Erasing the Accusation of Shirk

Foreword
UMM AMMAR
HAVING WITNESSED THE countless hours, days and months that Abu Ammar had
dedicated to this book, it was only natural that I was too happy to read through the first
draft and see what it was that had taken precedence over me as a loving wife! Having
had such an opportunity, I would like to congratulate my husband for engaging with this
topic in a thorough way and I applaud him for his unique style which makes it accessible for the
masses. May Allah reward him and increase him further. Amin. However, despite such praise, I
did note one considerable drawback: no where did I find an explicit description of the term shirk.
A simple and clear definition was essential considering that the entire book dealt with this issue.
So I queried Abu Ammar regarding this and he suggested that I research this subject myself and
write something for his book. And so, what you read before you is the outcome of that modest
research.
I began by first challenging myself to find a clear and simple definition for the term shirk
which I did by consulting the hadith collections and works such as Tarikh (history) and of course
the Tafsir (Interpretation of the Qur’an) volumes. While consulting the Qur’an, even though it
speaks to us about the evilness of shirk in many instances, there were no verses that offered an
explicit definition. It then dawned upon me that to fully understand what shirk is one must first
acknowledge the precise meaning of Tawhid (the oneness of Allah). Naturally then, anything that
opposes the meaning of Tawhid would then necessitate it being classified as shirk. Tawhid is thus
understood to fall within two basic categories: The first concerns the Essence of Allah, which
humans cannot comprehend, but as Muslims, we have faith that He (Allah) is alone with no
partners. The second category deals with what are known as the attributes of Allah, i.e., the names
of Allah which give us an idea of His supremacy. We can see in our own world that most of
creation always has an opposite. For example, we have the darkness of the Night and light of the
day; Male and Female; Hot or Cold; Sweet and Sour, good and bad (etc) and in the case of
Tawhid, its opposite is shirk. There is a principle in the Islamic sciences which notes that all
things are identified by their opposites, so to recognize an act of shirk one must be sure that there
is something competing with Tawhid, i.e., against either the Essence or attributes of Allah.
Currently, we are faced with a dire situation where a particular group of people are accusing
other Muslims of committing actions of shirk. However, what these people do not understand is
that shirk is only a reality when something is challenging the understanding of Allah’s Tawhid. In
the Qur’an we are told of the shirk that was committed by previous nations. We understand from
them that they committed shirk by establishing rivals to Allah in both the Essence and Attributes
of Allah. For example, the polytheists would set up partners besides Allah and make sacrifice for
them in their name. As Muslims, we fully understand that Allah is alone and that there is no other
deity besides Him. Any understanding which opposes this is shirk.
One can say that shirk is based upon three premises:
1) To unite any partners with the essence of Allah
2) To unite any partners with the attributes of Allah
3) To think that anyone other than Allah is entitled to being worshipped
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