“Verily, Allah forgives not shirk but He surely, (all) your deeds will be in vain, shrine upon the
, shrine upon the graves of the Awliya and
forgives except that (anything else) to whom
He wills” (4:48).
The Meaning of Shirk
The shirk is: Setting up partner with Allah, the
Most High, in His Lordship and in His Worship. And
the setting up of partner mostly takes place in the
worship; it is calling on other with Allah, or
directing anything from the types of worship to
other than Allah, such as the sacrifice, vow, fear,
hope, and love. And the shirk is from the greatest
sins and that is for matter:
1. Because it is comparison for the created with
the Creator in the attributes of worships. So
whoever associated anyone with Allah, then
he compared with Him, and this is the
greatest oppression. He, the Most High, said:
“Verily, joining others in worship with
Allah is a great Zulm (oppression)
indeed” (31:13).
2. Indeed Allah informed that He would not
forgive the one who does not repent from it.
He, the Most High, said: “Verily, Allah
forgives not shirk (that partners should
be set up with Him in worship), but He
forgives except that (anything else) to
whom He wills” (4:48).
3. Indeed Allah informed that He made Paradise
forbidden for the polytheist and that he would
be one who enters the Hellfire for eternity.
He, the Most High, said: “Verily, whosoever
sets up partners (in worship) with Allah,
then Allah has forbidden Paradise to him,
and the Fire will be his abode. And for the
Zalimun (polytheists and wrong doers)
there are no helpers” (5:72).
4. Indeed the shirk destroys all actions. He, the
Most High, said: “But if they had joined in
worship others with Allah, all that they
used to do would have been of no benefit
to them” (6:88). And He, the Most High,
said: “And indeed it has been revealed to
you (O Muhammad sallallahu alayhe wa
sallam), as it was to those (Allah's
Messengers) before you: ‘If you join
others in worship with Allah, (then)
and you will certainly be among the
losers’” (39:65).
5. Indeed the polytheist, permissible of blood
and wealth. He, the Most High, said: “Then
kill the polytheists wherever you find
them, and capture them and besiege
them, and lie in wait for them in every
ambush” (9:5). The Prophet sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam said: “I was commanded
to fight the people until they say None
has the right to be worshipped except
Allah, if they said it, then they protected
their blood and wealth except with its
right” (Sahih Al-Bukhari & Muslim).
6. Indeed the shirk is the severest sin of the
major sins. He sallallahu alayhe wa sallam
said: “‘Shouldn’t I inform you of the
severest sin of the major sins?’ We said:
‘Of course O Messenger of Allah.’ So he
said: ‘The associating of partner with
Allah, and disobeying the parents’”
(Sahih Al-Bukhari & Muslim).
7. Indeed the shirk is deficiency and
imperfection, which the Lord has freed Himself
from. Thus, whoever associates partner with
Allah, then He indeed affirmed for Allah what
He freed Himself from. And this is the ultimate
disobedience to Allah, the Most High, and the
resistance and opposition to Allah.
The Types of Shirk
The shirk is of two types:
1. The first type is: Major shirk that which expels
from the fold of Islam, and enters its doer in
the Hellfire if he dies without repenting from
it. It is directing anything from the types of
worship to other than Allah such as:
Supplicating to other than Allah; seeking
closeness through the sacrifices; vows to
other than Allah from the graves, jinn, and
devils; fear from the dead people, jinn, or
devils that they will harm him or cause him to
be sick; hope in other than Allah in things that
none but Allah can do with regard to carrying
out one’s needs; repelling hardships; and
what is practiced nowadays around the built
righteous. He, the Most High, said: “And they
worship besides Allah things that harm
them not, nor profit them, and they say:
‘These are our intercessors with Allah.’
Say: ‘Do you inform Allah of that which
He knows not in the heavens and on the
earth?’ Glorified and Exalted is He above
all that which they associate as partners
(with Him)” (10:18).
2. And the second type is: Minor shirk that which
does not expel from the fold of Islam, but it
reduces the Tawheed and it is a mean to the
major shirk. And it is two kinds:
I. The first kind is: A manifest shirk on the
tongue and the limbs and it is: words
and actions. As for the words like
swearing by other than Allah. He
sallallahu alayhe wa sallam said:
“Whoever swears by other than Allah,
then he has disbelieved or committed
shirk” (Reported by At-Tirmidhi who
graded it hasan and Al-Haakim
authenticated it). Also saying: Whatever
Allah wills and you will. He sallallahu
alayhe wa sallam said when a man said
to him: Whatever Allah wills and you
will, He sallallahu alayhe wa sallam said:
“Have you associated me as a
partner to Allah?! Say: Whatever
Allah wills alone” (An-Nasaee).
And saying: If it was not for Allah and
you, and the correct manner (of saying
it) is if it was not for Allah then so and
so, and whatever Allah wills then so and
so wills, because “then” points to order
with delay, and will of the slave follows
the will of Allah, as He, the Most High,
said: “And you cannot will unless (it
be) that Allah wills – the Lord of the
‘Alamin (mankind, jinn and all that
exists)” (81:29).
As for the wow (‫)ﻭو‬: It is for the absolute
association of combination, it neither
requires order nor following; and its
example is saying: I do not have anyone
but Allah and you, and this is from the
blessing of Allah and you.
 And as for the actions: Then its example woe to the slave of black garment,
is wearing the ring and thread to lift the and woe to the slave of nice
hardship or pushing it away, and garment if he is given, he is
hanging amulets for fear of the evil eye pleased, if he is not given, he is
and other than it; if one believes that discontent” (Sahih Al-Bukhari).
these are from the causes of lifting the
hardship or repelling it, then this is a In summary of what has preceded, there are
minor shirk; because Allah did not make differences between the major shirk and minor
these causes. As for if one believes that shirk, and they are:
these things by themselves repel or lift
the hardship; then it is a major shirk 1. The major shirk: It expels from the fold of
because it is attachment to other than Islam, and the minor shirk does not expel
Allah. from the fold of Islam but it reduces the
Tawheed.
II. The second kind from the minor shirk is:
Hidden shirk and it is the association in 2. The major shirk: Enters its doer into the
the desires and intentions, like showing Hellfire for eternity, and the minor does not
off and fame. It is like doing an action enter its doer into it for eternity even if he
through which one gets closer to Allah enters it.
to attain the praise of people upon him.
It is as if he perfects his payer, or he 3. The major shirk: Destroys all actions, and the
gives charity in order that he is praised minor shirk does not destroy all actions. It
for it, or he raises his voice with Dhikr only destroys the action with showing off and
and perfects his voice with the recitation the action performed for the worldly gain.
in order that the people hear him. Thus,
they would praise and complement him. 4. The major shirk: Makes the blood and wealth
permissible, and the minor shirk does not
And if the showing off mixes with the make them permissible.
action, it nullifies it. He, the Most High,
said: “So whoever hopes for the
Meeting with his Lord, let him work
May the salah and salam be upon our Prophet
Muhammad, his family, and his companions.
Explanation of
righteousness and associate none
as a partner in the worship of his the meaning of
Lord” (18:110). And the Prophet
sallallahu alayhe wa sallam said: “What
I fear the most for you is the minor
Shirk and Its
shirk.” They said: O Messenger of
Allah sallallahu alayhe wa sallam!
What is minor shirk? He sallallahu
categories
alayhe wa sallam said: “It is the
showing off” (Reported by Ahmed,
At-Tabaraanee, and Al-Bagawee in
By: Shaykh Saleh bin Fawzan
Shar As-Sunnah).
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