Islamic views on sin

Sin is an important concept in Islamic ethics. Muslims see sin as anything that goes against the commands of Allah (God), a breach of the laws and norms laid down by religion.Islam teaches that sin is an act and not a state of being. It is believed that Allah weighs an individual’s good deeds and against his or her sins on the Day of Judgement and punishes those individuals whose evil deeds outweigh their good deeds. These individuals are thought to be sentenced to afterlife in the fires of جهنم jahannam (Hell).

The Quran describes these sins throughout the text and demonstrates that some sins are more punishable than others. A clear distinction is made between major and minor sins (53:31–32), indicating that if an individual stays away from the major sins, then he/she will be forgiven of the minor sins. Regardless, Islam teaches that God is merciful and individuals can be forgiven of their sins if they repent.

Islam recognizes two kinds of sin (khati'ah): dhanb, a fault or shortcoming which is to be sanctioned; and ithm, a willful transgression which is to be punished.

Several different words are used in the Quran to describe sin—1) Dhanb 2) Ithm 3) Khati’ah 4) Jurm 5) Junah/Haraj. By examining the choice of words in Quranic verses used in connection with these terms, scholars have attempted to determine which sins are associated with which terms.

Dhanb (plural dhunub) is frequently applied to heinous sins committed against God. One of the main examples of Dhanb in the Quran is of “crying lies of God’s signs”, or having excessive pride that prevents an individual from believing the signs of God.

For in God's sight are (all) his servants, (namely), those who say: 'Our Lord, we have indeed believed: forgive us, then, our sins ("dhunub"), and save us from the agony of the Fire.'

This use of dhanb in the Quran exemplifies that this type of sin is punishable in the afterlife. In fact, dhanb is considered a ‘great’ sin and is often used in the Quran to contrast with sayyi’a, which denotes a ‘smaller’ sin. The Quran states that if you avoid these great sins, your lesser evil deeds or sayyi’at will be forgiven.

If you avoid great sins (kaba’ir or dhanb) which are forbidden you, We will remit from you your evil deeds (sayyi’a).

Some scholars believe the basic meaning of ithm to be an unlawful deed that is committed intentionally. This contrasts to dhanb in that dhanb can be both intentional and unintentional. However, this definition is somewhat nebulous and the best description of the word is based on the contextual situations. In the Quran, ithm is found quite frequently in legislative descriptions. For example, falsely accusing your own wife in order to gain money is constituted as an ithm (Quran 4: 24/20). However, ithm is also used in connection with haram, or committing an unlawful deed, a taboo, such as consuming food or drink that is forbidden by God:

...
Wikipedia