Explaining the reconciliation between His saying, the Exalted: “Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners are associated with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills”

The Shaykh : One might say that the reconciliation between this Quranic text, which is definitive in its authenticity and definitive in its meaning, and this hadith is from two aspects. The first aspect is that the verse says: Allah does not forgive shirk (associating partners with Allah), or that Allah does not forgive shirk. Disbelief (kufr) is not shirk. In other words, what is mentioned in this hadith does not involve shirk, but rather it is disbelief; because this person believed in Allah (Mighty and Majestic), and his belief in Allah led him to this unjust will, because he felt that he deserved punishment. So, to escape the punishment of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) for him, he made this will. Thus, he feared Allah, not only did he believe in Him, but he also feared Allah. So, the result of his fear of Allah was that he made this will. Therefore, he believed in Allah and did not associate anyone with Allah. So, the reconciliation between the hadith and the verse is that the verse remains on its apparent meaning: . As for disbelief that is not shirk, it can be said: Allah forgives it, and the evidence for that is this hadith. One might say this. And at first glance, this reconciliation seems acceptable and reasonable, but that is not the case; because there is a legal reality that we must be aware of. First, because it is a legal ruling that must be understood in its proper sense and its reality. Second, because this understanding helps us to reconcile many texts that appear to contradict and conflict with each other. What is this legal reality? It is that every disbelief is shirk.
It is known to all people, at least the jurists or students of knowledge, that every shirk is disbelief, but the converse is not known to them. It is known to them that every shirk is disbelief, but that every disbelief is shirk, this is not known to the majority of people; even though this is a truth, just as you speak it. That is: every disbelief is shirk, just as every shirk is disbelief, there is absolutely no difference between them. And among the evidence for that is the dialogue that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) mentioned in Surat al-Kahf between the believer and the polytheist. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: . The owner of the two gardens, who was a disbeliever and polytheist as you will hear, said to his believing companion: “I do not think that these will ever perish.”

Those present : .

The Shaykh : Yes?

Those present : .

The Shaykh : What did I say?

Another questioner : ... .

The Shaykh. In general terms and by common usage, did he associate partners with Allah or did he disbelieve? This is disbelief; because he denied the resurrection and the rising. . That is: the believer . He concluded his admonition and dialogue with his companion by saying that he does not associate partners as he does: . So, in this is an explanation that the man, the owner of the two gardens, when he doubted the resurrection and the rising, associated partners with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). Therefore, his believing companion said to him: You have disbelieved and associated partners, but I do not associate anyone with my Lord.
And the completion of the story also confirms this; because at the end of the verses: . What did he associate? The apparent meaning is that he denied the resurrection and the rising. So where is the shirk? Here is the point: shirk is that every disbeliever, for whatever reason his disbelief is, has taken his desire as his god. So from here comes the shirk regarding every type of disbelief by which his companion disbelieved. From here we said: there is a legal reality, which is that every disbelief is shirk.
And this context that we have conveyed to you is the greatest evidence for that. And on this basis, it is not correct to reconcile the aforementioned verse: with this hadith in the manner we mentioned earlier; because the meaning of the verse after this explanation is that Allah does not forgive that He is disbelieved in; that is: whether the disbelief is shirk linguistically or not. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) does not forgive disbelief absolutely; whether it is shirk or not shirk. And this explanation, as I told you, opens up the solution to many problems... If we know that shirk in the language of the Shari'ah is disbelief and disbelief is shirk; then the verse returns to being a clear indication that Allah (Mighty and Majestic) does not forgive shirk in all its types, except if it is practical shirk and not shirk of the heart.