Please don’t treat all sins as equal, jazakAllahu khayr for reading

Assalamu alaikum - this is a short reply to people who said I shouldn’t compare major sins after my last post about how abandoning salah can be worse than committing zina. Allah says: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.” (4:48). That verse clearly places shirk above other sins, showing some sins are worse than others. The Prophet ﷺ was asked which sin is the worst. He answered that making equals to Allah is the worst, and mentioned killing one’s child and committing adultery with a neighbor’s wife, and then recited the verses about avoiding association with Allah, killing, and illegal sexual intercourse (25:68–69). This hadith lists sins in a kind of order and supports the idea that severity differs. Another narration from Abu Hurairah reports the Prophet ﷺ saying there are seventy levels of riba, the least of which is like having intercourse with one’s mother - a stark comparison that emphasizes how severe riba is. The point here isn’t to downplay any sin - both abandoning prayer and zina are grave matters and deserve warning - but to explain that the Qur’an and Sunnah themselves distinguish levels of severity. Saying abandoning salah is worse than zina is not inventing a new ruling; it’s recognizing that some violations are closer to direct denial of Allah’s command and can have different legal and spiritual consequences. There are many more ahadith and scholars’ statements on this topic, but to summarize: Allah and His Messenger ﷺ did compare sins, and severity depends on the sin, context, and rights involved. That’s why abandoning salah is often shown as more severe: it is a direct breach of the covenant with Allah. As reported, the Messenger ﷺ said the covenant between Muslims and others is prayer, and whoever abandons it has committed kufr in that sense. May Allah guide us to uphold our prayers and keep us away from major sins. Ameen.