a critical analysis of shirk qadhi

8/12/2019 A Critical Analysis of Shirk QADHI

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Contents

Contents ....................................................................................2Introduction ................................................................................3

The Definition Of Shirk ...................................................................6

The Dangers Of Shirk......................................................................7

Categories Of Shirk........................................................................9

Tawheed Preceded Shirk ............................................................... 11The Futility Of Shirk .................................................................... 14

The Most Important Reasons For Shirk............................................... 17

What Is The Ruling On The Person Who Commits Shirk............................ 20

The Most Important Evidences Used To Justify Shirk .............................. 21


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Introduction

We have been created for a very specific purpose and goal. Allah (SWT) says in the Quran;

I have only created Jinns and Men that they may serve Me.

[Adh-Dhariyat 51:56]

This verse is the most explicit verse in the entire Quran concerning the reason of creation.This tells us that we have one goal in this life. It tells us that we have one purpose on thisplanet, and that is the worship of Allah (SWT). Because of this goal Allah (SWT) created us. Andbecause of this goal, and the same message of Tawheed, Allah sent all of the Prophets. Allah(SWT) says;

We have not sent any Messenger before you, except that we have inspired him with Laailaaha illallaah, so worship Me (alone).

[Al-Anbiyaa 21:25]

So because of this we were created. And because of this Prophets were sent. And because ofthis the books were revealed. Allah (SWT) says;

Alif, Laam, Raa. (This is) a Book, with verses basic or fundamental (of establishedmeaning), further explained in detail - from One Who is Wise and Well-acquainted (with all

things): (It teaches) that ye should worship none but Allah.

[Hud 11:1-2]

And it is on the basis of Tawheed that Allah (SWT) has differentiated us. He did notdifferentiate us based upon our skin colours, or based upon our national origins, or thelanguage that we speak. Rather, He differentiated us based upon our eemaan in Him, or ourlack of eemaan in Him.

It is He Who has created you; and of you are some that are Unbelievers, and some that areBelievers: and Allah sees well all that ye do.

[At-Taghabun 64.:2]

And it is based on this same principle that Allah (SWT) has allocated our success in theHereafter. So those who believe in Allah, for them will be the Jannaat an-Naeem. But forthose who disbelieve in Allah, for them will be the adhaab al-Aleem. And it is also for thissame principle of Tawheed, which is the first obligation upon every single human being, thatthe Prophet (SAW) has been commanded to do Jihad. Jihad is a means, and not a goal in and ofitself. It is a means to establish Tawheed in the land.

Allahs Apostle (SAW) said;

I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has theright to be worshipped except Allah

[Bukhari, Volume1, Book 2, No.24]

So the whole reason why Allah (SWT) has Created us, and Sent the Prophets, and Revealed theBooks, and differentiated between us on this principle, and allowed Jihad is the basis andprinciple of Tawheed. And that is why Tawheed is the first commandment in the Quran.


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O Mankind! Worship your Lord, who created you and those who came before you, that yemay have the chance to learn righteousness.

[Al-Baqara 2:21]

And this commandment, to worship Allah (SWT) alone, is the most common commandment inthe Quran. And Tawheed is the only means to enter Jannah and to be saved from the Fire ofHell.

Therefore, when we study Tawheed, it is part of our aqeedah to study the opposite ofTawheed - Shirk. This is because we will not be able to understand or appreciate any conceptwithout studying the opposite of this concept. For example, if you wish to appreciate thewhiteness of something, you would compare it with something black. So you can thenappreciate and understand White vs. Black, and Black vs. White, because you are comparingtwo exact opposites. Likewise, if you want to understand the importance of Sunnah, you willhave to understand the dangers of Bidah. So if you want to understand the importance ofTawheed, one of the ways is to understand the dangers of Shirk. If you want to make sure thatyou die upon Tawheed, one of the ways to achieve that is to study the classifications and typesof Shirk.

So we should know that the knowledge of evil is one of the goals that the shareeah wants us tolearn. Allah (SWT) says;

Thus do We explain the signs in detail: that the way of the sinners may be shown up.

[Al-Anaam 6:55]

That is why Hudhaifa ibn al-Yammaan (RA) used to say;

My companions used to learn the good, while I used to learn the evil. It was said to him,What made you do such a thing? He said, Whoever learns the place where evil is will avoid

it.

[An-Nasaaee, Kitaab-ul-Ilm, No. 74]

Therefore the knowledge of evil is a fundamental principle of our aqeedah. Not to fall in to it,not to obey it, but to beware of it! To know that it exists and to know the tactics that areneeded in order to avoid falling in to this evil! Therefore Ibnul-Qayyim rahimahullaah dividesMankind in to four categories with regards to their knowledge of good and evil:

1 -There is the Aalim: Who knows good inside out, and he knows evil inside out. So he calls tothat which is good, and he warns against that which is evil. Because he is aware of both ofthese categories ala baseerah upon a clear knowledge. This is the highest category.

2 -The one who is aware of the good in general, but not aware of the evil that much: For

example, they are aware of Tawheed and Sunnah, but they are not very aware of Shirk andBidah. Therefore you may find that many of them may fall in to Bidah and shirk, because theydont know the reality of these evil things. And if they do not know the reality of it, how canthey avoid falling in to it? Only by a study of these evils, e.g. what are the signs of it, what arethe conditions of it, can one avoid it. The majority of Mankind falls in to this category.

3 -Those who specialise in studying the evil, but do not have a strong ground in good: Forexample, they specialise in Christianity and other religions, but they dont know their ownaqeedah that well. So for this reason, they have made many mistakes, even in their calling toIslam and their perception of Christianity. For example, they could easily quote you versesfrom the Bible, but they dont study the Quran in great detail. This is the case of many of theignorant Duaat.


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4 -The totally ignorant person: He who is not aware of the good or the evil. Because he is notaware of anything, he is like a feather in the wind. Wherever the wind blows, thats where hewill go. This is the lowest category.

So the true Taalib-ul-Ilm will study good, and act upon it. He will study evil, and he will stayaway from it. The knowledge of evil is a fundamental principle of Islam. Not to call to it, not tofall into it, but to avoid it and know it. Only when you dont know shirk, will you fall in to it.How will you even feel scared of falling in to Shirk, if you dont know the dangers of it?

This is what is meant by knowledge of evil; the classifications, types, categories, history,futility and dangers of it as Shirk is the greatest of evils. And also the evidences used by thosewho try to justify Shirk, and a refutation of those evidences. All of these points will be brieflytouched upon, as this is an introductory class. InshaAllah this will act as a stepping stone. Oncewe realise that Tawheed is the most fundamental of all principles, and that Shirk is the mostevil of all sins, we must also prove why it is important to study it. We are studying it to avoidit, much like a doctor studies diseases. Why? Not that they can spread the diseases, but theyneed to understand how the disease operates. They need to understand the mechanisms behindthese diseases and viruses, so that they can combat them and find antidotes. And this is thesame for the student of knowledge and daee. He studies evils for the same reason in mind.


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The Definition Of Shirk

Every single word used in the Shareeah has a relationship with the linguistic meaning. Forexample, Zakaah linguistically means purification, so we know that the Zakaah that we pay

purifies our money.

Linguistically: Comes from the three letter root: Shaa Raa Kaaf, which meansnot to be alone, or to have more than one. So that is why linguistically a partner is calledshareek, and a company is called Shurakaa, because it is composed of a group of partners.So linguistically, Shaa-Raa-Kaa comes from the meaning which means not be alone, theopposite of one.

The Sharee (Legal) Definition: To make a partner along with Allah (SWT).

And the proofs for this definition are found in the Quran and Sunnah.

Then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye know (the truth).

[Al Baqara 2:22]

Abdullah ibn Masood (RA) said;

'I asked the Prophet, What is the greatest sin in the sight of Allah? He said, That you set upa rival unto Allah though He Alone Created you.

[Bukhari, Volume 6, Book 60, No.4]

Another definition is: To give the created the Rights of the Creator.

linguistical meanings:salah - suppication / dua / call outhajj - to intendzakat - purification

nidd = partner, equivalent


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The Dangers Of Shirk

There are a number of dangers of Shirk; here we will only mention a few.

1 -It is the only sin that if a person dies upon it, Allah (SWT) will never forgive it. Notice thecondition, if he dies upon it. Many people think that if a person commits Shirk once, thenthey are doomed forever. Most of the Sahaaba were mushrikeen before accepting Islam, yetAllah (SWT) chose them to reach the height and peak of Mankind, because they rejected thatShirk and accepted Tawheed. The only way to remove the sin of Shirk is to accept Islam, but ifa person dies upon Shirk, the sin will not be forgiven. Allah (SWT) says;

Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him; but He forgives anything less,to whom He pleases; to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin Most heinous indeed.

[An-Nisa 4:48]

Side Note:So Allah does not forgive Shirk, but he forgives anything less than that. However, all

Kuffar and Munafiqoon are not necessarily Mushrikoon. So will Allah forgive the Kuffar who arenot Mushrikeen and the Munafiqoon? However, Allah (SWT) said that He will forgive anythingless than Shirk. Kufr is the opposite of Islam. You could be ahlul-Kitaab, or a Hindu, or youcould believe in a philosophy without a god, or you could be an atheist. If youre not a Muslim,then youre a Kaafir. Of course, there are various levels of eemaan. But there is nothingbetween Islam and Kufr. Kufr is a broad category, and within Kufr there is a subcategory calledShirk. So every single Mushrik is a Kaafir, but not every Kaafir is a Mushrik. For example,cursing Allah and His Messenger is not Shirk, but it is Kufr. And within Kufr, you also haveanother circle called Nifaaq, so every single Munaafiq is a Kaafir. However, in this Dunya theyare treated like Muslims, as we do not know what is in their hearts, so we give them the rightsof Islam, but in the sight of Allah he is a Kaafir. Not every single Kaafir, though, is a Munaafiq.So once we understand this, the verse becomes clear. Allah will only forgive that which is lessthan Shirk, but the sin of Kufr, Nifaaq and Shirk are equivalent in that they are opposites ofIslam. So Kufr and Nifaaq are included in this verse, as they are at the evil level of Shirk. IfShirk exists in your heart, you are not upon Tawheed. If Kufr exists in your heart, you are notupon Islam. If Nifaaq exists in your heart, you do not have eemaan. So all of these threeconcepts cannot exist in the heart of a believer. Therefore Allah mentions the most commontype of Kufr and the most evil type of Kufr, because there are relative types of evil as well. Forexample, if a person kills one human being the penalty is death. And if a person kills 100people the penalty is still death. Likewise, you look at it relatively; although Shirk is one of themost evil types of Kufr that does not mean that it is less evil than Shirk, and less punishable. Sothis is the first danger, that it is the only sin that if you die upon it, Allah will not forgive it.

2 -The sin of Shirk causes a person to remain permanently in the Fire of Hell.

3 -Shirk makes it Haram for a person to enter Jannah.

Whoever joins other gods with Allah,- Allah will forbid him the garden, and the Fire willbe his abode.

[Al-Maeda 5:72]

4 -When a person commits Shirk, and He dies in that state of Shirk, every single good deedthat he has done will be destroyed.

But it has already been revealed to thee - as it was to those before thee,- "If thou wert tojoin (gods with Allah), truly fruitless will be thy work (in life), and thou wilt surely be in the

ranks of those who lose (all spiritual good)".

[Az-Zumar 39:65]

ufr,ushrik,unafiq.e will prayanaza forunafiq too,e know hims muslim,o allah hes kafir.

shirk is asubcategoryof kufr

shirk,kufr andnifaq are inthe same levelof sin


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So no matter how much good a Mushrik does, it will be no good to him. All of his good deedswill be in vain. And this is without doubt one of the greatest evils of Shirk. That one act ofShirk, no matter how small, and it is not repented for, will cause a persons entire life to be invain.

5 -The life and property of a Mushrik holds no value, becomes halal, in the state of Jihad.Take note that this is only in the state of Jihad.

Allahs Apostle (SAW) said;

I have been ordered (by Allah) to fight against the people until they testify that none has theright to be worshipped except Allah and that Muhammad is Allahs Apostle, and offer their

prayers perfectly and give the obligatory charity. So if they perform that, then they save theirlives and property from me

[Bukhari, Volume1, Book 2, No.24]

This means that if they dont say Laa ilaaha illallaah, their life and property are Halal for the

Muslims. Now realise that this is only when there is an actual Jihad going on, and not in theWest where there is no Jihad. Those people who say that this allowed, they are simply like theKhawaarij of old. The Prophet (SAW) lived in Makkah for 13 years, and he didnt do these typesof acts, because this is not the time and place to do them. When there is an official Islamicstate, and a Khaleefah, and he calls for Jihad and the Muslim army is behind him fighting withhim that is the time. But this does not apply to the women, children, and monks andworshippers in the places of worship. It only applies to the one who is fighting you.

6 -It is not allowed for a Muslim to ask forgiveness for a Mushrik.

It is not fitting, for the Prophet and those who believe, that they should pray forforgiveness for Pagans, even though they be of kin, after it is clear to them that they are

companions of the Fire.

[At-Tawba 9:113]

Notice how evil the sin of Shirk is, that you cannot even ask Allah to forgive the Mushrik oncehe dies in that state, even if it is your mother or father. This is why Allahs Messenger (SAW)was prohibited from asking Allah (SWT) forgiveness for his own parents, as occurs in theauthentic hadeeth in Saheeh Muslim. And the same applied to Abu Talib.

7 -The Mushrikoon are described as impure. Allah (SWT) says;

Truly the Pagans are unclean

[At-Tawba 9:28]

He describes them with a spiritual filthiness which can only be purified through Tawheed.Notice the severity of the word Najas, a filthy, impure, dirty substance. This impurity isspiritual and not physical.

These are just some of dangers of Shirk.

ophet (s) wasrbiddenask forgiveness

r her parents (hadith in muslim),aykh yasir talks about this here


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Categories Of Shirk

You can categorise something in a number of ways, and there will be no contradiction betweenthem. For example, you can categorise a car based upon its colour, model, company, and there

is no contradiction between each categorisation scheme. Therefore, we shall discuss variousschemes of categorising Shirk, and there is no contradiction between each one. They are simplyfrom different perspectives. The types of Shirk are too many to count, so we shall just mentionthe categorisations of Shirk so that all the different kinds of Shirk can be put under thesecategories. The following are the main schemes used to categorise Shirk.

Scheme No.1 - Categorisation based upon Tawheed:

Side Note: The categorisation of any concept in and of itself is not a Bidah, as long as the basisfor this categorisation is found in the Quran and Sunnah. For example, usool al-fiqh, hadeeth,mustalah, tafseer, were not divided by the Prophet (SAW), but the Ullemaa of Islam, withoutexception, accepted these categorisations as the basis of these sciences is found in the Quran.

Ruboobiyyah To believe in Allahs Lordship, that He is the Creator, The Sustainer, the Giverof Life and the Grantor of Death. So there is only one Rabb, and that is Allah (SWT).

Shirk in Ruboobiyyah can be done in a number of ways:

1 -Shirk at-Tateel: To completely deny that there is a Rabb, e.g. the atheists and thecommunists. Therefore they have gone against Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah, because they havedenied the existence of a Rabb.

2 -To add on other Lords besides Allah, or to distort Ruboobiyyah, and this can be done in anumber of ways:

To deny completely the Names and Attributes of Allah, while affirming His existence. Thisgoes against Ruboobiyyah, as part of Ruboobiyyah is to believe that Allah is the Khaaliq and the

Raaziq. This is what the philosophers of the past did, the Jahmiyyah, and also the Mutazilah toa certain extent.

To substitute a false Rabb in the place of the real Rabb, e.g. Firawn said Ana rabbukumalAla.

To deny the reality of His separate and perfect existence, i.e. pantheism, and wahdatul-wujood, this was held by heretics such as al-Hallaj and ibn Arabi.

Adding another Rabb besides Allah, such as the Zoroastrians. They believe in two rabbs. Thisis the only practiced religion that believed in two rabbs, two sustainers, and two creators thegod of evil, and the god of good.

Uloohiyyah To believe that all forms of worship should be for Allah alone. Shirk in Uloohiyyahis that you direct an act of worship that is the right of Allah such as dua, Salah, divine fear,divine hope, sacrifice, making Tawaf around something or hajj - to other than Allah (SWT).Shirk in Uloohiyyah exists amongst Mankind in two primary ways.

1-That they worship Allah, and other than Allah. So sometimes they worship Allah, andsometimes they worship other than Allah, e.g. the Christians who believe in trinity.

2 -That they worship other than Allah all the time, e.g. some of the extreme sects who alwaysmake dua to other than Allah when they make dua, and Buddhists.

Asmaa wa Siffaat To make unique Allahs Names and Attributes, and follow the principles ofthe Salaf in this matter. Shirk in Asmaa wa Siffaat can occur in two ways.

reme deityhindu ishnu. there3 other

s comingn from them.

hism is a way

life. theyt have a godoritically.they worship

ls of buddhaself.

extreme sufi: allah iseverything andallah is everything

good = ahle man(light)evil = ahuraajda (evil)

alling ali,gausul azamainuddinhishty etc.


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1 -Comparing Allah to the creation, like the Jews and the Christians they say Allah forgot orbecame tired.

2 -Comparing the creation to Allah, which is common in some of the extreme sects, e.g. OurImam controls everything, Our Saints has Ilmul-Ghayb, Our Imam hears our dua anywherein the world.

Scheme No.2 - Categorisation based upon major and minor Shirk:

Shirk Akbar: To give the created the Rights of the Creator.

Shirk Asghar: Whatever the Shareeah has called minor Shirk, and doesnt take you outside thefold of Islam, e.g. Riyaa, to give an oath by other than Allah.

There are five major differences between Shirk Asghar and Shirk Akbar.

Shirk Akbar takes you outside the fold of Islam, whereas Shirk Asghar does not take yououtside the fold of Islam, but shows a weakness in eemaan and is one of the signs of a

hypocrite.

Shirk Akbar necessitates a permanent residence in the Fire of Hell. As for Shirk Asghar, thecorrect opinion is that it is up to the Will of Allah, and if He Wishes to forgive it He can, and ifHe Wishes it to Punish the servant He can, though eventually the person will be removed fromthe Fire of Hell.

Shirk Akbar can never be forgiven by Allah, unless the person accepts Islam. As for ShirkAsghar, it is up to Allah whether He will forgive that sin.

Shirk Akbar destroys all of a persons good deeds, whereas Shirk Asghar only destroys thatparticular sin where it occurred, e.g. a single prayer with Riyaa does not negate every singleSalah.

Shirk Akbar makes a persons life and property Halal for the Mujahideen in the state of Jihad,whereas Shirk Asghar does not.

hia and sufiso itxtensively

To tell were it not for Doctor, I would nothave been saved! Proper way: Were it notfor Allah and then for doctor ...


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Tawheed Preceded Shirk

The original ruling was that Mankind was upon Tawheed, and Shirk came after that. There arethree basic evidences for this.

No.1 -The Fitrah :

The human Fitrah is the innate nature that Allah created in all of us.

Allahs Messenger (SAW) said;

Every child is born with true faith (i.e. to worship none but Allah alone), but his parentsconvert him to Judaism or Christianity or Zoroastrianism. As an animal delivers a perfect baby

animal, do you find it mutilated?

[Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, No.440]

The basis for this Fitrah is the mithaaq, the covenant that Allah (SWT) took from all of Mankindwhen Adam was created, as is reported in the authentic hadeeth in the Musnad of ImamAhmad, at-Tirmidhee, al-Haakim and others. However, the mithaaq was removed from ourmemory, as this would cause the test of this life to be futile. However, it is still in our Fitrah.Therefore, the reminisce of the mithaaq is still in our Fitrah. That is why Islam is so appealing.The proof for this is in the Quran and the Sunnah. Allah (SWT) says;

When thy Lord drew forth from the Children of Adam - from their loins - their descendants,and made them testify concerning themselves, (saying): "Am I not your Lord (who cherishesand sustains you)?"- They said: "Yea! We do testify!" (This), lest ye should say on the Day of

Judgment: "Of this we were never mindful"

[Al-Araf 7:172]

That is why the majority of people who lived between two Prophets will go to Hellfire if theydied upon Shirk, even if they did not get the message of the new Prophet. This is because theywent against their own Fitrah. And the proof for this is that there existed people in their timethat left Idol worshipping, and they were called Hunafaa. Therefore, they realised by theirFitrah that these Idol worshippers were upon dhalaalah; misguidance.

And the incident of mithaaq is recorded by Imam Ahmad, an-Nasaaee, at-Tirmidhee, al-Haakim, Abu Dawood, at-Tabaraani and so many other books of hadeeth, from over sixcompanions. And the Allaamah, the Muhaddith, Shaykh Muhammad Naasir-ud-Deen al-Albaanee has a very good discussion of this, and made a very good takhreej of these narrationsin his Silsilatal-Hadeeth as-Saheehah No.1623, which is one of the best discussions found.

The Fitrah means we have a general knowledge of the Shareeah, but not a detailedknowledge. For example, every single human being knows that murder, lying, cheating, andstealing is wrong. This is why every society, even the most ruthless, has similar prohibitions ofthese things. This is the first evidence.

No.2 - The First Man:

We know that the first man to exist was Adam u, who was a Prophet and servant of Allah thatwas upon Tawheed, so it is impossible for Shirk to have existed before that in Mankind.

Allah did choose Adam and Noah, the family of Abraham, and the family of 'Imran aboveall people.

[Aal-E-Imran 3:33]

ven peopleithoutessengerill go toellfire.ecause theyefused theiritrah!

deen-e-hanif

suraka ibn nufail wasfollowing his fitraefore coming of prophet

xplanationf fitra

lah talkedAdam

rectlythoutbril


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So he would have taught his children Tawheed, and they would have taught that to theirchildren. This is another basic proof.

No.3 - The people of Nooh:

We know that the first people to commit Shirk were the people of Nooh (AS). Ibn Abbaasnarrates in the Mustadrak of al-Haakim that between Adam and Nooh were ten generations; allof them were upon the shareeah and Tawheed. Then they differed (in to shirk) amongstthemselves, so Allah sent Nooh (AS). It says in the Quran;

And they have said (to each other), 'Abandon not your gods: Abandon neither Wadd norSuwa', neither Yaguth nor Ya'uq, nor Nasr'

[Nooh 71:23]

And ibn Abbaas narrates, in Saheeh Bukhari, that concerning this verse, that these five peoplewere five pious people. When they died Shaytaan come to that generation and said, Are younot grieved that your companions have died? They said, Yes we are. So Shaytaan replied,Should I not make images of them, so that when you see them, they will remind you of their

worship of Allah? Should I not place it in the Qibla, so that when you face the Qibla you will seethem and remember Allah? They said, No, dont place it in our Qibla. This was because theirFitrah told them that this was something bad. They said, Face it to our backs. So Shaytaan didthat for them. And then that generation passed away. And when later generations came,shaytaan came to them in the form of an old man and said, What are these statues in yourplaces of worship? They said, We found that our fathers had them, so we have them as well.So shaytaan said, Verily your forefathers used to worship these idols, therefore you shouldworship them as well. So they started worshipping these idols, and this became the first Shirkthat was started by Mankind. And that was when Allah (SWT) sent Nooh (AS). The basis of Shirkstarted in the time of Nooh (AS), when they exaggerated the status of five righteous people,and this is the basis of Shirk all over the world.

However, many of the modern-day anthropologists claim that first there was Shirk, and then

there was Tawheed, i.e. the tribes started off with idol-worshipping, and then they workedtheir way up to monotheism. And this is the commonly held belief today. What gave rise to thistype of idea is Darwinism. This is a rotten fruit of Darwinism, which is the belief that Mankindevolved from something primitive in to something superior. They have two basic evidences forthis.

Firstly - Archaeological excavations:

They dig up an ancient civilisation, and find an idol. So this leads them to the belief that Shirkexisted before Tawheed.

We can refute this in a simple manner. You are never going to find an archaeologicalexcavation that brings up Tawheed, as Tawheed negates Idols. You are never going to find an

idol or picture of Tawheed, so their whole point makes very little sense. Just because some ofthe civilisations they have found were upon Shirk, this does not mean that every singlegeneration or civilisations before that were similarly upon Shirk. So there is no proof here.

And secondly, they cannot prove that these were the first of Mankind. If they dig up anexcavation in a valley in Iraq and find idols there, then all they have proved is that 3000 yearsago, in a valley of Iraq, idols were worshipped. This is it, and nothing more. They can onlyspecify it to that particular time, and that particular place. You cannot generalise it to all ofMankind at that time, or the people before that.


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Second - Analogy:

They make Qiyaas (analogy) upon the primitive tribes of Africa, and the Aborigine tribes andthey find that they are upon Shirk, so they come to the conclusion that our great ancestorsmust have been upon Shirk as well.

However, in order to draw analogies there needs to be some similarities. What gives you theright to draw analogies between earlier nations, and the tribe of Africa today, simply becausetechnology hasnt reached these current tribes? Technology is not a similarity that makes yourreligion the same as well. You can find nations that are not technologically advanced, yet theyare upon Tawheed. In Arabic, this type of Qiyaas is called Qiyaas maal saariq, meaning aQiyaas that has no basis. There is no basis in comparing apples to oranges. So in reality, thesepeople have turned away from the revelations of Allah, and relied upon their ownunderstandings. Therefore they have gone astray, and fallen in to ideas and methodologieswhich are contrary to the Quran and Sunnah. All of this, because they do not rely upon theinspiration from Allah (SWT).


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The Futility Of Shirk

The dangers of Shirk are different than the futility. The futility of something can be comparedto taking a road that does not lead to your desired destination. Shirk combines both dangers

and futility, it is Baatil. It does not make any sense.

The futility of Shirk can be proven in four ways.

1 - Quran:

You can divide the ways that Allah has shown the futility of Shirk in to three categories.

By using Ruboobiyyah to prove the futility of Shirk, i.e., since Allah is the one who createdyou, sustained you, and since Allah controls everything, it is absolutely useless to turn to otherthan Allah. Once you admit that Allah is your Rabb, then why do you turn to other than Him?This does not make any sense. This can be shown in the following ayaat;

If indeed thou ask them who has created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sunand the moon (to his Law), they will certainly reply, "Allah". How are they then deludedaway (from the truth)?

[Al-Ankaboot 29:61]

And if indeed thou ask them who it is that sends down rain from the sky, and gives lifetherewith to the earth after its death, they will certainly reply, "Allah!" Say, "Praise be to

Allah!" But most of them understand not.

[Al-Ankaboot 29:63]

By giving examples in the Quran:

He does propound to you a similitude from your own (experience): do ye have partnersamong those whom your right hands possess, to share as equals in the wealth We have

bestowed on you? Do ye fear them as ye fear each other? Thus do we explain the Signs indetail to a people that understand.

[Ar-Room 30:28]

So Allah gives the example of a slave who has one owner, and a slave who has many owners.Which one will make more sense? The slave who has many owners will not be able satisfy any ofthe owners, as the demands will be too many.

Being true in faith to Allah, and never assigning partners to Him: if anyone assignspartners to Allah, it as if he had fallen from heaven and been snatched up by birds, or the

wind had swooped (like a bird on its prey) and thrown him into a far-distant place.

[Al-Hajj 22:31]

Ibnul-Qayyim explains the above ayah. He says that Allah (SWT) compares Tawheed with theheavens, and He compares Shirk with falling down from the vast, wide and beautiful heavens tothe lowest of the earths. And He compares ones desires to the wind, where ever his desirestake him; he will follow it, like a feather in the wind. And He compares the shayateen to thebirds. Every single shaytaan gets a piece of the flesh, and they are happy with him. So thepunishment is in this entire ayah; the man falling to his death, the wind blowing him to a faraway a place and the birds plucking at his meat.


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O men! Here is a parable set forth! Listen to it! Those on whom, besides Allah, ye call,cannot create (even) a fly, if they all met together for the purpose! And if the fly shouldsnatch away anything from them, they would have no power to release it from the fly.

Feeble are those who petition and those whom they petition!

[Al-Hajj 22:73]

Ibnul Qayyim says this is the most powerful analogy in the Quran, with regards to Shirk. Allah(SWT) is saying that all of these idols, if theoretically they were to combine together, theycould not create the smallest of creation; a small fly. Therefore, what about Allah (SWT) whois One, and has Created the fly, and everything besides it? So who has more of a right to beworshipped? And Allah states that if this fly were to take something very small and minisculefrom them, these idols would not be able to take it from it. So know that scientists will neverbe able to create anything. What they see as creation is not creation. They cannot createsomething from nothing, and give it life. And till this day, a scientist would not be able to takeback a crumb of bread from a fly, after it has eaten it. Look at the beautiful analogy here. Howcan an object that cannot even protect itself from a fly, how can it protect you from a fly, oranything greater than that?

Through the stories of the previous nations:

Say: "Travel through the earth and see what was the end of those before (you): Most ofthem worshipped others besides Allah."

[Ar-Room 30:42]

Allah is telling us to look around us, and see the end of the previous nations. So of what use isShirk when the end result will be destruction in this Dunyaa and in the Aakhirah?

2 - The Sunnah:

There are many ahadeeth that show the futility of Shirk. I shall quote one as an example.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal and Tirmidhi have narrated from al-Harith al-Ashari that the Prophet(SAW) said, that Yahya ibn Zakariya said to Bani Israeel;Verily, God, Blessed and Exalted, has commanded me with five words to act upon and to callon you to act upon it. The first of them is that you worship God and associate none with Him.For verily, the one who associates partners with God is like the man who buys a servant withhis won wealth, be it gold or silver, and says to him, This is my house and this is the work Ihave for you. So do it and render me its fruits. But the servant does it and renders the fruits toanother. Which of you would be pleased with such a servant?

The analogy is clear. Allah created you, and gave you your rizq, your house, and everythingthat you have. Is it proper then that you should worship other than Allah, through hope, fear,love, awe, dua and all other types of worship? So in this way, the futility of Shirk is shown in

the Sunnah.

3 - The Fitrah:

"It would not be reasonable in me if I did not serve Him Who created me upon the Fitrah,and to Whom ye shall (all) be brought back.

[Ya-Seen 36:22]

So the human Fitrah knows the futility of Shirk, and this is because of the Mithaaq.


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4 - Aql / Common sense:

Allah is the One who Created you. Does it not make sense to worship only Him?

Is then He Who creates like one that creates not? Will ye not receive admonition?

[An-Nahl 16:17]

Are the two the same? Indeed, they are not. So when almost all of creation affirms that Allah isthe Khaliq, how can they compare the Khaliq with the makhlooq (created)? How can theycompare God to Jesus? How can they compare the Supreme Being with any other beings? Whenyou realise that Allah is the Khaliq, then does it make sense to worship anything else?


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The Most Important Reasons For Shirk

Ghuloo/Exaggeration:

This is the most important reason, without a doubt. Exaggeration of righteous people and theirstatus is a type of Ghuloo. The most obvious proof for this is that the first incident of Shirk

occurred due to the exaggeration of pious . This was the start of Shirk;people, during the timeof the people of Nooh the exaggeration of saints. And saint worship is the biggest cause ofShirk today, amongst the Muslims and the Catholics, and the Catholics are notorious for this.The Muslims are no different, wherever you go in certain countries you will find a grave that isworshipped besides Allah. You will find that people make pilgrimages to this grave, and seekbarakah from it, and they will actually make sajdah to this grave. Every third masjid has agrave in it, and the central theme of attraction is not the masjid but the grave, and people willcome from far and wide just to worship this grave. And originally this person may have been apious person, Allah knows best, but in general, most of them were people who did not fearAllah. As for AbdulQaadir Jeylaani, we know nothing but good from him and his history, andwe hope that he was indeed pious. But as for the Shirk that is associated with him today, he

did not preach this. Rather, it was something his followers started. In our times, his grave isnow a place of worship, an exaggeration of saints. Just like the people of Nooh did. That is whyGhuloo has explicitly been mentioned in the Quran;

O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion.

[An-Nisa 4:171]

This is because this is what the people of the book did; they exaggerated the status of Men anddirected worship towards them. They put Easa ibn Maryam above his status. Likewise, theProphet (SAW) said, Those who exaggerate will be destroyed.

The Callers to Shirk/Baatil:

Of the examples of this is when Abu Talib approached death;

Narrated Said ibn al-Musaiyab from his father;

When the time of death of Abu Talib approached, Allahs Apostle went to him and found AbuJahl ibn Hisham and Abdullah ibn Abee Umaiya ibn al-Mughira by his side. Allahs Apostle said

to Abu Talib, O Uncle! Say: None has the right to be worshipped but Allah, a sentence withwhich I shall be a witness for you before Allah. Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abee Umaiya said,O Abu Talib! Are you going to denounce the religion of Abdul Muttalib? Allahs Apostle kepton inviting Abu Talib to say it (i.e. None has the right to be worshipped but Allah) while they

(Abu Jahl and Abdullah) kept on repeating their statement till Abu Talib said as his laststatement that he was on the religion of Abdul Muttalib and refused to say, None has the

right to be worshipped but Allah.

[Saheeh Bukhari, Volume 2, Book 23, Number 442]

So Abu Jahl and Abdullah ibn Abee Umaiya were amongst the callers to Baatil. So, as can beseen from above, this is one of the primary reasons for Shirk in this Dunya. In our times, wehave Ullemaa who have PhDs from various universities and institutions who are openly callingto Shirk, such as dua to other than Allah, sacrificing to other than Allah, doing sajdah to otherthan Allah, and undertaking pilgrimages for other than the sake of Allah (SWT). These peoplemay have studied for decades, and appear to be very pious, i.e. long beards, wearing turbansetc. Yet they are Duaat al-Baatil. These people can deceive others through not only theirappearance, but also because they are fine orators and have eloquent speech, and through theuse of weak and fabricated ahadeeth. So therefore the people are convinced by them. And thatis why the Prophet (SAW) said, There will come a time when there will be callers to the gates


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of Hellfire. These people are shayateen in human form. This is because Shayateen are of twotypes:

1 - Shayateen of the Jinn2 - Shayateen of the Ins (Mankind)

The majority of Shayateen fall in to the first category. However, there are some human beings,who are of normal birth, and their form is the form of a human, yet they are so evil that theyare classified as shayateen, and amongst them are the callers of Baatil.

Obeying Culture/Forefathers:

For example, My father did it, so he must have been right; My ancestors did it so it musthave been right. And this is exactly the excuse of the Mushrikeen, throughout history and thegenerations; We found our forefathers upon this, and we are going to follow their beliefs.

Nay! They say: "We found our fathers following a certain religion, and we do guideourselves by their footsteps. Just in the same way, whenever We sent a Warner before

thee to any people, the wealthy ones among them said: "We found our fathers following a

certain religion, and we will certainly follow in their footsteps."

[Az-Zukhruf 43:22-23]

When it is said to them: "Follow what Allah hath revealed:" They say: "Nay! We shallfollow the ways of our fathers." What! Even though their fathers were void of wisdom and

guidance?

[Al-Baqara 2:170]

They said they would only follow what their fathers did. And this is also very common today.Those of us who are immigrants will have witnessed that this is used an excuse for committingShirk in their native lands. And these excuses are the same excuses that the Mushrikeen of old

used. Even though you are Muslims InshaAllah, dont use this as an excuse to justify anything. Itis stated in the Quran;

He said: "What! Even if I brought you better guidance than that which ye found yourfathers following?" They said: "For us, we deny that ye (prophets) are sent (on a mission at

all)."

[Az-Zukhruf 43:24]

So this evidence can be refuted, by reminding the Muslims that this was the same excuse usedby the Mushrikeen of old, and this also the same reason that Abu Talib did not accept Islam. Itwas because of this Asabiyyah, this Jahiliyyah this ancestral pride, that he did not acceptIslam, and was therefore sentenced to Hellfire. This was also the case of the people of Nooh.

As was stated previously, Shaytaan came to them with a lie, and told them that their ancestorsworshipped those statues. And this lie was a sufficient enough reason to worship the statues,because of their ancestral pride.

Shaytaans Beautification of Shirk:

Shaytaan tries to beautify Shirk to Mankind through his ways and means. And we find thisclearly in the case of Nooh. What excuse did Shaytaan use for creating the idols? He used theexcuse of Tawheed, so that they may be reminded of Tawheed when they looked at the idols.Yet he knew in the long term that it was likely to result in idol-worship. So Shaytaan started offby beautifying Shirk, so that people would fall in to it step by step. This why it is absolutelyforbidden to have 3D statues and idols, and 2D hand drawn images of animals and humans.These are without a doubt Haram. And the main reason is because it leads to Shirk.


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Shaytaan makes evil deeds, and in this case Shirk, seem beautiful. And he makes excuses,brings about doubts and Shubuhaat and Shahawaat, so that these callers to evil have evidencesto use, e.g. fabricated ahadeeth, perverted ideas and concepts.

Incorrect analogies:

Incorrect parables and analogies are a very common cause of Shirk. An often used example is,Just like the King, you cannot approach the King directly. The King is too holy, too noble to beapproached directly. So you must go through people to approach the King. So too is Allah (waAudhubillah), like Nabi-Allah Muhammad, AbdulQaadir Jeylaani, Moinudin Chisti, etc. andthey will take up your dua to Allah for you. There are many other types of analogies as well.

However, our religion is not based upon analogies. It is based upon the Quran and theauthentic Sunnah, and we only use Qiyaas when it is in accordance with the Quran and theSunnah, not when it refutes the Quran and the authentic Sunnah. When Allah says, WorshipMe alone, you cannot make up a Qiyaas to go against this.

Here are some other reasons, briefly listed:

Lying upon Allah (SWT)

Ignorance

Arrogance

Following your desires

Not realising who Allah (SWT) is

If someone understood the Asmaa and Sifaat of Allah, there is no way that he could fall in toShirk.


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What Is The Ruling On The Person Who Commits Shirk

Here we have to differentiate between someone who claims Laa Ilaaha illallaah Muhammad ar-Rasulullah (i.e. someone who claims he is a Muslim), and someone who does not claim to be a

Muslim. Someone who claims to be a Jew, or a Christian or an Atheist, you dont need to dwellon this, he is a Kaafir and he admits it. So there is no problem then. When a person says I am aChristian, the person in question has admitted to the takfeer, and has admitted to beingoutside the fold of Islam.

The problem arises when someone says, I am a Muslim, Laa ilaaha illallaah Muhammad ar-Rasulullah, and then you find him committing acts of Shirk or Kufr, e.g. making dua to thegraves, making sajdah to the graves, calling out to other than Allah like saying, Ya Ali! orYa Muhammad!; calling out to other than Allah is major Shirk. To find out the ruling on thisperson can be a very tricky and problematic issue. The reason being that pronouncing takfeeron a Muslim is a very serious issue. If you say that So-and-so is a Kaafir, you are saying thatthey will remain in the fire of Hell forever. You are saying that when he dies his relatives willnot be able to inherit from him. You are saying that when he dies, he will not be given a ghusl,

and the Muslims will not pray for him. You are saying that when he dies he will not be buried ina Muslim graveyard. And even when he is alive, he does not receive the rights of the Muslims,such as the salutations of peace when you meet him, visiting when sick etc. So you arebreaking of the rights of Islam when you say So-and-so is a Kaafir. Its a very immense thing,however this all too common in our times. We find people saying, Fulaan is a Kaafir, thisgroup are Kuffar, etc. And the fundamental rule here is that pronouncing takfeer is notsomething the average layman should do. He is not responsible for this, so leave it to theUllemaa. Stay away from it, as the dangers of takfeer are too much. The Prophet (SAW) said;

If a man says to his brother, O Kaafir! Then surely one of them is such (i.e., a Kaafir).

[Saheeh Bukhari, Vol. 8, Book 73, No. 125]

In other words, if you call someone a Kaafir who is not a Kaafir, that curse will come back toyou. Therefore, it is a major sin to call another Muslim a Kaafir. So it is not something trivial ormeaningless that we should play around with. So therefore it is clear, that it is imperative thatwe differentiate between someone who admits that they are not Muslim, e.g. John, or Matthewwho profess they are Christians, and someone who claims to be Muslim, e.g. Zayd, Ahmad orMustafa and says Laa ilaaha illallaah, yet commits major Shirk. And many of us cannotdistinguish between bidah, kufr and Shirk in its practical form. Something that is bidah is notnecessarily Shirk or kufr, and neither is something that is kufr necessarily Shirk, though none ofthese things are trivial matters. Therefore, when we cannot even distinguish between thesethings, it is better and safer to remain quiet, and say Laa adree, - I dont know. The sameapplies when we go to countries where Shirk is rampant. We must not pronounce takfeer uponthe people who are involved in this, as there is an ikhtilaaf amongst the major Ullemaawhether ignorance is an excuse for committing major Shirk. And most of the Muslims whocommit major Shirk do not know that they are committing major Shirk. They are simply blindly

following their grand Ullemaa and muftis. So whichever is the correct opinion, it is not the jobof the layman to pronounce takfeer on those who claim to be Muslims. Leave it, just call themto Tawheed. Dont worry about the labels on their bodies, as that is between them and Allah(SWT). Allah will judge them; it is simply our responsibility to call those around us to Tawheed.


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The Most Important Evidences Used To Justify Shirk

This section covers the most important evidences used by the mushrikeen to try to justifyShirk. This is mainly focused on those who claim to be Muslims, yet are doing major acts of

Shirk. The refutations for these evidences will also follow.

1 - Belief in Ruboobiyyah:

They say, We believe that Allah is the Creator, the Sustainer, the Provider, so how can you saywe are committing Shirk?

For example, when you are giving dawah to a Muslim who is committing Shirk, and calling himto Tawheed, the first thing he will say is, Why are you calling me to Tawheed? I am alreadyupon Tawheed! I believe in Allah, that He is the Khaaliq, the Raaziq, and that He is All-Powerful. Yet, this was the aqeedah of the mushrikeen at the time of the Prophet (SAW). Thiswas the aqeedah of the same people whom the Prophet (SAW) fought, killed and took ascaptives and slaves. They believed and they affirmed that there is no creator except Allah, no

sustainer except Allah, no power except by the will of Allah. And this is mentioned in manyverses in the Quran;

Say: "To whom belong the earth and all beings therein? (say) if ye know!"

They will say, "To Allah!" say: "Yet will ye not receive admonition?"

Say: "Who is the Lord of the seven heavens, and the Lord of the Throne Supreme?"

They will say, "(They belong) to Allah." Say: "Will ye not then be filled with awe?"

Say: "Who is it in whose hands is the governance of all things,- who protects (all), but is notprotected (of any)? (say) if ye know."

They will say, "(It belongs) to Allah." Say: "Then how are ye deluded?"

[Al-Muminoon 23:84-89]

So here, we can see that they had a firm belief in Ruboobiyyah; that Allah is One, that Allahexists, Allah is the Khaaliq, Allah is the Raaziq, Allah is the Rabb. And they affirmed that youturn to Allah for protection. Yet, they rejected Allah. And they did this by not directing theirworship to Allah alone.

So when this person comes and says, I believe in Laa Ilaaha illallaah, say No, you believe inTawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah, not in Uloohiyyah. And Tawheed ar-Ruboobiyyah is exactly what theArabs of Jahiliyyah believed, such as Abu Jahl and Abu Lahb, and yet that was not sufficient forthem to be accepted as Muslims. So, they believed in Allah, and that He is the Rabb, yet this

was not sufficient for the Prophet to call it Islam. So to summarise this evidence, thisunderstanding of Tawheed is that There is no creator except Allah, which is the sameunderstanding that the Mushrikeen had. The understanding of Laa ilaaha illallaah is There is nodeity worthy of worship except Allah. Ilaah means A-Mabood the one that is worshippedand Ilaah does not mean Al Khaaliq the one that creates. So, once you present the ayaatsimilar to the ones above, and he is open minded InshaAllah, you show them that this is thesame ideology that they have.

2 - Intermediaries:

Another point that is usually made is that one is not worshipping these people in the grave, or

whomever they direct their dua to, but they are merely using them as a means of intercession.


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They claim that they are too sinful to ask of Allah directly, and that these people whom theydirect their dua to are pious and holy, so they merely take them as a means for their dua toreach Allah. So they make a distinction between what they are doing and what the Mushrikeenat the time of the Prophet are doing, i.e. worshipping idols.

However, this is exactly what the Mushrikeen used to do. The Mushrikoon used to worship theseidols in order for these idols to take their demands up to Allah. They did not intend to maketheir worship directly to these idols, but they actually intended for it to go up to Allah (SWT)through these idols. Which is exactly the claim made in this point. The proof for this is in thefollowing verse;

Is it not to Allah that sincere devotion is due? But those who take for protectors otherthan Allah (say): "We only serve them in order that they may bring us nearer to Allah."

Truly Allah will judge between them in that wherein they differ. But Allah guides not suchas are false and ungrateful.

[Az-Zumar 39:3]

This verse is very explicit. So these people turned to the idols such as al-Laat, Al-Manaat and

al-Uzza to come closer to Allah. So it is clear that they did not intend to worship them as theirfinal destination, but rather they worshipped them in order to reach Allah (SWT). So when aperson does this through saints; through Awliyaa, through Prophets; through Anbiyaa, throughAngels; through Malaaika, it is exactly the same thing.

3 - The object of worship:

Another excuse that is used is that the Mushrikeen worshipped idols, yet they are going to piouspeople, such as the Prophet (SAW), AbdulQaadir Jeylaani, al-Badawi, etc. Are you comparingal-Laat and al-Uzza to The Prophet (SAW)? And when this question is posed, the person maybecome very angry, as he sees this as an affront to his love of the Prophet (SAW). So youexplain to this person that love of the Prophet (SAW) is shown through obedience to hisexample, not disobedience.

Say: "If ye do love Allah, Follow me: Allah will love you and forgive you your sins: ForAllah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."

[Aal-E-Imran 3:31]

When the Prophet (SAW) came, there were various groups of people on the earth, and he wassent to all of Mankind. There were various religions at that time. Some of the Arabs worshippedrocks, some of them worshipped the sun and the moon, some of them worshipped the Angels.Some of them, such as the Christians worshipped Easa ibn Maryam. Some of them, such as theJews, worshipped Uzayr. Did the Prophet (SAW) distinguish between those who worshippedEasa ibn Maryam, and those who worshipped al-Laat and al-Uzza? Or did he say that all ofthem are Kuffar, and if they do not accept Islam they will go to the fire of Hell? In other words,

did the Prophet (SAW) distinguish between the objects of worship? Did he say that the one whoworship al-Laat and al-Uzza will go to Hellfire and the one who worships Easa ibn Maryam willenter paradise? Or did he say, And there is none of the Jews and Christians that hears aboutme and does not believe in me, except that he goes to the Fire of Hell? He did not distinguishbetween any of the Kuffaar and their objects of worship, so why should we? It is irrelevant whoyou worship other than Allah. The fact that you are worshipping other than Allah is Shirk. Youcan worship Shaytaan or you can worship Jibreel, yet both are Shirk, though one is moredespicable than the other. Did not the Prophet (SAW) say,

Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians praised the son of Mary, for I am only aSlave. So call me the Slave of Allah and His Apostle.

[Bukhari, Vol. 4, Book 55, No.654]


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Note: the Shirk of the people in our time is worse than the Shirk of the people at the time ofthe Prophet (SAW). This is because the Mushrikeen of the past committed Shirk in times ofease, and worshipped Allah sincerely at times of hardship. This is proven in the ayah;

And when they board a ship, they supplicate to Allah, sincere to Him in religion [i.e. faithand hope]. But when He delivers them to the land, at once they associate others with

Him.

[Al-Ankaboot 29:65]

However, the Mushrikeen of our time are always committing Shirk in ease and in hardship.Their Shirk is continuous. They are always directing their dua to other than Allah.

4 - The Intercession is True:

They point out that the intercession has been granted to the Prophet (SAW), therefore they areasking the Prophet (SAW) for something he has been given.

However, the Prophet (SAW) is not alive anymore. He has entered the Barzakh, which is a

separate life, and therefore he cannot communicate with us and neither can we communicatewith him. When he was alive, then it would have been easy for you to ask him to make dua foryou. The sahaba would ask the Prophet (SAW) to make dua for them whilst they were alive.But once the Prophet (SAW) passed away, the sahaba never asked the Prophet (SAW) to makedua for them, although there are a couple of fabricated ( without a shadow of a doubt)ahadeeth that suggest otherwise. So it is not narrated in a Saheeh or Hasan hadeeth that thesahaba came to the Prophets (SAW) grave and asked him for something.

Furthermore, the intercession is a right of Allah (SWT).

Say: "To Allah belongs exclusively (the right to grant) intercession: to Him belongs thedominion of the heavens and the earth: In the End, it is to Him that ye shall be brought

back."

[Az-Zumar 39:44]

So the Prophet (SAW) will intercede by the permission of Allah, on behalf of those whom Allah(SWT) has told him to intercede for. This is the key point here; the Prophet (SAW) will notchoose those whom he will intercede for. Rather, this is in the control of Allah completely. Andit is related in an authentic hadeeth, that at the time of intercession;

So they will come to me and I will proceed till I will ask my Lords Permission and I will begiven permission. When I see my Lord, I will fall down in Prostration and He will let me remain

in that state as long as He wishes and then I will be addressed, (Muhammad!) Raise yourhead. Ask, and your request will be granted. Say, and your speech will be listened to.

Intercede, and your intercession will be accepted. I will raise my head and praise Allah with a

saying He will teach me, and then I will intercede. He will fix a limit for me (to intercedefor).

[Bukhari, Vol. 6, Book 60, No. 3]

So Allah (SWT) will choose who will be interceded for, and who will intercede everything goesback to Allah. The intercession is a means of showing mercy to those who are being intercededfor, and it is a means of honouring those who interceded (e.g. the Prophet (SAW)).

So when we hear the adhaan, we pray to Allah (SWT) to give the Prophet (SAW) the Waseelahand the Fadheelah, and the Maqaam al-Mahmoud. So in other words, we pray to Allah (SWT)to bless the Prophet (SAW) with the Shafaaah, we do not pray to the Prophet (SAW) to make

intercession for us. So this dua is made to Allah.


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5 - The saying of Laa ilaaha illallaah:

They say that whoever says Laa ilaaha illallaah is a Mumin, and they know this fromMutwaatir ahadeeth. Therefore, how can one use the evidences against the Mushrikeen againsta believer?

However, it is not the verbalisation of Laa ilaaha illallaah, but the implementation thatmakes you a believer. If we were to go up to a Kaafir, and asked them to repeat the kalimah,would that make them a believer? Of course not. Why? Because he has not actualised andimplemented it. So only if you act upon the kalimah does he become saved from the fire ofHell. If you commit Shirk you have gone against the basis of Laa ilaaha illallaah. This is becauseLaa ilaaha illallaah has certain connotations and meanings that come with it. And these mustbe believed in and acted upon.

Also the scholars have a consensus that if a person verbalises Laa ilaaha illallaah, then commitsan act of Shirk or Kufr, then that statement is negated. So if a person says Laa ilaaha illallaah,then intentionally shows disrespect to the Quran, then by unanimous consensus of all of thescholars of all of the madhaahib, this person is a murtad. Why is this? Because even though hesaid Laa ilaaha illallaah, he committed an act of kufr which negated this statement.

6 - The Hadeeth of Intercession:

In the hadeeth of intercession in Saheeh Bukhari, Mankind will approach some of the Prophetsto make intercession for them. So some people pose the question, why cant we approach theProphet (SAW) now to make intercession for us?

Firstly, these Prophets will be alive at this time, and they will also be present in front of thepeople. So this is as if they are alive in front of you. So this is similar to what the companionsused to do at the time of the Prophet (SAW), i.e. asked him to make dua for them. So this iscompletely different to us being in this world, and the Prophet (SAW) being in the Barzakh.That is two separate lives, and we have no communication with that life. Therefore it is notpermissible for us to ask of him whilst he is in another life. And this is why none of the Salaf-as-

Salih would do this type of thing. Therefore, this analogy is not correct, because it goes againstthe well-known fact that the dead cannot hear us as they are in a different type of life.


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Side note:Tawassul

This is not necessarily related to Shirk, but rather it is a type of minor Shirk and bidah. This isusing the status of the Prophet (SAW) to ask Allah (SWT). For example, a person says, O Allah!I ask you by the status of the Prophet (SAW) to grant me this and that. So you do Tawassulusing the status of the Prophet (SAW). This, however, is a bidah. The proof for this is that duais a type of worship, and anything that we do in terms of Ibaadah must have evidences fromthe Quran and Sunnah. And there are no authentic evidences that state we should ask Allah(SWT) through the status of the Prophet (SAW). Therefore this is an innovation. Not only this,but it is an innovation that will lead to Shirk, because you are raising the status of the Prophet(SAw).

Secondly, the status of the Prophet (SAW) is absolutely irrelevant to you and your dua. Thatwill not effect whether or not your dua is answered, as it is not pertinent to you and yourrequest. Indeed the Prophet (SAW) has a high status in the Sight of Allah, and the Prophet(SAW) is more beloved to Allah than the rest of Mankind, but of what relationship is this to your

dua? It is more appropriate that you say, O Allah! I ask you by my following of the is a form

Sunnah! Because your love and following of the Prophet Prophets of worship, so this wouldbe a form of making Tawassul through your good deeds, which is permissible. So even from alogical perspective, making Tawassul through the Prophets (SAW) status does not make sense.

There are several forms of Tawassul which are permissible in Islam.

The first way is asking Allah through His Names and Attributes, such as Ya Ghaffaar! Forgiveme! Ya Rahman! Have mercy upon me! Ya Raaziq! Sustain me!

The second way of making Tawassul which is permissible is what was mentioned before;making Tawassul through your good deeds. An example of this would be saying, O Allah! I gavecharity sincerely for your sake on such-and-such day, and I did this in seclusion. O Allah! Youknow that I was in need of that money, yet I gave it purely for Your sake, so please give mesuch-and-such.

The third way is mentioning your situation. For example, O Allah! I have been wronged! Orsaying, Ya Allah! I am all alone in a strange land. So you use your situation and complain toAllah like Moosa (AS) did;

"O my Lord! Truly am I in (desperate) need of any good that Thou dost send me!"

[Al-Qasas 28:24]

This is a form of making Tawassul through your own situation.

A fourth way of making permissible Tawassul is asking a living Muslim whom you believe ispious and God-fearing, with whom you can communicate by natural means (i.e. the person is infront of you, or you communicate by telephone, email, etc.), and you ask them to make dua

for you. However, there is a condition, which is that you also make dua for yourself and youdo not place your trust in them. This type of Tawassul goes against the perfection of eemaan,but it does not go against eemaan in general, as it is permissible.

Some other Ullemaa give other examples which can be found in the Quran and Sunnah, but inorder for it to be permissible it is necessary that it be found in the Quran and authenticSunnah.

a critical analysis of shirk qadhi

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