The Difference Between the Shirk of the Ancients and the Shirk of the Later Worshippers of Graves
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, is it true that the difference between the worship of idols in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) and the worship of graves in the present time is that the first people associated partners with Allah in oneness of worship (tawhid al-uluhiyyah) but not in oneness of lordship (tawhid al-rububiyyah), whereas the later people associated partners with Allah in both oneness of worship and oneness of lordship?
Answer:
There is no doubt that the later people are more severe, as Shaykh Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, that the shirk of the later people is more severe than the shirk of the ancients. First, the ancients only associated partners with Allah in times of ease, but in times of hardship they would direct their worship to Allah alone.
Specifically, their supplication. As for the later people, their shirk in times of hardship is more severe than their shirk in times of ease. Their tongues came to me regarding ease.
The second point is that the ancients only worshipped righteous people, believing that they would intercede for them with Allah. As for the later people, they worship people whom they acknowledge are the most wicked and the most sinful of people. They worship Ibn 'Arabi, who is known to be the most disbelieving person on earth among the people of the Oneness of Existence. They worship al-Badawi, and they know that he is one of the most sinful people, and that he had no action except that he missed the mosque and left on Friday.
Do they consider this one of his miracles? Do they worship him? They know that those they worship do not pray. They say, "Abu 'Amr al-Shakali has no prayer upon him and no fasting upon him." These people remain with their shirk, so the shirk of the later people has increased beyond the shirk of the ancients. The ancients worshipped stones or trees or things that did not disobey Allah the Exalted and Majestic. Yes, their shirk was closer to Islam. But do they worship trees, and the open sinners who do not pray, drink intoxicants, commit adultery, and commit zina? And they say, "These are the awliya (close friends of Allah); no obligations are upon them, they have reached Allah, and they do not need this." Which shirk is greater: the shirk of the ancients or the shirk of the worshippers?
Honorable Shaykh, is it true that the difference between the worship of idols in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance (jahiliyyah) and the worship of graves in the present time is that the first people associated partners with Allah in oneness of worship (tawhid al-uluhiyyah) but not in oneness of lordship (tawhid al-rububiyyah), whereas the later people associated partners with Allah in both oneness of worship and oneness of lordship?
Answer:
There is no doubt that the later people are more severe, as Shaykh Muhammad (may Allah have mercy on him) mentioned, that the shirk of the later people is more severe than the shirk of the ancients. First, the ancients only associated partners with Allah in times of ease, but in times of hardship they would direct their worship to Allah alone.
Specifically, their supplication. As for the later people, their shirk in times of hardship is more severe than their shirk in times of ease. Their tongues came to me regarding ease.
The second point is that the ancients only worshipped righteous people, believing that they would intercede for them with Allah. As for the later people, they worship people whom they acknowledge are the most wicked and the most sinful of people. They worship Ibn 'Arabi, who is known to be the most disbelieving person on earth among the people of the Oneness of Existence. They worship al-Badawi, and they know that he is one of the most sinful people, and that he had no action except that he missed the mosque and left on Friday.
Do they consider this one of his miracles? Do they worship him? They know that those they worship do not pray. They say, "Abu 'Amr al-Shakali has no prayer upon him and no fasting upon him." These people remain with their shirk, so the shirk of the later people has increased beyond the shirk of the ancients. The ancients worshipped stones or trees or things that did not disobey Allah the Exalted and Majestic. Yes, their shirk was closer to Islam. But do they worship trees, and the open sinners who do not pray, drink intoxicants, commit adultery, and commit zina? And they say, "These are the awliya (close friends of Allah); no obligations are upon them, they have reached Allah, and they do not need this." Which shirk is greater: the shirk of the ancients or the shirk of the worshippers?
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب ما جاء أن الغلو في قبور الصالحين يصيرها أوثانًا تُعبد من دون الله — islamhouse.com (1:12:08)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.