Table of Contents

Preface .................................................................................................................................................... 2
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3
The Act of Shirk ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Categorization of Shirk ........................................................................................................................... 5
Shirk In Rububiyah .............................................................................................................................. 5
1. Shirk by Association .................................................................................................................. 5
2. Shirk by Negation...6
Shirk In al-Asma Wa Sifat6
1. Shirk by Humanization.6

2. Shirk by deification.6

Shirk in al-Ibadah7

1. Shirk al-Akbar (Major Shirk).7

2. Shirk al-Asghar (Minor Shirk)..9

Riya '...9

Conclusion...11

Reference.12

Bibliography12

1
Preface

Praise be to Allah that He has enabled us to work for the article that has be assigned
from our honourable lecturer Dr. Shuhaimi Bin Ishak teaching us Islamic Worldview. This
article is presented in the hope that readers may be introduced to an act with consciousness or
not about this big sin.

Shirk has happen from the early prophet Nuh a.s in the hadis reported by Ibnu Abbas.
Tawhid is the concept Islamic Monotheism and the opposite is al-Shirk which is the act of
association with God as equal or partnership.

Shirk is explained in the Holy Quran with many mislead to guidance and big sin than
any other sin. Al-Shirk or Polytheism is categorized from the ulama1 has outlined.

Shirk is discussed also in contrast to other religions and to expose cases in student
campus. Shirk that stresses about social problems in campus.

2
Introduction

Three big questions that I believe humans have a great discourse for centuries or
thousand years more , first is Why am I here? Second is from where do I come from? Third
is to where do I come back? And Islam answers all these big questions.

Islam is a belief system with One God, tawhid, Islamic monotheism. Humans exist to
serve and fully submission to Allah S.W.T based on the Quran verse 56, surah ad-Dzariyat.
Vicegerent of Allah is to care of this world making it prosper and achieving pax-islamica.
Muslim scholars, Mawardi said :

Preserving the religion and managing the world with religion.

The Al-Quran like all other revealed scriptures of the past presents among other
things three important and inevitable themes for the guidance of mankind so that vicegerency
of Allah is accomplished; they are al-Tawhid(Islamic monotheism), al-Risalah (the
Prophethood), and al-Maad(the Life Hereafter).

Islam is the only solution other than Islam theres no other solution.

If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will itbe accepted
of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual
good).

(3:85)1

1
Al-Quran, surah Ali-Imran; ch. 3, p. 61

3
The Act of Shirk

In Sahih al-Bukhari, theres a riwayah from Ibn Abbas radiyallahu anhuma that tell us about
the origin act of Shirk among the people of Prophet Nuh alahyi al-salaam.

From Ibnu Abbas radhiyallahu anha, he said that All the idols which were
worshipped by the people of Noah were worshipped by theArabs later on. As for the
idol Wadd, it was worshipped by the tribe of Kalb at Daumat al-Jandal; Suwa was
the idol of (the tribe of) Murad and then by Ban,Ghutaif at Al- Jurf near Saba; Yauq
was the idol of Hamdan, and Nasr was the idol of Himyr, the branch of

Dhi al-Kala. The names(of the idols) formerly belonged to some pious men of the
people of Noah,and when they died Satan inspired their people to prepare and place
idols at the places where they used to sit, and to call those idols by their name. The
people did so, but the idols were not worshipped till those (who initiated them) had
died and the origin of the idols had become obscure, whereupon people began
worshipping them.

[Sahih al-Bukhari , hadith number 4920]2

This is the beginning of shirk according to the hadith from Ibn Abbas and it clearly stated that
eventhough the construction of the idols is built without any means to be worshipped and
only to commemorate the figure, but after generations the objective of it has been unkown
and to the extent it is have been worshipped.

The word Shirk being derived from the word sharika, literally means to share or participate,
which meansto be a companion or sharer. Shirk in shariah3 means polytheism or idolatry.
Since a man associates other creation with the Creator has been regarded as
polytheist(Mushrik). Its opposite is al-Tawhid, which means the rejection of all sorts of
associations with Allah.

The Quran confirms :

2
Sahih Al-Bukhari

3
Shariah means the Islamic definition code of law

4
Say (O Muhammad) : He is only one God. Truly! I am innocent of that which you
associate (with Him). (6:19)4

Al-Shirk (polytheism) has been defined by al-Quran as :

The Tremendous Sin :

Whose ascribes partners to Allah, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin. (4:48)4

The awareness of shirk surrounding us around the heart and physical actions that might and
accidentally lead to shirk. A study case example in 2006 where a society club
legalizing(halal5) the illegal(haram6) on an event such organizing a hard concert where
theres no restrictions and concern on the mixture of men and women, lyrics that praise more
than Allah, and bad culture such as dancing.

Legaliz ing(halal) the illegal(haram) is also shirk to Allah S.W.T.7

Three categorization of shirk :8

1. Shirk in Rububiyyah
2. Shirk in al-Asma wa Sifat
3. Shirk in al-Ibadah

Shirk in Rububiyah

This category of shirk refers to either the belief that others share Allahs Lordship over
creations as His equals or near equal, or to the belief that there exists no Lord over creation at
all.

A. Shirk by association
Beliefs 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.

4
Al-Quran; Surah Al-Anaam; ch. 7; p. 130
5
Halal means lawful things in Islamic Shariah
6
Haram means forbidden things in Islamic Shariah
7
Halal dan Haram dalam Islam from Dr.Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi, translated by Dr. Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri; p. 22
8
Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, The Fundamentals of Tawheed, ch.2, p.42

5
 However seeing this situation to students is totally avoided in campus and making it
our campus nowadays is still preserved. The least cases happen is student seeking
help of bomoh or summoners to do favours and request as it obviously showing that
his or her creed is more than help of Allah The Allmighty.

B. Shirk by negation
This sub-category represents the various philosophies and ideologies which deny the
existence of God either explicitly or implicitly.

Shirk in al-Asma Wa Sifat

Shirk in this category includes both the common pagan practice of giving Allah the attributes
of His creation as well as the act of giving created beings Allahs names and attributes.

A. Shirk by humanization
Allah is given the form and qualities of human beings and animals.
The equality of the Creator and the creations and this obviously wrong with our logic
mind. Why should it be god ? when the creations has the same attributes and power as
God. Allah is the supreme Creator, He is One.

B. Shirk by Deification

This form of shirk in al-Asma was-Sifat relates to cases where created beings or things are
given, or claim, Allahs names or His attributes and it denial the Tawhid al-Asma was-Sifat.
For example, it was the practice of the ancient Arabs to worship idols whose names were: al-
Laat, taken from Allahs name al- Ilaah; al- Uzza, taken from al- Azez; and al- Manaat taken
from al- Mannaan. In his book, Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips9 mentions that during
Muhammad's time, there was a false prophet named Yamamah who called himself 'Rahman',
a name which only belongs to Allah and can only be used by people if 'Abdul' is prefixed to
it.

Among the Shiite sects is the Nusayriyah of Syria, who believe that the Prophet
Muhammads cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abi Talib, was a manifestation of Allah and
give him many of Allahs qualities. Among them too is the Ismaiilis, also known as Agha

9
Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips is a Jamaican Canadian muslim scholar who converted to islam in the early
seventies after journeying politically and intellectually from Christianity to communism.

6
Khanees, who consider their leader, the Agha Khan, to be God incarnate. Also include in this
category are the Druze of Lebanon who believe that the Fatimid Caliph al-Hakim bi
Amrillah, was the last manifestation of Allah 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-Asma was-Sifat. Modern-day spiritualists and mediums, such as Shirley
Maclaine and J.Z. Knight, often claim divinity for themselves as well as mankind in general.
Einsteins theory of relativity (E= mc), which it means energy is equal to mass times the
square of the speed of light. The theory taught in all schools, is in fact an expression of shirk
in al-Asma was-Sifat. 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 Allah clearly states:

Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the Guardian and Disposer of all affairs

(Az-Zumar: 62)

Everything in (the world) will perish

(Al-Rahman: 26)

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 Allah who alone is without beginning or end.

Darwins theory of evolution is also an attempt to explain the evolution of life and its forms
from lifeless matter without the intervention of God, and that life forms are able to transform
themselves over time. The evolution theory has been refuted by scientists ever since it first
surfaced.

Shirk in Uluhiyyah or in Ibadah

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-Ibadah has two main aspects.

a) Ash-Shirk al-Akhbar (Major Shirk)

This form of shirk occurs when any act or worship is directed to other than Allah. It
represents the most obvious form of idolatry, which the prophets were specifically sent by
Allah to call the masses of mankind away from it. This concept is supported by Allahs
statement in the al-Quran:

Surely we have sent to every nation a messenger saying, worship Allah and avoid taghoot
(false gods)

(An- Nahl: 36)

7
Thaghoot actually means anything which is worshipped along with Allah or instead of Allah.
For example, love is a form of worship which, in perfection, should only be directed to Allah.
In Islam, the love of God is expressed by total obedience to Him. It is not the type of love
which man naturally feels toward creation such as towards parents, children, and food. To
direct that type of love towards God is to lower Him to the level His creation which is shirk
in al-Asma was-Sifat. Love that is worship is the total surrender of ones will to God.
Consequently, Allah told the Prophet to tell the believers:

Say: if you love Allah, follow me and Allah will love you

(Al-Imran: 31)

In an authentic hadith related in Bukhari and Muslim, the Prophet said:

None of you is a true believer until I become more beloved to him than his child, his
father and the whole of mankind

Love of the Prophet is not based on his humanity but on the divine origin of his message.
Thus, like the love of Allah, it is also expressed by total obedience to his commands. Allah
said in the final revelation:

Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah

(An-Nisa: 80)

And:

Say: Obey Allah and obey the Prophet

(Al-Imran: 32)

If man allows the love of anything or anyone to come between himself and Allah, then he has
worshipped that thing. In this way, money can become ones god or even ones desires could
become a god. Reported by Bukhari, the Prophet said:

The worshipper of the dirham will always be miserable

And Allah said in the Quran,

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

(Al-Furqan: 43)

Much emphasis has been placed on the evils of shirk in Ibadah (worship) because it
contradicts the very purpose of creation as expressed in Allahs statement:

I have not created Jinn or mankind except for My worship

(Ad-Dhariyat: 56)

8
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 is virtually cancels out all good a person may do
and guarantees it be eternal damnation in Hell. As a result, false religion is based primarily on
this form of shirk. All man-made system in one way or another invite their follower to the
worship of creation, for example, 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 honoured on
September 29, Christmas Day, as St. Michael, 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 or to mystics in the Sufi hierarchy of saints, believing that they can answer their
prayers, though Allah has clearly said in the Quran:

Say: Thinks to yourselves: if there came upon you Allahs punishment or the Final
Hour, would you then call on other than Allah? (Reply) if you are truthful.

(Al-Anam: 40)

b) Ash-Shirk al-Asghar (Minor shirk)

Mahmood ibn Lubayd reported, Allahs Messenger said:

The thing I fear for you the most is ash-Shirk al-Asghar (minor shirk). The Companions
asked, O Messenger of Allah, what is minor shirk? He replied, Ar-Riya(showing off), for
verily Allah 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.

Mahmood ibn Lubayd also said, the Prophet came out and announced,

O people, beware of secret shirk! the people asked, O Messenger of Allah, 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.

Ar-Riya
Riya is the practice 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 desires and enjoys 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 mans
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
knowledgeable 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 riya is
9
great because it is so hidden and it only involves the simple act of changing one intention.
The motivating forces behind it are very strong, since it comes from mans inner nature. Ibn
Abbas 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.

Thus, great care has to be taken to ensure that ones intentions begin pure and remain pure
whenever righteous deeds are being done. In order to ensure this, the saying of Allahs name
is enjoined in Islam before all acts of importance. A series of dua (informal prayers) have
also been prescribed by the Prophet 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 Allah. It is his awareness, called
Taqwa, which ultimately insures that intention remain pure.

The Prophet also provided protection against the inevitable acts of shirk by teaching certain
specific prayers which may be said anytime.

O Allah, we seek refuge in You from knowingly committing shirk with You, and we ask
Your forgiveness for what we do not know about.

10
Conclusion
As conclusion, from the report about shirk, we can know the type and the characteristic of
shirk. This will make we be more careful to do something which can cause shirk if we forget
about Islam and Allah. It also can make we think about the creation of Allah and the
greatness of Allah power that lead us to always obey and worship Allah.

As students, if they know more detailed about shirk, they will not commit shirk and make
their success in study because they have guided by Islam and get bless by Allah in their life.
So, they easily to get knowledge what their have learn in class because believe in Allah and
not worship other than Allah that will cause shirk to them. That why they need to know more
detail about shirk and make them be truth believer of Islam.

Next, in organization, they also need to know about shirk more detailed because they need to
work as team and make sure their organization stable and strong. If not, if one of them
commit shirk which is ash-Shirk al-Asghar (minor shirk) there will chaos in organization and
make it fall. How this happen, you know that if someone that you trust in the organization
make riya and you do not know about it, for a long time, it can affect the organization
because people like that only want to show off when do something and their will produces a
low quality of work that can cause organization collapse.

As we know many effect will cause if we commit shirk and make we far from Islam. That
why we need learn and know more detailed about shirk to make sure our life get bless by
Allah because Allah create mankind to make it worship Allah and do what Allah order and
avoid what Allah prohibited. So, the main sources of guidance, the Quran and the Sunnah,
we must read, learn, understand it and refer it if we confuse about something because Quran
have all knowledge that we want to know. This can make sure that we not deviation from the
correct aqeedah.

11
Reference
http://www.islamicboard.com/tawheed-and-shirk/134288281-categories-shirk.html
http://javeria.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/shirk-in-the-three-categories-of-tawheed/
http://gardensofenlightments.blogspot.com/2010/05/dua-against-riya.html
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, A. 2005. The Fundamentals of Tawheed. 2nd Edition.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: International Islamic Publishing House.
Muhammad Ibrahim H. I. Surty, 1990. The Quran and Shirk. 2nd Edition Revised.
London, United Kingdom: Ta-Ha PUBLISHERS Ltd.
Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi ; terjemahan Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, 2013. Yusuf Al-
Qaradhawi : Halal dan Haram dalam Islam. Cetakan Pertama. Nilai,
Negeri Sembilan : Pustaka Cahaya Kasturi Sdn. Bhd.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, A. 2007. The Holy Quran: Text and Translation. Kuala Lumpur:
Islamic Book Trust.

Bibliography
Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, A. 2005. The Fundamentals of Tawheed. 2nd Edition.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: International Islamic Publishing House.
Muhammad Ibrahim H. I. Surty, 1990. The Quran and Shirk. 2nd Edition Revised.
London, United Kingdom: Ta-Ha PUBLISHERS Ltd.
Yusuf Al-Qaradhawi ; terjemahan Zulkifli Mohamad Al-Bakri, 2013. Yusuf Al-
Qaradhawi : Halal dan Haram dalam Islam. Cetakan Pertama. Nilai,
Negeri Sembilan : Pustaka Cahaya Kasturi Sdn. Bhd.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, A. 2007. The Holy Quran: Text and Translation. Kuala Lumpur:
Islamic Book Trust.

12