WHAT is the Shirk done by the Garden owner (in Sura 18: 42), is it not Kufr?
Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,
As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
(May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)
One of our brothers/sisters has asked
this question:
WHAT
is the Shirk done by the Garden owner (in Sura 18: 42), is it not Kufr?
(There may be some grammatical and spelling
errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from
questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in
confidentiality.)
Answer:
Shirk incident in
surah kahf
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 none worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear
witness that Muhammad (saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His
Messengers.
Allah Says in the Holy Quran Chapter 18 Surah
Kahf verses 32-41:
32 Set forth to them the parable of two men: for one of them We
provided two gardens of grapevines and surrounded them with date-palms: in
between the two We placed corn-fields.
33 Each of those gardens brought forth its produce and failed not in
the least therein: in the midst of them We caused a river to flow.
34 (Abundant) was the produce this man had: he said to his companion in
the course of a mutual argument: "More wealth have I than you and more
honor and power in (my following of) men."
35 He went into his garden in a state (of mind) unjust to his soul: He
said "I deem not that this will ever perish.
36 "Nor do I deem that the Hour (of Judgment) will (ever) come:
even if I am brought back to my Lord I shall surely find (there) something
better in exchange."
37 His companion said to him in the course of the argument with him:
"Dost thou deny Him Who created thee out of dust then out of a sperm-drop
then fashioned thee into a man?
38 But (I think) for my part that He is Allah my Lord and none shall I
associate with my Lord.
39 Why didst thou not as thou wentest into thy garden say: `Allah's
Will (be done)! There is no power but
with Allah!' If thou dost see me less
than thee in wealth and sons
40 It may be that my Lord will give me something better than thy garden
and that He will send on thy garden thunderbolts (by way of reckoning) from
heaven making it (but) slippery sand!
41 Or the water of the garden will run off underground so that thou
wilt never be able to find it."
42 So his fruits (and enjoyment) were encompassed (with ruin) and he
remained twisting and turning his hands over what he had spent on his property
which had (now) tumbled to pieces to its very foundations, and he could only
say "Woe is me! Would I had never ascribed partners to my Lord
and Cherisher!"
Although in the parable quoted above the garden-owner
clearly declared severe doubt in the concept or the occurrence of the Day of
Judgment and would thus constitute disbelief or ‘kufr’ in the Sight of Allah
Subhanah. Although the exact nature of
the person’s practice of ‘shirk’ is not declared by Allah Subhanah in the above
parable…..there is absolutely no doubt that in addition to his ‘kufr’ this
person, through his own admission as related in verse 42 above, was also guilty
of associating other gods with Allah Subhanah, the Lord of the Worlds.
Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only
due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me
alone. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is
the Only Source of Strength.
Your brother and
well wisher in Islam,
Burhan