Explanation of the Book of the Heart—06a
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The reciter: Abu al-Walid narrated to us, and al-Muhdi narrated to us from Ghaylan from Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), who said: "You are doing deeds that are finer in your eyes than hair, whereas we used to count them in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) among the destructive sins". Abu 'Abdullah said: "He means by that the ruinous ones". Yes.
The Shaykh : This contains what one should guard against from the minor sins, meaning what a person must guard against from the minor sins, the sins that he belittles and says are simple, that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Beware of accustoming yourself to this, because these minor sins, when they gather, become great. Indeed, the mountains are made of pebbles; indeed, the mountains are made of pebbles. Then, when a person accustoms himself to these minor sins, the major sins become easy for him. For this reason, the scholars said: "Minor sins are the heralds of major sins, and major sins are the heralds of disbelief", because a person, may Allah protect us from that, moves from stage to stage until he reaches the height of sin. Therefore, it is not permissible for a person to belittle sins, because that harms him in the present and the future. Then he mentioned the report of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that people in his time were doing deeds and belittling them, but they counted them in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) among the destructive sins, meaning that they considered them great and saw them as ruinous. As for the era that Anas reached, which was around ninety years old, people had changed until words became nothing to them; a person would backbite and talebear, and it would not matter to him, or something of that sort. Perhaps he would light the fuse of discord with a single word that he did not consider a big deal. Therefore, Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) warned against these minor sins that a person belittles, which were considered major sins in the time of the Companions.
Chapter on what one should guard against from the minor sins
باب ما يتقى من محقرات الذنوبThe Shaykh : This contains what one should guard against from the minor sins, meaning what a person must guard against from the minor sins, the sins that he belittles and says are simple, that Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. Beware of accustoming yourself to this, because these minor sins, when they gather, become great. Indeed, the mountains are made of pebbles; indeed, the mountains are made of pebbles. Then, when a person accustoms himself to these minor sins, the major sins become easy for him. For this reason, the scholars said: "Minor sins are the heralds of major sins, and major sins are the heralds of disbelief", because a person, may Allah protect us from that, moves from stage to stage until he reaches the height of sin. Therefore, it is not permissible for a person to belittle sins, because that harms him in the present and the future. Then he mentioned the report of Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) that people in his time were doing deeds and belittling them, but they counted them in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) among the destructive sins, meaning that they considered them great and saw them as ruinous. As for the era that Anas reached, which was around ninety years old, people had changed until words became nothing to them; a person would backbite and talebear, and it would not matter to him, or something of that sort. Perhaps he would light the fuse of discord with a single word that he did not consider a big deal. Therefore, Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) warned against these minor sins that a person belittles, which were considered major sins in the time of the Companions.