Tauhid and Shirk

Tauhid has three Aspects

 1. Oneness of the Lordship of Allah

 There is only One Lord for the entire universe that is Allah. He is the creator, the
Organizer, the Supreme Planner, the Sustainer, the Law Giver, the Designer, and
the Giver of the security etc. He is neither father nor son of anyone, Allah says, “
Say, He is Allah the One and Only, Allah the Eternal Absolute. He begets not nor is
He begotten ( Surah Ikhlas 112:3)
 2. Oneness in Worship of Allah
 Since Allah is the Creator; He is the only one worthy of worship. It is man’s duty to
worship none but Allah. Allah says, “ O you people! Worship your Guardian-lord who
created you and those who came before you that may have the chance to learn
righteousness.” ( Al Baqarah 2:21)
 None has the right to be worshiped but Allah. We must pray, invoke and ask Him for
help from the unseen.
 3. Oneness of the Names and Attributes of Allah:
 The belief includes:
1 We must not name or qualify Allah except with what He and His Messenger has
named or qualified him
2. None can be named or qualified with the attributes of Allah
“And there is none like unto Him.”( Al Ikhlas)
Shirk

 Shirk literally means partnership or sharing or associating but in terminology of

Islam it refers to assigning partners to Allah, or ascribing Divine attribute to
others beside Allah and believing that the source of power, harm, and blessings
comes from others beside Allah. It is opposite of Tauhid, it is biggest,
unforgivable sin, Allah says, “ Allah forgives not that partners should be set up
with him, but He forgives anything else to whom He pleases”. ( Al Nusa 4: 48
 Quran further instructs,
 “Do not take two gods for He is just One God”( 16:51, al Nahl)
 Shork is divided into three main categories:
1. Shirk in the existence of Allah: To associate partner in oneness of Allah, to
think that there is more than one creator, or declare that he is father or son to
anyone, Allah says, “ Neither He begets nor He is, begotten.” ( Ikhlas 112: 3)
Quran also belies the corrupted belief of pre- Islamic Arabs about angels being daughters of God,
“ And they( pagans) assign daughters for God, glory be to Him, and they desire sons for themselves” ( 16: 57, al Nahl)
2. Shirk in attributes: To ascribe any of the unique qualities and attributes of Allah to any other being. To claim or
believe that any other being possess the same knowledge, divine power, will or determination of Allah, or he can
create , or make some die or perish or give, or benefit or harm.
Pre- Islamic communities had assigned Divine attributes to several deities or forces of nature. They used to make
predictions by divination of arrows ( 5:90, al Maidah), and also believed that Jinns had the knowledge of the unseen.
The Prophet(PBUH) further elaborated the knowledge of the unseen by referring to its five aspects. They include
determination of the gender in the wombs of mother, predictions about the following day, time of rainfall, exact place
of one’s death and exact time of the Day of Judgement. The Verse of the Throne/ Ayat ul Kursi (2:255) sums up the
unique attributes of God as an antidote to shirk by saying,
“ God……the Ever Living, the Self Subsisting; no slumber can sauce Him nor sleep.”
3. Shirk in worship: To associate partners with Allah, Allah is the Creator, the Sustainer and the Provider, He is one
worthy of worship, Allah says, “ Your lord has decreed that you worship none but Him” ( Isra 17: 23). Praying, Invoking,
or asking for help from unseen, swearing, offering sacrifice, giving charity, slaughtering in the name of other than Allah
is shirk.
 Pagans of Arabia, like several other communities, used to worship idols made by
their own hands. They believed in One Supreme God but diluted this belief by
worshipping their idols whom they believed had powers to intercede God,
 “ What! Do they take for intercessors others besides God?.....Say, “ To God
belongs exclusively the righ to grant intercession” ( 39: 43- 44, al- Zumar)
 Worshipping heavenly bodies was also the hallmark of previous communities.They
worshipped the sun, the moon and the stars. The Quran forbids this by saying,
 “ Adore not the sun and the moon, but adore God Who created them” (41:37,
Fussilat)
 According to Islamic teachings God is the Creator, the Sustainer and the Provider,
He alone us worthy of worship, as He says,
 “ Your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him” (17:23, al- Isra)