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Erasing the Accusation of Shirk

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This does not suggest for a second, that Allah Almighty needs to depend on<br />

His creation for a means <strong>of</strong> approach ( I seek shelter in Allah!). Though it<br />

does inform us that sometimes it is His decision to use a means to approach<br />

us, we are not to question why Allah does this. As Muslims we humbly<br />

accept that Allah is <strong>the</strong> reason anything happens in this world. However<br />

<strong>the</strong>re are means which He, Azawajal, chooses to go through as mentioned<br />

above. Therefore it is permissible to attribute <strong>the</strong> act to <strong>the</strong> means Allah has<br />

chosen. For example, one may say ‘The medicine cured me,’ when a<br />

Muslims says this, he acknowledges from <strong>the</strong> heart that it is Allah that has<br />

cured him but by taking <strong>the</strong> medicine, he has been cured. A Muslim child<br />

may say out <strong>of</strong> respect or love to <strong>the</strong>ir parents that ‘you have given me life,’<br />

but <strong>the</strong> Muslim child knows that Allah is <strong>the</strong> giver <strong>of</strong> life. Some claim that<br />

attributing such healing properties to medicine, life that parents have given<br />

or even attributing <strong>the</strong> gaining <strong>of</strong> knowledge to <strong>the</strong> Prophets is poly<strong>the</strong>ism<br />

(shirk). However <strong>the</strong>se people obviously have not studied <strong>the</strong> Qur’an, as<br />

nowhere in <strong>the</strong> Qur’an does it state that attributing such acts to o<strong>the</strong>r than<br />

Allah is poly<strong>the</strong>ism.<br />

The poly<strong>the</strong>ists manner <strong>of</strong> asking help from <strong>the</strong>ir idols and <strong>the</strong> manner in<br />

which Muslims seek assistance from <strong>the</strong> pious is completely different.<br />

Seeking assistance from <strong>the</strong> Prophets and pious has not been called shirk<br />

anywhere in <strong>the</strong> Qur’an. The poly<strong>the</strong>ist say that <strong>the</strong>ir means (<strong>the</strong>ir idols) <strong>of</strong><br />

are <strong>the</strong> direct providers not Allah. As Allah Most Gracious informs us in <strong>the</strong><br />

Qur’an:<br />

028.078 He said (qarun): I have been given it only on account <strong>of</strong><br />

knowledge I possess. Knew he not that Allah had destroyed already <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

generations before him men who were mightier than him in strength and<br />

greater in respect <strong>of</strong> following ? The guilty are not questioned <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir sins.<br />

Qarun was an extremely wealthy man due to this ‘knowledge’. In <strong>the</strong> verse<br />

that I have just recited, Allah informs us <strong>of</strong> how Qarun wrongfully believed<br />

that his knowledge was what made him wealthy and Allah had no part to<br />

play in causing his success ( I seek shelter in Allah!). His knowledge was<br />

merely a means through which he became successful, though he attributed<br />

his success to his knowledge, even though Allah Azawajal granted him his<br />

wealth. This is poly<strong>the</strong>ism.<br />

Allah condemned <strong>the</strong> poly<strong>the</strong>ists <strong>of</strong> Makkah for <strong>the</strong> following reasons<br />

118

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