Explaining the reconciliation between the saying of Allah the Exalted, "Indeed, Allah does not forgive association with Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whom He wills," and the hadith of Abu Hurayrah, "There was a man who used to commit excess against himself..."

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 states that Allah does not forgive shirk (associating partners with Allah), or that Allah does not forgive shirk, while kufr (disbelief) other than shirk is a different matter. In other words, what is mentioned in this hadith does not contain shirk, but rather kufr, because this person believed in Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), and his belief in Allah led him to this unjust will, because he felt that he deserved the punishment. So, to escape the punishment of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He), he made this will. Thus, he feared Allah, not only did he believe in Him, but he also feared Him. So the effect 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 this hadith and this verse is that the verse remains on its apparent meaning: As for kufr that is not shirk, it can be said that Allah forgives it, and the evidence for that is this hadith. One might say, this seems at first glance to be an acceptable and reasonable reconciliation, but the matter is not so, because there is a legal reality that we must first be aware of, because the Shari'ah must be understood in its proper way and in its reality, and secondly, 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 kufr is shirk. It is known to all people, at least the jurists or students of knowledge, that every shirk is kufr, but the converse is not known to them. It is known to them that every shirk is kufr, but that every kufr is shirk, this is not known to the majority of people, even though this is the truth, just as you speak, meaning every kufr is shirk, just as every shirk is kufr, there is absolutely no difference between them. And among the evidence for that is the dialogue mentioned by Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) in Surat al-Kahf between the believer and the mushrik (one who associates partners with Allah). Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: The owner of the two gardens, who was a disbeliever and a mushrik as you will hear, said to his companion, the believer: In general terms and by common usage, did he associate partners with Allah or did he disbelieve? This is kufr, 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 with his Lord as his companion did: So in this is an indication that the man, the owner of the two gardens, meaning the two orchards, when he doubted the resurrection and the rising, associated partners with Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). Therefore, his companion, the believer, said to him, "You have disbelieved and associated partners with Allah, 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? It appears 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 kufr is, has taken his desire as his god. So from here comes the shirk for every type of kufr with which his companion associated. So from here we said that there is a legal reality, which is that every kufr 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 one disbelieves in Him, meaning whether the kufr is shirk linguistically or not, Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) does not forgive kufr absolutely, whether it is shirk or not shirk. And this explanation, as I told you, opens up the solution to many problems... So if we know that shirk in the language of the Shari'ah is kufr, and kufr is shirk, then the verse returns to being a clear indication that Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) does not forgive shirk in all its types, except if it is practical shirk and not shirk of the heart.