What Is the Greatest Sin in Islam?
What do Muslims consider the gravest sin?
Is it murder, theft, adultery (rape), lying, or deception?
No!
None of these are sins that Allah will never forgive.
According to Islamic belief, if a Muslim commits any of these sins and later repents (makes sincere tawbah), Allah may forgive him.
But there is one sin that Allah never forgives, and that is —
“Shirk” — associating anyone or anything with Allah, or worshipping someone other than Him.
Shirk: The Greatest Crime in Islam
Today, there are about 8 billion people in the world, out of which nearly 2 billion are Muslims.
The remaining 6 billion people either worship other deities or are atheists.
From the Islamic perspective, this means that more than half of humanity is guilty of shirk.
Therefore, a Muslim may commit theft, adultery, murder, rape, robbery, deceit, or lie — yet believe that if he sincerely repents, Allah may forgive him.
However, if a person avoids all these crimes but still worships idols or follows another form of deity worship,
then according to Islam, he is the greatest sinner, one who will never be forgiven.
What the Qur’an Says
📖 Surah An-Nisa (4:48)
“Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating partners with Him, but He forgives anything else for whom He wills.”
📖 Surah An-Nisa (4:116)
“Allah does not forgive shirk (association with others in worship), but He may forgive lesser sins for whom He wills.”
Hence, anyone who dies while committing shirk (without repentance) will never enter Paradise and will remain in Hell forever.
Why Did Muslim Invaders Destroy Idols and Temples?
Now we can understand why, since the very beginning of Islam, Muslim invaders destroyed temples and idols —
because in their eyes, idol worship was the gravest offense against God.
This belief laid the foundation for centuries of destruction of Hindu temples and sacred art in India.
Hindus destroyed only one mosque — the Babri Masjid, which was actually the site of Lord Ram’s ancient temple.
That too after 500 years of legal battle and a clear verdict from India’s Supreme Court.
Yet, many Muslims still consider it an “act of oppression.”
Let us now see what the real oppression was —
what Muslim invaders did to the sacred temples of India when they set foot on its holy land.
The Invasion of Muhammad bin Qasim
Suleiman Nadvi, in his book “Arab-o-Hind” (page 11), writes —
When Muhammad bin Qasim attacked Sindh, he killed Raja Dahir and his army, then massacred the temple priests and monks.
For three days, his army slaughtered anyone they found.
The grand temple of the region was demolished and replaced with a large mosque.
The Loot and Destruction of Multan
According to Futuhul-Buldan (Urdu, pages 186–199):
When Muhammad bin Qasim reached Multan, he besieged the city and cut off its water supply.
People began to die of hunger and thirst.
When they surrendered, all able-bodied men were executed, women and children were taken as slaves, and six thousand temple priests were enslaved.
The gold and silver stored in the temple treasury were seized by Qasim.
In “The Rule of the Arabs in India” (page 140), it is recorded that —
Qasim destroyed the great temples of Depalpur and sent the looted gold and jewels to the Caliph of Baghdad.
From Temples to Mosques
According to “Muslim Sultans in India” (Part 1, page 6):
Muhammad bin Qasim unleashed a storm of atrocities in Sindh.
He captured one hundred thousand Hindu women, and converted many temples into mosques.
On page 11 of the same book:
When Qasim advanced from Karachi, he seized a great fort that contained a domed temple.
He demolished it and built a Jama Masjid in its place.
In a letter to the Caliph of Baghdad, Qasim wrote —
“The infidels have either been converted to Islam or killed.
The idols have been shattered, and mosques have been built upon their ruins.”
The Golden Idol and Hidden Treasure
In “Ain-e-Haqiqat” (Part 1, pages 91–92), Akbar Shah Nazir writes —
After conquering Multan, Muhammad bin Qasim learned from a Brahmin about a secret treasure hidden under a temple.
Inside was a golden idol weighing 230 maunds (over 8,000 kg).
Beneath it were buried large cauldrons filled with gold coins — a total of 13,200 maunds of gold,
which Qasim sent to Damascus.
Conclusion
From these historical accounts, it becomes clear that Muhammad bin Qasim and later Muslim invaders of India
destroyed temples, desecrated idols, looted immense wealth, and massacred countless innocent Hindus.
This was not merely an act of conquest or greed —
it was driven by religious fanaticism, rooted in the idea that idol worship is the most unforgivable sin — “shirk.”
In the next part, we will explore how later invaders — Turks, Afghans, and Mughals — continued this pattern,
leaving a deep scar on India’s spiritual and cultural heritage.
