A talk about the shirk (associating partners with Allah) that the ummah (the Muslim community) fell into due to their ignorance.

The Shaykh : How can a Muslim who testifies that there is no god but Allah in the correct sense—let us assume it is so—then disbelieve in that sense practically? We said that he worships other than Allah. How can one imagine a Muslim who worships other than Allah? Oh, there are millions of Muslims who worship other than Allah, millions of them. Now, every person who prays must, at least in the witr (the odd-numbered night prayer) rak'ah (a unit of prayer), which is the only one, recite Surat al-Fatihah for his prayer to be valid. And he says in Surat al-Fatihah, "O Lord: "; meaning: We seek help from You alone and from no other. What do you think of the millions of Muslims today who come to Baghdad for the sake of Shaykh 'Abd al-Qadir, whom they call "al-Baz," and they come to al-Husayn and Zaynab in Egypt, and I do not know what else.
Yes?

The questioner : They seek help from them.

The Shaykh : Ah, they go to them for what? "Help, O Master Ahmad," "Help, O Badi'i," and so on. Where is ? They do not understand what worship is, which is what he restricts to Allah. When he says: , he does not know that if he prostrates in exaltation of a person, he has worshipped him besides Allah. He does not know this meaning at all. He does not know that if he makes a vow for Lady Zaynab, or al-Khidr, or Shu'ayb, or I do not know what you have, he does not know that this slaughter is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic) and disbelief in His worship. Why? Because he is not taught. He is illiterate, he cannot read or write, that is fine. But we said that teaching is done in two ways: either if he is capable of understanding from the Book and the Sunnah, then directly from the Book and the Sunnah; or: . Where are the people of knowledge? If you asked the people of knowledge this question today, they would not answer you with this detail, and they would not explain to you tawhid (the oneness of Allah), nor what worship is!! Allah says in the Noble Qur'an, and we read this verse, but most of us do not understand it, and consequently do not apply it: . My prayer is understood. What does "my sacrifice" mean? My slaughter. . Well, she says: I vowed a sacrifice for our Master Shu'ayb, and this for 'Abd al-Qadir, and Lady Zaynab, and al-Husayn, and so on.

The questioner : ... .

The Shaykh : All of this is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic); because Allah coupled the sacrifices with the prayer, and He said: . And the Messenger (peace be upon him) said: . So take millions of Muslims who testify that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and they pray, and they fast, and perhaps they stand in night prayer while people are sleeping; but their creed is a desolate ruin!! What is the benefit of the prayer when one has associated partners with Allah? Because originally, the testimony by which the Muslim enters Islam, he did not understand it. We accepted from the disbeliever that he enters Islam with the testimony that there is no god but Allah. But this Muslim, the son of a Muslim, the son of a Muslim, perhaps his grandfather is a Companion from the followers of the Messenger (peace be upon him). What is the benefit of living all these years without understanding the meaning of "There is no god but Allah"? Then, if he did understand it, he disbelieved in it practically. Why? Because he did not understand what worship is that is not worshipped with except Allah. And how often you see now swearing by other than Allah, without any reason, at the slightest occasion: "By my life," "By my son's life," "By my father's head," "By my grandfather's head," and so on. And perhaps there is not one of you who has not read the saying of the Messenger (peace be upon him): . So this faith, which is the first pillar, when Jibril asked the Messenger (peace be upon him), "What is faith?" He said: . So the first faith in Allah is that you believe in His oneness in His essence, in His worship, and in His attributes.