What is the difference between disbelief and associating partners with Allah?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner asks about the difference between kufr (disbelief) and shirk (associating partners with Allah)?
Answer:
Kufr is denial; it is the denial of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for shirk, the mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) acknowledges Allah; he believes in Allah regarding tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), but he associates partners with Him in worship. So the mushrik is in a better state than the atheist or the idolater. Yes.
This questioner asks about the difference between kufr (disbelief) and shirk (associating partners with Allah)?
Answer:
Kufr is denial; it is the denial of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). As for shirk, the mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) acknowledges Allah; he believes in Allah regarding tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), but he associates partners with Him in worship. So the mushrik is in a better state than the atheist or the idolater. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، ما الفرق بين الكفر والشرك؟ لمعالي الشيخ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.