The Difference Between Major Shirk and Minor Shirk
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His Eminence the Shaykh: What is the criterion for distinguishing between the texts regarding major shirk and minor shirk?
This question is asked by many people who say: What is the difference between minor shirk and major shirk?Major shirk is: That which, when it occurs from a person, causes him to exit the religion.
And minor is: That which is less than that.
Directing worship to other than Allah is major shirk, and exalting the creation as Allah is exalted, by attributing to it a right belonging to Lordship, or exalting it as the Creator is exalted; this is major shirk.
And whatever is less than that is minor shirk,For example: The issue of swearing by other than Allah is minor shirk in principle, but if the swearer’s heart holds that what he swore by is like Allah; it becomes major shirk.
So the criterion is that whatever the Lawgiver has named shirk, and which does not cause one to exit the religion, is minor shirk, and whatever causes one to exit the religion is major shirk.
And another question remains for us: What is it that causes one to exit the religion? And what is it that does not? This depends on the text that has come down. So whoever attributes to the creation a right that is exclusive to the Creator, that is major shirk, and whatever is less than that is minor shirk.
And I will give you an example: If a person exalts his father, and whenever he comes he kisses his hand or his forehead, places his sandals for him, and brings him the car, this is exaltation. But if he comes to another person and does with him what he did with his father, this is making the non-father like the father. But if he only brings him the sandals, would he be equal to this other person with his father? Of course not.
This question is asked by many people who say: What is the difference between minor shirk and major shirk?Major shirk is: That which, when it occurs from a person, causes him to exit the religion.
And minor is: That which is less than that.
Directing worship to other than Allah is major shirk, and exalting the creation as Allah is exalted, by attributing to it a right belonging to Lordship, or exalting it as the Creator is exalted; this is major shirk.
And whatever is less than that is minor shirk,For example: The issue of swearing by other than Allah is minor shirk in principle, but if the swearer’s heart holds that what he swore by is like Allah; it becomes major shirk.
So the criterion is that whatever the Lawgiver has named shirk, and which does not cause one to exit the religion, is minor shirk, and whatever causes one to exit the religion is major shirk.
And another question remains for us: What is it that causes one to exit the religion? And what is it that does not? This depends on the text that has come down. So whoever attributes to the creation a right that is exclusive to the Creator, that is major shirk, and whatever is less than that is minor shirk.
And I will give you an example: If a person exalts his father, and whenever he comes he kisses his hand or his forehead, places his sandals for him, and brings him the car, this is exaltation. But if he comes to another person and does with him what he did with his father, this is making the non-father like the father. But if he only brings him the sandals, would he be equal to this other person with his father? Of course not.