"The major sins are: associating others with Allah, disobeying parents, killing a souls (murder) and swearing a false oath knowingly.
The Book of Oaths (qasamah), Retaliation and Blood Money - Sunan an-Nasa'i
This commentary examines the hadith from Sunan an-Nasa'i 4868 concerning major sins in Islamic jurisprudence.
Textual Analysis
The hadith enumerates four grave offenses: shirk (associating partners with Allah), disobedience to parents, unlawful killing, and intentional false oath.
These constitute "kaba'ir" (major sins) that require sincere repentance and carry severe consequences in Islamic law.
Scholarly Commentary
Shirk is the gravest sin as it violates tawhid (divine unity). Disobeying parents follows due to their rights resembling Allah's rights upon the servant.
Murder violates the sanctity of life established in Quran 5:32. False oath perverts justice and dishonors Allah's name.
Legal Implications
These sins carry both worldly and otherworldly consequences. Murder requires qisas (retaliation) or diyah (blood money) in Islamic criminal law.
False oath undermines judicial processes and commercial transactions, requiring expiation (kaffarah) as detailed in Quran 5:89.