Once Hadrat Muadh Bin Jabal (RadhiAllahu Anhu) was riding behind the Messenger of Allah (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) when the Prophet turning towards him queried:
«يَا مُعَاذُ هَلْ تَدْرِي مَا حَقُّ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْعِبَادِ؟ وَمَا حَقُّ الْعِبَادِ عَلَى اللَّهِ؟» قُلْتُ: اللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُ أَعْلَمُ، قَالَ: «فَإِنَّ حَقَّ اللَّهِ عَلَى الْعِبَادِ أَنْ يَعْبُدُوهُ، وَلَا يُشْرِكُوا بِهِ شَيْئًا، وَحَقُّ الْعِبَادِ عَلَى اللَّهِ، إِذَا فَعَلُوا ذَلِكَ أَنْ لَا يُعَذِّبَهُمْ» )البخاري(.
(Translation of meaning) O Muadh do you know what are the rights of Allah against His slaves and what are the rights of the slaves against Allah? Muadh replied: Allah and His Messenger know better. He said: The right of Allah against his slaves is that they worship Him alone and do not make anybody else as His partner. And the right of the slaves against Allah is that He does not punish those who do not take others as His co-partners (Al-Bukhari).
In this tradition the Messenger of Allah has clarified, that the right of Allah against his slaves is that they worship Him alone purely; that they pray to Him alone; that they have expectations of Him alone; that they fast for Him alone; that they offer sacrifices for Him alone; and that they believe in His absolute perfection and hold Him immune from all defects and disabilities. The core belief is the belief in oneness of God [monotheism]. That means that if a man prays to anybody other than Allah and begs of him something or performs salat for any objective other than seeking the pleasure of Allah or he worships anyone else than Allah or to please him then he is certainly guilty of committing the sin of shirk [polytheism]. All his worship goes in vain. He will be held guilty of committing shirk. The greatest sin which Allah will never forgive is shirk. Its consequence is nothing but eternal Hell.
Allah proclaims:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ (48) (النساء : 48)
(Translation of meaning) [“Allah will never forgive co-partnering with Him and will forgive whatever is other than that for those whom He wills.” (An-Nisa: 48)].
The Messenger of Allah said:
«مَنْ مَاتَ وَهْوَ يَدْعُو مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ نِدًّا دَخَلَ النَّارَ» (البخاري)
(Translation of meaning) “Anybody who dies in a state of believing in a co-partner of Allah shall go to Hell” (Bukhari).
God Almighty Himself has proclaimed that he can forgive all sins except shirk.
According to a tradition of the Prophet, God Almighty says to His slaves:
«يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ إِنَّكَ لَوْ أَتَيْتَنِي بِقُرَابِ الأَرْضِ خَطَايَا ثُمَّ لَقِيتَنِي لَا تُشْرِكُ بِي شَيْئًا لَأَتَيْتُكَ بِقُرَابِهَا مَغْفِرَةً» (الترمذي)
(Translation of meaning) O progeny of Adam! If you come to me with your sins filling the whole of earth, provided you never committed shirk, I am ready to meet you with an equal measure of my forgiveness (Tirmidhi). Likewise, once Hadrat Abdullah Bin Masud (RadhiAllahu Anhu) asked the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) about which sin was the greatest. He replied: «أَنْ تَجْعَلَ لِلَّهِ نِدًّا وَهُوَ خَلَقَكَ»That you take a counterpart of Allah, your Creator (Al-Bukhari and Muslim). Once the Prophet (sallAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) was asked about what makes Heaven and Hell obligatory. His reply was that:
«مَنْ مَاتَ لَا يُشْرِكُ بِاللهِ شَيْئًا دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ، وَمَنْ مَاتَ يُشْرِكُ بِاللهِ شَيْئًا دَخَلَ النَّارَ» (مسلم)
(Translation of meaning) “If anybody died who never committed shirk he will go to Heaven and if anybody died who committed shirk in the least shall go to Hell” (Muslim).
Tawhid and shirk are two diametrically opposed concepts. Shirk is any belief or practice which is contrary to the belief in one and omniscient God having no coequal, no co-partner and no co-sharer. After understanding the nature of shirk it is essential to follow up that there are two degrees of shirk: The major Shirk [Shirk Akbar] and minor Shirk [Shirk Asghar].
