How to reconcile the hadith “Which sin is the greatest?” which mentions zina after shirk, with the statement that bid'ah (religious innovation) is a greater sin than other sins?
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Question:
A questioner says: It is known that bid'ah (religious innovation) is a greater sin than other sins, so how do you reconcile this with the hadith “Which sin is the greatest?” which mentions zina after shirk?
Answer:
Yes. Zina, may Allah protect us from it, in its harms[Al-Isra 17:32] do not approach it. He did not just say “do not commit zina,” but said “do not approach it.” Leave the means that lead to zina, such as looking at women, women displaying their adornment, and mixing with women. Avoid and stay away from all the means that lead to zina. It is a great sin, one of the major sins, as in this hadith, because it mixes up lineages, because it destroys society, and because it brings deadly diseases. [Al-Isra 17:32] Yes.
A questioner says: It is known that bid'ah (religious innovation) is a greater sin than other sins, so how do you reconcile this with the hadith “Which sin is the greatest?” which mentions zina after shirk?
Answer:
Yes. Zina, may Allah protect us from it, in its harms
And do not approach unlawful sexual intercourse. Indeed, it is ever an immorality
وَلَا تَقْرَبُوا الزِّنَىٰ إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةًIndeed, it is ever an immorality and is evil as a way.
إِنَّهُ كَانَ فَاحِشَةً وَسَاءَ سَبِيلًا
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، كيف الجمع بين حديث «أي الذنب أعظم» وذكر بعد الشرك الزنا، وبين أن البدعة أعظم إثما من المعاصي؟ — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.