entry into Paradise, which shows that these are major sins; for anyone from whom Paradise is withheld has certainly committed a grave offense, as already explained.
First: The khabb is the treacherous schemer who lives by deceit and reprehensible trickery. He strips people of their wealth through fraud—lying in transactions, luring and duping them, concealing defects, and contriving ruses—or he deceives them through marriage ties by parading piety, wealth, and other attractive qualities so that his proposal will be accepted. Likewise, a woman may display traits calculated to entice, all as a ploy and deception. The forms of fraud are countless; yet, whoever deceives people for any purpose at all is guilty of a forbidden act that becomes a cause for being barred from Paradise.
Second: Miserliness. The scriptural texts, prophetic teachings, and the words of the scholars—as well as the instinctive judgment of people—have all condemned and reviled it. The jurists unanimously agree that it is unlawful when it leads one to withhold zakah, obligatory expenditures, or the sustenance owed to those he supports. It is sin enough for a person to deny his dependents the food they need.
Third: The one of evil malakah is he who has been stripped of compassion and mercy. He mistreats the servants or subordinates under his authority, burdening them with toil too hard for them to bear and neglecting the obligatory spending on them and the fulfillment of their rights. Worse still, he exceeds all bounds in disciplining them: for the pettiest matter he punishes them like hardened criminals—without mercy, pity, or leniency. The same ruling applies to the animals in his care: he stints on their feed and loads them with work and burdens that exhaust them.
- These three, characterized by such traits, have been forbidden Paradise; for Paradise is not for the deceiver and liar, the tight-fisted miser, or the hard-hearted man whose heart is devoid of mercy.