al-Kabair li-Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab

al-Kaba'ir (Arabic: كتاب الكبائر, lit. 'The Book of Major Sins') is a treatise on major sins and prohibitions in Islam authored by the Hanbali theologian and reformer Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1115–1206 AH / 1703–1792 CE) Mukhtasar Zad al-Maad+1.

Purpose and Method

The work aims to enumerate and define major sins (kaba'ir) to warn Muslims against committing them, relying strictly on scriptural evidences al-Kabair li-Muhammad ibn…+1. The author's method across the book consists of naming a specific sin or prohibitive matter under a chapter heading (bab), citing relevant Quranic verses, and subsequently presenting prophetic traditions and early scholarly narrations (athar) that demonstrate the prohibition and severity of that act al-Kabair li-Muhammad ibn…+1.

Structure and Content

The text comprises 125 chapters and includes 258 hadiths and narrations from the early generations Manhaj Shaykh al-Islam Mu…. It opens without an extended preface, beginning directly with the scriptural basis for the distinction between major and minor sins, citing: إِنْ تَجْتَنِبُوا كَبَائِرَ مَا تُنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ نُكَفِّرْ عَنْكُمْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ "If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your lesser sins" (Surat an-Nisa: 31), and: الَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَائِرَ الْإِثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ إِلَّا اللَّمَمَ "Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight faults" (Surat an-Najm: 32) Al-Kabair li Muhammad ibn…+1.

It then cites narrations transmitted from Ibn Abbas defining a major sin as any transgression that God concluded with an explicit threat of Hellfire, curse, wrath, or punishment, alongside his dictum that major sins are closer to seven hundred (or seventy in another report) than seven, and that no sin remains major when paired with seeking forgiveness (istighfar), just as no sin remains minor when persisted upon (israr) Al-Kabair li Muhammad ibn…+1.

The first thematic section is titled "Chapter on the Greatest of Major Sins" (Bab Akbar al-Kaba'ir), which adduces the prophetic tradition recorded by al-Bukhari and Muslim on the authority of Abu Bakrah: ألا أنبئكم بأكبر الكبائر؟ قلنا: بلى يا رسول الله. قال: الإشراك بالله، وعقوق الوالدين، وكان متكئا فجلس فقال: ألا وقول الزور، ألا وشهادة الزور "Shall I not inform you of the greatest of major sins? We said: 'Yes, O Messenger of God.' He said: 'Associating partners with God, disobedience to parents'—and he was reclining, then sat up and said—'and indeed, false speech and false testimony'" Al-Kabair li Muhammad ibn…+1. The subsequent chapters address specific sins encompassing creedal violations, moral transgressions, social injustices, and unlawful dealings al-Kabair li-Muhammad ibn…+1.

Transmission and Publication

The attribution of the work to Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab is documented by early regional historians, including Husayn ibn Ghannam in Rawdat al-afkar wa-l-afham and Uthman ibn Bishr in 'Unwan al-majd fi ta'rikh Najd Hayat al-Shaykh Muhammad …. Multiple manuscript copies survive in libraries in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and India, including copies in the collection of the Mufti Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Al al-Shaykh, Muhammad ibn Abd al-Latif, and Abd al-Rahman al-Husayn Aqidat Muhammad ibn Abd a…+1.

The text has been published both as an independent work and within the first volume of the collected writings (Mu'allafat al-Shaykh al-Imam Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab) prepared under the auspices of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University and the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta in Riyadh Majmu Fatawa wa Rasail al…+1.