You may already know what is Tawheed. However, to truly understand Tawheed, its opposite, Shirk, must also be understood. The greatest thing Allah has commanded us to do is worship Him alone, and the greatest sin He has forbidden is Shirk.
Shirk is an Arabic word which means sharing something with others that ONLY Allah deserves, such as worshiping others or describing others with Allah’s descriptions. Making someone or something equal to Allah is Shirk. It is to belittle Allah, believing Him to be less than He is while believing others are equal to Him.
You may remember that there are three categories of Tawheed. Shirk is done when you associate partners with Allah in each of these three categories.
1 - Shirk in Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah
Shirk in Tawheed of Lordship is to believe that others besides Allah create or share control over His creation. This belief means that someone other than Allah can make good things happen or keep bad things from happening.
One example of this type of Shirk is to believe something brings good luck. People often have “good luck” rings or similar items they believe will help good things to happen to them. Others tie special strings with Quranic verses believing they are a protection against bad things.
Only Allah can protect us from bad things and we should only seek His protection in ways He mentions in the Quran or the Prophet صلّى الله عليه وسلّم taught us in the hadīth.
Another common example of Shirk in Tawheed of Lordship is when people believe the souls of the dead can control things in this life even after their death, and so they pray to them. This is completely wrong because Allah alone controls everything that is in the heavens and the earth.
2 - Shirk in Tawheed al-Asmaa was-Sifaat
Shirk in Tawheed of Names and Attributes is to believe that Allah can be described with the descriptions of the creation, or to believe that others besides Allah share in His descriptions.
There are several ways this type of Shirk is made. One example is when people make statues or paintings of God, claiming they are images of Allah. By doing so, they have described Allah in the image or form of people although Allah says: "There is nothing like Him".
Christians fall into this type of Shirk when they believe Allah has a son, because procreating is an attribute of the creation, not the Creator.
Another example is when many Jewish people claim that Allah likes the Jews more than all other people – just because they were born to a Jewish parent. This belief of theirs means that Allah is prejudiced and unfair just like some people are, and this is describing Allah with descriptions of people.
Yet another way this type of Shirk can occur is when people raise other humans up to the level of Allah. For example there are those believe fortunetellers and soothsayers know the secrets of the unknown.
Only Allah is the All-Knowing. Only He has knowledge of the Ghayb (the unseen). Palm readers and astrologers do not have true knowledge of the unseen, and believing that they do is Shirk because you're saying that they know what only Allah knows.
3- Shirk in Tawheed al-Uloohiyyah
Shirk in Tawḥeed of Worship is worshiping others along with Allah. We must NEVER share our worship with other than Allah. There are two types of Shirk in this category: Major Shirk and Minor Shirk.
• Major Shirk :
Major Shirk is any type of Shirk the Quran or the ḥadīth explains that whoever does it is not considered a Muslim anymore.
Major Shirk dooms the person to live in Hell forever if he does not stop making Major Shirk before he dies. Any form of worship that is done for other than Allah is Major Shirk.
A common example of Major Shirk is when people pray to idols or objects or other people such as prophets or saints, believing those people hear or answer prayers. If someone makes Major Shirk, all their good deeds may be ruined and lost.
• Minor Shirk :
Minor Shirk is any type of saying or action that the Quran or ḥadīth describes as being Shirk but that the person who says or does it could still be considered a Muslim.
Some common superstitions are also Minor Shirk. For example, if someone believes Allah will allow bad things to happen if he does not wear a certain ring or hang verses from the Quran in his house, or if a black cat crosses his path. These are all forms of Minor Shirk because Allah has not made those things ways to cause or prevent bad things from happening.
However, if someone believes those things themselves actually cause or prevent bad things from happening instead of Allah, then this becomes Major Shirk. Such a wrong belief would then mean there are other things besides Allah that control creation.
Another form of Minor Shirk is harder to recognize. This type of “hidden Shirk” is in a person’s intention, or the reason he does something. When someone does a good deed—which he should do for only Allah—yet he does his good deed just for people to think he is a good worshiper, this is a form of Minor Shirk.
Examples of this may be if someone prays very well, raises his voice while remembering Allah or reading the Quran, or gives charity but he does so only for people to think and say good things about him.
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We do not study Tawheed and Shirk simply to memorize detailed categories and types of Shirk. We learn Tawheed for the purpose of getting closer to Allah by believing in and worshiping him in the way he wants. Similarly, we learn Shirk so we know what beliefs, statements, and actions make Allah displeased and take us out of the fold of Islam.
Shirk is a real threat and one we must be vigilant against, because no one is safe from misguidance. Because of its importance, the Prophet صلّى الله عليه وسلّم taught us to ask Allah's protection from knowingly making Shirk in belief, statement, or action. We must also ask for His forgiveness if we happen to make a mistake by believing, saying, or doing anything that is Shirk that we may not know.
Please click here to find the dua against Shirk.
All Praise and Thanks is due to Allah Alone, the Lord of the Worlds, and may He forgive us our sins and make us among those who are truly guided. May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family and his Companions. Ameen.
Reference :
Title: Explaining Shirk: The Greatest Sin
Original Title: شرح ثلاثة الأصول، كتاب التوحيد، الإرشاد إلى صحيح الإعتقاد
Original Authors: Shaykh Muḥammad Ibn Ṣāliḥ al-‘Uthaymīn and Shaykh Ṣāliḥ al-Fawzān
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