The Criterion for Identifying Shirk in Supplication
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
What is the criterion by which we know whether supplication to other than Allah is shirk? It has been reported, O honorable Shaykh! In the second-grade elementary textbook, there is a song with the following text:
To the sky, O flag, to the sky, live in ascent, O flag, live in height
O flag, O flag
Then he said:
Flutter over us with hopes, renew our glories for us, flutter over us with joy, flutter, for our cheering
Greet the flag, greet the flag
Is this supplication to other than Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)?
There is no doubt that this speech is wrong, and that knowledge is not what restores glory and honor; rather, it is holding fast to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that restores it; for this is the true cause that Allah made a cause for elevation, might, and honor.Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: [Al-Munafiqun: 8] ,And Allah the Exalted said: [An-Nur: 55] .
As for supplicating to knowledge, if it were not for our knowledge that the one supplicating intends that knowledge is a cause and not the creator, we would say: that this is shirk, like the one who supplicates to trees and stones in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance.
But we know that this speaker does not intend that knowledge itself is what brings might, glory, and honor, but rather that it is a cause; therefore, we cannot rule that this is major shirk, but even so we say: it is a type of minor shirk, where he made something that Allah did not make a cause into a cause. If you had written this to me so that we could look into its subject, it would have been better; so that the youth, especially the young ones, do not cling to such matters and forget Allah (Mighty and Majestic).
To the sky, O flag, to the sky, live in ascent, O flag, live in height
O flag, O flag
Then he said:
Flutter over us with hopes, renew our glories for us, flutter over us with joy, flutter, for our cheering
Greet the flag, greet the flag
Is this supplication to other than Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He)?
There is no doubt that this speech is wrong, and that knowledge is not what restores glory and honor; rather, it is holding fast to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that restores it; for this is the true cause that Allah made a cause for elevation, might, and honor.Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said:
And to Allah belongs [all] honor, and to His Messenger, and to the believers
وَلِلَّهِ الْعِزَّةُ وَلِرَسُولِهِ وَلِلْمُؤْمِنِينَAllah has promised those who have believed among you and done righteous deeds that He will surely grant them succession [to authority] upon the earth just as He granted it to those before them and that He will surely establish for them [therein] their religion which He has preferred for them and that He will surely substitute for them, after their fear, security
وَعَدَ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَيَسْتَخْلِفَنَّهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ كَمَا اسْتَخْلَفَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَلَيُمَكِّنَنَّ لَهُمْ دِينَهُمُ الَّذِي ارْتَضَى لَهُمْ وَلَيُبَدِّلَنَّهُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ خَوْفِهِمْ أَمْناًAs for supplicating to knowledge, if it were not for our knowledge that the one supplicating intends that knowledge is a cause and not the creator, we would say: that this is shirk, like the one who supplicates to trees and stones in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance.
But we know that this speaker does not intend that knowledge itself is what brings might, glory, and honor, but rather that it is a cause; therefore, we cannot rule that this is major shirk, but even so we say: it is a type of minor shirk, where he made something that Allah did not make a cause into a cause. If you had written this to me so that we could look into its subject, it would have been better; so that the youth, especially the young ones, do not cling to such matters and forget Allah (Mighty and Majestic).