Definition of Shirk
Mu` meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa
Barakatuh. (May Allah`s Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
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What is the
definition of shirk?
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Answer:
Definition of Shirk
In the name of
Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever
Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can
guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person,
no grave, no prophet, no
imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness
that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.
‘Shirk’ or associating another
in God-head with Allah, has three main
parts:
1. Shirk in
Allah’s person
2. Shirk in
Allah’s Attributes
3. Shirk in
Allah’s Rights
Shirk in Allah’s person:
This would be if one were to
claim that Allah has a son, or has a
mother, father, brothers, sisters, family, children; or to claim that someone or something originated Allah! This is committing ‘shirk’ in Allah’s
person.
Shirk in Allah’s Attributes:
Allah has declared 99 of His
attributes in the Glorious Quran, and
Allah Alone knows how many more there are.
For example, Allah is the ‘Al
Aleem’ (The All Knowing). He Alone is
the All Knowing, of the seen and the
unseen! If we believe anybody else of
His creation knows everything, or even
has the power to know everything, then
we have wrongfully elevated someone to the position of Allah’s Attributes, and this is a clear form of shirk.
Similarly, Allah is the ‘As Samee’ (The All
Hearing). He Alone is the All Hearing…
We humans can only hear upto certain decibels;
below that limit we cannot hear,
and above that limit is unbearable!
Allah Alone hears everything… If we believe anybody else of His creation
hears everything, or even has the power
to hear everything, then we have
wrongfully elevated someone to the position of Allah’s Attributes, and this is again shirk.
Similarly, Allah is the ‘Al Qader’ (The One who is Able
to do all things). He Alone has the
Power to do anything and everything!
If we believe that anybody of His creation can do whatever they
want, even when Allah does not permit
him, this is shirk! Everything that happens in this world, needs Allah’s permission… only when He
permits, can a thing happen. To believe that somebody can hurt us, or harm us,
without the permission of Allah,
is a clear form of Shirk.
Shirk in Allah’s Rights:
The biggest Right of Allah is
that being our Creator and our Sustainer,
He Alone deserves our invocation and our worship. This is absolutely the biggest Right of
Allah. No one deserves that we bow
down to him and pray to him or call on him to answer our prayers … This is the
Sole Right of Allah Alone. If anyone
goes to anybody, any person, any idol,
any grave, any shrine, anything… and asks them to fulfill our
prayers, or even to tell them to take
our Message to Allah, this is an
absolute form of Shirk! Allah Alone
deserves that we pray to Him, call on
Him, serve Him, sacrifice for Him, fear Him, obey His
laws, follow His appointed Messengers, and obey and follow the commandments of His
Revealed Book! If we do any of the
above for anybody else other than Allah,
then it is Shirk.
Bowing in prostration to the
grave of the Prophet (saws), is to
share a right that is due to Allah Subhanah Alone with someone else, no matter who that person or thing is! The Jews shared Allah’s Rights with Moses
and Uzair, and were cursed by
Allah; the Christians shared Allah’s
Rights with Jesus, and were cursed by
Allah! May Allah have mercy on the
people who call themselves believers,
but want to share the Right of Allah with their Prophet (saws)!
‘Shirk’ is the absolute single biggest sin in
Islam, which Allah has Himself promised
in the Holy Quran never to forgive!
This sin is so heinous and so monstrous, that Allah has promised to forgive any of the sins of man, except this one sin!
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 5 Surah
Maidah verse 72:
Whoever commits ‘shirk’ (invoking anything with
Allah), Allah shall forbid for him
Paradise, and Hell shall be his
abode. And for such wrong doers there
will be no one to help.
Allah
says in the Quran: Chapter 4 Surah An-Nisa Verse 48
Shirk
(associating other deities with Allah) is the only sin that Allah does not
forgive, and He forgives, whomsoever He pleases, sins other than this. For whosoever associates any other partner
with Allah, does indeed forge a big lie and commits the most heinous sin
Allah says in the Holy Quran Chapter 39 Surah
Zumar verse 65-66:
If you commit ‘shirk’ all your works will be
rendered vain and you will be among the losers. Therefore, you should
worship Allah Alone, and be among His
grateful servants.
All the Prophets of Allah who
were ever sent warned the believers to beware of this heinous sin of
‘shirk’, which renders all the deeds of
man worthless in the sight of Allah Subhanah.
Thus it becomes our duty to
recognize and be aware of ‘shirk’ and all the manifestations of this horrendous
and grave sin. Allow me to just give
you an example of what constitutes ‘shirk’:
1. Bowing
down to anybody or anything other than Allah is shirk.
2. Bowing
down to the Syedna is shirk.
3. Bowing
down to the graves of his ancestors is shirk.
4. Bowing
down to the graves of even the Prophet (saws),
Hadrat Ali (saws), Hadrat Fatema (saws), etc. is shirk.
5. Believing
that the dead people in their graves can hear and answer our duas is shirk.
6. Believing
that anybody other than Allah can do us any harm is shirk.
7. Believing
that anybody other than Allah can bring us some good is shirk.
8. Believing
that anybody other than Allah knows everything is shirk.
9. Believing
that anybody other than Allah sees everything is shirk.
10. Believing
that anybody other than Allah listens to our prayers is shirk.
11. Believing
that anybody other than Allah can help us is shirk.
12. Believing
that anybody other than Allah can guide us is shirk.
13. Believing
that anybody can influence Allah to give us health is shirk.
14. Believing
that anybody can influence Allah to give us wealth is shirk.
15. Believing
that anybody can influence Allah to give us children is shirk.
16. Believing
that anybody can influence Allah to help us is shirk.
17. Believing
that anybody has any power with Allah is shirk.
18. Believing
that anybody has any power with Allah to take us out of the fire of Hell is
shirk.
19. Believing
that anybody has any power with Allah on the Day of Judgement is shirk.
20. Believing
that anybody has any power to change the decision of Allah is shirk.
21. To
worship anybody with Allah is shirk.
22. To
invoke anybody with Allah is shirk.
23. To raise
anybody to the rank of Allah is shirk.
24. To give
any of Allah’s attributes to anybody else is shirk.
25. To
believe that anybody has the power to bring about any miracles on his own is
shirk.
26. To go to
somebody to take our message or supplication to Allah is shirk.
To associate other beings or
things with Allah is ‘shirk’! To share
any of the noble Attributes of Allah with anyone is ‘shirk’! To invoke or worship anyone or anything with
Allah is ‘shirk’!
The Glorious Quran is the Book
which absolutely details each and every manifestation of shirk and makes the
readers aware of what exactly is this most hated of crimes in the sight of
Allah. It also details on how one has to avoid all the acts of
shirk, and believe and invoke and
worship the Lord of the Worlds, Allah
Subhanah Alone.
Whatever written
of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and
whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone
Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.
Your Brother in Islam,
Burhan