You are on page 1of 1

Habib Ahmad Mashur Al-Haddad on Shirk

Idolatry [shirk], like disbelief [kufr], is a covering up of the obvious truth. There is major idolatry, which expels a man from his faith, and minor idolatry (instances of which include ostentation and some sins), which does not. It is therefore appropriate to quote what one of correct doctrine says about idolatry. Its kinds may God protect us! are six: 1. Autonomous idolatry [shirk istiqlal]. This is to affirm the existence of two autonomous dieties, as is the case with the Zoroastrians. 2. Separative idolatry [shirk tab'id]. An instance of this is the Christians who say that God is one of three, the other two being Jesus and his mother. 3. Approximative idolatry [shirk taqrib]. This is to worship other than God with the purpose of drawing nearer to Him through them. Such was the belief of the early Arabs who worshipped stones, saying, We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to God (QURAN, 39;3) 4. Imitative idolatry [shirk taqlid]. This involves worshiping other than God in imitation of others. This also was the form of idolatry present in the pre-islamic era of ignorance. They say, We found our fathers following a religion, and by their footsteps shall we be led (QURAN, 43;22) 5. Idolatry of secondary causes [shirk al-asbab]. An instance of this is the idolatry of the philosophers and those who believe in nature, and those who follow them. 6. Idolatry of intention [shikr al-aghrad]. This is to carry our acts for other than God. The unanimous ruling regarding the first four is that they are forms of disbelief. The sixth is a sin but does not constitute disbelief. As for the fifth, a distinction has to be made between, first, those who say that secondary causes [in themselves] produce effects by virtue of their intrinsic properties [as, for example, fire leading to burning, water to irrigating, and food to satiety]: such people are disbelievers; second, those who believe that they are effective through a power that God the Exalted has put in them: they are guilty of innovation [bid'a]. [Ref: Key to the GARDEN]

You might also like