What is the difference between shirk-based hope and permissible hope?
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The questioner : Shaykh, may Allah reward you. As we know, shirk has categories, and the treatment for the hidden type is for one to say: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You that I associate anything with You."
The Shaykh : To do what?
The questioner : That he supplicates: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You that I associate anything with You that I am aware of, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I am not aware of." But the major shirk, O Shaykh, is like hope and fear; sometimes a person gets confused and does not distinguish between shirk-based hope and hope that is, meaning, permissible or something. Can you elaborate on this topic? May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Shirk-based hope is hope in worship, meaning: that a person hopes with a hope that includes humility, submission, and reliance on the one hoped for, with total reliance, and that this one hoped for has the power in his hand to do what he wills. This is the shirk-based type. So, if a person hopes in a creation in this manner, it is major shirk.
As for a person's hope in what can be achieved from him without the heart attaching to him with attachment of humility and submission, there is no harm in it. For example, if you say to a person: "I hope you will help me," "I hope you will go to so-and-so and say such and such," "I hope you will do such and such," then there is no harm in this, and it is not shirk in any way. Because a person's hope in his Lord is not like his hope in others. A person's hope in Allah is hope of humility, submission, reliance, and faith that He is able to do what He wills. And if a person directs this to other than Allah, he is a mushrik, committing major shirk. Yes.
The Shaykh : To do what?
The questioner : That he supplicates: "O Allah, I seek refuge in You that I associate anything with You that I am aware of, and I seek Your forgiveness for what I am not aware of." But the major shirk, O Shaykh, is like hope and fear; sometimes a person gets confused and does not distinguish between shirk-based hope and hope that is, meaning, permissible or something. Can you elaborate on this topic? May Allah bless you.
The Shaykh : Shirk-based hope is hope in worship, meaning: that a person hopes with a hope that includes humility, submission, and reliance on the one hoped for, with total reliance, and that this one hoped for has the power in his hand to do what he wills. This is the shirk-based type. So, if a person hopes in a creation in this manner, it is major shirk.
As for a person's hope in what can be achieved from him without the heart attaching to him with attachment of humility and submission, there is no harm in it. For example, if you say to a person: "I hope you will help me," "I hope you will go to so-and-so and say such and such," "I hope you will do such and such," then there is no harm in this, and it is not shirk in any way. Because a person's hope in his Lord is not like his hope in others. A person's hope in Allah is hope of humility, submission, reliance, and faith that He is able to do what He wills. And if a person directs this to other than Allah, he is a mushrik, committing major shirk. Yes.