Praising people for sustenance and minor shirk
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, you mentioned (may Allah preserve you) that whoever praises people for what Allah has provided and thanks them for Allah’s provision is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah),
The Shaykh:
meaning if he limits himself to that. But if he thanks Allah and acknowledges that it is from Allah, while also thanking the benefactor and the one who facilitated it to the extent of their kindness, that is what is required. However, if he limits himself to thanking people and does not thank Allah, that is shirk (associating partners with Allah).
The questioner:
But I am confused by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the one whose certainty is weak; would he be a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) whose certainty is weak?
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed, it is from minor shirk. He is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) whose shirk is minor. He has faith, but it is weak. Minor shirk does not contradict faith; it is major shirk that contradicts faith.
He says: Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success, you mentioned (may Allah preserve you) that whoever praises people for what Allah has provided and thanks them for Allah’s provision is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah),
The Shaykh:
meaning if he limits himself to that. But if he thanks Allah and acknowledges that it is from Allah, while also thanking the benefactor and the one who facilitated it to the extent of their kindness, that is what is required. However, if he limits himself to thanking people and does not thank Allah, that is shirk (associating partners with Allah).
The questioner:
But I am confused by the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) regarding the one whose certainty is weak; would he be a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) whose certainty is weak?
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed, it is from minor shirk. He is a mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah) whose shirk is minor. He has faith, but it is weak. Minor shirk does not contradict faith; it is major shirk that contradicts faith.
Source
شرح قرة عيون الموحدين في تحقيق دعوة الأنبياء والمرسلين، باب قول الله - تعالى - : { إِنَّمَا ذَلِكُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ يُخَوِّفُ أَوْلِيَاءَهُ فَلا تَخَافُوهُمْ وَخَافُونِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ } — islamhouse.com (1:02:21)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.