How is prostration to other than Allah major shirk, when it was permissible in the law of those before us? And is it permissible for major shirk to be permissible in the laws of those before us?

The questioner : How is prostration to other than Allah major shirk, when it was permissible in the law of those before us? And is it permissible for major shirk to be permissible in the laws of those before us?

The Shaykh : Who says that prostration, absolutely, is major shirk? Do you adopt this opinion so that we can answer you?

The questioner : I do not adopt that, but...

The Shaykh : Then your question is incorrect.

The questioner : Is prostration not major shirk?

The Shaykh : Perhaps, perhaps.

The questioner : We want details, O Shaykh.

The Shaykh : That is the question. You all know the story of 'Ammar ibn Yasir and Bilal al-Habashi and the torture of the disbelievers of them, and what came in the books of tafsir regarding the saying of Allah the Exalted: What is the meaning of the verse when a Muslim utters the word of disbelief? And this occurred among the Salaf, not only under pressure and torture. As I would now like to remind you of what came in the tafsir of this verse, for example, regarding the habit of some of the Companions. He swore by al-Lat; he disbelieved in al-Lat when he believed in Allah and His Messenger, he disbelieved in al-Lat, but the habit of the pre-Islamic age of ignorance overcame him, so he swore by al-Lat. So the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered him to say: That is, his disbelief was verbal disbelief, it was not creedal disbelief. And therefore the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) limited it to him to believe, meaning to renew his faith verbally, to say: This is disbelief, and the one who swore by al-Lat did not disbelieve. He disbelieved, and he did not disbelieve. How did he disbelieve and not disbelieve? He disbelieved verbally, he did not disbelieve in creed. This is the one who prostrates to other than Allah: either he prostrates intending to exalt other than Allah with this prostration, and he is the one who associates partners with Allah and the disbeliever. Or he prostrates without intending worship, as came in the hadith of the one who offered the fly. You know this hadith; it is mentioned in *Kitab al-Tawhid* and its commentary *Fath al-Mujid*. This hadith, although it is in this book, is transmitted from some of the books of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), and he did not trace it to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), so it is not established from the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), and it does not align with the principles of Islam. That is because two men passed by a people who worshipped idols, and they asked them to offer, even a fly. One of them refused and was killed, and the other feared and offered a fly, so he is in the Fire. This does not align with the previous verse: This is 'Ammar ibn Yasir, as Ibn Kathir and others mentioned when interpreting this verse. And although there is some weakness in the chain that prevents us from being certain of its authenticity, as an interpretation of the verse it is very clear. They presented to 'Ammar and to Bilal that they should insult the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) so that they would be released from the torture. They said, "Say about him that he is a sorcerer, a poet, a liar." So he said that, and they released him. But generally, he did not pay attention to what he had done in uttering the word of disbelief. So, due to the strength of his faith, he was unable to do anything but go to his Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and mention what had happened to him. So he (peace and blessings be upon him) said to him: He said, "I find it at peace with faith." He said: If they return to torturing you because of your faith, then you return to the word of disbelief, as long as your heart is still filled with faith. So disbelief is of two types: creedal disbelief, and this is the major shirk that Allah the Mighty and Majestic does not forgive, by the well-known text of the Noble Qur'an. And practical disbelief, and we can say verbal disbelief. Practical disbelief and verbal disbelief, if it comes from a person who intends this word but does not intend it with his heart, then it is undoubtedly an error and misguidance that must be stopped, but we do not declare him a disbeliever until he expresses with his tongue what is in his heart of disbelief. Now, as long as you hear from many people swearing by other than Allah, even swearing by their father and mother, by wonders, by their honor and their conscience and their soul, if they have a conscience and a soul!
And the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) says: How do we interpret the word of disbelief regarding this one who swears by other than Allah the Exalted? We say it is disbelief, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said. But when we want to clarify, as they say today, we need to put the dots on the letters and say: Is it disbelief meaning he apostatized from his religion, or did he remain on his religion? We must be precise with him. We know by observation that these are ignorant people, perhaps due to the negligence of scholars in conveying the sacred knowledge to people, or the loss of these people of those scholars, so they do not find anyone to tell them: The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And therefore they are deluded in their ignorance. It is not permissible to declare these people disbelievers and exclude them from the circle of Islam, but it is upon us to teach them. So prostration may sometimes be creedal disbelief and sometimes practical disbelief. This practical disbelief, if it is due to ignorance, he is taught. And if it is due to persistence, then it means that he is a disbeliever with creedal disbelief. Its example is the one who abandons prayer, and this is a very important matter.
On the scale of the previous hadith: And in a narration: And they are one in legal meaning. On the scale of this hadith, his (peace and blessings be upon him) saying: Do we say that everyone who abandons prayer is a disbeliever, an apostate, and not one with practical disbelief? Or what can we say about every person who abandons prayer: is he a disbeliever with apostasy, or is he a disbeliever with non-apostasy, meaning practical disbelief? Rather, we determine one of the two possibilities by contacting this person in one way or another, from the ways that some books of fiqh mentioned when there is a ruler who rules by what Allah has revealed. You cannot find in his land a Muslim who abandons prayer. You find Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians who do not pray, meaning these are not Muslims. But to find a Muslim who abandons prayer under the rule of that ruler who rules by what Allah has revealed is impossible. Why? Because he is brought to the legal ruler. It is not necessary to the Caliph or the King; it is enough to his deputy, to the judge whom that ruler entrusted to judge between people with truth, justice, and the Shari'ah. So this judge asks him about his abandonment of prayer. If he repents, turns back, and prays, that is what is hoped for. And if he persists in abandoning prayer and prefers killing to returning to prayer, then he dies a disbeliever! And he is not buried in the graves of Muslims, and no prayer is performed over him, and he is not washed, and he is not shrouded. Why? Because here a very strong practical indication has arisen that this man's disbelief is creedal disbelief. There is no indication stronger than this except that he expresses with his tongue, as some misguided, perishing young men say in their ignorance: "My brother, the criterion is not prayer. The criterion is two things they claim: two things you do not approach: associating partners with Allah and harming people! And then do what you want." This is what they claim! We cannot imagine a practical indication of the disbelief of the one who abandons prayer, as creedal disbelief, greater than that he denies with his tongue the legitimacy of prayer. This is an apostate from the religion. Or that he refuses killing except to pray, so he persists in abandoning prayer and is killed. Then he dies a disbeliever. As for us seeing people among us and within us who do not pray for long years, they may repent to Allah and they may not repent. It is not for us to rule that they are disbelievers with apostasy except in one of those two cases. One of them is missing today. The first is missing: there is no ruler who comes and says to some people, "So-and-so abandons prayer, bring him, either you pray or we kill you!" This does not exist. But the second case is that we hear words denying and rejecting prayer, even rejecting the Shari'ah and Islam, as you know from some writings of some of the atheists. So, unfortunately, this is a lot. These are judged by what they say and declared disbelievers, and they are not married, and they are not given in marriage, and they are not dealt with as apostates from their religion. This is the answer to your first question.