Islamic Online University

Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies

Aqeedah 101 Assignment

Full Name: Banitsiotou Glykeria

Question: In 1000-1200 words, explain how

did Shirk begin and what were the

main causes?

Answer:

Bismillahir Rahmanir Raheem

What is Shirk?
The eternal punishment of Allah, in hellfire, is for major shirk or if the minor shirk was abundant." The minor shirk in small amounts will not be punished by Allah if the sincerity of worship vastly exceeds it." 1

The term major Shirk refers to the act of attributing partners to Allah and thus not worshipping Him Alone. This type of Shirk, or else named as polytheism, has found its way among mankind during the time of Prophet Noah. Descriptions of Prophet Muhammad, of his companions, as well as the Quran itself affirm that.

Ibn Abbas - radiallahu anhu - said: Between Nuh (Noah) and Adam were ten generations, all of them were upon Shariah (law) of the truth, then they differed. So Allah sent prophets as bringers of good news and as warners.2

Narrated Ibn Abbas: All the idols which were worshipped by the people of Noah were worshipped by the Arabs 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 names. The people did so, but the idols were not worshipped till those people (who initiated them) had died and the origin of the idols had become obscure, whereupon people began worshipping them.3

1 2

Ibn Taymiyah, Tayseer Al Aziz Al Hamid Related by Ibn Jareer at-Tabaree in his tafseer (4/275) and al-Haakim (2/546) who said: "It is authentic according to the criterion of al-Bukhari." Adh-Dhahabee also agreed. 3 Bukhari :: Book 6 :: Volume 60 :: Hadith 442

How did Shirk begin?

So, the first to commit Shirk were the people at the time of Prophet Noah. But how did this happen? Amongst them were pious people, whom after their death, they wanted to honor and have, for this reason, built idols as a remembrance. However, as time passed by, the initial reason that these idols were built was forgotten, and the worship of the idols succeeded the mere remembrance. In Sahih Bukhari the following narration is found, Ibn Abbas (radiallahuanhu) relates: Indeed these are five names of righteous men from the people of Nooh. When they died Shaytaan whispered to their people to make statues of them and to place these statues in their places of gathering as a reminder of them, so they did this. However, none from amongst them worshipped these statues, until when they died and the purpose of the statues was forgotten. Then (the next generation) began to worship them. 4 Even though, their intentions were initially good, after a lot of time passed by they ended up committing Shirk. This did not happen overnight but steadily, generation after generation. Therefore, once the door to innovation opens, changes may happen so slowly that one may not notice. The result however is withdrawing oneself from the right path. Known to us, is the reaction of the people of Prophet Noah, when he invited them to join him in the worship of the One and True God. They said to each other: Forsake not your gods! Forsake not Wadd and Suwa, nor Yaghooth, nor Yaooq and Nasr! (Quran Nuh:23)

4 Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (11/418) and Saheeh Muslim (18/52)

Commentary
It is being understood that people fell into shirk initially, due to their extravagance in loving and honoring pious men. This is why, concerning the exceeding of limitations of honoring, we read the following in the Quran: "O people of the scriptures, do not exceed the limits in your religion nor say of Allah aught but the truth; the messiah Jesus, son of Mary, was (no more than) an apostle of Allah and His word, which He bestowed on Mary and a spirit created by Him; so believe in Allah and His apostles. Say not: Three (trinity). Cease: (it is) better for you: For Allah is (the only) One God. Glory be to Him (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And sufficient is Allah as a Disposer of Affairs." (Quran An-Nisa:171). Same instructions concerning this issue were received from Prophet Muhammad SAW: "The messenger of Allah (Allah's grace and peace be upon him) said, 'Do not praise, laude, approbate, or eulogize me the way that the Christians did to Jesus, the son of Mary. I am only the slave of Allah', thus say, 'The slave of Allah and His messenger.'" (Authentic: Bukhari, Ahmad, Darimi, and others.) Exaggeration in loving and honoring the righteous people, followed by innovation, lead to Shirk. In our times, building shrines and making the tombs as places of worship relates to what the people of Noah did at their time.

Shirk in Makkah
Most Arabs maintained most basic beliefs of monotheism and various aspects of Abrahams religion. However, this changed when Amr Bin Luhai, known for his righteousness, went to a trip to Syria. He observed there worship of idols, and having the belief that Syria was the place of Messengers, he thought that the practice was righteous. Upon his return to Mecca, he brought with him an idol Hubal which he placed in the middle of Kabah. People began to worship it and this way paganism spread in Makkah as well as Hijaz. Later on, other idols were introduced as well. Amr Bin Luhai also claimed that the idols from the people of Noah, were buried in Jeddah. He dug them out and brought them also in Kabah.

Conclusion
Worshipping any other than Allah results in people going astray. Allah alone is the Creator and the only One deserving our worship. Shirk or polytheism, in any form, results in losing our highest target in life and reason for creation: I have only created Jinns and men, that they may serve Me. (Quran
Adh_Dhariyat:56)

And Allah knows best.

Bibliography BOOKS: DR. ABU AMEENAH BILAL PHILIPS (2005). THE FUNDAMENTALS OF TAWHEED (ISLAMIC MONOTHEISM). RIYADH SAUDI ARABIA: INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC PUBLISHING HOUSE . 206-211 COMPILED BY SHEIKH ABDUR-RAHMAN BEN HASAN AL-ASH SHEIKH, SHEIKH ABDUL AZIZ BEN BAZ (1997). FATHIL MAJEED (AN INTERPRETATION FOR THE BOOK OF UNIFICATION). BEIRUT: DAR EL FIKR. 252-263. AL IMAM IBN KATHIR, TRANSLATED BY MUHAMMAD MUSTAPHA GEME 'AH AL-AZHAR . STORIES OF THE PROPHETS. RIYADH - SAUDI ARABIA. 21-23 SAIFUR RAHMAN AL MUBARAKPURI . AR-RAHEEQ AL MAKHTUM (THE SEALED NECTAR) SHAIKH SALIH IBN FAWZAN IBN ABDULLAH AL-FAWZAN. FOUR FOUNDATIONS OF SHIRK. Q URAN EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS. WEBSITES: THE CHOSEN ONES (2010) HAZRAT NOOH http://tazkarat-ul-anbia.blogspot.com/2010/01/hazrat-noohalaihis-salaam.html ISLAMIC NETWORK, THE ORIGINS OF SHIRK http://www.islaam.net/main/display.php?id=1547&category=106 LEARNING ADVANCED ISSUES OF AQEEDAH, CHAPTER 1: DEVIATION IN HUMAN LIFE http://www.qsep.com/modules.php?name=aqtawhid&file=article&sid=3