Is swearing by other than Allah minor shirk or major shirk?

Question:
We return at the beginning of this episode to the message from our listener, Sayyid Ja'far from Sudan. Our brother raised a question for him in a previous episode, and in this episode he asks and says: I read in a noble book by the distinguished scholar Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Muhammad al-Sulman that swearing by other than Allah is minor shirk, but some imams said: it is major shirk, and whoever does it has left the religion? Please inform us, may Allah reward you.

Answer:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance. As for what follows:
Shirk is of two types: major and minor, by the consensus of the Muslims. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said regarding major shirk: [Al-An'am: 88], and He said: [Az-Zumar: 65], and He said: [An-Nisa: 48]. These verses and their like are regarding major shirk. Among it is supplicating to the dead, idols, trees, stones, stars, jinn, angels, and the like, and seeking aid from them, making vows for them, slaughtering for them, and the like. This is from major shirk.
Likewise, believing that these are worthy of worship, even if one does not supplicate to them. If one believes that these are called upon besides Allah and sought for aid, and that there is no harm in that, it is major shirk, even if he does not do it.
Likewise, believing that a living person among the tribes has the power to benefit and harm besides Allah, and that he is worthy of being worshipped besides Allah, even if he is alive, as some of the misguided Sufis do with their sheikhs. This and its like are from major shirk.
Likewise, what some people do with the jinn, calling upon them, making vows for them, or slaughtering for them out of fear of their evil. This is also from major shirk. Likewise, what some people do with the messengers, prophets, and angels, calling upon them, seeking aid from them, and making vows for them. This is from major shirk. Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Yunus: 106], meaning: the polytheists. And he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [Al-Jinn: 18]. He (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [Fatir: 13-14]. He called calling upon other than Allah shirk; He called it shirk. And He said: [Al-Mu'minun: 117]. He called those who call upon other than Allah disbelievers.
As for minor shirk, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) explained it in several hadiths. Among them is the hadith of Mahmud ibn Lubayd from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: . He was asked about it, and he said: . Allah says on the Day of Resurrection to the hypocrites: . This hadith is authentic, narrated by a group of scholars with authentic chains. It indicates that shirk has minor and major forms. Riya' (showing off) is of the type of minor shirk, such as reciting to show off, or praying some of the prayers to show off to people, or glorifying and saying Allahu Akbar to show off, or enjoining good and forbidding evil to show off. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: . And a group of scholars of tafsir said: The saying of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He): [Al-Kahf: 110] was revealed regarding those who show off.
This riya', if it occurs from a Muslim in some of his deeds, is minor shirk. Likewise, if a sick person visits or performs any act of worship by which one draws near to Allah, doing it for the sake of riya' or for fame, it is minor shirk. But if one is corrupt in belief, like the hypocrites who believe in lying to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and denying the guidance he brought, or doubting it, and then they pray with people and fast and show off to them with this, this is major shirk, and this is major riya'; because they are corrupt in belief. They only displayed what they displayed out of fear and riya'. So they are disbelievers with major disbelief due to the corruption of their belief; as Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He) said: [An-Nisa: 142-143]. They have doubt, suspicion, and hesitation, so they became disbelievers with major disbelief.
And He said regarding them in the Hereafter: [al-Nisa: 145] because of their major disbelief and their defective belief. And among minor shirk (associating partners with Allah) is swearing by other than Allah, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: It was narrated by Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad from the hadith of 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) with a sound chain. And Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi narrated from the hadith of Ibn 'Umar (may Allah be pleased with them both) that the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: This is a doubt from the narrator, (or) meaning "and," i.e., he fell into both shirk and disbelief. This is considered minor shirk by the scholars of knowledge; because the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) approved their swearing by other than Allah in the early days of Islam and did not forbid them from it, then he forbade them from it afterwards. If it had been major shirk, he would not have approved it; because Allah sent him to deny it from the moment he was sent in Makkah. So when he approved it for a period of time and then forbade it in al-Madinah afterwards, it indicates that it is minor shirk; for if it had been major, he would never have permitted it, but rather would have forbidden it from the very first moment.
Likewise, saying: "What Allah willed and so-and-so willed," or "If not for Allah and so-and-so." This is also from minor shirk; because of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): . And what came in the hadith of Qatilah in al-Nasa'i: "That the Jews used to say to the Muslims: You are polytheists—and in another wording: You are invoking—saying: What Allah willed and Muhammad willed, and saying: By the Ka'bah. So the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) ordered them, when they wanted to swear, to say: , and to say: . In another wording: that they should say: . In another wording, he said to them: Say: . All of this indicates that these matters are from minor shirk, and that perfection is to say "What Allah willed alone." If one says: "What Allah willed, then so-and-so willed," or "If not for Allah, then so-and-so," there is no harm in that.
And in the hadith of the leper, the bald man, and the blind man in the two Sahihs, the angel who came to them after Allah cured them of leprosy, baldness, and blindness came to them asking them, saying: . This indicates the permissibility of such an expression.
But if the one who swears by other than Allah believes that the one he swears by acts in the universe, or benefits and harms besides Allah, or that he has a greatness like the greatness of Allah, it becomes major shirk. So if a scholar said: it is major shirk, his meaning is if he magnifies him like the magnification of Allah, or believes in him that he is worthy of what Allah is worshipped with, or that he benefits and harms besides Allah, or the like of these false beliefs. If he swears by him with this belief, it becomes major shirk.
But if swearing by other than Allah passes on his tongue as a custom that his group, his people, and his country have followed, or if he followed it previously and became accustomed to it, and he did not intend that he is magnified like the greatness of Allah, or that he acts in the universe, or that he is worthy of being worshipped besides Allah, and he did not believe this belief, but swearing by other than Allah passed on his tongue as a custom of many people, this is from minor shirk. There are many people who have become accustomed to this affliction. It may be attributed to people of knowledge, but because the custom overcame them, they speak with it. You find him saying: "By the Prophet... and the trust... by the Prophet... by the trust," even though he is from the students of knowledge and the people of knowledge, but it overcame his tongue and he became accustomed to it, so he forgets when speaking and speaks with it. All of this is from what is wrong, all of it is an error, and all of it is from minor shirk. It is obligatory to point this out and warn against it, and not to be lenient in it.
So if one said: it is major shirk, he has a perspective as mentioned. And if one said: it is minor shirk, this is the original ruling that it is minor shirk, as Shaykh 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Sulman said. And if one said: it is major shirk, as the questioner mentioned from some scholars, the apparent—may Allah know best—is what we mentioned, meaning: whoever swears by other than Allah magnifying him like the magnification of Allah, or believing in him that he is worthy of worship, or benefits and harms, or the like of these false beliefs. And Allah knows best. Yes.

The presenter: Allah knows best, may Allah reward you with good.