Discover the meaning of the term Alatham (أثام) in Islamic vocabulary.
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Updated on 11 April 2026 at 1:05 AM
📖 2 min readAl-ithm (sin). Sin's recompense; in the Qur'an: 'those who call not upon another god with God, nor kill the life God made sacred save in justice, nor commit fornication: whoever does that shall meet a sin (ithaman); the punishment shall be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection, and he shall abide therein disgraced' (al-Furqan, 68-69). Severe chastisement (an-nakal): Qatada's interpretation.
A valley in the Fire, God's refuge is sought; related from 'Abd Allah b. 'Amr b. al-'As and Ikrima, and the view of many exegetes.
Al-ithm: the offense (plural atham). Wine; hence the poet's verse: 'I drank the sin until my mind went astray; such is sin, it carries off the wits.' Abu Ja'far an-Nahhas said: the claim that wine is named al-ithm has no root in hadith nor in language, and the poet's verse proves nothing: he used ithm for wine figuratively, meaning sin arises from it. Gambling.
Doing what is not lawful for him; in the Qur'an: 'they ask you about wine and gambling; say: in both is great sin (ithm kabir)' (al-Baqara, 219). In the noble hadith: 'what stirs in your breast and you hate that people learn of it.' In the sunna people's terminology: deserving punishment (Ibn 'Abidin). With the Hanafis: what must be guarded against legally and by nature.
With some scholars: disobedience between man and man. Al-athim: the liar; the profligate; in the Qur'an: 'the tree of az-Zaqqum, the sinner's (al-athim) food' (ad-Dukhan, 44-45); az-Zajjaj said Abu Jahl b. Hisham is meant here; it was said al-athim in this verse means the sinner (al-athim).
Al-ma'tham: the thing by which man sins; it is the ithm itself, the verbal noun taking the noun's place; in the noble hadith: 'I seek refuge in You from al-ma'tham (sin) and debt.'