The Difference Between Major and Minor Shirk
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The first question of Fatwa No. ( 1653 ):
Q1: What is the difference between major shirk and minor shirk in terms of definition and rulings?
A1: Major shirk: that a person makes a rival for Allah; either in His names and attributes, by naming Him with Allah's names and describing Him with His attributes. Allah the Exalted said:[Al-A'raf 7:180] , and among the deviation in His names is naming other than Him with His exclusive name or describing Him with His exclusive attribute. Or making a rival for Him in worship, by supplicating to other than Him, the Exalted, such as the sun, moon, a prophet, an angel, or a wali, for example, with a form of nearness such as prayer, or calling for aid in distress or something disliked, or seeking help in bringing about a benefit, or calling upon a dead or absent person to relieve a hardship or achieve a desire, or the like, which is the exclusive right of Allah, the Sublime. All of this and its like is worship of other than Allah and taking a partner alongside Allah. Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Kahf 18:110]
And there are many verses like these regarding the oneness of worship. Or making a rival for Allah in legislation, by taking a legislator other than Allah or a partner for Allah in legislation, accepting his ruling and adhering to it in making things lawful and unlawful; as worship, nearness, judgment, and settling disputes, or deeming it lawful even if he does not consider it a religion. In this regard, the Exalted says regarding the Jews and the Christians :[At-Tawbah 9:31] , and there are many verses and hadiths like this that came regarding the acceptance of a ruling other than Allah's ruling, or turning away from referring to Allah's ruling and deviating to referring to man-made laws, or tribal customs, or the like. These three types are major shirk, which causes its doer or believer to apostatize from the religion of Islam. Therefore, if he dies, he is not prayed over, nor buried in Muslim cemeteries, nor does his wealth pass to his heirs, but it belongs to the Muslim treasury. His slaughtered meat is not eaten, and it is ruled obligatory to kill him, and the ruler of the Muslims carries this out, except that he is asked to repent before being killed. If he repents, his repentance is accepted, he is not killed, and he is treated as a Muslim.
As for minor shirk: it is everything the Shari'ah has forbidden that is a means to major shirk and a way to fall into it, and which is named shirk in the texts, such as swearing by other than Allah, for it is a place of descent into major shirk; for this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it. It is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:Bulugh al-Maram 1374 , and he even called the one who does so a mushrik. Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) narrated that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Sunan Abi Dawud 3251Sahih (Al-Albani) Narrated by Ahmad and al-Tirmidhi and al-Hakim with a good chain; because swearing by other than Allah involves exaggeration in magnifying other than Allah, and that magnification may lead the one who swears by other than Allah to major shirk. Among the examples of minor shirk are also the words on the tongues of many Muslims, such as saying: "What Allah willed and you willed," or "If not for Allah and you," or the like. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade that and guided the one who said it to say: "What Allah willed alone - or - What Allah willed, then you willed"; to block the means to major shirk, which is believing in a partner for Allah in the will for the occurrence of cosmic events and their happening. In the same sense are their words: "I relied on Allah and on you," and their words: "If not for the rooster's crow or the duck's quack, the goods would have been stolen." And among the examples of that is slight showing off (riya') in the actions and words of worship, such as lengthening the prayer sometimes so that people see him,
or raising his voice in recitation or dhikr sometimes so that people hear him and praise him. Imam Ahmad narrated with a good chain from Mahmud ibn Lubayd (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Bulugh al-Maram 16:48 . However, if a person does not perform the original act of worship except for showing off, and if not for that he would not pray, fast, remember Allah, or recite the Qur'an, then he is a mushrik with major shirk, and he is among the hypocrites about whom Allah said: [An-Nisa 4:142-143] the verse, until He said: [An-Nisa 4:145-146] , and true is His saying in the Qudsi Hadith: Sahih Muslim 2985 Narrated by Muslim in his Sahih. Minor shirk does not cause the one who falls into it to exit the religion of Islam, but it is the greatest of the major sins after major shirk; for this reason, 'Abdullah ibn Mas'ud said:
(I would rather swear by Allah falsely than swear by other than Him truthfully). Accordingly, among its rulings is that he is treated as a Muslim: his heirs inherit from him, and he inherits from them according to what is specified in the Shari'ah. If he dies, he is prayed over and buried in Muslim cemeteries, and his slaughtered meat is eaten, among other such rulings of Islam. He will not abide eternally in the Fire if he is put into it, like other major sinners, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community, unlike the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Q1: What is the difference between major shirk and minor shirk in terms of definition and rulings?
A1: Major shirk: that a person makes a rival for Allah; either in His names and attributes, by naming Him with Allah's names and describing Him with His attributes. Allah the Exalted said:
And to Allah belong the best names, so invoke Him by them. And leave [the company of] those who practice deviation concerning His names. They will be recompensed for what they have been doing.
وَلِلَّهِ الأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَى فَادْعُوهُ بِهَا وَذَرُوا الَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِي أَسْمَائِهِ سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَSay, "I am only a man like you, to whom has been revealed that your god is one God. So whoever would hope for the meeting with his Lord - let him do righteous work and not associate in the worship of his Lord anyone."
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَهُكُمْ إِلَهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَمَنْ كَانَ يَرْجُو لِقَاءَ رَبِّهِ فَلْيَعْمَلْ عَمَلا صَالِحًا وَلاَ يُشْرِكْ بِعِبَادَةِ رَبِّهِ أَحَدًاAnd there are many verses like these regarding the oneness of worship. Or making a rival for Allah in legislation, by taking a legislator other than Allah or a partner for Allah in legislation, accepting his ruling and adhering to it in making things lawful and unlawful; as worship, nearness, judgment, and settling disputes, or deeming it lawful even if he does not consider it a religion. In this regard, the Exalted says regarding the Jews and the Christians :
They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.
اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَالْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلا لِيَعْبُدُوا إِلَهًا وَاحِدًا لاَ إِلَهَ إِلا هُوَ سُبْحَانَهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَAs for minor shirk: it is everything the Shari'ah has forbidden that is a means to major shirk and a way to fall into it, and which is named shirk in the texts, such as swearing by other than Allah, for it is a place of descent into major shirk; for this reason, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) forbade it. It is established from him (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said:
"Verily! Allah forbids you from swearing by your fathers. Therefore, if anyone swears, he must swear by Allah or keep silent."
ألا إن الله ينهاكم أن تحلفوا بآبائكم، ومن كان حالفًا فليحلف بالله أو ليصمتHe who swears by anyone but Allah is polytheist.
من حلف بغير الله فقد أشركor raising his voice in recitation or dhikr sometimes so that people hear him and praise him. Imam Ahmad narrated with a good chain from Mahmud ibn Lubayd (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The thing I fear most for you is the lesser shirk (polytheism), showing-off (of good deeds).
إن أخوف ما أخاف عليكم الشرك الأصغر: الرياء(142) Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves to] the people and not remembering Allah except a little, (143) Wavering between them, [belonging] neither to the believers nor to the disbelievers
إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ يُخَادِعُونَ اللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوا إِلَى الصَّلاَةِ قَامُوا كُسَالَى يُرَاءُونَ النَّاسَ وَلاَ يَذْكُرُونَ اللَّهَ إِلا قَلِيلا (142) مُذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ لاَ إِلَى هَؤُلاءِ وَلاَ إِلَى هَؤُلاءِ(145) Indeed, the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire - and never will you find for them a helper - (146) Except for those who repent, correct themselves, hold fast to Allah, and are sincere in their religion for Allah, for those will be with the believers. And Allah is going to give the believers a great reward.
إِنَّ الْمُنَافِقِينَ فِي الدَّرْكِ الأَسْفَلِ مِنَ النَّارِ وَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُمْ نَصِيرًا (145) إِلا الَّذِينَ تَابُوا وَأَصْلَحُوا وَاعْتَصَمُوا بِاللَّهِ وَأَخْلَصُوا دِينَهُمْ لِلَّهِ فَأُولَئِكَ مَعَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ اللَّهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًاI am the One, One Who does not stand in need of a partner. If anyone does anything in which he associates anyone else with Me, I shall abandon him with one whom he associates with Allah.
أنا أغنى الشركاء عن الشرك، من عمل عملاً أشرك معي فيه غيري تركته وشركه(I would rather swear by Allah falsely than swear by other than Him truthfully). Accordingly, among its rulings is that he is treated as a Muslim: his heirs inherit from him, and he inherits from them according to what is specified in the Shari'ah. If he dies, he is prayed over and buried in Muslim cemeteries, and his slaughtered meat is eaten, among other such rulings of Islam. He will not abide eternally in the Fire if he is put into it, like other major sinners, according to the people of the Sunnah and the community, unlike the Khawarij and the Mu'tazilah. And success is from Allah. And may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his Companions.
Source
www.alifta.gov.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.