Major Shirk
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البينة Al-Baiyyinah البينة
Major Shirk (Shirk that removes a person from the religion of Islaam).
We have already established that Shirk is the greatest of all sins and
that those who die upon this way are destined to enter the Hell fire
because they have directed worship to other than Allaah when only
Allaah has created them and even what they worship. Allaah said:
إِنَّهُ مَن يُشْرِكْ بِاللّهِ فَقَدْ
حَرَّمَ اللّهُ عَلَيهِ الْجَنَّةَ
وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ وَمَا
لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ
“Verily, whosoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, then Allah
has forbidden Paradise for him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for
the Zhalimun (polytheists and wrongdoers) there are no helpers.”
(5:72).
Now this type of Shirk is the Major Shirk (i.e. that takes a person out
of the religion of Islaam) and it is divided into the following
categories:
Shirk in calling
Shirk of intention
Shirk in following
In this issue we shall deal with the first type.
(1) Associating partners with Allah in calling: this is invoking other
than Allaah in a matter which only Allaah is capable of fulfilling. He
is the only one who can bring about the good things in this life and
the hereafter and prevent evil things befalling a person in this life
and the hereafter. Now the main concept we have to look at is
capability of the creature. For example if a person is ill and goes to
the pharmacy and purchases medicine to cure that sickness this is not
associating a partner with Allaah, because is it upon the Muslim to do
two things:
Rely on Allah
Take the means to acquire things which will help him in this world.
And this is taken from a hadeeth of the Prophet (صلي الله
عليه و سلم) when he said:
“If it is that you had full reliance upon Allah, He would provide for
you as he provides for the birds. They leave their nests empty and come
back with their bellies full”.
Now this hadeeth explains the principle clearly because the birds do
not just rely upon Allaah and sit in their nests. They joined the two
matters together and so must human beings. So when we go to the doctor
we must fully realise that Allaah is the healer and he is the one who
put the ingredients of the medicine on earth to heal us. We trust Allah
but also we must find that medicine. What falls into Shirk then? The
answer is quite simple. When a person calls on other than Allaah to
bring about or prevent a matter in which only Allaah has the capability
of bringing about or preventing and this type of shirk mainly occurs
with the dead rather than living objects although less than often it
would occur with living creatures. For example there are many that
worship the trees, animals and living humans like Sai Baba. But we must
realise that all the things whether human, animal or inanimate will die
and have an end i.e. these things or creatures will return to Allaah.
There are also people who worship the stars, planets, sun and moon. A
sensible person would see that all these planetary objects follow a
certain order and cannot go against that order such as the sun rising
in the east and setting in the west and the moon coming out at night.
These objects have a force controlling them and they cannot control
themselves as Allah said:
فَلَمَّا جَنَّ عَلَيْهِ اللَّيْلُ
رَأَى كَوْكَبًا قَالَ هَـذَا رَبِّي
فَلَمَّا أَفَلَ قَالَ لا أُحِبُّ
الآفِلِينَ
76 When the night covered him over with darkness he saw a star. He
said: "This is my lord." But when it set, he said: "I like not those
that set."
فَلَمَّا رَأَى الْقَمَرَ بَازِغًا
قَالَ هَـذَا رَبِّي فَلَمَّا أَفَلَ
قَالَ لَئِن لَّمْ يَهْدِنِي رَبِّي
لأكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْقَوْمِ
الضَّالِّينَ
77 When he saw the moon rising up, he said: "This is my lord." But when
it set, he said: "Unless my Lord guides me, I shall surely be among the
erring people."
فَلَمَّا رَأَى الشَّمْسَ بَازِغَةً
قَالَ هَـذَا رَبِّي هَـذَا أَكْبَرُ
فَلَمَّا أَفَلَتْ قَالَ يَا قَوْمِ
إِنِّي بَرِيءٌ مِّمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ
78 When he saw the sun rising up, he said: "This is my lord. This is
greater." But when it set, he said: "O my people! I am indeed free from
all that you join as partners in worship with Allah.
إِنِّي وَجَّهْتُ وَجْهِيَ لِلَّذِي
فَطَرَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضَ
حَنِيفًا وَمَا أَنَاْ مِنَ
الْمُشْرِكِينَ
79 Verily, I have turned my face towards Him Who has created the
heavens and the earth Hanifa (Islamic Monotheism, i.e. worshipping none
but Allah Alone) and I am not of Al-Mushrikun".
As we notice after Ibraheem (عليه سلم) saw these natural
phenomena he declared that they were his lord and after they
disappeared he realised that these things cannot control themselves and
hence in verse 79 he said that he has directed his worship to The
Creator of the heavens (with its natural phenomena) and the earth and
that he will not worship other than The Creator. There are also those
who worship human beings because of their attachment to them. When
these individuals die the people start worshipping them. Yet you will
find in the life stories of most of these people that they neither
called people to worship them nor did they ever say that they were
gods. Also all of them ate and drank and this clearly shows that they
required nourishment to satisfy their hunger and quench their thirst.
And who provided that nourishment for them? Obviously it was my Lord
and their Lord, Allaah. Because Allaah is not in need of food or drink
but his creatures are in order to stay alive. As Allaah said in Surah
Dhaariyaat (56-58):
وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ
إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ
56 And I (Allah) created not the jinns and humans except they should
worship Me (Alone).
مَا أُرِيدُ مِنْهُم مِّن رِّزْقٍ
وَمَا أُرِيدُ أَن يُطْعِمُونِ
57 I seek not any provision from them nor do I ask that they should
feed Me.
إِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الرَّزَّاقُ ذُو
الْقُوَّةِ الْمَتِينُ
58 Verily, Allah is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, the Most Strong.
It is quite evident from these verses that Allaah created us to direct
all worship toward him for he is the one who created us and knows what
is best for us. And it is either a person worships the one who created
him which is the only path to salvation or he worships a created being
which is the way to the hellfire. Then He said that he does not need
them to give him provision (and He is not in need of it) but instead he
is the one who provides for his creatures who need provision. Also
these creatures need sleep and yet Allaah does not need it and He is
the one who created night for his creatures to sleep He said in 78:10:
وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا
“We have made the night a clothing”.
This means a time for rest and recuperation. Yet Allaah is in no need
of that for he is all powerful and all mighty. So why worship these
creatures and direct worship to them? When they need Allaah to provide
for them and protect them. When Allaah is the one who made them and
unto him they will return? ■