All praise is due to Allah Alone and May Allah’s Peace, Mercy be upon Prophet Muhammad, His Family, His Companions and all those who followed their path,
This article is in response to those people, who try to defend their shirk by quoting few ahadith of Prophet peace be upon him. First i would like to quote Quran
“And most of them believe not in Allaah except while they associate others with Him”[Quran 12:106]
Imam al-Qurtubi mentioned many interpretations including
‘Ataa’ said وذلك أن الكفار يَنْسَون ربهم في الرّخاء، فإذا أصابهم البلاء أخلصوا في الدعاء
that the disbelievers forget their Lord during times of ease, but when they are afflicted by disaster, they supplicate Him sincerely…..
معناها أنهم يدعون الله ينجيهم من الهَلَكة، فإذا أنجاهم قال قائلهم: لولا فلان ما نجونا، ولولا الكلب لدخل علينا اللّص، ونحو هذا؛ فيجعلون نعمة الله منسوبة إلى فلان، ووقايته منسوبة إلى الكلب.
قلت: وقد يقع في هذا القول والذي قبله كثير من عوامّ المسلمين؛ ولا حول ولا قوّة إلا بالله العلي العظيم.
“It means that they ask of Allah to save them from destruction. When He does, some of them would say, “had it not been for so and so (other than Allah), we would have not survived, and had it not been for the dog, the thief would have been able to come in, etc.” Thus, they attribute the favor of Allah to individuals, and his protection to the dog. I (Qurtubi) say, falling into this and the previous statements many of the Muslim public. [Tafsir Qurtubi]
al Alusi al Hanafi Mufti of Baghdad commented:
ومن أولئك عبدة القبور الناذرون لها المعتقدون للنفع والضر ممن الله تعالى أعلم بحاله فيها وهم اليوم أكثر من الدود
Among them are the grave worshipers, and give nazr on them (graves) and they have the aqeeda that these (people in graves) can benefit and harm even though only Allah knows whats happening to them (the grave dwellers). Now a days these (grave worshipers) have become widespread even more than insects. [Ruh al Ma`ani under 12:106]
al-Buhuti says in Kashaf al-Qina:
الخالق هو المخلوق والمخلوق هو الخالق والعبد هو الرب والرب هو العبد ونحو ذلك من المعاني ) التي قام الإجماع على بطلانها يستتاب فإن تاب وإلا قتل
( وكذلك الذين يقولون إن الله تعالى بذاته في كل مكان ويجعلونه مختلطا بالمخلوقات يستتاب فإن تاب وإلا قتل ) وقد عمت البلوى بهذه الفرق وأفسدوا كثيرا من عقائد أهل التوحيد نسأل الله العفو والعافية
“Those who claim that the Creator is the created, and the created is the Creator, and that the servant is the Lord, and the Lord is the servant, and similar beliefs that consensus has declared as invalid, they are to be called to repentance. If they repent, that is accepted; otherwise, they are to be killed. Similarly, those who claim that Allah is physically present everywhere and mix Him with the creation, they are to be called to repentance. If they repent, that is accepted; otherwise, they are to be killed. This deviation has spread with these groups, corrupting many of the beliefs of the people of monotheism. We ask Allah for forgiveness and well-being.”
Comment: I quoted these two scholars so that people may know shirk entered into the Muslims centuries ago.
There are ahadeeth which states that Muslim Ummah will do shirk (refer to the article Asking Help From Dead is Shirk from Quran,Sunnah and Ijma). Let me come to the ahadeeth quoted by those who ask help from dead and say it is not shirk because shirk will never happen in the ummah.
First Hadith
أن حذيفة يعني ابن اليمان رضي الله عنه حدثه قال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلّم «إن مما أتخوف عليكم رجل قرأ القرآن حتى إذا رؤيت بهجته عليه وكان رداؤه الإسلام اعتراه إلى ما شاء الله انسلخ منه ونبذه وراء ظهره وسعى على جاره بالسيف ورماه بالشرك» قال قلت يانبي الله أيهما أولى بالشرك المرمي أو الرامي ؟ قال «بل الرامي»
Hudhaifa i.e. Ibn al Yaman (ra) said that the Prophet (saw) said: Verily, I fear about a man from you who will read the Qur’an so much that his face will become enlightened and he will come to personify Islam. This will continue until Allah desires. Then these things will be taken away from him when he will disregard them by putting them all behind his back and will attack his neighbor with the sword accusing him of Shirk. The Prophet was asked – which of the two will be deserving of such an accusation? – The attacker or the attacked? The Prophet replied – the attacker (the one accusing the other of Shirk) [Narrated by Ibn Hibban in his Sahih, Volume No. 1, Page No. 282,
a) Shaykh Siddique Raza responded
First Response: This narration is Khabar al-Wahid which according to the rule of opponents is not enough to make aqeedah and takhsees of Quran. By watching thier rule they should not quote this hadith……
Second response: This is clear in the hadith that the person will “accuse” him with shirk. And regarding accusing normally Muslims know that this is regarding accusing the other Muslim who is not doing shirk. And this is the ruling of Islam that if the person issues a fatwa of kafir on other Muslim or he sends lanah on other Muslim, But In reality the one (who is accused) is not doing shirk then the person who is issuing fatwa of kafir is himself a kafir.
Narrated abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle said, “If a man says to his brother, O kafir (disbeliever)!’ Then surely one of them is such (i.e., a Kifir). ” [Bukhari no: 6103]
This is narrated from Abdullah bin Omar that Prophet peace be upon him said: “If a Muslim man says to his Muslim brother a Kafir If he is really a Kafir then okay. Otherwise he (who issued the fatwa) himself is a Kafir” [Abu Dawud no: 4687]
Above hadith provided by opponents is talking about same person who is accusing his Muslim neighbor for the shirk. As it is clear from the words of “accusing”. In reality the neighbour is not doing the shirk, Thats why the accuser will be the mushrik, his wrong fatwa will come back to him.
Third response: Nothing is mentioned in this hadith that Shirk can not happen in the ummah of Prophet peace be upon him…..
Fourth Response: If we see this hadith closely then it is proven from this hadith that the person who has eman on Prophet peace be upon him and who is in ummah of Prophet peace be upon him can be a mushriq. Like if a person is saying you are mushriq and other is not mushriq then the issuer of fatwa will be himself a mushriq.(how can they say ummah will not indulge in shirk then?)
Fifth Response: both sides in fact all the people of Islam has the rule that A hadith is the commentary of other hadith (then he quoted ahadith where it is mentioned people of Ummah will do shirk) [Ummat aur shirk ka khatrah 115-116]
b) Sh Ayman bin Khaled (of Multaqa) said
The most I fear on you is a man who will recite the Quran until its brightness appears on him and he becomes a supporter to Islam (in another narrtion it says he envolope himself in Islam), he (i.e. the man) changes it (what he learnt or Islam) to what Allah permits and will. Upon that, the man become detached from it (i.e. Islam), and he throws it behind his back, and start to fight his neighbor (i.e sword is used here to show that its physical fighting with weapon), and he accuse him (his neighbor) with shirk”. I ( Hudhaifah) said: O prophet of Allah, who amongst them both deserve to be called a Mushrik? The accused or the accuser? He replied: “The accuser”.
Ibn Hibban placed this narrtion under the Book of knowledge, under the section of “The Prophet fearing on his Ummah the arguments of hypocrits”.
Ibn katheer, on the other hand, he mentioned this narrtaion in his Tafseer under the ayaa: “Recite on them the news of the man who we gave him our ayaat yet he detached himself from it”.
The above shows that scholars who mentioned this hadeeth understood it in term of those who were given knowledge yet they afterwards distorted and changed the knowledge for whichever reasons in order to suit their desires and whims. So, the fiqh of this hadeeth is
a. To condemn those who use religion to suit their desires and personal interest
b. To warn us from the possibility that the bless of guidence and knowledge can be taken away from us as no one safe except those who sincerely look for it.
c. To warn us against hypocrits who accuse Muslims with Shirk without a valid reason (this is a warning to laypeople who have the gut to declare others Mushrik or commiting Shirk without knowledge, therefore, such matters are left to scholars to decide and average Muslims can only decalre what is clear to be shirk and Kufr as other topics could carry details and information that are unknown to layepople)
d. A Muslim need to start his advice with words and kindness and never to begin denying first with killing, since the man in narration is hown to immediatly kill after detaching from the Islam.
e. Every Muslim need to worry about himself and ask Alalh to hold him fast to his Religion and to protect him from deviation as it can happen over a night and we are created weak after all.
Wallahu A’lam(end quote of Shaykh Ayam)
Second Hadith
Bukhari Volume 5, Book 59 [al maghazi – the battles], Number 374: Narrated Uqba bin Amir: Allah’s Apostle offered the funeral prayers of the martyrs of Uhud eight years after (their death), as if bidding farewell to the living and the dead, then he ascended the pulpit and said, “I am your predecessor before you, and I am a witness on you, and your promised place to meet me will be Al-Haud (i.e. the Tank) (on the Day of Resurrection), and I am (now) looking at it from this place of mine. I am not afraid that you will worship others besides Allah, but I am afraid that worldly life will tempt you and cause you to compete with each other for it.” That was the last look which I cast on Allah’s Apostle.
Response:
Ibn Hajar said in the chapter of “Signs of Prophethood”: hadeeth 3401
ووقع ما هو المشاهد المحسوس لكل أحد مما يشهد بمصداق خبره صلى الله عليه وسلم ، ووقع من ذلك في هذا الحديث إخباره بأنه فرطهم أي سابقهم وكان كذلك ، وأن أصحابه لا يشركون بعده فكان كذلك ، ووقع ما أنذر به من التنافس في الدنيا ، وتقدم في معنى ذلك حديث عمرو بن عوف مرفوعا ما الفقر أخشى عليكم ولكن أخشى عليكم أن تبسط الدنيا عليكم كما بسطت على من كان قبلكم وحديث أبي سعيد في معناه فوقع كما أخبر وفتحت عليهم الفتوح الكثيرة وصبت عليهم الدنيا صبا ، وسيأتي مزيد لذلك في كتاب الرقاق .
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“He informed in this Hadith that he will be their predecessor at the Hawd, and this will occur as such, and that his companions will not commit Shirk after him, and this occurred as such, and he warned about competing for this world and this occurred, and this meaning has been mentioned in the Hadith of Amr ibn Awf in a Marfu’ way: “I do not fear poverty for you, but I fear that this world will be presented for you as it was presented for those before you” and the Hadith of Abu Sa’id in the same meaning, and this occurred as well as they conquered many lands and the world spread for them in great quantity, and more will be mentioned about this in the chapters of heart softeners (Riqaq)”
He also mentioned (even if it is for whole Ummah) then:
( ما أخاف عليكم أن تشركوا ) أي على مجموعكم ، لأن ذلك قد وقع من البعض ، أعاذنا الله تعالى . وفي هذا الحديث معجزات للنبي صلى الله عليه وسلم ، ولذلك أورده المصنف في ” علامات النبوة ”
The words “I do not fear that you will associate others with Allah” mean: as a whole (they will not associate partners with Allah), because that (shirk) happened with some of them – may Allah protect us. This hadeeth is one of the miracles of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), hence the author narrated it under the heading of the signs of Prophethood.[Fath al-Baari, 3/211] Third Hadith
“The Shaytaan has despaired of ever being worshipped by the worshippers in the Arabian Peninsula.” In another hadeeth it says: “Night and day will not cease until al-Laat and al-‘Uzza are worshipped.”
Response (Islamqa Fatwa no: 42919)
Praise be to Allaah.
One of the things that are established by the scholars is that shirk will take place in the ummah as is indicated by the sound texts, and reality confirms this.
Many of the Arabs apostatized after the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and many of them went back to worshipping idols.
The mujaddid (renewer of the Faith) Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Wahhaab said: “Chapter: Reports that some of this ummah will worship idols”, then he mentioned some ahaadeeth which indicate that.
With regard to the hadeeth: “The Shaytaan has despaired of ever being worshipped…” the scholars have interpreted it in several ways:
1 – That the Shaytaan has despaired of ever getting all worshippers to unite on kufr.
This view was favoured by the great scholar Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali. Al-Darar al-Sunnah, 12/117.
2 – That this is a report of the despair that befell the Shaytaan when he saw the conquests and how the people entered the religion of Allaah in crowds. So the hadeeth is telling us what the Shaytaan thought and he expected to happen. Then what really happened was something other than that, for a reason decreed by Allaah.
This view was favoured by Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allaah have mercy on him). Al-Qawl al-Mufeed, 1/211.
3 – That the Shaytaan despaired of the believers whose faith is complete, because the Shaytaan has no hope that they will worship him.
This view was favoured by al-Aloosi. See Da’aawa al-Munaawi’een, 224.
4 – That the “al-” in the word “al-musalloon” (worshippers) refers to a specific group of worshippers, and that what is meant is the Sahaabah.
All of these interpretations are close in meaning, and the most likely is the second. And Allaah knows best.
See Ahaadeeth al-‘Aqeedah allati yuwahham Zaahiruha al-Ta’aarud fi’l-Saheehayn, 2/232-238 .(end quote)
See also:
a) Proof that Ummah will do Shirk https://systemoflife.com/articles/aqeedah/134-asking-from-dead-is-shirk-from-quransunnah-and-ijma
b) Shirk in Ummah http://www.umm-ul-qura.org/info/user_pages/page.asp?art_id=151
c) http://kyamuslimummahshirkkarsaktihai.blogspot.in/