Prohibition of Shirk in Worship (2/4)
Shah Ismail Shaheed
The holy sanctuaries must be respected:
Allah has specified some places symbolizing His honor and dignity like, Ka'bah, Arafat, Muzdalifah, Mina, As-Safa, Al-Marwah, Station of Abraham, the Sanctified Mosque, the whole of Makkah and the entire Haram. People have been inspired and blessed with an ardent desire to visit these places so that they may flock here from all the nooks and corners of the world, whether mounted on the backs of animals, or traveling on foot, they all come from afar to witness the House of Allah, bearing the hardships of journey, wearing specified unsewn clothes, reaching there in a peculiar guise and assuming a typical physiognomy, offering sacrifices in the Name of Allah, completing their vows, circumambulating the House of Allah and fulfilling their innermost aspirations towards expressing their gratitude to their Lord upon reaching there, kissing its doorsteps and making supplications to Allah by holding on to the fringes of the Ka'bah covering and thereby bursting into tears, sitting there in I'tikaf observing the remembrance of Allah day and night, and someone being blessed with a perfect happiness out of merely standing there with respect.[1] However, all the above things are observed to pay one's homage and tributes to Allah and to express one's honor and gratitude towards Him. Allah the Almighty becomes pleased with these activities and rewards His slaves in both this world and the Hereafter. Therefore, carrying out these activities to propitiate any other entity other than Allah is forbidden and regarded as an act of Shirk. Traveling to distant places and bearing the rigors of travel merely to visit a grave or a sanctum of a saint in tattered and dirty clothes, offering animal sacrifices upon reaching there, completing one's vows there, circumambulating someone's house or a grave, respecting the forest around it, abstaining from hunting there, not cutting trees there, not pulling out the grass and straws from there, carrying out the other similar activities and looking forward to the goodness in this world and the Hereafter (out of performing these activities) are all acts of Shirk which one must avoid. This is because we should only hold those places in high esteem, which Shari 'ah itself has commanded us to honor as dignified ones. And showing a similar respect in relation to the places other than the specified ones according to one's own whims and inducting such novelties into religion by applying one's own domineering assumptions, are all acts of Bid'ah (innovation). Compliance and obedience should be observed in regard to Allah only and not the things created by Him.
Anything dedicated to an entity other than Allah is forbidden:
Allah the Almighty says:
"Say (O Muhammad (Peace be upon Him)): 'I find not in that which has been inspired to me anything forbidden to be eaten by one who wishes to eat it, unless it be Maytatah (a dead animal) or blood poured forth (by slaughtering or the like), or the flesh of swine (pork, etc.) for that surely is impure, or impious (unlawful) meat (of an animal) which is slaughtered as a sacrifice for other than Allah (or has been slaughtered for idols etc., or on which Allah's Name has not been mentioned while slaughtering). But whosoever is forced by necessity without willful disobedience, nor transgressing due limits, (for him) certainly, your Lord is Oft-forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surah Al-An’am, 6: l45)
It means that just as the flesh of swine, blood and the dead animals have been declared as forbidden ones, a slaughtered animal which has been dedicated to an entity other than Allah is also forbidden. Thus it becomes clear to us that an animal devoted and dedicated to anything created (i.e. by Allah) is forbidden and impure. For instance, an animal becomes forbidden if the same is declared as belonging to a certain person by saying "This cow belongs to Saiyid Ahmad Kabeer or this goat belongs to Sheikh Saddoo etc. etc.”[2] This verse does not specify that the animal shall become forbidden only if the name of an entity other than Allah is invoked while it is being slaughtered, but the verse states that the same turns forbidden merely by the act of dedication. Any animal, whether a hen or a goat, a camel or a cow, in case dedicated to any of the creatures, be it a saint or a Prophet, a father or a grandfather, a preceptor or a fairy, is absolutely forbidden and impure, and the one who does this act is a Mushrik (polytheist).
Authority and command is only for Allah:
Allah the Almighty has stated the story of the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph) (Peace be upon Him) as to what he conveyed to his companions in the prison in the following words:
“O two companions of the prison! Are many different lords (gods) better or Allah, the One, the Irresistible? You do not worship besides Him but only names which you have named (forged), you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. The command (or the judgment) is for none but Allah. He has commanded that you worship none but Him (i.e. His Monotheism), that is the (true) straight religion, but most men know not.” (Surah Yusuf, 12:39, 40)
It is painful and disgusting for a slave to have several masters. How great it is to have a single and solitary Lord who is the strongest of all! Hence, there is only one Lord who fulfills all the needs of a human being and helps him in overcoming his difficulties. The false and fictitious lords stand nowhere before Him. Nay, these are absolutely baseless fallacies to suppose that a certain deity induces rain, growing grains belongs to some other deity, blessing with children falls under someone else's jurisdiction whereas giving health is someone else's responsibility. People themselves have assigned names to them by supposing that such and such deity is responsible about such and such actions and they themselves call upon them whenever they need them and thus this practice gradually grows into an established custom in the society in due course of time.
Giving someone false and fabricated names is an act of Shirk:
All best and good names belong to Allah only. Who else may be called by these names other than Allah Himself? None but He Alone has these names. In case someone has this kind of names, it has nothing to do with Allah's Will. The one who is responsible about all the actions is known as Allah and the one who is known as Muhammad or Ali has no power or authority to do anything at all. Allah has not commanded us to nurse these kinds of thoughts and what the creatures (i.e. people) command to do is not lawful and creditable. Allah Himself has forbidden us to maintain these kinds of views. Therefore, who else other than Allah is more creditable in these matters? The pure and true religion is that one should comply with the instructions of Allah and enunciate all the other commands contradicting them. But unfortunately, the majority of people have strayed from the Right Path and have accorded priority to the ways of their preceptors, Imam and saints rather than following the path prescribed by Allah.
So-called customs are acts of Shirk:
It thus becomes clear to us that denying all the so-called customs and forged concepts and a strict adherence to the laws of Allah is a thing, which Allah has determined and specified for His honor and dignity.[3] If someone treats a creature in a similar manner, he will be deemed as an absolute Mushrik (polytheist). The conveyance of Divine decrees and commandments to the human beings is only possible through the Messengers. If someone gives precedence to the saying of an Imam, Mujtahid, a Ghauth, a Qutub, a religious scholar, a preceptor, a saint, one's father or grandfather, a king, a minister, a priest or a pundit over the commandments of Islamic law or happens to prefer the ideas and methodologies devised by the preceptors and saints in an open defiance of Qur'an and Hadith, or nursing a persuasion in regard to the Prophets that Shari'ah merely consists of their own commands to the effect that they said whatever they wished to say and it became an obligation on their Ummah to abide by their dictates. All the above things and utterances confirm one's Shirk. One must firmly believe that Allah is the real ruler and has everything at His disposal and a Prophet is merely assigned to convey the Divine Commands to the people. Anything, which lies within the framework of Qur’an and Hadith, must be recognized and verified and the one, which is contrary to it, must be avoided.
(Continued)
[1] The statement of Shah Shaheed lends a credence to the view that the book Taqwiyat-ul-Iman was written after his return from Hajj because this kind of detailed description is only possible after one's return from Hajj. This is merely our opinion and Allah knows the best.
[2] An imaginary preceptor of women in whose name a goat is sacrificed.
[3] It means that anyone authenticating a command, custom or way of life devised by the mortals (creatures brought into existence by Allah), and thereby considering them as authoritative, commits a proven act of Shirk. If such a person does not seek Allah's forgiveness in earnest prior to his death, he will be doomed to bum in the Hell-fire till eternity