Shirk (Islam)

Shirk (شِرْك) in Islam is a sin often roughly translated as 'idolatry' or 'polytheism', but more accurately meaning 'association [with God]'. It refers to accepting other divinities or powers alongside God as associates. In contrast, Islam teaches that God does not share divine attributes with anyone, as it is disallowed according to the Islamic doctrine of tawhid. The Quran, the central religious text of Islam, states in 4:48 that God will not forgive shirk if one dies without repenting of it.

The one who commits shirk is called a mushrik. The opposite of shirk is tawhid and the opposite of mushrik is muwahhid.

Etymology
The word shirk comes from the Arabic root sh-r-k (ش ر ك), with the general meaning of 'to share'. In the context of the Quran, the particular sense of 'sharing as an equal partner' is usually understood, so that polytheism means 'attributing a partner to God'. In the Quran, shirk and the related word mushrikūn (مشركون)—those who commit shirk and plot against Islam—often refer to the enemies of Islam (as in al-Tawbah verses 9:1–15).

Quran
According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the Quran states twice in An-Nisa verses 48 and 116 that God can forgive all sins save one: shirk.

"Indeed, Allah does not forgive associating others with Him ˹in worship˺, but forgives anything else of whoever He wills. And whoever associates others with Allah has indeed committed a grave sin."

Islamic commentators on the Quran have emphasized that a number of pre-Islamic Arabian deities and jinn, most notably the three goddesses Manat, al-Lat and al-Uzza mentioned in al-Najm, were considered associates of God.

Entities worshipped besides God are called shurakāʾ (شُرَكَاء). After Judgement Day, they will be cast into Hell along with devils and evil jinn, to whom the polytheists are said to sacrifice in order to gain protection.

Charles Adams writes that the Quran reproaches the People of the Book with kufr for rejecting Muhammad's message when they should have been the first to accept it as possessors of earlier revelations, and he singles out Christians for disregarding the evidence of God's unity. The Quranic verse Al-Ma'idah 5:73  ("Certainly they disbelieve [kafara] who say: God is the third of three"), among other verses, has been traditionally understood in Islam as rejection of the Christian Trinity doctrine, but modern scholarship has suggested alternative interpretations. Other Quranic verses strongly deny the divinity of Jesus Christ, the son of Mary, and reproach the people who treat Jesus as equal with God as disbelievers, who will be doomed to eternal punishment in Hell. The Quran also does not recognise the attribute of Jesus as the Son of God or God himself but respects Jesus as a prophet and messenger of God, who was sent to children of Israel. Some Muslim thinkers such as Mohamed Talbi have viewed the most extreme Qur'anic presentations of the dogmas of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus (Al-Ma'idah 5:19, 5:75-76, 5:119) as non-Christian formulas, which were rejected by the Church.

Cyril Glasse criticises the use of kafirun (pl. of kafir) to describe Christians as a "loose usage". According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, traditional Islamic jurisprudence has ahl al-kitab being "usually regarded more leniently than other kuffar [pl. of kafir]," and "in theory," a Muslim commits a punishable offense if he says to a Jew or a Christian, "Thou unbeliever."

Historically, People of the Book permanently residing under Islamic rule were entitled to a special status known as dhimmi, and those who were visiting Muslim lands received a different status known as musta'min. In the Quran Jews and Christians, although accused of believing shared divinity by asserting lineage between God and Ezra or Jesus respectively, are not described as mushrik. The term is reserved for pre-Islamic beliefs who associated partners with God. Nonetheless, medieval Muslim philosophers identified belief in the Trinity with shirk ("associationism"), by limiting the infinity of God by associating his divinity with physical existence.

Theological interpretation
In a theological context, one commits shirk by associating some lesser being with God (Allah). The sin is committed if one imagines that there is another power associated with Allah as a partner. It is stated in the Quran: "Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him, but He forgives anything else, to whom He pleases, to set up partners with Allah is to devise a sin most heinous indeed" (Quran An-Nisa 4:48).

The term is often translated as polytheism, however more complex than the English translation. The term also implies that humans need to renounce claiming divine status for themselves by regarding themselves as better than others. Besides worshipping only one God, it also postulates that God must be considered as entirely unique and condemns anthropomorphization. Shirk further implies that God's attributes cannot be associated with any other entity or that any other entity can exist independent from God.

Forms of shirk
Shirk is classified into two categories:
 * Shirk al-akbar (شِرْك ٱلْأَكْبَر; lit. 'greater shirk'): open and apparent
 * Shirk al-asghar or al-shirk al-khafi (شِرْك ٱلْأَصْغَر; lit. 'lesser shirk'): concealed or hidden. It is when people perform the necessary rituals but not for God but for the sake of others, including social recognition. Hidden shirk might be unwitting, yet punishable, although to a lesser extent than greater forms of shirk.

Shirk al-akbar
Shirk al-akbar is defined as open association and has been described in two forms:
 * To associate anything with God
 * To associate anything with God's attributes

Shirk al-asghar
Shirke al-asghar may be committed by one who professes tawhid, but for the sake of others.

"One who offers the ritual prayers in an ostentatious way is a polytheist. One who keeps the fast, or gives alms, or performs the hajj to show the public his righteousness or to earn good name is a polytheist."

- Sayyed Qasim Mujtaba Moosavi Kamoonpuri

Mahmud ibn Lubayd reported, "Allah's messenger said: "The thing I fear for you the most is ash-Shirk al-Asghar."

The companions asked, "O messenger of Allah, what is that?"

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.""

Mahmud 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.""

Umar ibn al-Khattab narrated that the Messenger of Allah said: "Whoever swears by other than Allah has committed an act of kufr or shirk." (graded hasan by Al-Tirmidhi and saheeh by Al-Hakim)

According to Ibn Mas’ood, one of Muhammad's companions said: "That I should swear by Allah upon a lie is more preferable to me than that I should swear by another upon the truth."

Sufism
According to Sufi teachings, to avoid "hidden shirk" (al-shirk al-khafi), it is necessary to focus solely on God and give up one's own will.

Some Sufi scholars even go so far as to describe a belief in free will as a form of shirk. According to such an uncompromising view, beliefs usually accommodated within Islamic monotheism, such as that in a personal devil (rather than the unregenerate self deficient in God) as the source of evil, or a belief in the concept of free will, are regarded as beliefs in creative powers other than (i.e. standing beside/external to) God, and are thus equated with shirk.

Abdullah Ansari describes the highest stage of tawhid a human can possess, when the mind becomes fully immersed in the presence of God and understand how all things are put into their proper places.

Wahhabism
Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of the Wahhabi movement, classified shirk into three main categories. However, ibn Taymiyya is considered to have been the spiritual founder of this distinction.


 * tawhid al-rububiyyah (Lordship): the verbal profession that God (Allah) is the sole creator and ruler over the world.
 * tawhid al-Asma wa's-Sifat (names and attributes): accepting the attributes of God as written in the Quran without interpretation.
 * tawhid al-ibada (servitude): the commitment of religious or spiritual duties to God without intermediaries.

For abd al-Wahhab, tawhid al-ibada was the decisive factor to determine the identity of a Muslim and also the execution of tawhid al-rububiyyah. Muslims who violated his interpretation of tawhid al-ibada were considered to be "associators" (mushrikūn) and "unbelievers" (kāfirūn).