Arabic text
عن أبي بكرة رضي الله عنه قال: قال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم: «أَلَا أُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِأَكْبَرِ الْكَبَائِرِ؟» ثَلَاثًا، قَالُوا: بَلَى يَا رَسُولَ اللهِ، قَالَ: «الْإِشْرَاكُ بِاللهِ، وَعُقُوقُ الْوَالِدَيْنِ» وَجَلَسَ وَكَانَ مُتَّكِئًا، فَقَالَ: «أَلَا وَقَوْلُ الزُّورِ»، قَالَ: فَمَا زَالَ يُكَرِّرُهَا حَتَّى قُلْنَا: لَيْتَهُ سَكَتَ.
Translation
Abu Bakrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Shall I inform you of the gravest of the major sins?" He repeated this three times. They said: "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said: "Associating partners with Allah and undutifulness to parents." He was reclining and then sat up and said: "And indeed, the false statement." He repeated it so many times that we wished he would stop.
Explanation
The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) informed his Companions about the gravest of the major sins and mentioned these three: 1. Associating partners with Allah: This is to devote any form of worship to other than Allah and regard anyone as equal to Allah in His divinity, lordship, names, and attributes. 2. Undutifulness to parents: This is any hurt to one's parents, whether by word or deed, and not showing kindness to them. 3. False statement, which includes perjury: Every false and untrue statement intended to detract from the one about whom it is made by taking his property, damaging his honor, and the like. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) repeated the warning about the false testimony to highlight its hideousness and evil consequences for society, so much that the Companions wished that he would be quiet out of compassion towards him and disliking what would annoy him.
Source: HadeethEnc.com