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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Taharah & 'ismah of the Prophets, Messengers, Awsiya', and Imams (peace Be Upon Them) Research Question no. 3 We now reach our third question which poses itself to us: What is the meaning of “Sin”? “Sin” is the lack of obeying and fulfilling the orders of Allah (SWT).

There are two kinds: There exists unintentional sin and disobedience that is due to ignorance, lack of ability to obey due to weakness of the brain, self, or body, like the disobedience of Prophet Adam (AS) before his prophethood, and also like many of the people. There also exists intentional sin and disobedience that occurs with the presence of knowledge, and perfect ability to obey, like the sin and disobedience of Iblees (Shaytan) and his followers from the human beings and Jinn.

Allah (SWT) may forgive the first type of sin and disobedience with His compassion and generosity if the sinner regretted and repented from his sin with a sincere intention. As for the second type of sin, its consequences are the expulsion of the sinner from the mercy and compassion of Allah (SWT), and the eternal punishment and damnation of that person. The Prophets, Messengers, Awsiya', and Imams are purified and protected from committing both kinds of sins and disobediences.

When Adam (AS) “disobeyed” Allah (SWT), this happened when he was still in Paradise before he descended to Earth and before he became a Prophet. When he was appointed as Prophet, he became purified and protected, and so, we never saw from him any kind of disobedience after that. Here, we need to clarify and stress an important thing, which many people fail to recognize and understand. Disobedience is the act of not obeying and not executing the command of Allah (SWT).

And Taharah and ‘Ismah of the Prophets is from this act of disobedience to the orders of Allah (SWT) that are directed to them in any matter. The meaning of disobedience here is not what the minds are used to when they think of a sin because some behaviors are generally considered to be a sin. The most important thing that one has to keep in mind is that the meaning of disobedience is specifically not obeying and carrying out the orders of Allah (SWT).

It is not what comes to your mind from specific actions which we are used to calling a sin. It is important to differentiate between these two scenarios even if they coincide in most cases.