SHIRK (POLYTHEISM)

Sister Shariffa Carlo

The Beginning of Shirk (Polytheism) 
Shirk (Polytheism) began with Noah’s people. When Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) sent Prophet Noah to them, inviting them to worship Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), alone, and to stop worshipping idols, they were stubborn and insisted upon continuing in their Shirk. They answered Prophet Noah’s invitation with their Kufr (disbelief) and accused him of being a liar. In the Glorious Quraan, it says that they said:

“And they have said, ‘Forsake not your Gods, forsake not Wadd, nor Suwaa’, nor Yaghooth, nor Ya’ooq nor Nasr (names of the idols).’” (71:23)

In Saheeh Bukhari, we find the following narration, “Narrated Hadhrat Ibne Abbas: “These are the names (of the idols) which formerly were pious men from the people of Noah. When they died, Shaitaan(Satan) inspired the people to (prepare) and erect idols at the place where they used to sit, and to call these idols by their (the pious men) name. The people died, but the idols were not worshipped until the people had died, and the origins of the idols had obscured; whereupon people began worshiping them.” (Authentic)

Imam Ibn Al-Qayyim said:
“More than one of the Salaf (*the companions, the generation which followed them, the third generation and those of the scholars who followed them in their understanding and practice of the Quraan and the Sunnah). said, when the pious men of the people of Noah died, the people who followed them secluded themselves by the graves of the pious men. They prepared idols which resembled the pious men and with the passage of time, they began to worship them.”

The Cause of Shirk is Extravagance in Honoring and Loving Pious People
From the above Verses and Hadeeth, we know that Shirk among the children of Adam results from extravagance in loving and honoring pious men. The word “Ghuluw” means exceeding the limitations in honoring through praising and believing. This is why Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) says:

“O people of the scriptures, do not exceed the limits in your religion nor say of Allah aught but the truth; the messiah Jesus, son of Mary, was (no more than) an apostle of Allah and His word, which He bestowed on Mary and a spirit created by Him; so believe in Allah and His apostles. Say not: Three (trinity). Cease: (it is) better for you: For Allah is (the only) One God. Glory be to Him (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And sufficient is Allah as a Disposer of Affairs.” (4:171)

This means: do not exceed in the honoring of him. Do not put him over the level which can be given to any but Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa). This is why, in the authentic Hadeeth, narrated by Hadhrat Omar Ibn Al Khattab it is said that:

“Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa)’s Messenger (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) said, ‘Do not praise, laude, approbate, or eulogize me the way that the Christians did to Jesus, the son of Mary. I am only the slave of Allah’, thus say, ‘The slave of Allah and His messenger.’” (Authentic: Bukhari, Ahmad, Darimi, and others)

Thus, the meaning we extract from all of this is: do not exceed the limit in praising and lauding Muhammed (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) because the end result is putting him above the level where Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) placed him as the Christians exceeded the limits by claiming that Jesus was divine. Yet, despite the warnings, the commands and the forbidding by our Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), the ignorant people and those who are hallucinating refuse to do so. They went as far against him as they could, and they became equal to the Christians in their extravagance and shirk. They built domes and worship places over the graves of the pious people, and they started offering their prayers inside for the sake of Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) but with the intention of honoring those people buried in their graves. They also started to go around these graves the way they go around Al Ka’bah. They call upon these people to end their hardships and to give them their desires. Thus, they started believing that offering prayer inside these domes and monuments is better than offering prayer in the Masjids. In the authentic Hadeeth, narrated by Hadhrat Aaishah about the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) she said:

“As the Messenger of Allah was about to breathe his last breath, he drew his sheet upon his face, and when he felt uneasy, he uncovered his face and said, (in this very state) ‘Let Allah’s curse be upon the Jews and the Christians, that they have taken the graves of their prophets as places of worship (Masjid).’ He, in fact, warned (his men) against what they (Jews and Christians) did.” She (Aaishah) reported, “Had it not been so, his (the prophet’s) grave would have been in an open place. But it could not be (in an open place) due to his (the prophet’s) fear that it might be taken as a Masjid.” (Authentic: Bukhari, Muslim)

The Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) cursed them because of their actions of taking the graves of the prophets and the pious people as worship places. In this Hadeeth is a clear answer to those who believe that it is lawful to erect buildings over the graves of the scholars and pious people in order to distinguish them from the others because the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) cursed those who built over the graves of the prophets. (What would he had said about building over the graves of those who were not prophets?) These people who went against the commands of the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam), also showed their “Ghuluw” in their poetry and prose. Their “Ghuluw” is too much to even be counted, to the limit that they made it lawful to call upon the Messenger (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) and the pious people to grant them their wish in the same way (and kind) they call upon Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa). They attribute the Prophet (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam) with the self-knowledge of all of the unseen and future in his own capacity. They disagreed with the crystal clear Quraan:

“(And with Him) the key of the unseen, none knows them but He.” (6:59)

And Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) said:

“Verily the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone). He sends down the rain and knows that which is in the wombs. No soul knows what it will earn tomorrow, and no soul knows in what land it will die; verily, Allah is All-Knower, Aware (of all things).” (31:39)

Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) said about the Messenger (SallAllaho alaihe wa sallam):

“If I had the knowledge of the unseen, I should have an abundance of wealth and no evil should touch me.” (7:188)

“Say (O Muhammad!), ‘None in the heavens and the earth knows the unseen, except Allah.’” (27:65)

This verse plainly indicates that Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) is the only one who knows the unseen, and no other than He knows it. This is why Hadhrat Aaishah said: “Whoever claims that Muhammad knows the unseen has spoken a great lie against Allah.” (Authentic: Muslim)

And whatever he told about the unseen was a revelation to him from Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa). By now it should be clear that Shirk occurred due to “Ghuluw” in loving and honoring the pious people. The Messengers, from the first to the last, were sent to call and invite the people to worship Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) alone, with all acts of worship, not to prove to the people that He (Allah, Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) is their creator because they (the polytheist people) already believed in this. For this reason, they (polytheists) said to the prophet, as Allah said in the Quraan:

“They said, ‘You have come to us that we should worship Allah, alone, and forsake that which our fathers used to worship.’” (7:70)

Which means that they answered the prophet, you want us to serve Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), alone, with our acts of worship, without worshiping with Him other Gods?

“They said: “Comest thou to us, that we may worship Allah alone, and give up the cult of our fathers? bring us what thou threatenest us with, if so be that thou tellest the truth!” (07:70)

Two Kinds of Shirk
Shaikh ul Islam Ibne Taymiyah said:
“There are two types of shirk, major and minor. Paradise is for those who are free of both. If anyone dies while he is committing major shirk, (* without repenting even though he knows he is doing so), will be in the hellfire and won’t be able to come out. Whosoever was free from the major shirk, while committing some minor shirk and has more good deeds than sins, will be admitted to paradise. Also, whosoever is free from major shirk, but has committed minor shirk by which he increased his sins to be heavier than his good deeds, will be admitted to the hellfire.”

Shaikh ul Islam Ibne Taymiyah further said:
The eternal punishment by Allah, in hellfire, is for major shirk or if the minor shirk was abundant.” The minor shirk in small amounts will not be punished by Allah if the sincerity of worship vastly exceeds it.” (Tayseer Al Aziz Al Hamid)

An example of the major shirk is prostrating and vowing to other than Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa). An example of minor shirk is showing off in front of people when worshipping Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa), or swearing by other than Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) without intentions of glorifying the creature in the way Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) is glorified. 

The meaning of showing off (Riyaa) here is, for example, when a person is making Salaah sincerely for the sake of Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) but if a person is present who might criticize a sign of inattentiveness, like letting one’s eyes stray, the worshipper is more careful because the person is present, but they would not be if the person were not present, and the example of swearing by other than Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa) as a minor shirk is swearing while there is nothing in one’s heart that anything in this person or thing is in any way equal to or sharing any attributes with Allah (Subhaanahu wa Ta’aalaa).

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