Allah in worship or belief, is the gravest of them all.
The reason shirk holds this unique position comes directly from the Quran. Surah An Nisa states that Allah forgives every sin except shirk if a person dies upon it without repenting. Every other sin, no matter how serious, remains within the scope of forgiveness. Shirk is the one exception, because it strikes at the very foundation of monotheism (tawheed) that the entire religion is built on.
This does not mean every other sin is minor by comparison. It simply means shirk occupies a category of its own, since it affects a person’s core relationship with Allah rather than a single action or lapse in judgment.
Are Some of the Biggest Sins in Islam Misunderstood?
A common source of confusion online is ranking sins as if Islam has a strict numbered hierarchy beyond shirk. In reality, once you move past shirk, the Quran and Sunnah do not always rank the remaining sins against each other in a fixed order. Instead, severity often depends on harm caused, whether the sin was repeated, and whether the person shows remorse afterward.
That said, when people ask which acts rank as the most severe beyond shirk, scholars typically point to murder, sihr, consuming riba, wrongfully taking an orphan’s wealth, and fleeing a just battle, since these are the ones explicitly grouped together in the same authentic hadith mentioned earlier. These sins share a common thread: they cause irreversible harm either to another person’s life, wealth, or dignity.
Major Sins Versus Minor Sins: Why the Distinction Matters
Understanding the difference between major and minor sins is not just an academic exercise. It shapes how a Muslim approaches daily accountability.
Minor sins are generally forgiven through ordinary acts of worship. The Prophet taught that the five daily prayers, one Friday prayer to the next, and one Ramadan to the next all serve as expiation for the smaller sins committed in between, as long as major sins are avoided. This is a source of enormous relief for anyone who feels weighed down by everyday imperfection. Establishing consistent prayer, something covered in detail on our guide to prayer in Islam, plays a direct role in this process of forgiveness.
Major sins work differently. They generally require sincere, specific repentance, known as tawbah, rather than being automatically wiped away by routine worship. If the sin involved wronging another person, such as theft or slander, that repentance also requires making things right with the person who was harmed, not just seeking forgiveness from Allah alone.
Can Major Sins Be Forgiven?
Yes, and this is the part of the topic that often gets lost in lists and categories. Islam does not teach despair. The Quran repeatedly emphasizes that Allah’s mercy covers every sin except unrepented shirk, and even shirk is forgiven if a person turns back to Allah before death.
Genuine tawbah generally involves four elements: recognizing the wrong, feeling real remorse, stopping the sin immediately, and making a firm intention never to return to it. If another person was harmed, restoring their rights becomes part of that process too.
Surah At Tawbah, the ninth chapter of the Quran, deals extensively with the theme of repentance and turning back to Allah, and its closing verses are among the most frequently recited for exactly this reason. Our breakdown of the final verses of Surah Tawbah explores this theme in more depth if you want to read further. For readers who want to explore the original Arabic text alongside an English rendering of any verse mentioned in this article, Quran.com provides a free, searchable version of the full Quran with multiple translations side by side.
Regular, sincere dua also plays a major role in this process, since asking Allah for forgiveness is itself an act of worship. If building a consistent habit of dua feels difficult, structured lessons like our Islamic supplication course can help make it a natural part of daily life rather than something reserved only for moments of crisis.
How This Plays Out in Everyday Muslim Life
It is easy to read a list like this and feel overwhelmed, as if avoiding every muslim sin on the list requires constant, exhausting vigilance. In practice, most scholars describe the goal differently. The aim is not perfection. It is awareness, honesty with yourself, and a willingness to correct course quickly when you slip.
Interestingly, research backs up how central these daily practices remain for Muslims living in the West. A recent Pew Research Center study found that a majority of American Muslims report praying regularly, showing that despite living in a fast paced, secular environment, daily worship remains a consistent anchor for avoiding the very sins outlined above, particularly the abandonment of prayer.
For readers who want to go deeper into the scholarly reasoning behind these classifications, rather than relying on secondary summaries, the research papers published by the Yaqeen Institute offer accessible, well sourced material written specifically for a general audience, not just academics.
Final Thoughts
Learning about this subject is not meant to instill fear for its own sake. It is meant to build clarity. Once you understand what genuinely carries serious weight in the eyes of Allah, and what falls into the category of everyday human imperfection, the entire practice of faith becomes less about anxiety and more about intention.
If you want to study these topics with proper guidance rather than piecing information together from scattered sources, the team at AlQuran Pro offers structured courses covering Quran, hadith, and Islamic studies for students of every age and background, including a dedicated Islamic studies program for anyone who wants to move beyond surface level knowledge and study these concepts properly, verse by verse and hadith by hadith.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many major sins are there in Islam?
There is no single fixed number. Seven are named directly together in one authentic hadith, seventy are compiled by Imam al Dhahabi based on wider evidence, and later scholars like Ibn Hajar counted closer to 467 once every individual warning in the Quran and Sunnah is separated out.
What is the one sin Allah never forgives without repentance?
Shirk, associating partners with Allah, is the only sin the Quran states will not be forgiven if a person dies upon it unrepentant. Every other sin remains within the scope of Allah’s mercy.
Is smoking considered a major sin?
Scholars are divided. Most classify it as harmful and discouraged under the general Islamic principle against self harm, though it is not named explicitly in the classical lists of major sins the way shirk or riba are.
Can a major sin be forgiven without telling anyone?
If the sin was purely between you and Allah, sincere private repentance is sufficient. If it involved harming another person, their forgiveness or the restoration of their rights is also required.
Do minor sins ever become major sins?
Yes. Scholars note that persisting in a minor sin without any remorse can turn it into something closer to a major sin, since the danger of a minor sin often lies in repetition and a lack of concern rather than the act itself.
