Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her.
“O ‘Aishah,
beware of the sins that are considered trivial.”
The lofty status that ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, enjoyed
in the eyes of the Prophet, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him,
facilitated for her a magnificent Prophetic upbringing.
‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, capitalized on this status
by frequently asking the Prophet, peace be upon him,
about everything that was unclear to her,
and then she translated that into a practical reality,
adhering to this upbringing
so as to be a role model for the women of the worlds.
Among the aspects of the upbringing of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
for ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
was his warning to her against taking minor sins lightly.
This warning
stems from the far-sighted vision of an educator regarding those he educates;
he elevates them from the rank of merely avoiding major sins
to the rank of being cautious of minor ones,
which could potentially destroy their perpetrator.
‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, says
that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, said to her:
“O ‘Aishah,
beware of the sins that are considered trivial,
for they have a seeker [who will hold you accountable] from Allah, the Almighty.”
Narrated by Ahmad.
Al-‘Ayni, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“The ‘trivial sins’ (muhaqarat) is the plural of ‘muhaqarah,’
which are the sins that the one who commits them deems insignificant.”
The reason the perpetrator deems them insignificant
is that he views them as minor sins,
while he is [already] avoiding major sins,
so he reassures himself that they will be forgiven by his avoidance of the major ones.
This is one of the ways Satan approaches a human being.
Ibn al-Qayyim illustrates
how Iblis approaches the Muslim by making minor sins seem trivial to him,
by saying to him:
“What harm is there if you avoid major sins, regardless of the minor ones you commit?”
Or, “Do you not know that they are expiated by avoiding major sins and by performing good deeds?”
He continues to make the matter seem trivial to him
until he persists in them.
Thus, the one who commits a major sin while being fearful, anxious, and remorseful is in a better state than him.
For persistence in a sin makes it worse than the sin itself,
and there is no major sin with repentance and seeking forgiveness,
and no minor sin with persistence.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:
“Beware of the sins that are considered trivial.”
Then he gave an example of a group of people who landed in a barren land,
and they were in need of firewood.
So one began to bring a stick, and another brought a stick,
until they gathered a large amount of firewood,
then they lit a fire and baked their bread.
Likewise, the sins that are considered trivial
accumulate against the servant while he underestimates their significance,
until they destroy him.
Thus, the Prophet, peace be upon him,
in his upbringing of ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her,
wanted her to be mindful of these trivial sins
so that she would not fall into them.
And if she did fall into any of them,
she would remedy it by abandoning them and seeking forgiveness for them.
Ibn Battal, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“Trivial sins, when they accumulate,
become major sins through persistence and continuing in them.”
Upon this, the Prophet, peace be upon him, raised the Companions,
and this upbringing bore fruit among the Companions
in the form of a refined sense of self-accountability,
to the point that Anas Ibn Malik, may Allah be pleased with him, said:
“You perform deeds
that are finer in your eyes than a hair,
[yet] we used to count them during the time of the Prophet, peace be upon him,
among the destructive sins.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
Al-Bukhari, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“He means by that the destructive ones.”
The Companions used to discuss the subject of minor sins and view them as grave,
despite them being the furthest of people from major sins.
Ibn Battal, may Allah have mercy on him, said:
“They only counted minor sins among the destructive ones
due to their intense fear of Allah,
even if they had no major sins.”
This perspective on the level of sins that a Muslim falls into
stems from the level of faith he possesses.
For the more his faith increases,
the more he views disobedience to Allah as grave.
And the more his faith weakens,
the more he views sins as trivial, even if they are major sins.
The difference between the two states
is that in the state of faith,
one looks at the greatness of the One he has disobeyed,
so he views the sin as grave.
And in the state of weak faith,
one looks at the size of the sin, so he views it as trivial.
The Prophet, peace be upon him, described this state, saying:
“The believer sees his sins as if he is sitting under a mountain,
fearing that it might fall upon him.
Whereas the wicked person sees his sins like a fly that passes by his nose,
and he waves it away like this.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari.
We are today in a virtuous month,
in which Muslims are keen to perform good deeds and increase them,
just as they are keen on the validity of their fasting by avoiding things that break it.
They ask about the minutiae of matters,
until it sometimes reaches the degree of obsessive questioning.
Yet, some are negligent—
I do not say only in minor sins,
but even in major ones.
Is it not time for our women
to hold themselves accountable in matters of dress and adornment outside the home?
And is it not time for our men
to hold themselves accountable in their financial dealings,
with the prevalence of usury and gambling in our time?
And is it not time for all of us
to scrutinize the harvest of our tongues,
protecting them from backbiting, slander, and belittling others?
We will continue in a future meeting, if Allah wills.
And praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
Our Mother ‘Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her.