What is the hierarchy of sins?

Imam Al-Nawawi, in his *Minhaj at-Talibin,* writes: > A person suffering from hunger who finds a corpse, and at the same time eatables not forbidden but belonging to another, should, according to our school, eat the corpse, rather then take the eatables that do not belong to him. This translation is bothersome because it at first appears as though he is speaking about human corpses. Within proper context however, it is clear he is speaking about animal corpses, i.e. carrion. However, this got me thinking about such a situation: in cases of absolute necessity, is it better to eat human corpses than to steal? We know that in cases of necessity, the *haram* becomes *halal.* However, this ruling is confusing, because it is not as though everything that is haram automatically becomes halal; some things become *halal,* and other things stay *haram.* Al-Nawawi makes it clear that eating unlawful food is a lesser sin than stealing property. This seems to prove the existence of a hierarchy of sins, in which eating unlawful food ranks as a better deed than stealing someone’s property. Is there a full hierarchy of sins? If so, where can I find it?