Shirk

Category: SOUND

Imam Shafi'i (ra) stated, “I debated a scholar and beat him. Then I debated a layman and that layman beat me - he had no knowledge of the principles and texts. I had nothing to say.”

Imam Razi stated: "There is no meaning to Shirk other that a human taking a ma'bud other than Allah."
(Tafsir Kabir 16/33)

Imam Sanusi mentioned:

"Shirk is of 6 types.

-Shirk al-Istiqlal- Affirming two separate "gods" like the shirk of the Majus
-Shirk Tab'idh- To believe in a god who is made up of multiple gods, like the shirk of the Christians
-Shirk Taqrib- Worshiping other than Allah, so that they could take one closer to Allah, like the shirk of the early part of the Jahiliyyah era.
-Shirk Taqlid- Worshiping other than Allah, in emulation of someone else, like those of the later Jahiliyyah era
-Shirk al-Asbab- Attribution effect to the apparent means, like the shirk of the Philosophers etc
-Shirk al-Aghradh- Performing actions for other than Allah

The First four are Shirk by consensus, while the sixth is disobedience and there is detail concerning the fifth..."

(Sharh al-Muqaddamat Pg. 33 and 40)

Idolatry [shirk], like disbelief [kufr], is a covering up of the obvious truth.

There is "major idolatry," which expels a man from his faith, and "minor idolatry" (instances of which include ostentation and some sins), which does not.

It is therefore appropriate to quote what one of correct doctrine says about idolatry. Its kinds - may God protect us! - are six:

1. Autonomous idolatry [shirk istiqlal]. This is to affirm the existence of two autonomous dieties, as is the case with the Zoroastrians.

2. Separative idolatry [shirk tab'id]. An instance of this is the Christians who say that God is one of three, the other two being Jesus and his mother. {79}

3. Approximative idolatry [shirk taqrib]. This is to worship other that God with the purpose of drawing nearer to Him through them. Such was the belief of the early Arabs who worshipped stones, saying, "We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to God" (QURAN, 39;3)

4. Imitative idolatry [shirk taqlid]. This involves worshiping other than God in imitation of others. This also was the form of idolatry present in the pre-islamic era of ignorance. They say, "We found our fathers following a religion, and by their footsteps shall we be led" (QURAN, 43;22)

5. Idolatry of secondary causes [shirk al-asbab]. {80} An instance of this is the idolatry of the philosophers and those who believe in nature, and those who follow them.

6. Idolatry of intention [shikr al-aghrad] {81}. This is to carry our acts for other than God.

The unanimous ruling regarding the first four is that they are forms of disbelief.

The sixth is a sin but does not constitute disbelief.

As for the fifth, a distinction has to be made between, first, those who say that secondary causes [in themselves] produce effects by virtue of their intrinsic properties [as, for example, fire leading to burning, water to irrigating, and food to satiety]: such people are disbelievers; second, those who believe that they are effective through a power that God the Exalted has put in them: they are guilty of innovation [bid'a].

[TRANSLATORS NOTES]

{79}: Since the Virgin Mary is called in Christian terms "Mother of God," the implication is that she herself is divine. This is how the word "mariolatry" came into being.

{80}: The Primary Cause or Prime Mover is God Himself. To believe that creatures or secondary causes have autonomous power is to set them up as gods beside God.

{81}: Acting out of ostentation or simply to satisfy some lust or appetite is to set one's intention in competition with sincerity with God. It is to worship one's ego, passions, or appetites.


Source: SunniForum.com