بِسۡمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
The meaning of shirk
Literally, shirk means “companion” or “equality”, but the term refers to associating anyone with the essence, attributes, rights, and powers of Allah Almighty. For example, if someone says that what Allah Almighty does, someone else can do that as well. Allah Almighty has the power to do that and anyone else has the power to do that too. It is an attribute of Allah Almighty that He has knowledge of the hidden and someone else is also the knower of the unseen, such beliefs and actions under them are called shirk.
Allah says:
اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ اَنْ يُّشْرَكَ بِهٖ وَ يَغْفِرُ مَا دُوْنَ ذٰلِكَ لِمَنْ يَّشَآءُ١ۚ وَ مَنْ يُّشْرِكْ بِاللّٰهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرٰۤى اِثْمًا عَظِيْمًا
[النساء: 48]
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.
(Surah Nisa : 48)
It is the worst act and the greatest injustice to associate a Prophet or a Saint with His being, attributes, knowledge, dispositions, and powers. Even the greatest sin, if Allah wills, can be forgiven without repentance or after being punished for some time then admit him to Paradise, but shirk cannot be forgiven without repentance and reformation. Paradise is forbidden to those who die in polytheism (shirk), and Hell is their eternal abode.
لَقَدْ كَفَرَ الَّذِيْنَ قَالُوْۤا اِنَّ اللّٰهَ هُوَ الْمَسِيْحُ ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ١ؕ وَ قَالَ الْمَسِيْحُ يٰبَنِيْۤ اِسْرَآءِيْلَ اعْبُدُوا اللّٰهَ رَبِّيْ وَ رَبَّكُمْ١ؕ اِنَّهٗ مَنْ يُّشْرِكْ بِاللّٰهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَ مَاْوٰىهُ النَّارُ١ؕ وَ مَا لِلظّٰلِمِيْنَ مِنْ اَنْصَارٍ
(المائدہ : 72)
They have certainly disbelieved who say, ” Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary” while the Messiah has said, “O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” Indeed, he who associates others with Allah – Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.
(Surah Al-Ma’idah: 72)
It is very clear that Paradise is eternally forbidden to the polytheist and his eternal abode is Hell. That is, in the Hereafter where there is no such thing as death, the polytheist will burn in Hell forever and ever. Imagine a life in which thousands of years pass, not just millions and millions of years, billions of years will pass but death will not come, so what will happen to this polytheist, one layer of skin will burn, another will be made, another will burn, then a third, the body will be rebuilt millions of times, but there will be no escape from hell۔
Now we come to Surah An-Nisa 'again.
اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ اَنْ يُّشْرَكَ بِهٖ وَ يَغْفِرُ مَا دُوْنَ ذٰلِكَ لِمَنْ يَّشَآءُ١ۚ وَ مَنْ يُّشْرِكْ بِاللّٰهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرٰۤى اِثْمًا عَظِيْمًا
[النساء: 48]
Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills. And he who associates others with Allah has certainly fabricated a tremendous sin.
It is known that shirk is not forgiven in any case, but Allah Almighty can forgive other sins for whomever He wills and as much as He wants, even in a Hadith Qudsi the Prophet (ﷺ) says that Allah Almighty said:
، عَنْ أَبِي ذَرٍّ، قَالَ قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم يَقُولُ اللَّهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا وَأَزِيدُ وَمَنْ جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَجَزَاؤُهُ سَيِّئَةٌ مِثْلُهَا أَوْ أَغْفِرُ وَمَنْ تَقَرَّبَ مِنِّي شِبْرًا تَقَرَّبْتُ مِنْهُ ذِرَاعًا وَمَنْ تَقَرَّبَ مِنِّي ذِرَاعًا تَقَرَّبْتُ مِنْهُ بَاعًا وَمَنْ أَتَانِي يَمْشِي أَتَيْتُهُ هَرْوَلَةً وَمَنْ لَقِيَنِي بِقُرَابِ الأَرْضِ خَطِيئَةً لاَ يُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَقِيتُهُ بِمِثْلِهَا مَغْفِرَةً ” . قَالَ إِبْرَاهِيمُ حَدَّثَنَا الْحَسَنُ بْنُ بِشْرٍ حَدَّثَنَا وَكِيعٌ بِهَذَا الْحَدِيثِ
( مسلم ، كتاب الذِّكْرِ وَالدُّعَاءِ وَالتَّوْبَةِ وَالِاسْتِغْفَارِ ، بَابُ فَضْلِ الذِّكْرِ وَالدُّعَاءِ وَالتَّقَرُّبِ إِلَى اللهِ تَعَالَى )
Abu Dharr reported Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) as saying that Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, stated:
“He who comes with goodness, there are in store for him ten like those and even more than those: ‘And he who comes with vice, it is only for that that he is called to account. I even forgive him (as I like) and he who draws close to Me by the span of a palm I draw close to him by the cubit, and he who draws close to Me by the cubit I draw close to him by the space (covered) by two hands, and he who walks towards Me I rush towards him, and he who meets Me in the state that his sins fill the earth, but not associating anything with Me, I would meet Him with the same (vastness) of pardon (on My behalf).” This hadith has been transmitted on the authority of Waki’.
(Sahih Muslim, The Book Pertaining to the Remembrance of Allah, Supplication, Repentance and Seeking Forgiveness, Chapter: The Virtue of Remembrance, Supplication, Drawing Close To Allah and Thinking Positively Of Him).
Think about the reason why Allah is so strict in the matter of shirk and has room for forgiveness for other sins.
عَنْ مُعَاذٍ ـ رضى الله عنه ـ قَالَ كُنْتُ رِدْفَ النَّبِيِّ صلى الله عليه وسلم عَلَى حِمَارٍ يُقَالُ لَهُ عُفَيْرٌ، فَقَالَ ” يَا مُعَاذُ، هَلْ تَدْرِي حَقَّ اللَّهِ عَلَى عِبَادِهِ وَمَا حَقُّ الْعِبَادِ عَلَى اللَّهِ ”. قُلْتُ اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ. قَالَ ” فَإِنَّ حَقَّ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْعِبَادِ أَنْ يَعْبُدُوهُ وَلاَ يُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا، وَحَقَّ الْعِبَادِ عَلَى اللَّهِ أَنْ لاَ يُعَذِّبَ مَنْ لاَ يُشْرِكُ بِهِ شَيْئًا ”. فَقُلْتُ يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ، أَفَلاَ أُبَشِّرُ بِهِ النَّاسَ قَالَ ” لاَ تُبَشِّرْهُمْ فَيَتَّكِلُوا ”.
( بخاری ، کتاب الجہاد و السیر، بَابُ اسْمِ الفَرَسِ وَالحِمَارِ )
Narrated Mu`adh:
I was a companion rider of the Prophet (ﷺ) on a donkey called ‘Ufair. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked, “O Mu`adh! Do you know what Allah’s right on His slaves is, and what the right of His slaves on Him is?” I replied, “Allah and His Apostle know better.” He said, “Allah’s right on His slaves is that they should worship Him (Alone) and should not worship any one besides Him. And slave’s right on Allah is that He should not punish him who worships none besides Him.” I said, “O Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ)! Should I not inform the people of this good news?” He said, “Do not inform them of it, lest they should depend on it.
(Sahih Bukhari, Book of Fighting for the Cause of Allah (Jihaad), Chapter: To name a horse and a donkey).
Will Allah forgive his right?
No not at all. The right of Allah is that no one should associate anything with Him, that is why Allah will not forgive shirk except other sins He will forgive as much as He wills for whomsoever He wills. Think of it this way that any quality of Allah His being His attributes rights and power are associated with someone that describes him equivalent to Him is unforgiveable, but other sins in which His being, attributes, rights and powers are not affected are forgivable. For example, if a person steals, devour usury, commits adultery, then all these acts are harmful for him, but he does not commit shirk, so these sins can be forgiven as much as Allah wills. On the contrary, a person calls any of His Allah’s servants other than Allah “Ghous-ul-Azam” (the greatest helper in the Universe), so this is the only attribute of Allah and He has associated His servant with Allah’s attribute and has committed Al shirk. Allah Almighty provides all His creatures with all kinds of necessities which is called Al-Wahab (Giver) in Arabic. Now, if a servant calls and considers a deceased person as “Data” (giver or provider) and attends his shrine according to this belief, prays to him, so it is like as if he has contributed Allah’s attributes to the deceased. After such an act, if he dies without repentance, then Paradise is forbidden to him forever.
In the present age, this ummah is involved in various forms of shirk. Here we are describing some of the forms of shirk so that everyone who utters it can protect himself from such misguidance as shirk. In sha Allah, the details will be explained soon.
For example, supplicating from other deceased people besides Allah Almighty, going to graves and distributing feast and sweets in the name of the deceased, make offerings and making vows there, sacrifice or slaughtering animals near graves or shrines, circumambulation of graves or kneeling and bowing down, praying facing the graves or prostrating, traveling to the graves with the intention of reward and blessing, seeking help from Allah with slogans such as Ya Rasool Madad, Ya Ali Madad, or Ya Ghaus-ul-Madad, etc. Wearing a bracelet to avoid illness or trouble, hanging thread and amulet, tying Imam Zaman. Wearing a special stone ring, hanging a child’s old shoe to protect the car, putting cow horns to protect the house. Fortune-telling from birds or humans, trying to harm others by magic, ‘Going to astrologers to find out your destiny and confirm them, reporting earthly events from astrology, seeking rain through the stars, leaving animals in the name of other than Allah, Obedience to the Maulvis and Muftis of one’s sect in matters contrary to the Qur’an and Sunnah with the intention that it is permissible, leaving the religion of Allah, the religion of Islam and adopting the systems and manmade religions. Religion of Allah, belonging to sects and groups formed in the name of Islam, etc. all these matters are polytheistic. Those who are concerned for the Hereafter, and at that very moment turn to Allah and repent, for we do not know at what moment death should overtake us.