Wrong
Actions

You know,

in the world of Islam there is an action which is considered

the worst of all possible actions,

and that is known as Shirk,

meaning to associate the nature of divinity

to anyone or anything other than God.

In Surah an-Nisa God says

that such an association of divinity to other than God

will not be forgiven,

even though any lesser sins may be forgiven

if God wills that to happen.

As is said later in the Surah,

whoever associates anything with God has gone astray into far error.

Shirk is the fundamental error

at the root of all sin or transgression.

It is the association of something with God,

some power other than God.

But God is the Absolute, and is Complete.

God is the Totality of all Reality,

so nothing can be added to God

and nothing taken away.

God is All-Possibility,

One and Indivisible.

To set anything alongside God as Reality

is the only sin that God cannot forgive

because denying God means refusing to recognise and accept

the possibility of God's forgiveness.

Now when we think of worshipping another god or gods

apart from God,

giving credit for what God creates to something or someone else,

it is easy to see obvious targets in other religions,

but it is always easy to look for reprehensible acts in other people,

whereas Gods Message is not for us to apply to other people,

but guidance for ourselves.

But surely as muslims we say

'there is no god but God',

so how can we possibly be worshipping anything else?

That is because as well as the obvious outer forms of shirk

there are much more subtle hidden forms of shirk

to be found within ourselves

that we may not always recognise.

Imam 'Abdallah Ibn 'Alawi Al-Haddad gives examples of some,

such as

believing that someone besides God

can independently bring them benefit

or preserve them from misfortune.

When something comes from someone else

it is easy to forget the true source of any benefit.

In the same category the Imam includes avidity for power

and love of superiority over others,

the love of being unrestrained and independent,

passion for social importance,

for eminence and praise in people's hearts and speech,

and he quotes the Messenger as saying that

'shirk is more hidden in my nation

than the footfalls of ants'.

Showing-off was called the smaller shirk by the Messenger.

In taking personal credit for things

it is easy to forget to Whom credit is really due,

so believers need to guard themselves against such hidden forms of shirk,

just as they wouldn't dream of worshipping

an idol of a more obvious kind.

But shirk in this sense

doesn't compromise the faith

on which salvation depends,

though it does compromise its perfection.

Of couse, when we deny the possibility of other gods

we are also challenging those who do believe in their existence.

What they consider real we see as illusions

arising from false conceptions and misplaced thinking,

for how is it possible that the reality of the One God

isn't clearly evident to those possessed of sight and hearing,

let alone those possessed of insight and the perceptions of the heart?

But we are told how to deal with other people

who worship what we do not.

The Qur'an guides us to deal with such a situation by saying

'to you your way of life and to me my Deen',

and throughout history muslims have always managed to show

the tolerance that is part of their deen

towards those of other faiths with whom they have co-existed,

As the muslim way of life spread around the world

muslims managed to take those parts of local culture

that seemed permissible within the deen

and absorb them,

so making it easier for others

to accept the essential aspects of Islam.

This meant that

new muslims could retain much of their familiar culture

and still identify with its heritage and history.

Even when ruling over peoples

whose way of worship seemed to display shirk in an obvious form,

such as the Hindus of India and the Buddhists of Afghanistan and China,

we managed to treat them with tolerance,

finding ways to include them within the ranks of Dhimmi

and give them protection.

Only in the new Islamic Jahilliya

do muslims seem intent on abandoning tolerance

and looking to destroy the lives and landmarks of others

rather than looking to see

how God's guidance applies to themselves.

Yet in Surah al-An'am, The Cattle,

we are quite specifically told

not to abuse those to whom they pray apart from God,

or they will abuse God in revenge, without knowledge.

Our Deen is clear that

we should look upon the world

with compassion and mercy.

It is important to remember that the Messenger said

that he was sent to bless other people,

not to curse them.

But although Shirk may be the greatest sin,

there are still a few others we need to think about.

Do we really need to regulate our sex lives?

Is killing someone a crime against society?

What about when life just doesn't seem worth the effort?