1. Musallah at-Taqwa
Saturday
June 27,
2009
Islamic College of Canberra
‫ﺑﺴﻢ ﺍﷲ ﺍﻟﺮﲪﻦ ﺍﻟﺮﺣﻴﻢ‬
Explanation of the Three Fundamental Principles
Class Notes – Term 2, Week 6
‫... ﻭﹶﺃﻋﻈﻢ ﻣﺎ َﻧﻬﻰ ﻋﻨﻪ ﺍﻟ ﱢﺮﻙ ﻭﻫﻮ ﺩﻋﻮﺓ ﻏﻴﺮﻩ ﻣﻌﻪ ﻭﺍﻟ ﱠِﻟﻴﻞ ﻗﻮﹸﻟﻪ َﺗﻌﺎﹶﻟﻰ : ﴿ ﻭﺍﻋﺒﺪﻭﺍ ﺍﷲ‬
َ ُ ُْ َ
َ ُ ْ ‫َ ْ ﹶ ُ َ َ َْ ُ ﺸ ْ ُ َ ُ َ َ ْ َ ﹸ ﹶْ ﹺ ِ َ َ ُ َ ﺪ ﹸ ﹶ‬
﴾ ‫ﻭﻻ ُﺗﺸﺮﻛﻮﺍ ﹺﺑﻪ ﺷﻴﺌﺎ‬
‫َ ْ ﹺ ﹸ ِ َْ ﹰ‬
... and the most serious thing that He forbade is shirk which is to invoke others besides Him,
along with Him. The Proof is His saying the Most High: “Worship Allah alone, making all
worship purely for Him”. [An‐Nisaa; 4:36]
Shirk revisited
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In the first class of the second semester we discussed the tremendous sin of shirk.
In that class we discussed the fact that Allah (swt) is not please with shirk, how Allah (swt)
forgives all sins except shirk and the two types of shirk and the difference between them (please
review your notes for that class if you do not recall any of these points).
As we discussed previously, the most serious of all that Allah (swt) forbade is shirk and this is
because the greatest of all rights are the rights of Allah (swt). So if a person violates the right of
Allah, then he has violated the greatest of all rights which is the tawheed of Allah. Allah (swt) says:
∩⊇⊂∪ ÒΟŠÏàtã íΟù=Ýàs9 x8÷Åe³9$# χÎ) ( «!$$Î/ õ8Îô³è@ Ÿω ¢©o_ç6≈tƒ …çμÝàÏètƒ uθèδuρ ⎯ÏμÏΖö/eω ß⎯≈yϑø)ä9 tΑ$s% øŒÎ)uρ
And (remember) when Luqman said to his son when he was advising him: "O My son! Do not join in
worship others with Allah. Verily! Voining others In Worship with Allah is a great Dhûlm (wrong) indeed.
[Luqman; 31:13]
∩⊆∇∪ $¸ϑŠÏàtã $¸ϑøOÎ) #“utIøù$# ωs)sù «!$$Î/ õ8Îô³ç„ ⎯tΒuρ
And whoever sets up partners with Allah In worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.
[An‐Nisaa; 4:48]
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Also in the Hadith of the Prophet (saw):
‫ ﻣﻦ ﻣَﺎﺕ ﻭ ُﻮ َﻳﻌﻠ ُ ﹶﺃﱠﻪ ﻻ ﹺﺇﹶﻟﻪ ﺇﹺﻻ ﺍﻟﻠﻪ ﺩﺧﻞ ﺍﹾﻟﺠﱠﻨﺔ‬
‫َ ْ َ َﻫ َ ْﹶﻢ ﻧ ُ َ ﱠ ُ َ َ ﹶ َ ﹶ‬
Whoever dies while still calling upon a rival to Allah will enter The Fire [Bukhari]

2. The categories of shirk
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The study of tawheed cannot be considered complete without a careful analysis of its opposite
i.e. shirk. Just like tawheed, shirk can also be divided into categories. In this lesson we will
Inshallah discuss shirk from the perspective of the three categories of tawheed. Shirk can occur in
various ways in these three types of tawheed.
Shirk in RUBOOBIYYA
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This category of shirk refers to either the belief that others share Allah’s Lordship over creation as
His equal, or the belief that there exists no Lord over creation at all.
Most religious systems fall into the first aspect, while it is the philosophers and their man‐made
philosophies which tend to fall into the second category.
(i)
Shirk by Association
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This is when one affirms another Creator or Lord or controller of affairs.
In other words, a main God is recognised, however His dominion is shared by other lesser
Gods, spirits, mortals heavenly bodies or earthly objects.
Theologians and philosophers may refer to these as either monotheistic (having one god)
or polytheistic (having many gods). According to Islam they are polytheistic and
unacceptable to Allah.
In Hinduism the Supreme Being is Brahman. He forms a trinity with the Preserver God
Vishnu and the Destroyer God Shiva. This shirk in Ruboobiyya is expressed in Hinduism by
giving God’s destructive and preservative powers to other sub‐gods!
The Zoroastrians believe that there are two creators: Ahriman the Creator of all good and
Ahura Mazda the creator of all evil.
Among some Muslim sects, shirk in Ruboobiyya is manifested in their belief that the souls
of saints and other righteous humans can affect the affairs of this world even in their
death. They consider these people to have the divine ability to cause events which only
Allah (swt) can cause.
(ii)
Shirk by Denial
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This category represents the various ideologies which outright deny the existence of God
either explicitly or implicitly. That is, in some cases God’s non‐existence is stated
(atheism), while in other cases the way which He is conceived actually denies His
existence (pantheism).
This was the belief of Fir’awn who falsely claimed that he was the only true lord of all
creation:
∩⊄⊆∪ 4’n?ôãF{$# ãΝä3š/u‘ O$tΡr& tΑ$s)sù
And he (Fir’awn) said: "I am Your Lord, Most high [An‐Naaziaat; 79:24]
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This is also the beliefs of atheists, communists and other such philosophies which deny
the existence of a creator.
An example of pantheism is that of many Sufi’s who claim that Allah (swt) exists, but
everything is Allah and Allah is everything! They in fact deny His existence by denying His
separate existence.

3. Shirk in al‐Asmaa was‐Sifaat
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The concept of tawheed in al‐Asmaa was‐Sifaat involves affirming for Allah the Most Beautiful
Names and Perfect attributes.
Therefore shirk in this category can include the pagan practice of giving Allah (swt) the attributes
of His creation, as well as giving created beings the attributes and names of Allah (swt).
(i)
Shirk by Humanization
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In this form of shirk Allah (swt) is given the form and qualities of humans and animals or
even their attributes.
Therefore the image of The Creator is often painted, moulded or carved in the shape of
human beings or animals.
For example, the painting of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in The
Vatican of God as a Naked old European man with long flowing white hair and beard.
These pictures by Catholic Christians are held in the highest esteem, while they claim
themselves to be monotheistic in their belief!
This also includes comparing Allah to the creation. As we discussed previously the
Christians claim that God became ‘tired’ after creating the heavens and the earth, or that
He ‘forgot’ certain matters.
(ii)
Shirk by Deification
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This is simply comparing the creation to Allah. This relates to cases where created beings
or things are given or claim Allah’s names or His attributes.
For example, the Arabs at the time of the Prophet (saw) used to worship idols whose
names were derived from the names of Allah. Their three main idols were Al‐Laat
(feminizing the name ‘Allah’), Al‐Uzza (feminizing the name ‘Al‐Aziz’) and Al‐Manaat (from
the name ‘Al‐Mannaan’).
Among the Shi’ite sects are the Nusayreeya of Syria who believe Ali Ibn Abi Talib (rah) was
a manifestation of Allah (swt) and give him many qualities of Allah (swt).
Also in this category are the Druze of Lebanon who believe the Fatimid Caliph al‐Hakim
bi‐Amriallah was the last manifestation of Allah amongst mankind!
Shirk in ULUHIYYA
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In this category of shirk, acts of worship are directed to other than Allah and the reward for
worship is sought from the creation instead of the Creator.
Examples of acts of worship that are due only to Allah (swt) includes du’a, prayer, prostration,
vows and oaths.
Shirk in uluhiyya is the most common type of shirk amongst mankind. This is because most of
mankind affirms the existence of one god, yet direct acts of worship to other than Him. This is like
the Christians who believe in God but direct their worship to Jesus Christ.
The norm amongst the disbelievers is that they worship Allah and others besides Allah (e.g.
Christians). However it is also possible that certain groups and religions always worship other
than Allah. For example, extreme Sufi groups never turn directly to Allah, but always direct their
worship to saints or prophets.
A lot of emphasis is placed on the evils of shirk in ibaadah because it contradicts the very purpose
of creation.

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Allah (swt) says regarding shirk in uluhiyya:
∩⊇⊇⊃∪ #J‰tnr& ÿ⎯ÏμÎn/u‘ ÍοyŠ$t7ÏèÎ/ õ8Îô³ç„ Ÿωuρ $[sÎ=≈|¹ WξuΚtã ö≅yϑ÷èu‹ù=sù ⎯ÏμÎn/u‘ u™!$s)Ï9 (#θã_ötƒ tβ%x. ⎯yϑsù
... so whoever hopes for the Meeting with his Lord, let Him work righteousness and associate none as a
partner In the Worship of his Lord. [Al‐Kahf; 18:110]
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From this categorisation we can see that shirk can occur in any of the three types of tawheed.
The primary benefit of this scheme is that it helps a person understand the reality of shirk to help
them avoid it in all its manifestations.
For example, many people do not realise that it is shirk to claim that a certain Sheikh or Imam is
all‐knowledgeable. Only when they are shown this can they come to the realisation that it is shirk.
This categorisation also helps an individual understand the three types of tawheed in a fuller
sense. As the saying goes: “By knowing the opposite, you will know the matter”.
Evidence used by the Sheikh
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As evidence that Allah (swt) should be worshipped alone, and that He has prohibited shirk, the
Sheikh (ra) used evidence from Surat an‐Nisaa:
$↔ø‹x© ⎯ÏμÎ/ (#θä.Îô³è@ Ÿωuρ ©!$# (#ρ߉ç6ôã$#uρ *
Worship Allah and join none with Him In worship [An‐Nisaa; 4:36]
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This order affirming worship for Allah (swt) alone means the one who does not worship Allah
(swt) is an arrogant and obstinate disbeliever, and the one who worships others besides Him is a
disbeliever and a polytheist, and the one who worship Allah (swt) alone is a pure Muslim.
The Sheikh (ra) then goes on to mention the two types of shirk and how Allah (swt) does not
forgive the sin of shirk. We covered this in our previous lesson.
He mentions the verse in Surat An‐Nisaa and how some scholars believe that this verse covers
both major and minor shirk.
Review questions
(i)
What are the two types of shirk in ruboobiyya? Explain each one and give examples where
possible.
(ii)
What are the two types of shirk in al‐Asmaa was‐Sifaat? Explain each one and give examples
where possible.
(iii) Why is shirk in uluhiyya the most common type of shirk amongst mankind? Give an example
to support your answer.
(iv) Why is it important to study shirk according to the categories of tawheed?
(v)
Verse 48 of Surat An‐Nisaa is used as evidence to support two concepts we have taken
concerning shirk. Quote the verse in its entirety and explain the two concepts the verse
supports. Hint: You may need to refer to your Lesson 1 notes for Term 2.