A summary of what has preceded.

The Shaykh : The meaning of this lesson and the previous one is summarized as follows: shirk (associating partners with Allah) is divided in its reality into three categories, just as tawhid (the oneness of Allah) is divided into six categories. Whatever contradicts any of these categories is shirk: tawhid al-rububiyyah (oneness of lordship), tawhid al-uluhiyyah (oneness of worship), and tawhid al-asma' wa al-sifat (oneness of the names and attributes). A second division is the first one, which is the shirk of the heart and belief, and shirk or kufr (disbelief) in words. If it is shirk in belief, it is riddah (apostasy) from the religion. If it is shirk in words, it is haram (forbidden), and its matter does not reach the point where its doer is declared a disbeliever. So when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in this hadith that is before us, "The greatest of the major sins is to associate partners with Allah," which of the two types did he intend? The shirk of the heart or the shirk of the words? The shirk of the heart, because this is the greatest of the major sins; this is the first type of the major sins mentioned in this hadith.