Things that harm men in this world and in the next are due to vices. The essence of man’s spiritual loss is his having vices. Man’s avoidance of vices is called taqwâ. Tawa is the most precious of all worships. Decorating something requires that the thing first should be cleansed from all dirt and stain. Similarly, neither any
reward (thawâb) will be given nor any benefit will occur for the worships unless the man who does those worships cleanses himself from the sin. The worst of all vices is disbelief (kufr). The good deeds of a person who does not have belief will not bear any fruit for him in the Hereafter. [A disbeliever who is killed unjustly
does not become a martyr and will not go to Paradise. ]
The foundation of all virtues is taqwâ. One should try hard to obtain taqwâ and advise others to do the same. Living in this world peacefully with others and obtaining the best of eternal blessings could only be accomplished by having taqwâ.

Vices cause disease in the heart or soul . Any increase in this disease will cause the death of the soul, i.e. it will cause life.
Disbelief (shirk), which is the worst of all vices, is a fatal poison of the soul . Some people who do not have belief claim: “My heart (spiritual ) is clean. You should look at my heart. ” Their claim is no more than empty words. A dead heart cannot be cleaned.
There are many types of disbelief. The worst of all is
polytheism. Any variety of a certain vice is mostly specified with its most outstanding characteristic. For that matter, the word shirk used in âyat-i-kerîmas
and in (our blessed Prophet’s utterances termed) hadîth-i-sherîfs represents all sorts of kufr (disbelief). Allâhu ta’âl â, in the Qur’ân states that:
[4:48]
"Surely, Allah does not forgive setting up of partners with Him, and He forgives (any other sin) lesser in degree for whom He wills. And whoever sets up partners with Allah certainly fabricates a horrible sin."
[4:116]
"Assuredly, Allah does not forgive (the sin of) setting up any partner with Him, but He forgives any (sin) lesser than that whom He wills. And the one who associates anything with Allah as His partner has surely strayed far off."

He will never forgive the polytheists (mushriks). These verses point out that disbelievers will burn forever in the Hell fire. [“Shirk” means to attribute partners to Allâhu ta’âl â. A person who does the attributing is called a pol ytheist and the thing which is attributed is called partner (sharîk). To believe that someone possesses one of the attributes of Divinity means to make him a partner (sharîk). The attributes possessed exclusively
by Allahu ta’âl â are called “Attributes of Divinity.” Some Divine Attributes are the following:
Existing eternally, creating, all - knowing, and healing the sick. To believe that a human being or
the sun or a cow or any other creature possesses a divine attribute, and thus to respect or beg that being or creature, is called to worship them. Those things become an idol . To say words that mean deification of such people or to speak respectfully before
statues, pictures or graves of disbelievers assumed to be possessing divine attributes means to worship them and therefore it is polytheism. If one believes that a person does not possess a divine attribute but instead he is a person loved by Allâhu ta’âl â
or alternately if one believes that that person has served his nation much and therefore deserves respect, paying respect to his statues or pictures is not disbelief or pol ytheism. Nevertheless, since paying respect to any person’s picture is forbidden (harâm), anyone doing so becomes a sinner (fâsiq). If he slights the fact
that it is forbidden, he will become an apostate (murtad), and so will those who flout a prohibited action (harâm). Since those Jews and Christians who are not “mushriks” do not believe in the prophethood of Muhammad ‘ al aihis-sal am’, they are disbelievers.
They are called “Disbelievers with a heavenly book." Presently, most Christians are polytheists because they attribute divinity to prophet “Îsâ”, that is, Jesus ‘ al aihis-sal am’. Christians belonging to the sects of Barnabas and Arius (Arians) were among the
People of the Book. However, they have not survived to the present time.

The second worst disease of the soul after shirk is to hold and practise (heretical beliefs which are called) bid’at, which is followed by looseness in abstaining from sins, in the order of evil .
A person who dies without making tawba for venial or grave sins other than disbelief may be forgiven by Allâhu ta’âl â either through intercession (shafâ’at) or directly by His Mercy. If a venial sin is not forgiven then there will be punishment in Hell.
Sins that involve violating rights of other human beings will not be forgiven easily. Most l ikely, people who commit them will be punished more severely. For example, not giving wife’s due money (mahr) regarding the marriage contract or prohibiting human beings from learning their correct religion, which is their right (haqq), is the gravest gross violation of human rights.
Rasûlullah ‘ SAW stated as follows: “A time will come when people will not care whether they earn the money by permissible (halâl) means or not,” and “A time will
come when practicing Islam will be as difficult as holding a fire ball with bare hands.” Therefore, to avoid committing all prohibited actions (harâms) and those actions that are called makrûh tahrîmî (because they are quite close to harâms) is (taqwâ). Not to perform obligatory duties (fards) and strongly
recommended actions (wâjibs) is forbidden (harâm). According to some information, not peforming “muakkad Sunnats,” i. e., acts of worship which our blessed Prophet practised regularly, without an excuse, is strongly disliked (makrûh tahrîmî). People
who do not carry out commandments of Islam with respect to belief (i’tiqâd), ethics (akhlâq), and deeds (’amal) will be punished. Logically, one must avoid doing things that will cause punishment. For example, not performing five daily “salâts” and
women’s and girls’ not covering themselves is a grave sin. It would be a strong requirement for one to abstain from the grave sin by performing the five daily “salâts. ” Nevertheless, we will not deal with the subject matter regarding the things that must not be omitted; instead, we will communicate the things that should be avoided, i. e. , prohibited actions and vices.

The things we should not do (prohibited actions) are
committed either with a particular organ or with the entire body.
The following eight organs are very well known for committing sins: spiritual heart, ears, eyes, tongue, hands, stomach, sexual organs, and feet. The spiritual heart (qalb) is a spiritual grace blown upon the material heart of human beings. It is incorporeal , not made of matter, like the soul . These organs themselves do not commit the sin. The sensing power of these organs commits the sin. Anyone who wants to attain happiness in this world and the next must prevent these organs from committing sins. The spiritual heart has to be developed into a state wherein not committing sins will be its natural habit (mal aka). Anyone who can achieve this state is called Allah-fearing (muttaqî) or pious (sâlih) person. He has now attained Allâhu ta’âl â’s love and approval and become Wali to Him. It would also be piety [taqwâ] to avoid sins by exerting yourself without its becoming the heart’s natural habit. Yet being a Walî requires its being a natural habit not to commit sins, which in turn requires purifying the heart. And to purify the heart requires obedience to the rules of Islam. Islam consists of three parts: knowledge (’ilm), practice (’amal), and sincerity (I Kohlas). (1) To learn the knowledge, teaching the commandments, i. e. , Fards, Wâjibs, Sunnats, and forbidden actions (harâms and makrûhs), (2) To practise them in accordance with this knowledge, and (3) To do them only for the sake of Allâhu ta’âl â. The Qur’ân al -kerîm commands and praises all these three parts.

VICES QUICKEN ALLAH'S WRATH AND HAMPER OUR PRAYERS.

MAY ALLAH GRANT US REPENTANT HEARTS AND FORGIVE OUR SINS.

JAZAKALLAH.