n37 37 The Major Sins Series - Shirk - Abu Usama At-Thahabi 217

The Major Sins Series - Shirk

Speaker: Abu Usamah At-Thahabi

Date: 2/17

Introduction to Imam Al-Dhahabi's Methodology

The beginning of the book of Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi, may Allah have mercy upon him. Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi, in his book, he did what the ulama of the Sunnah used to do. The books of the ulama of the Sunnah - they have kalam that's little (khalil), and the proofs (adillah) that are many (kathira).

They have a little speech, but they have a lot of proofs. All of the books of the people of the past, especially in aqidah, they used to be like that. Today it's the opposite way. The books have a lot of kalam and hardly any dalil. And the dalil that you will find in the books, sometimes it goes against what the people are trying to prove.

So Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi's book is a book of proofs, and only seldom would you find him making any comments.

The First Major Sin: Shirk

He said, may Allah have mercy upon him:

He said: The first kabira is that you make shirk with Allah. The greatest and the foremost major crime is to make shirk in all of its manifestations - shirk al-akbar or shirk al-asghar.

He went on to say: And what is shirk? Shirk is for you to make a partner with Allah, and He's the one who created you. Shirk is for you to worship Allah and to worship that individual - or for you to worship a rock, or a tree, or the moon, or the sun, or a jinn, or a shaykh, or a star, or an angel. All of that is from the shirk.

So to make shirk with Allah by slaughtering for a dead man is a kabira from the kabair - shirk. For any of us to call on Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, while he's in his grave is not permissible - this is shirk.

Evidence From the Quran

So he went on to give the proofs for that. The first dalil, as Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi does from his minhaj - what's the minhaj of Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi in his book? It's similar to Al-Imam An-Nawawi in his book Riyad As-

Saliheen. He'll bring the chapter, and then he'll explain what the chapter is about by doing what? By bringing the Quranic ayat, which is a proof that the Quran, with the scholars of the past, it took precedence over the Sunnah in terms of which one goes first.

Neither one should be split from the other. You have to keep the Quran and the Sunnah together. As Rasulullah says, peace and blessings be upon him:

Hadith Reference: Authentic hadith - "I've been given the Quran and something similar to it with it (the Sunnah). And they will never be separated and split until the people come to meet me at the fountain."

So no one can say: "I'm taking the Quran and not the Sunnah. I'm taking the Sunnah, not the Quran." No, but the people of the past, they used to give the precedence (taqdim) to the Quran first. Memorize the Quran. You want to write something and you want to prove the point? Bring the dalil from the Quran first. So this is the minhaj of Imam Al-Dhahabi: to bring the Quran and then the ahadith that explain that, and then he'll explain.

First Ayah

The first ayah is the statement of Allah:

"Allah will not forgive anyone who makes shirk with Him, but He will forgive anything other than that for whom He wills."

Any and every kabair, if you're doing it, if I'm doing it, if we're falling into all of the kabair together - Allah will forgive you for that if you die saying "La ilaha illallah." But if you stayed away from all of the kabair and you only fell into shirk, Allah is not going to forgive you for that shirk if you didn't know what you were doing. That is not permissible.

So that's the dalil that shirk is a kabira from the kabair and that Allah will not forgive that sin. That's the threat (wa'id).

Second Ayah

The second ayah that he brings is the statement of Allah:

"Verily, the one who makes shirk with Allah, Allah has made Jannah haram upon him, and his abode is the Fire."

Rasulullah, his mother and his father, his uncle, his grandfather, any good non-Muslim, Mother Teresa - anyone who died saying other than "La ilaha illallah" after Muhammad came, the Jannah is haram and it doesn't accept

that individual.

Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said in an authentic hadith that's been collected by Imam Muslim:

(Sahih Muslim)

"He will not enter into the Jannah, the one who has one speck - like this pen makes when you do like this on a paper - a speck of arrogance (kibr) in his heart. Jannah is haram for him."

He can't get in. Haram. And kibr is not shirk, kibr is not kufr in and of itself - it is not kufr. But if you have any arrogance in your heart because of your lineage, your profession, your color, how much money you have - if you have any kibr in your heart, Jannah is haram for you until that kibr is taken out of your heart.

Either you get rid of it, or Allah pushes you in the hellfire and burns it off of you, or He just forgives you. But He won't allow anyone to go into Jannah who's arrogant (mutakabbir).

Similarly, shirk and kufr is greater than kibr. So He made the Jannah haram on the one who has shirk. He will not forgive that.

Third Ayah

The last ayah that Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi brought, ikhwan, is the statement of Allah:

"When Luqman said to his son as he advised his boy, 'O my son, do not associate [anything] with Allah. Indeed, shirk is a tremendous wrong (zulm).'"

And he told him: "Verily making shirk is a tremendous zulm."

So Luqman advised his son and he put him on the aqidah sahihah. Shirk is zulm.

Understanding Al-Hikmah and Zulm

We've mentioned a number of times the definition of Al-Hikmah. And when we talk about Al-Hikmah, we're not talking about the Sunnah Al-Hikmah. No, we're talking about wisdom - Al-Hikmah.

We're talking about the Hikmah that we told you so many times. Who wants to tell us what is Al-Hikmah in Al-Islam? Al-Hikmah is having the ability to put everything in its proper place. Saying what needs to be said, the way it should be said, to who it should be said to, and so forth and so on.

You're not hakeem until you can do that. She is not hakeema until she can do that. Allah is Al-Hakeem because He knows where to put everything.

You're a Muslim, He knew that you should be a Muslim. You have a lot of money, He knew you should have a lot of money. You don't have a lot of money, He knew that. Your mother died, He knew that was the best thing for you. So you have to be patient with your issue because Allah is Al-Hakeem. And don't ask: "Why me? Why this?" That's Al-Hikmah - putting everything in its proper place.

The opposite of that, ikhwan, putting everything in the wrong place - that is zulm. Zulm is putting everything in the wrong place, az-zulm. So Luqman said to his son:

"Shirk is a great zulm" - putting things in the wrong place.

We have a car, HT04YBK. HT04YBK, can you move your car? Zulm is putting everything in the wrong place.

Three Types of Zulm

There are three types of zulm in Al-Islam. Three types of zulm. Everyone is falling into one of these three.

First Type: Zulm Against Oneself

The first zulm is the zulm that the person makes against himself. He oppresses himself (yazlimu nafsahu).

Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

Mentioned by scholars

"It's not acceptable, it's not befitting for a believing man or woman to oppress themselves, to lower themselves, to disgrace themselves."

They said: "How does the believer disgrace himself, ya Rasulullah?" He said: "He puts himself in a situation that he can't handle."

He's not a scholar, but he wants to make the people think he's a scholar. So he wants to debate someone who has knowledge. So he can't handle it, and he's put down as a result of that.

He wants to get married, but the sister has three, four, five kids before him. More than likely he's not going to be able to handle it. Don't oppress yourselves. So he gets married, and then zulm comes later on. He oppressed himself.

Zulm of the nafs is a person not eating, not drinking, praying too much. So do not oppress yourselves.

The Prophet came into one of his homes, and there was a woman in the home. He asked: "Who is that woman?" Because it's the right (haq) of the man to know what's going on in his house. For no reason he asked: "Who is that woman?" Aisha began to tell him: "Ya Rasulullah, that's so and so, fulana, her worship is out of this world."

Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, told them:

Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

"You people should worship Allah according to what you can handle. Verily Allah will not become bored with your worship until you become bored."

So they are those people who go overboard, and they oppress themselves by not eating, by not drinking.

He was traveling and the man fell out. He asked him: "Who is that?" They said: "He's fasting, ya Rasulullah, while we're traveling, he's fasting. And it's so hot."

He told him:

Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim

"It is not righteousness that you fast while you're traveling."

Have mercy upon yourself, don't make zulm, don't go overboard. And how many jama'at - they go overboard by making zulm on themselves.

Rasulullah prepared to give the khutbah, ikhwatifillah. Before giving the khutbah, he saw a man standing in the sun. He asked: "Who is that?" They said: "That's Abu Isra'il."

A proof: you can take the kunyah, Abu Isra'il. Someone told a brother who called his son Isra'il: "That's tashabbuh bil-kuffar. You're being like the kuffar, like the Jews." No, the man's kunyah was Abu Isra'il.

He has taken an oath, ya Rasulullah, to stand in the sun, not to talk, and he's going to fast. Rasulullah told the people, peace and blessings be upon him: "Tell the man to talk, to get in the shade, to sit down, and tell him to complete his fast."

Standing in the sun is not from Islam, leave it alone. Not talking is not from Islam, leave it alone. To take an oath that you're going to stand up and not sit down is not from Islam, leave it alone. But to take an oath that you're going to fast is from Islam. So continue the oath.

So the point is, ikhwatifillahi, zulm an-nafs (oppressing oneself).

Second Type: Zulm Between People

The second zulm obviously is the zulm that we do between ourselves. He's married, but he's going outside of the marriage looking for satisfaction. Zulm to his wife.

He was married, and he has a child or two, and he's not paying child support. He left the children and the mother by themselves. Zulm to the akhireen (to others).

He has a mother who gave birth to him, and because the mother is jahila (ignorant), and she loves the dunya, and she has a lot of kalam (speech) even, and most of the fitnah is from her, he cuts her off, and he chooses his wife over his mother - and she gave birth to him. Zulm to his mother.

So you make qiyas (analogy) from all of that.

Allah told us in the hadith al-qudsi:

"O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself, and I have made it forbidden among you, so do not wrong one another."

(Sahih Muslim)

"I've made zulm haram upon Myself. I don't oppress any of you people, not one bit. I made it haram upon Myself that I will not oppress a single person. Every judgment that I give you, and every situation that you're in, it is not zulm to you, because I made it haram upon Myself that I will not oppress any of you. So do not oppress one another."

Third Type: Zulm Against Allah

And the last type of zulm: the zulm that the person has as it relates to Allah.

They asked Rasulullah: "Ya Rasulullah, which sin is the worst?" He said:

"That you will make with Allah a partner, and Allah created you."

(Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

Modern Example: The Christmas Season

Like now, ikhwan, this is the season to be jolly according to these kuffar. So now a man or a woman, they make minimum wage in their job. They may even be on public assistance. And in attempt to make sacrifices for their children, they go beyond the call of duty, and they begin to buy gifts for their children for Christmas.

And they're poor, they don't even have the money to do that. But they're going to try to practice their religion.

"It's the season to be jolly" according to them.

And then after purchasing five, six, seven hundred pounds worth of gifts that they don't have the ability to afford, they turn around and tell the child: "Santa Claus brought that for you."

Which person in his right mind? Which parent in his right mind would do good for your child, and then your child comes and he thanks the neighbor for what his mother had to do? Wake up every two or three hours in his first formidable months. After being born, the mother has to constantly get up. She can't get eight hours worth of sleep in the first few months. And then the child comes around and thanks someone else for giving birth to him.

وَلِلَّهِ الْمَثَلُ الْأَعْلَى

"And Allah is the preeminent, the extreme example in that."

Allah has given an individual life, and He's given him all of these good things from the blessings (khairat) and the pure things (tayyibat). And he turns around and He says:

عِيسَى ابْنُ مَرْيَمَ

""Isa did it for me. The son did it for me."

That is the worst type of zulm. That's the statement in the meaning of Luqman to his son:

"For you to make shirk with Allah, it is zulm 'azeem (tremendous oppression)."

Warning Against Shirk

Our friends, our brothers, our guests who were here for the first time - they're here for the first time. Wallahi, we don't want to run you away. We don't want to run you away. But at the same time, we don't want to stand before Allah for not telling you: loving Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, means following him and taking his Sunnah. Loving Rasulullah does not mean going overboard and making dua to Rasulullah.

That is shirk and that's zulm. "Ya Rasulullah, Ya Rasulullah, Ya Ali, Ya Ali" - that is shirk and that's zulm.

And for that reason, when they said to Rasulullah and they made him a partner by saying: "It is as Allah wants and as you want, ya Rasulullah. This light is on because you want it on, ya Rasulullah. This person is born because you wanted him born, ya Rasulullah."

Rasulullah took his finger, sharifa (noble), and pointed it in a man's chest and he said to that man:

أَجَعَلْتَنِي لِلَّهِ نِدًّا؟

(Authentic hadith)

"Have you made me a partner with Allah? Just say: 'Masha'Allah' (as Allah wills), by Himself. This light is on because Allah wanted it on. Not because the man put it on, not because I want it on, because Allah wants it on."

So to ask anyone other than Allah as the imam said: a prophet, a jinn, an angel, any of that - is shirk, and it's not permissible.

Important Point From Imam Al-Dhahabi

Now, for the statement of Imam Al-Dhahabi: he mentioned those ayat of the Quran, and then he went on to explain the ayat, or to make a point, and he said - very important statement:

فَمَنْ أَشْرَكَ بِاللَّهِ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى ثُمَّ مَاتَ مُشْرِكًا فَهُوَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ النَّارِ قَطْعًا، كَمَا قَالَ اللَّهُ تَعَالَى، وَمَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ ثُمَّ مَاتَ مُؤْمِنًا فَهُوَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْجَنَّةِ وَإِنْ عُذِّبَ

"Pay attention to this point, ikhwan. Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi is saying: Whoever makes shirk with Allah and he dies as a mushrik (polytheist), he will be from the people of the Fire, definitely (qat'an) - no choice, no escape. He's going to be in the hellfire, because Allah made Jannah haram for the one who makes shirk.

And in contrast, the one who believes in Allah and he dies as a believer, he will be from the people of the Jannah, even if he is punished."

So ikhwatifillah, pay attention to these two points right here.

Lesson: Start With Aqidah, Not Politics

Number one: Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi is teaching us - those of us who are part of this jamaat, that jamaat, the khilafah, jihad - these issues like this we hear every week, issues that are from Al-Islam. Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi is showing us in a practical way how the ulema of Al-Islam started with the most important issues.

He didn't start with jihad, he didn't start with the khilafah, not taking care of the khilafah, leaving off jihad, intentionally, as a kabira from the kabair.

مَنْ لَمْ يَغْزُ وَلَمْ يُحَدِّثْ نَفْسَهُ بِالْغَزْوِ مَاتَ عَلَى شُعْبَةٍ مِنَ النِّفَاقِ

(Sahih Muslim)

"Whoever dies and he never participated in jihad anywhere - since he's been living, there are places where there were real jihad with fatwa, jihad over there, and he's living. He never made jihad, nor did he say to himself: 'I wanna make jihad, I'm just looking for an opportunity to go and do it.' Nor did he say that. And he died like that. Never making jihad, and never saying to himself: 'I wanna make jihad.'"

Rasulullah said: "He dies on one of the branches of hypocrisy."

So not to what? To make jihad? And not to make jihad? It's a kabira from the kabair. Why didn't he mention that?

Number one: because that's not what we understand from Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him. That's not what we understand from the Quran. We understand that the mujahid who puts a tamim (amulet) around his arm - he has no jihad. The one who establishes a khilafah, but the Muslims are worshipping this and that, and this and that - what is that khilafah?

So the very first issue is: al-aqidah, ikhwan. Al-aqidah.

Point of Aqidah: The Status of the Believer

The second thing is: Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi is making a point that we have to understand, and that is: anyone who makes shirk knowingly in his shirk al-akbar, and he dies on that, he's from the companions of the Fire (ashab an-nar).

Anyone who dies doing any and everything - all of the kabair combined - that he dies saying "La ilaha illallah," that person will go to Jannah. That person will go to Jannah, even if you don't like it. Despite your nose, he's going to Jannah, as long as he doesn't make shirk.

So you can think of the worst sins: homosexuality - may Allah save us from that, may Allah save us from that crime. Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi brings this in his book. A person falls into that, and he dies saying "La ilaha illallah," Allah is going to put him in Jannah.

So that is a point of al-aqidah. So this is the salafiyah of Al-Imam Al-Dhahabi.

Evidence From the Sunnah

Finally he said, ikhwan, in this chapter, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said:

First Hadith

(Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

"The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, said: 'Shall I not tell you about the major sins? The biggest of the major sins?' They said: 'What is it?' He said: 'That you make shirk (with Allah).'"

So that's the dalil.

Second Hadith

The second hadith:

(Sahih Al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim)

"Stay away from the seven major sins."

And he mentioned the first one is shirk.

Third Hadith

And then finally the hadith:

(Sahih Al-Bukhari)

"Whoever changes his religion, then kill him."

He brought these three hadith, and he ended the first chapter. And this is an authentic hadith (sahih).

Explanation of the Third Hadith

Whoever changes his religion, then kill him. That's not talking about the Jew who changes his religion from Judaism to Christianity. It's not talking about the Christian who changes his religion from Christianity to Judaism. It's not talking about the Magian who changes his religion from being a Magian to being a person who doesn't believe in Allah at all.

This is talking about the Muslim, man or woman, who changes their religion from Islam to anything else - kill him in the Islamic state. Because he has made a form of shirk and that he has legislated for himself what Allah said was haram. And it's haram for him to change his religion.

So the Muslim who changes his religion, the penalty for that is death, because he said it was halal. He made it permissible (istihlal). He said: "It's okay for me to change my religion."

So that's the kufr. He followed his desires (hawa) and it became the god for him.

So those ahadith and other than them, they show the importance of being a person who is on tawhid and being a person who's away from falling into shirk.

Hadith About the End Times

The Prophet told us, ikhwan, about the time that we're dealing with, peace and blessings be upon him, and it's going to get worse. When he said in the hadith that's been collected by Imam Ahmad and the authority of Hudhaifah ibn Al-Yaman, may Allah be pleased with them both:

لَيُوشِكَنَّ أَنْ يَطْلُعَ عَلَى النَّاسِ زَمَانٌ لَا يَبْقَى فِيهِمْ مِنَ الْإِسْلَامِ إِلَّا اسْمُهُ، وَلَا مِنَ الْقُرْآنِ إِلَّا رَسْمُهُ

(Musnad Imam Ahmad)

- He said: "Islam is about to fade away from the people the way embroidery on your clothes fades away. You have a brown shirt, a blue shirt - when it's brand new, it's solid blue, solid brown. The more you wash it, it fades more and more and more. Islam is about to fade away like that from the people, the way the thawb (garment) fades away, to the point where the Muslims are not going to know what is fasting (siyam) of Ramadan. They won't even know Ramadan. They won't know the salah. They won't know Hajj, and they won't know the zakat.

And in one day, the ayat of the Quran - the Quran will be taken away from the people in one night, to the point where they won't remain with the people a single ayah. Surah Yaseen is an ayah. 'Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim' to some of the ulama of Al-Islam is an ayah of the Quran. 'Qul huwa Allahu ahad' is an ayah of the Quran. 'Afillah' - Shaq is an ayah from the Quran. None of that will remain. Saad is an ayah from the Quran. Taha - none of that will remain in the earth in one night.

But there will remain two types of people: an old man and an old woman. They will say: 'We found our mothers and fathers saying this word, so we're saying this word. They used to say "La ilaha illallah," so we're saying "La ilaha illallah."'' And that will suffice them during that time.

The fact that they didn't make shirk - they didn't pray because they didn't know salah. Their parents neglected them, so they're ignorant, and they're excused because of their ignorance. And those are the worst people who are going to come - those people who the Hour won't be established until you won't hear the word 'Allah, Allah.' People won't make salah, people won't say 'Taqillah,' people won't say 'I believe in Allah,' people won't say 'Ya Allah.' Allah's name won't be mentioned in the earth.

"The Hour won't be established except on the worst people."

Hadith Reference: Sahih Muslim - "The Hour won't be established except on the worst people."

They won't even say 'Allah, Allah.' So this is the description of the Muslims during that time.

But those people who say 'La ilaha illallah' - what if they're not praying during that time? 'La ilaha illallah' is going to benefit them because it is the key (miftah) that will save and protect you from shirk and staying in the hellfire forever.

Conclusion

Rasulullah used to fight the people for the kalimah of 'La ilaha illallah.' Rasulullah, peace and blessings be upon him, called to it for 13 years. He was sure to plant the seed and the understanding of 'La ilaha illallah' in the minds of the people.

And I say there is no jihad if we were making jihad right now and there were a group of people and they had a tamim (amulet) on their arm. Our primary jihad would now be to tell him: "Don't do that," as our brother. And if he refuses, we have to get away from that individual because we may be destroyed for the shirk that's taking place here.

So there's no khilafah for the Muslim nation if our aqidah isn't right.

So that's the first chapter of Imam Al-Dhahabi's book Al-Kabair - the chapter (kitab) of ash-shirk billahi.

Transition to Next Chapter

We're not going to get into the second chapter because it is a long chapter, and it is the chapter of al-qatl (murdering people) - like the Muslims are murdering people here in Birmingham. He's a crackhead, so he murders another Muslim because they're in that life. He sells crack, so he murders another Muslim because he owes him money or he wants to move on his territory.

His sister ran off and got married, or something happened in a marriage, so they call it an honor killing - and there's no honor in that type of killing for you to take the law into your own hand, or to kill someone who doesn't deserve to be killed.

Driving around in your car and you're not paying attention to what you're doing and you kill people is a serious issue. Selling khamr, having a store where you sell khamr, and people drink khamr and drive - or drink khamr and take ecstasy and then they go to the party and die, drop dead from a heart attack - you helped to kill him.

So the next chapter is the chapter of al-qatl. Two people becoming upset with each other and they start to fight, and his niyyah (intention) is not to kill him, but he punches him and he falls and he hits his head the wrong way and he kills him.

That's the next chapter, and it's a pretty extensive chapter, so we're not going to get into it at all, insha'Allah wa ta'ala.

End of Lecture