CRITICAL STUDY OF SHIRK

As Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullah,

JazakAllahu khayr for this question. Brother, as we all know that Shirk is a major sin {Gunah-e-Kabirah} be it in minor or major form . Its unforgivable. But at the same time, we shud n't forget that Allah swt is the Al-Ghafoor { The Great Forgiver}. He forgives all of our sins, when we repent. Our other kind of sins will be forgiven by His Mercy while we get accounted on the day of Judgement. But Shirk is amongst those Major sins, which is not forgiven by Allah swt, if that believer, does n't seek forgiveness from Allah swt.

Major and Minor forms of shirk are classified by our scholars for easy understanding of this concept. We believers are likely to commit shirk.

The forms of shirk mentioned by you above, {ruboobiyyah,uloohiyyah and al-asma� wa�l-sifaat are major Shirk.

A muslim when commits the above form of shirk, and displays outwardly, then he is a mushrik. If he limits his intentions of shirk, with himself { within his heart, he associates,others to Allah swt}, then he is a mushrik inward.

Minor Shirk : This form of shirk leads to Major shirk.

The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: �The thing that I fear most for you is minor shirk.� They said: �O Messenger of Allah, what is minor shirk?� He said: �Showing off, for Allah will say on the Day when people are recompensed for their actions: �Go to those for whom you were showing off with your deeds in the world, and see what reward you find with them.�� Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilah al-Saheehah.

Ar-Riyaa , show off is also a form of shirk, into which may get into.

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: �Incantations, amulets and love spells are shirk.�  - Abu Dawud.

Abu Dawood (3910) narrated from Ibn Mas�ood (may Allaah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: �Tiyarah superstitious belief in omens) is shirk, tiyarah is shirk,� three times, and there is no one among us but (will have some of that) but Allaah will rid him of it by means of tawakkul (putting his trust in Allaah). {Extract from Islam-qa}

The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) taught to his companions when he said to them: �Shirk among you will be more subtle than the footsteps of an ant, but I will teach you something which, if you do it, both minor and major shirk will be kept away from you.

Classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami�, 3731

We believers, shud try our best to stay away from shirk. One who gets involved in major shirk, if judged by scholars, then he becomes a mushrik. While when believers, get into minor shirk, {Many of us tend to fall into this category}, then he is not out of folds of Islam, but still commits major sin.

Another form of minor shirk, which we are likely to get into is, loving others more than Allah swt. We all know that a believers heart loves Allah swt the most, and His messenger. {You must be remembering that hadith wherein Prophet {Pbuh} asked Umar RA of his state of heart} This hadith as well as an ayah from Quran { Al-Imran} teaches us to love Allah swt and His messnger the most than anyone. If else love exceeds, then its a form of shirk.

As said, above, ar-Riyaa [Show-off} is also a form of shirk.This is also a serious form, into which we may fall. {May Allah swt save us from committing any form of shirk.

This were the things i wished to discuss that we muslims remind eachother .

seekshidayath wrote: ...... By the way, why don't we discuss the kind of shirks, [Major and Minor} ones, we Muslims are proned to get into. .........

Ok, let us take up the different kinds one by one.

Shirk in Ruboobeeyah

This category of Shirk refers to either

the belief that others share Allaah's Lordship over creation as His equal or near equal,

or

to the belief that there exists no Lord over creation at all.

Most religious systems fall into the first aspect of Shirk in Ruboobeeyah while it is the philosophers and their man-made philosophies who tend to fill the second aspect.

(A) Shirk by Association

Beliefs which fall under this sub-category are ones in which

a main God or Supreme Being over creation is recognized,

however

His dominion is shared by other lesser gods, spirits, mortals, heavenly bodies or earthly objects.

Such belief systems are commonly referred to by theologians and philosophers as either monotheistic (having one God) or polytheistic (having more than one God).

According to Islaam, all of these systems are polytheistic and many represent various degrees in the degeneration of divinely revealed religious systems all of which were originally based on Tawheed.

Among some Muslim people, Shirk in Ruboobeeyah is manifested in their belief

that the souls of saints and other righteous humans can affect the affairs of this world, even after their deaths.

Their souls, it is believed, can fulfill one's needs, remove calamities and aid whoever calls on them.

Therefore, grave worshippers assign to human souls the divine ability to cause events in this life which in fact only Allaah can cause.

Common among many Sufis (Muslim mystics) is the belief in "Rijaal al-Ghayb",

[Literally, "men of the unseen world". The world is supposed to endure due to the intercessions of a hierarchy of "averting" Saints whose number are fixed, the place of one who dies being immediately filled. (Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, p.582).]

chief of whom occupies the station called "Qutub" from which the affairs of this world are governed.[Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, pp.55.]

(B) Shirk by Negation

This sub-category represents the various philosophies and ideologies which deny the existence of God either explicitly or implicitly. That is,

in some cases God's non-existence is stated (Atheism),

while in other cases His existence is claimed,

but the way in which He is conceived actually denies His existence (Pantheism).

An example of this form of Shirk among some Muslims is that of many Sufis like Ibn 'Arabee who claim that only Allaah exists (All is Allaah, and Allaah is all). They deny the separate existence of Allaah and thereby in fact deny His existence.

We shall take up the next category of Shirk soon Insha Allah.