Shirk (Islam) in the context of "Tawhid"

⭐ In the context of *Tawhid*, *Shirk* is considered…

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⭐ Core Definition: Shirk (Islam)

Shirk (Arabic: شِرْك, lit.'association') in Islam is a sin often roughly translated as 'idolatry' or 'polytheism', but more accurately meaning 'association [with God]'. It refers to accepting other divinities or powers alongside God as associates. In contrast, Islam teaches that God does not share divine attributes with anyone, as it is disallowed according to the Islamic doctrine of tawhid. The Quran, the central religious text of Islam, states in 4:48 that God will not forgive shirk if one dies without repenting of it.

The one who commits shirk is called a mushrik. The opposite of shirk is tawhid and the opposite of mushrik is muwahhid.

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👉 Shirk (Islam) in the context of Tawhid

Tawhid, literally "to unite" or "to make one", refers to the principle of monotheism in Islam. It is the religion's central and single most important concept, upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. It unequivocally holds that God is indivisibly one (ahad) and single (wahid).

Tawhid constitutes the foremost article of the Muslim profession of submission. The first part of the Islamic declaration of faith (shahada) is the declaration of belief in the oneness of God. To attribute divinity to anything or anyone else, is considered shirk, which is an unpardonable sin unless repented afterwards, according to the Qur'an. Muslims believe that the entirety of the Islamic teaching rests on the principle of tawhid.

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Shirk (Islam) in the context of Abraham in Islam

Abraham is a prophet and messenger of God according to Islam, and an ancestor to the Ishmaelite Arabs and Israelites. Abraham plays a prominent role as an example of faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Muslim belief, Abraham fulfilled all the commandments and trials wherein God nurtured him throughout his lifetime. As a result of his unwavering faith in God, Abraham was promised by God to be a leader to all the nations of the world. The Quran extols Abraham as a model, an exemplar, obedient and not an idolater. In this sense, Abraham has been described as representing "primordial man in universal surrender to the Divine Reality before its fragmentation into religions separated from each other by differences in form". Muslims believe that the Kaaba in Mecca was built by Abraham and his son Ishmael as the first house of worship on earth. The Islamic holy day 'Eid ul-Adha is celebrated in commemoration of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son on God's command, as well as the end of the Hajj pilgrimage to the Kaaba.

Muslims believe that Abraham became the leader of the righteous in his time and that it was through him that Adnanite-Arabs and Israelites came. Abraham, in the belief of Islam, was instrumental in cleansing the world of idolatry at the time. Paganism was cleared out by Abraham in both the Arabian peninsula and Canaan. He spiritually purified both places as well as physically sanctifying the houses of worship. Abraham and Isma'il (Ishmael) further established the rites of pilgrimage, or Ḥajj ('Pilgrimage'), which are still followed by Muslims today. Muslims maintain that Abraham further asked God to bless both the lines of his progeny, of Isma'il and Isḥaq (Isaac), and to keep all of his descendants in the protection of God.

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Shirk (Islam) in the context of God in Islam

In Islam, God (Arabic: ٱللَّٰه, romanizedAllāh, contraction of ٱلْإِلَٰه al-’ilāh, lit.'the god', or Arabic: رب, romanizedRabb, lit.'lord') is seen as the creator and sustainer of the universe, who lives eternally. God is conceived as a perfect, singular, immortal, omnipotent, and omniscient deity, completely infinite in all of his attributes. Islam further emphasizes that God is most merciful. The Islamic concept of God is variously described as monotheistic, panentheistic, and monistic.

The Islamic concept of tawhid (unification) emphasises that God is absolutely pure and free from association or partnership with other beings, which means attributing the powers and qualities of God to his creation, and vice versa. In Islam, God is never portrayed in any image. The Quran specifically forbids ascribing partners to share his singular sovereignty, as he is considered to be the absolute one without a second, indivisible, and incomparable being, who is similar to nothing, and nothing is comparable to him. Thus, God is absolutely transcendent, unique and utterly other than anything in or of the world as to be beyond all forms of human thought and expression. The briefest and the most comprehensive description of God in the Quran is found in Surat al-Ikhlas.

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Shirk (Islam) in the context of Takfir


Takfir (Arabic: تَكْفِير, romanizedtakfīr) is an Arabic and Islamic term which denotes excommunication from Islam of one Muslim by another, i.e. accusing another Muslim of being an apostate. The word is found neither in the Quran nor in the ḥadīth literature; instead, kufr ("unbelief") and kāfir ("unbeliever") and other terms employing the same triliteral root K-F-R appear.

Since according to the traditional interpretations of Islamic law (sharīʿa) the punishment for apostasy is the death penalty, and potentially a cause of strife and violence within the Muslim community (Ummah), an ill-founded takfir accusation was a major forbidden act (haram) in Islamic jurisprudence, with one hadith declaring that one who wrongly declares a Muslim an unbeliever is himself not an apostate but rather committed minor shirk. In the history of Islam, a sect originating in the 7th century CE known as the Kharijites carried out takfīr against both Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims, and became the main source of insurrection against the early caliphates for centuries. Traditionally, the only group authorized to declare another Muslim a kāfir are the scholars of Islam (Ulama), which affirm that all the prescribed legal precautions should be taken before declaring takfīr, and that those who profess the Islamic faith should be exempt.

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Shirk (Islam) in the context of Islamic view of the Trinity

In Christianity, the doctrine of the Trinity states that God is a single essence in which three distinct hypostases ("persons"): the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, exist consubstantially and co-eternally as a perichoresis. Islam considers the concept of any "plurality" within God to be a denial of monotheism. Monotheism in Islam, known as Tawhid, is the religion's central and single most important concept, upon which a Muslim's entire religious adherence rests. Shirk, the act of ascribing partners to God – whether they be sons, daughters, or other partners – is considered to be a form of unbelief in Islam and is considered the worst sin in Islam. The Quran repeatedly and firmly asserts God's absolute oneness, thus ruling out the possibility of another being sharing his sovereignty or nature. In Islam, the Holy Spirit is believed to be the angel Gabriel. Muslims have explicitly rejected Christian doctrines of the Trinity from an early date.

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Shirk (Islam) in the context of Hanif

In Islam, the terms ḥanīf (SING; Arabic: حنيف, lit.'a renunciate [of idolatry]') and ḥunafā' (PLUR; حنفاء) are primarily used to refer to pre-Islamic Arabians who were Abrahamic monotheists. Muslims regard these people favorably for shunning Arabian polytheism and instead solely worshipping the God of Abraham, thus setting themselves apart from what is called jahiliyyah. However, they were not associated with Judaism or Christianity; instead exemplifying what they perceived as the unaltered beliefs and morals of Abraham.

The form hanīf appears 10 times in the Quran, and the form ḥunafā' twice. According to Muslim tradition, Muhammad himself was a ḥanīf (before he met the angel Gabriel) and a direct descendant of Abraham's eldest son Ishmael.Likewise, Islam regards all Islamic prophets and messengers before Muhammad — that is, those affiliated with Judaism and/or Christianity, such as Moses and Jesus — as ḥunafā', underscoring their God-given infallibility.

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Shirk (Islam) in the context of Badr, Saudi Arabia

Badr (Arabic: بدر حنين, romanized: Badr Hunayn) is a governorate in Medina Province, Hejaz, Saudi Arabia. It is located about 130 km (81 mi) from the Islamic holy city of Medina. It was the location of the Battle of Badr, between the Quraysh-led polytheists, and the Muslims under the leadership of the Prophet Muhammad, in 624 CE.

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Shirk (Islam) in the context of Taqwa

Taqwa (Arabic: تقوى taqwā / taqwá) is an Islamic term for being conscious and cognizant of God, of truth, "piety, fear of God." It is often found in the Quran. Those who practice taqwa — in the words of Ibn Abbas, "believers who avoid shirk with Allah and who work in His obedience" — are called muttaqin (Arabic: المُتَّقِين al-muttaqin). (See:Fear of God and God-fearer)

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