I read Islam Enlightened - first, what does shirk imply

[Guest guest]

shriadishakti , " Isha " <shanti442> wrote:

>

> I read Islam Enlightened:

> And yet, as a Sahaja Yogini with a SY Moslim husband; we still find

> we have issues when it comes to how to meditate together. He feels

> under the rules of the Hadiths and the Quran that some of

> the " practices " in SY are Shirk.

> He already started reading the website for SY practicing Moslims

(al-

> qiyamah)and he says he has more understanding and really liked the

> web site and will continue studying. But what are the rules of

> etiquette when it comes to wearing her pendant and prasad during

> pujas when she isn't physically present, calling out the different

> deities names, meditating with her picture and so on.

> I don't have a problem with it of course because I've been in SY

> since I was 4, but in any event, I don't know how to assure him he

> is not going against what was written by Allah by doing any of

these

> things.... or are we? I'm not well read on the Quran or the Bible

> for that matter. I just don't know what to tell him. I was too

> young when SY was being established to really know from Her WHY we

> do these things. I simply say for vibrations and respect and

that's

> usually good enough for anyone else. I'm trying to educate myself

> now more then ever because we have children that need to know these

> things too - not out of habit but for the REASON. Does anyone have

> any suggestions?

 

 

i think before answering it is better we SYs try to understand what

is regarded as " shirk " by Muslims:

 

 

THE CATEGORIES OF SHIRK

 

The study of Tawheed cannot be considered complete without a careful

analysis of its opposite, Shirk. Some mention of Shirk has already

been made in the Tawheed page and examples of it have been given to

illustrate how Tawheed may be obliterated. However, in this Page

Shirk will be looked at as a separate topic whose grave importance

Allaah has attested to in the Qur'aan,

 

" Surely Allaah will not forgive the association of partners (Shirk)

with Him, but He forgives (sins) less than that of whomever He

wishes. " 1

 

Because the sin of Shirk denies the very purpose of man's creation,

it is to God the gravest of sins; the unforgivable sin.

 

Shirk literally means partnership, sharing or associating,2 but

Islamically it refers to the act of assigning partners to Allaah in

whatever form it may take. The following analysis of Shirk is

according to the three broad categories developed in the study of

Tawheed. Hence, we will first look at the main ways in which Shirk

can occur in the area of Ruboobeeyah (Lordship), then Asmaa was-

Sifaat (Divine Names and Attributes) and finally in 'Ebaadah

(Worship).

 

 

Shirk in Ruboobeeyah

 

This category of Shirk refers to either the belief that others share

Allaah's Lordship over creation as His equal or near equal, or to the

belief that there exists no Lord over creation at all. Most religious

systems fall into the first aspect of Shirk in Ruboobeeyah while it

is the philosophers and their man-made philosophies who tend to fill

the second aspect.

 

 

(A) Shirk by Association

 

Beliefs which fall under this sub-category are ones in which a main

God or Supreme Being over creation is recognized, however His

dominion is shared by other lesser gods, spirits, mortals, heavenly

bodies or earthly objects. Such belief systems are commonly referred

to by theologians and philosophers as either monotheistic (having one

God) or polytheistic (having more than one God). According to Islaam,

all of these systems are polytheistic and many represent various

degrees in the degeneration of divinely revealed religious systems

all of which were originally based on Tawheed.

 

Within Hinduism, the Supreme Being Brahman is conceived as in

dwelling, all-pervading, unchangeable and eternal, the abstract

impersonal Absolute, in which all things have their origin and end.

While the god Brahma is the personified creator of the universe who

forms a trinity with the preserver god, Vishnu and the destroyer god,

Shiva.3 Thus, Shirk in Ruboobeeyah is expressed in Hinduism by the

delegation of God's creative, destructive and preservative powers to

other gods.

 

Christian belief states that the one God reveals himself in the three

persons of Father, Son (Jesus Christ) and Holy Spirit. These three

persons are nevertheless regarded as a unity, sharing

one 'substance'.4 Prophet Jesus is elevated to divinity, sits on the

right hand of God and judges the world. The Holy Spirit, who in the

Hebrew Bible is the means by which God exercises his creative power,

in Christian thought becomes a part of the God-head. Paul made the

Holy Spirit the alter ego of Christ, the guide and help of

Christians, first manifesting itself on the day of Penecost.5

Consequently, Shirk in Ruboobeeyah occurs in the Christian belief

that Jesus and the Holy Spirit are God's partners in all of His

dominion, in their belief that Jesus alone pronounces judgement on

the world and in their belief that Christians are helped and guided

by the Holy Spirit.

 

Zoroastrians (Parsis) conceive of God, Ahura Mazda, as being the

creator of all that is good, and is alone worthy of absolute worship.

Fire is one of the seven creations of Ahura Mazda and is considered

his son or representative. But they also commit Shirk in Ruboobeeyah

by conceiving of evil, violence and death as being the creation of

another god called Angra Mainyu whom they represent by the symbol

darkness.6 Hence, God's sovereignty over all creation (i.e. His

Ruboobeeyah) is shared with an evil spirit elevated to the level of

an opposing god due to man's desire to not attribute evil to God.

 

In the Yoruba religion, followed by over 10 million people in West

Africa (mainly Nigeria), there is one supreme God, Olorius (Lord of

Heaven) or Olodumare. Nevertheless, modern Yoruba religion is

characterized by a multitude of Orisha worship, so that Yoruba

religion appears as strict polytheism.7 Consequently, Yorubas commit

Shirk in Ruboobeeyah by turning over all of God's functions to minor

gods and spirits.

 

The Zulus of South Africa believe in one God, Unkulunkulu, meaning

the ancient, the first, the most revered one. The principal specific

titles for God are; Nkosi yaphezulu (Lord-of-the-Sky) and

uMvelingqanqi (the first to appear). Their Supreme Being is

represented as a male, who, along with the earth female, bring forth

the human world. Thunder and Lightening are in Zulu religion acts of

God, whereas sickness and other troubles in life may be caused by the

ancestors, the " Idlozi " or " abaphansi " (those under the earth). The

ancestors also protect the living, ask for food, are pleased with

ritual and sacrifice, punish neglect and take possession of fortune

tellers (inyanga).8 Thus, Shirk in Ruboobeeyah takes place in the

Zulu religion not only in their concept of the creation of the human

world but also their attribution of good and evil in human life to

the work of ancestral spirits.

 

Among some Muslim people, Shirk in Ruboobeeyah is manifested in their

belief that the souls of saints and other righteous humans can affect

the affairs of this world, even after their deaths. Their souls, it

is believed, can fulfill one's needs, remove calamities and aid

whoever calls on them. Therefore, grave worshippers assign to human

souls the divine ability to cause events in this life which in fact

only Allaah can cause.

 

Common among many Sufis (Muslim mystics) is the belief in " Rijaal al-

Ghayb " 9, chief of whom occupies the station called " Qutub " from which

the affairs of this world are governed.10

 

 

(B) Shirk by Negation

 

This sub-category represents the various philosophies and ideologies

which deny the existence of God either explicitly or implicitly. That

is, in some cases God's non-existence is stated (Atheism), while in

other cases His existence is claimed, but the way in which He is

conceived actually denies His existence (Pantheism).

 

There are a few ancient religious " systems " in which God does not

exist, foremost among them is the system attributed to Gautama

Buddha. Buddhism, a reformist movement in Hinduism opposed to the

caste system, was founded in the 6th century BC during the same

period as Jainism. During the 3rd century BC it became the state

religion. Eventually it was assimilated by Hinduism, Buddha himself

becoming one of the Avatars (incarnations of God). It disappeared

from India but became dominant in China and other Eastern nations.

Hinayana Buddhism (400-250 BC), the earlier and more strict of the

two interpretations of Buddhism which arose after Gautama Buddha's

death, makes it clear that there is no God; hence the burden of

salvation belongs to the individual alone.11 Thus, this ancient

strain of Buddhism could be classified as an example of Shirk in

Ruboobeeyah wherein God's existence is explicitly denied.

 

Similarly in the teachings of Jainism as systematized by Vardhamana,

there is no God, but liberated souls achieve something of this

status, having immortality and omniscience; and the religious

community treats the liberated ones as though they were divine,

building temples to them and venerating their images.12

 

Another ancient example is that of the Pharaoh of Prophet Moses'

time. Allaah mentioned in the Qur'aan that he negated the existence

of God and claimed to Moses and the people of Egypt that he, Pharaoh,

was the only true lord of all creation. Allaah quoted him as saying

to Moses, " If you chose a god besides me, I will surely imprison

you " 13 and to the people, " He proclaimed, 'I am your Lord, the Most

High' " 14

 

In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a number of European

philosophers asserted the non-existence of God in what became know as

the " death of God philosophy " . The German philosopher Philipp

Mainlander (1841-1876) in his principal writing, The Philosophy of

Redemption, 1876, states that the world begins with the death of God,

since God is a principle of unity shattered in the plurality of the

world and a principle of joy denied in the law of suffering which

dominates the worid.15 In Prussia Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900)

supported the idea of the " death of God " proposing that God was

nothing more than a projection of man's uneasy conscience and that

man was the bridge to the Superman.16 Jean Paul Sartre, a French

philosopher of the twentieth century also echoed the " death of God "

thought. He claimed that God could not exist because He was a

contradiction in terms. The idea of God, according to him, is a

projection which man must make being what he is.17

 

Darwin's (d. 1882) proposal that man was merely a glorified ape was

widely adopted in the theories of social scientists and philosophers

of the nineteenth century as it provided a " scientific " basis for the

non-existence of God. According to them religion evolved from animism

to monotheism along with man's supposed social evolution from an

independent individual to a national state and his physical evolution

from ape to man.

 

They attempt to escape the questions surrounding creation by claiming

that there was none and by attributing Allaah's attribute of being

without beginning and end to matter which He has created. Present day

holders of this belief are the followers of Karl Marx, communists and

scientific socialists, who claim that the origin of everything in

existence is matter in motion. They further claim that God is a

figment of man's imagination created by the ruling classes to justify

their hereditary rule and divert the attention of the oppressed

masses from the realities in which they live.

 

An example of this form of Shirk among some Muslims is that of many

Sufis like Ibn 'Arabee who claim that only Allaah exists (All is

Allaah, and Allaah is all). They deny the separate existence of

Allaah and thereby in fact deny His existence. This idea was also

expressed in the 17th century by the Dutch Jewish philosopher, Baruch

Spinoza, who claimed that God is the total of all parts of the

universe including man.

 

 

Shirk in al-Asmaa was-Sifaat

 

Shirk in this category includes both the common pagan practice of

giving Allaah the attributes of His creation as well as the act of

giving created beings Allaah's names and attributes.

 

 

(A) Shirk by Humanization

 

In this aspect of Shirk in al-Asmaa was-Sifaat, Allaah is given the

form and qualities of human beings and animals. Due to man's

superiority over animals, the human form is more commonly used by

idolaters to represent God in creation. Consequently, the image of

the Creator is often painted, moulded or carved in the shape of human

beings possessing the physical features of those who worship them.

For example, Hindus and Buddhists worship countless idols in the

likeness of Asian men and consider them manifestations of God in

creation. Modern day Christian belief that Prophet Jesus was God

incarnate; that the Creator became His creation, is another good

example of this type of Shirk. There have been many so-called great

Christian painters like Michaelangelo (d. 1565), who painted pictures

of God as a naked old European man with long flowing white hair and

beard on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. These

pictures have in turn, been held by the Christian world in the

highest of esteem.

 

 

(B) Shirk by Deification

 

This form of Shirk in al-Asmaa was-Sifaat relates to cases where

created beings or things are given or claim Allaah's names or His

attributes. For example, it was the practice of the ancient Arabs to

worship idols whose names were derived from the names of Allaah.

Their main three idols were: al-Laat taken from Allaah's name al-

Elaah, al-'Uzza taken from al-'Azeez and al-Manaat taken from al-

Mannaan. During the Prophet Muhammad's era there was also a false

prophet in a region of Arabia called Yamaamah, who took the name

Rahmaan which only belongs to Allaah.

 

Among the Shi'ite sects is the Nusayreeyah of Syria, who believe that

the Prophet Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, 'Alee ibn Abee Taalib,

was a manifestation of Allaah and give him many of Allaah's

qualities. Among them is also the Ismai'ils also know as Agha Khanis

who consider their leader, the Agha Khan, to be God incarnate. Also

included in this category are the Druze of Lebanon who believe that

the Faatimid Caliph al-Haakim bi Amrillaah, was the last

manifestation of Allaah among mankind.

 

Claims of Sufis (muslim mystics) like al-Hallaaj that they have

become one with God and as such exist as manifestations of the

Creator within His creation may also be included in this aspect of

Shirk in al-Asmaa was-sifaat. Modern-day spiritualists and mediums

like Shirley Maclaine, J.Z. Knight, etc., often claim divinity for

themselves as well as mankind in general. Einstein's Theory of

Relativity (E = mc2, Energy is equal to mass times the square of the

speed of light) taught in all schools is in fact an expression of

Shirk in al-Asmaa was-Sifaat. The theory states that energy can

neither be created nor destroyed; it merely transforms into matter

and vice versa. However, both matter and energy are created entities

and they both will be destroyed as Allaah clearly states:

 

" Allaah is the creator of all things... " 18

 

" Everything in (the world) will perish... " 19

 

The theory also implies that mass and energy are eternal having no

beginning or end since they are supposed to be uncreated and

transform into each other. However, this attribute belongs only to

Allaah who alone is without beginning or end.

 

[MSA-USC Editor's note: Understand that the author is pointing out a

flaw in an informal part of the theory of relativity, that is, that

matter and energy are eternal. The author is not arguing against the

mathematical relationship between these two, but rather against their

independence from Allaah's all-encompassing power - both creative and

destructive.]

 

Darwin's theory of evolution is also an attempt to explain the

evolution of life and its forms from lifeless matter without the

intervention of God. One of the leading Darwinists of this century,

Sir Aldous Huxley expressed this thought as follows:

 

" Darwinism removed the whole idea of God as the creator of organisms

from the sphere of national discussion. " 20

 

 

Shirk In al-'Ebaadah

 

In this category of Shirk, acts of worship are directed to other than

God and the reward for worship is sought from the creation instead of

the Creator. As in the case of the previous categories, Shirk in al-

'Ebaadah has two main aspects.

 

 

(A) Ash-Shirk al-Akbar (Major Shirk):

 

This form of Shirk occurs when any act of worship is directed to

other than Allaah. It represents the most obvious form of idolatry

which the prophets were specifically sent by Allaah to call the

masses of mankind away from. This concept is supported by Allaah's

statement in the Qur'aan:

 

" Surely we have sent to every nation a messenger saying, worship

Allaah and avoid Taaghoot (false gods) " 21

 

Taaghoot actually means anything which is worshipped along with

Allaah or instead of Allaah. For example, love is a form of worship

which, in its perfection, should only be directed to Allaah. In

Islaam, the love of God is expressed by total obedience to Him. It is

not the type of love which man naturally feels toward creation;

towards parents, children, food, etc. To direct that type of love

towards God is to lower Him to the level of His creation which is

Shirk in al-Asmaa was-Sifaat. Love which is worship is the total

surrender of one's will to God. Consequently, Allaah told the Prophet

(saws) to tell the believers:

 

" Say: If you love Allaah, follow me and Allaah will love you. " 22

 

The Prophet (saws) also told his companions, " None of you is a true

believer until I become more beloved to him than his child, his

father and the whole of mankind " .23 Love of the Prophet (saws) is not

based on his humanity but on the divine origin of his message. Thus,

like the love of Allaah, it is also expressed by total obedience to

his commands.

 

Allaah said in the final revelation:

 

" Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allaah, " 24

 

and

 

" Say: Obey Allaah and obey the Prophet... " 25

 

If man allows the love of anything or anyone to come between himself

and Allaah, then he has worshipped that thing. In this way, money can

become one's god or even one's desires could become a god. The

Prophet (saws) said, " The worshipper of the Dirham will always be

miserable " 26 and Allaah said in the Qur'aan

 

" Have you not seen the one who takes his desires as his god? " 27

 

Much emphasis has been placed on the evils of Shirk in 'Ebaadah

(worship) because it contradicts the very purpose of creation as

expressed in Allaah's statement:

 

" I have not created Jinn or mankind except for my worship. " 28

 

Major Shirk represents the greatest act of rebellion against the Lord

of the Universe, and is thus the ultimate sin. It is a sin so great

that it virtually cancels out all good a person may do and guarantees

its perpetrator eternal damnation in Hell. Consequently, false

religion is based primarily on this form of Shirk. All man-made

systems in one way or another invite their followers to the worship

of creation. Christians are called upon to pray to a man, a Prophet

of God named Jesus, whom they claim to have been God incarnate.

Catholics among Christians pray to Mary as the " mother of God " , to

the angels like Michael who is honored on May 8 and September 29,

Michaelmas Day, as St. Michael,29 as well as to human saints, whether

real or fictitious.

 

Muslims whose acts of worship fall into this category of Shirk are

those who pray to Prophet Muhammad (saws) or to mystics in the Sufi

hierarchy of saints believing that they can answer their prayers,

though Allaah has clearly said in the Qur'aan:

 

" Say: Think to yourselves, if Allaah's punishment came upon you or

the Final Hour, would you then call on other than Allaah? (Reply) if

you are truthful. " 30

 

 

(B) Ash-Shirk al-Asghar (Minor Shirk):

 

Mabmood ibn Lubayd reported, " Allaah's messenger (saws) said: " The

thing I fear for you the most is ash-Shirk al-Asghar (minor shirk). "

The companions asked " Oh! messenger of Allaah, what is minor Shirk? "

He replied " Ar-Riyaa (showing off), for verily Allaah will say on the

Day of Resurrection when people are receiving their rewards, 'Go to

those for whom you were showing off in the material world and see if

you can find any reward from them.' " 31

 

Mahmood ibn Lubayd also said, " The Prophet (saws) came out and

announced, 'O people, beware of secret Shirk!' The people asked, 'O

messenger of Allaah, what is secret Shirk?' He replied, 'When a man

gets up to pray and strives to beautify his prayer because people are

looking at him; that is secret Shirk.' " 32

 

 

Ar-Riyaa

 

Riyaa is the practise of performing any of the various forms of

worship in order to be seen and praised by people. This sin destroys

all the benefits that lie in righteous deeds and brings on the one

who commits it a serious punishment. It is particularly dangerous,

because it is natural for man to desire and enjoy the praise of his

fellow men. Doing religious acts to impress people or in order to be

praised by them is, therefore, an evil which deserves man's utmost

caution. This danger is really significant to the believers whose

goal is to make all of the acts of their lives religious acts

dedicated to God. In fact, the likelihood that knowledgable true

believers would commit ash-Shirk al-Akbar is small, since its

pitfalls are so obvious. But, for the true believer like everyone

else, the chance of committing Riyaa is great because it is so

hidden. It only involves the simple act of changing one's intention.

The motivating forces behind it are also very strong, since it comes

from man's inner nature. Ibn 'Abbaas alluded to this reality when he

said, " Shirk is more hidden than a black ant creeping on a black

stone in the middle of a moonless night. " 33

 

Thus, great care has to be taken to ensure that one's intentions

begin pure and remain pure whenever righteous deeds are being done.

In order to ensure this, the saying of Allaah's name is enjoined in

Islaam before all acts of importance. A series of Du'aas (informal

prayers) have also been prescribed by the Prophet (saws) before and

after all natural habits like eating, drinking, sleeping, sex, and

even going to the toilet, in order to turn these everyday habits into

acts of worship and develop in Muslims a keen awareness of Allaah. It

is this awareness, called Taqwaa, which ultimately insures that

intentions remain pure.

 

The Prophet (saws) also provided protection against the inevitable

acts of Shirk by teaching certain specific prayers which may be said

anytime. Abu Moosaa said, " One day Allaah's messenger delivered a

sermon saying 'O people, fear Shirk for it is more hidden than the

creeping of an ant.' Those whom Allaah wished asked, 'And how do we

avoid it when it is more hidden than the creeping of an ant, O

Messenger of Allaah?' He replied, 'Say: Allaahumma Innaa na'oodhu

bika an nushrika bika shay'an na'lamuh, wa nastaghfiruka limaa laa

na'lamuh (O Allaah, we seek refuge in you from knowingly committing

shirk with you and we ask your forgiveness for what we do not know

about).' " 34

 

In the following chapters a more detailed look will be taken of the

most prominent areas in which Shirk in all its three aspects most

commonly occurs.

 

http://www.allaahuakbar.net/shirk/categories_of_shirk.htm

 

Footnotes

1 Soorah an-Nisaa, 4:48.

 

2 The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, p.468.

 

3 W.L. Reese, Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, (New Jersey:

Humanities Press, 1980), pp.66-67 and 586-7. See also John Hinnells,

Dictionary of Religions (England: Penguin Books, 1984) pp.67-8.

 

4 Dictionary of Religions, p.337.

 

5 Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, p.231.

 

6 Dictionary of Religions, pp.361-2.

 

7 Dictionary of Religions, p.358.

 

8 Ibid., p. 363.

 

9 Literally, " men of the unseen world " . The world is supposed to

endure due to the intercessions of a hierarchy of " averting " Saints

whose number are fixed, the place of one who dies being immediately

filled. (Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, p.582).

 

10 Shorter Encyclopedia of Islam, pp.55.

 

11 Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, p.72.

 

12 Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, pp. 262-3.

 

13 Soorah ash-Shooraa, 26:29.

 

14 Soorah an-Naazi'aat, 79:24.

 

15 Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, p.327.

 

16 Ibid., p.391.

 

17 Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, pp.508-9.

 

18 Soorah az-Zumar, 39:62.

 

19 Soorah ar-Rahmaan, 55:26.

 

20 Quoted in Francis Hitching's, The Neck of the Giraffe, (New York:

Ticknor and Fields, 1982), p.254 from Tax and Callender, 1960,

vol.111, p.45.

 

21 Soorah an-Nahl, 16:36.

 

22 Soorah Aal'Imraan, 3:31.

 

23 Reported by Anas and collected by al-Bukhaaree (Sahih Bukhari

(English- Arabic), vol.1, p.20, no.13) and Muslim (Sahih Muslim

(English Trans.), vol.1, p.31, no.71).

 

24 Soorah an-Nisaa, 4:80.

 

25 Soorah Aal'Imraan, 3:32.

 

26 Reported by al-Bukhaaree (Sahih Bukhari, (English-Arabic), vol.8,

p.296, no.443).

 

27 Soorah al-Furqaan, 25:43.

 

28 Soorah adh-Dhaariyaat, 51:56.

 

29 William Halsey (ed.), Colliers Encyclopedia, (U.S.A: Crowell-

Collier Educational Foundation; 1970, vol.16, p.110.

 

30 Soorah al-An'aam, 6:40.

 

31 Reported by Ahmad. at-Tabaraanee and al-Bayhaqee in az-Zuhd. See

Tayseer al-'Azeez al-Hameed, p.118.

 

32 Collected by Ibn Khuzaymah.

 

33 Reported by Ibn Abee Haatim and quoted in Tayseer al-'Azeez al-

Hameed, p. 587

 

34 Collected by Ahmad and at-Tabaraanee.