What is shirk?

What the word means

The scholars define shirk by what it sets up alongside Allah. Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen رحمه الله put it in three parts: a person makes something a partner with Allah in His rububiyyah (lordship), in His uluhiyyah (the right to be worshipped), or in His names and attributes.

• In lordship: to believe there is a creator alongside Allah for this universe, or a helper who assists Him in creating it.
• In worship: to take a god besides Allah and worship it — whether a saint, a prophet, a ruler, a stone, a tree, the sun or the moon.
• In names and attributes: to believe Allah's names and attributes resemble those of created beings, making the creation like the Creator.

Shaykh Salih al-Fawzan gives the same definition and adds an important observation: in practice, the shirk that has dominated nations, ancient and modern, is shirk in worship — calling on something besides Allah, or directing to it any act of worship such as sacrifice, vows, fear, hope or love.

Why it is the gravest sin

Al-Fawzan lists the reasons the scholars give for shirk being the greatest of wrongs. The first is that it likens the created to the Creator in what belongs to Him alone — and that is the essence of injustice, because it places worship where it does not belong. Allah says:

"Indeed, shirk is a great injustice."— Qur'an 31:13

The second is that Allah has told us He does not forgive it for one who does not repent from it, while He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills (Qur'an 4:48). The third is that He has forbidden Paradise to the one who commits it and made his destination the Fire (Qur'an 5:72). The fourth is that it nullifies every good deed a person has done (Qur'an 6:88 and 39:65).

Ibn al-Qayyim رحمه الله, quoted by al-Fawzan, ties these together: the very purpose for which Allah created and commanded was that He be known and worshipped alone, and that people establish justice — and tawhid is the head of justice, while shirk is the darkest injustice. Because shirk directly contradicts that purpose, it is the greatest of major sins without qualification.

The two kinds of shirk

The scholars divide shirk into major and minor, and the difference between them is decisive for how a person is judged.

Major shirk

This is directing any part of worship to other than Allah. Shaykh Ibn Baz رحمه الله gives the rule plainly: whoever directs worship, or any part of it, to idols, trees, the dead, the jinn or any absent being has committed major shirk — just as Quraysh did at their idols. He includes among its forms calling on the dead, seeking their help, and making vows to them.

Ibn Baz adds a second category that people often overlook: denying what is known of the religion by necessity. Whoever denies an obligation agreed upon by the Muslims — that prayer, zakah or fasting Ramadan is obligatory — or declares lawful what Allah has forbidden, such as fornication, intoxicants or sorcery, has committed major shirk. The reasoning is that rejecting what Allah has established is itself a turning away from His authority.

Minor shirk

This does not remove a person from Islam, but it eats away at the completeness of his tawhid and is a doorway to the major form. The scholars give several examples:

• Swearing by other than Allah — by the Prophet ﷺ, by trust, by someone's life. The Prophet ﷺ said: "Whoever swears by something other than Allah has committed disbelief or shirk."
• Saying "what Allah wills and what so-and-so wills" — joining a creature's will to the Creator's with the word "and." The correct wording is "what Allah wills, then what so-and-so wills."
• Saying "were it not for Allah and you" — the same error in a different phrase.
• Showing off in worship (riya') — praying, giving charity or reading for people's praise rather than for Allah. The Prophet ﷺ named this his greatest fear for his community: "The thing I fear most for you is the minor shirk." When asked what it was, he said: "Showing off."

Al-Fawzan notes that showing off is a hidden shirk, because it lives in the heart and never appears on the tongue or limbs — only Allah knows it.

When the minor becomes major

Ibn Baz explains a crucial point: a minor shirk can become major if the belief behind it changes. If a person swears by other than Allah, or says "what Allah wills and what so-and-so wills," while believing that the one sworn by has control over the universe, or a will independent of Allah's, or the power to harm and benefit without Allah, or that he may be worshipped and called upon — then he has committed major shirk by that belief.

But if it is merely a phrase on the tongue, out of habit or out of respect for a prophet or a righteous person, with no such belief, the scholars hold it to be minor shirk, not major. The act is the same; the creed behind it decides the ruling.

A caution about the word "means"

Ibn Baz warns against a common confusion. Some people, out of ignorance, call the practice of calling on the dead and seeking their help a "means" (wasilah) to Allah, and think it permissible. He says this is a grave error, because that practice is among the greatest forms of shirk — it is the very religion of the polytheists that Allah criticised and sent the messengers to warn against.

The wasilah that Allah commands in the Qur'an (5:35) means drawing near to Him through obedience: prayer, sacrifice, fasting, charity, remembrance and recitation. This is how the scholars of tafsir — Ibn Kathir, Ibn Jarir and al-Baghawi — understood it.

Guarding against it

The scholars stress that shirk is subtle and easy to fall into without noticing. Ibn Uthaymeen describes it as more hidden than an ant's footsteps on a black stone in the darkness of night, and recommends the well-known supplication:

"O Allah, I seek refuge in You from associating anything with You knowingly, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I do not know."— al-Bukhari, al-Adab al-Mufrad 716

Al-Fawzan adds that its expiation is this very supplication, and that the Muslim's duty is to purify his intention in everything he says, does and intends, so that his deeds are sound and accepted.

Key takeaways

• Shirk is setting up a partner with Allah in His lordship, His right to be worshipped, or His names and attributes — and it is the gravest of all sins.
• Major shirk removes a person from Islam and, if he dies on it without repentance, places him in the Fire eternally; it includes calling on the dead, sacrificing or vowing to other than Allah, and denying what is known of the religion by necessity.
• Minor shirk does not remove a person from Islam but damages his tawhid; it includes swearing by other than Allah, saying "what Allah wills and what so-and-so wills," and showing off in worship.
• The belief behind the act decides the ruling — a minor shirk becomes major if the person believes the one invoked has independent power, will or the right to be worshipped.
• Calling on the dead is not a "means" to Allah — it is major shirk itself; the wasilah Allah commands is drawing near to Him through obedience.

Further reading

• Majmu' Fatawa wa Maqalat — Shaykh Ibn Baz
• Fatawa Nur 'ala al-Darb — Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen
• Sharh Nawaqid al-Islam — Shaykh Abd al-Rahman al-Barrak

And Allah knows best.