Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah

OVERVIEW : Explanation of Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah.

Shirk literally means ‘association’ or ‘sharing’.
From an Islamic perspective, the word Shirk means establishing or associating partners with Allah ﷻ . Shirk is the opposite of Tawheed.
The result of Tawheed is the Pleasure of Allah and Paradise. The result of com- mitting Shirk is thus the displeasure at Allah and eternal punishment in the fire. of Hell. Allah ﷻ does not forgive the per- son who engaged in Shirk. Allah ﷻ says in the Qur’aan:

[ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَن يُشْرَكَ بِهِۦ [سورة النساء : ١١٦,٤٨

Indeed, Allah does not forgive Shirk… [Soorat an-Nisaa: 48, 116]

There are many sound and authentic ahaadeeth that describe the outcome of those that commit Shirk. The following are just two examples:

The Prophet ﷺ said,

قَالَ رَسُولُ الله صَلَّى اللهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ : من مات وهو يدعو من دون الله ندا دخل النار (البخاري)

“Whoever dies whilst calling on other than Allah will enter the Fire.” (al-Bukhaan)

عن جابر بن عبد الله -رضي الله عنه – أن النبي – صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – قَال : من مات وهو يشرك بالله شيئا دخل النار ، (مسلم)

“whoever meets Him (Allah) having committed Shirk in any way will enter the Fire.” (Muslim)

As can be gathered from the above aayah and the two ahaadeeth, the consequences of dying on Shirk is that the person will receive an everlasting punishment in Hell.
Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah means to believe that another person, being, thing or group shares in the Ruboobiyyah of Allah, whether this be as His equal, His advisor or in any other way.

Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah are of two types:

Major Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah.
Minor Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah.

The person who dies whilst committing greater Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah will never be forgiven and Allah ﷻ will not accept any of his/her deeds. Allah ﷻ says in the Qur’aan:

وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا۟ لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ (سورة الأنعام : ٨٨)

..But if they had committed Shirk, then all they used to do would have been of no benefit to them. [Soorat al-An’aam:88]

This means that Allah ﷻ will not accept any of the good deeds of a person who committed Shirk. Allah ﷻ will also forbid Paradise for that person.
Examples of Major Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah are to believe that someone else can create like Allah ﷻ creates or to make du’aa to something other than Allah. Major Shirk is the worst of sins.
Allah mentions the grave nature of Shirk when referring to the advice of Luqmaan to his son. Allah ﷻ says;

وَإِذْ قَالَ لُقْمَـٰنُ لِٱبْنِهِۦ وَهُوَ يَعِظُهُۥ يَـٰبُنَىَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِٱللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّ ٱلشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌۭ (سورة لقمان :٣ ١)

And [mention, O Muhammad], when Luqmaan said to his son while he was instructing him, “O my son, do not associate [anything] with Allah. Indeed, association [with Him] is great injustice.” [Soorat Luqmaan: 13]

Minor Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah is acting in a manner that does not necessarily take a person out of the fold of Islam. It also does not mean that a person will be punished in Hell forever.
However, this type of Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah can lead to the greater form of Shirk and a person will be punished for it. An example of Minor Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah is to take an oath in a name other than Allah’s ﷻ name. An example would be a person swearing on his/her father’s or mother’s life.

About this the Prophet ﷺ said:

قال صلى الله عليه وسلم: إن الله نهاكم أن تحلفوا بآبائكم، وقال: من كان حالفا فليحلف بالله أو ليصمت (البخاري ومسلم)

Indeed, Allah has forbidden you from swearing by your fathers. Whoever makes an oath, then let him swear by Allah or remain silent. (al-Bukhaari & Muslim)

Another type of Minor Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah is to say, for example, “If it was not for the security alarm, the burglars would have broken into the house.” In this case a person should say, “It is only through the Will of Allah that the burglars were not able to breach the security alarm and enter the house”. The security alarm is merely a means that was put to use by Allah ﷻ ,
The conclusion is that there are differences between the Major shirk and the Minor shirk.
They are:

Major shirk expels a person from Islam and Minor shirk does not expel one from Islam. This is the main point and the other points follow from from this one.
Major shirk necessitates a person’s eternal punishment in the Fire of Hell.
Major shirk nullifies all of a person’s good deeds but Minor shirk does not nullify all of the person’s deeds. Rather, the showing off and doing actions for the sake of worldly reasons only nullifies the deed which they are mixed with.

In many cases, people commit Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah without even knowing it. In order to avoid this, Muslims should always think carefully before saying or doing anything.

Learning from the lesson

Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah is of two types.
Minor Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah does not necessarily take a person out of Islam.
Major Shirk ar-Ruboobiyyah results in the displeasure of Allah and an eternity in Hell.

“Discussion:”