alaHazrat says in al-Malfuz: The Great Sins are seven hundred—their details are long. Whatever involves the disobedience of Allah are all great sins. Whatever sin you consider light is a great one.
The two most common treacheries of the nafs for those who fear Allah and have Iman in their hearts are that which involve coaxing the self into sins through the following two methods of reasoning 1) The Nafs warns us to stay away from the major sins but as far as the minor ones are concerned, it makes us believe that indulging in them, once in a while is okay. 2) When presented with an opportunity to sin, the Nafs quickly reminds one that Tawbah is very powerful, and that the mercy of allah subhana hu wa taala is limitless, the Nafs then reasons that one can hence indulge in a sin and then sincerely ask for forgiveness and Allah azza wa jall will forgive the sin. The first one is more dangerous than what it seems for it addicts the self into a habit of disobedience to the mighty Lord, and the self loses the distinction between obedience and disobedience, first the minor sins are committed with ease and will go by like nothing, and gradually will pave the way for the major ones. Being wary of committing major sins while being open to minor ones is strange for both kinds of sins are nothing but sins, both like fire and have you seen anyone, with a house made of hay, afraid of setting his house on fire if it is from a blazing fire torch but thinks that tiny sparks of fire will keep his house safe? As far as the Second treachery of the Nafs, mentioned above, is concerned, it is well known that Tawbah is the excuse that shaytan plants in the minds of believers when they stand at the crossroads of committing a sin, almost everyone finds himself in such situation where the shaytan whispers about the gift of tawbah to ease the pathway towards sin and the nafs plays along with the whisperings of the Shaytan. However tawbah is not meant to be an excuse for committing sins, major or minor, for have you seen anyone who inflicts a wound or cuts open his hand with a sharp blade only because he knows of a good medicine for cuts and wounds? May Allah protect us from the fitnah of the Nafs and the Shaytan aameen !
