Explanation of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "Shall I not inform you of the greatest of the major sins?" He said this three times. They said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said, "Associating partners with Allah and undutifulness to parents..."

The Shaykh : The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) "Three times" means he said it three times. We said, "Yes, O Messenger of Allah." He said, He kept repeating it until we said, "I wish he would stop." Narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, and al-Tirmidhi.
In the previous lesson, we spoke to you about the greatest of the major sins, which is shirk (associating partners with Allah) with Allah (Mighty and Majestic). We explained to you that shirk which contradicts tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is divided into three sections, just as tawhid is. The first is tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), and what contradicts it is shirk in lordship. The second is tawhid al-'ibadah (oneness of worship), and some people call it tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship); both are the same meaning and convey the same message. The third is tawhid of Allah (Mighty and Majestic) in His attributes. We explained that the intended meaning of tawhid al-rububiyyah is believing that the Creator of this universe and its Nurturer is Allah, Lord of the worlds, with no partner for Him and no equal. We mentioned that few people among all of humanity neglect this type of tawhid, even the Arabs in the pre-Islamic age of ignorance did not neglect it; they believed that Allah is the Creator of the heavens and the earth alone, with no equal for Him in that and no partner. Regarding tawhid al-uluhiyyah and tawhid al-'ibadah, we mentioned that the intended meaning is that this Allah who created the heavens and the earth and created humans and jinn is the only one who deserves worship. So, whoever worships other than Allah in any type of worship, as we explained somewhat in the previous lesson, whoever worships other than Allah in any type of worship has fallen into major shirk, but in the shirk of divinity and worship.
And we said regarding shirk in attributes: that you attribute to a servant of Allah an attribute by which Allah (Mighty and Majestic) is uniquely distinguished, such as the attribute of knowledge of the unseen. The unseen, as we all know, is known only by Allah. Many verses have come regarding this, as well as hadiths, and we mentioned what Allah made easy for us in the previous lesson. Now, I want to draw your attention to another division of shirk so that you do not fall into any of it. Even though this type of shirk, which some people may fall into, is lighter than shirk of any of the three types mentioned above. The verified scholars among the scholars of tawhid divided shirk into another division, saying that shirk is divided into two sections: shirk 'aqtadi (doctrinal shirk) or qalbi (heart shirk), and shirk lafzi (verbal shirk). The first type, doctrinal shirk, is what is covered by this hadith and by the many verses, the most important of which is His saying (Blessed and Exalted is He) This shirk which Allah never forgives is doctrinal shirk or heart shirk, meaning the shirk that settled in the heart of a person and he believed in it after the proof was established against him. We must note this condition. The disbelief which Allah does not forgive is that which settles in the heart of its owner after the proof is established against him, so he denies this proof and rejects it, and he goes astray in defiance and clinging to his disbelief, as was the case with the polytheists in the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), such as Abu Jahl and his like. These people became clear to them the reality of the Islamic call, and that what the Messenger (peace be upon him) called to—first, tawhid, and second, his claim of prophethood being true—all these truths became clear to them, yet they denied them. And as Allah the Exalted said, This disbelief, if it settles in the heart after the proof is established against it, is what Allah never forgives.