Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter 8: Polytheism - Shirk

The antonym of Tawhid is Polytheism. Polytheism or Shirk means to consider anyone god other than the true God. It is the most heinous and unforgivable crime. Imam Jafar as-Sadiq (as) has said: Among all sins, Shirk is the most sinful act. Kinds of Shirk or Polytheism.

There are many kinds of Shirks, but the Holy Prophet (sws) has classified them into two main categories, which are as follows.

1 - Shirk-e-Akbar.( Major Shirk - Open and apparent Shirk )

2 - Shirk-e-Asghar.( Minor Shirk - Concealed or hidden Shirk )

SHIRK-E-AKBAR OR MAJOR SHIRK. [OPEN SHIRK]

Major Shirk or Shirk-e-Akbar means explicitly open polytheism. Definition of Major Shirk.

Major Shirk is of two kinds.

1- To associate anyone with Allah Taala as His part.

2- To associate Allah's attributes to someone as his own.

Associating Allah with someone or something as His par t means, to believe in more than one God. i.e., two, three, and many separate gods or two, three, or many inseparable gods. Associating Allah's attributes to someone or something means, giving His attributes, like His knowledge or His might, to anyone else. Or considering or por traying anyone like Him.

He believes in many gods, separate or inseparable.

He associates anyone in anyway with God as a par t of Him.

He portrays anyone in anyway possessing supernatural powers like God.

He portrays or characterizes any Prophet or Imam or a leader as God or like God or a part of God.

All such people are known as polytheists or mushriks. It is impor tant to know more about all kinds of Shirk in order to refrain from them completely.

Idol worship - Believing in many gods. It is the most apparent kind of Shirk. All religions in which people worship many gods or idols or anyone other than God or associate God with anyone, are polytheistic religions. The followers of these religions are Mushriks.

There are many religions which practice idol worship.

Zoroastrians believe in two gods - god of evil (darkness) and god of goodness (light). Buddhists do not believe in God. But Buddhists worship the statue of Gautam Buddha as their god. So do the followers of Jainism. They both are polytheistic religions.

In Hinduism, there are three main gods, and traditionally 33 million other gods and goddesses. In order to call themselves monotheistic, they say that behind all these gods, there is also a single spiritual entity called Brahma.

Christians also believe that God is present in three forms. This is known as trinity i.e. they believe that in one God there are three Divine persons - the Father, the Son, and theholy Spirit or holy Ghost. This means that Christians divide god into three par ts, Father - Son - Holy Spirit, and unite them together to make one single god. They use paintings, statues, and other art to depict their sacred figures and stories from the Bible.

In Eastern Europe and the Near East, worshipers give special reverence to icons (images of Jesus Christ or the saints).

Christians known as iconoclasts opposed the use of images because they considered it idolatry. But other Christians argued that such images (icons) are merely symbols to help worshippers think of God.

A dispute called the iconoclastic controversy raged between the two sides during the AD 700's and early 800's. The iconoclasts destroyed the pictures and statues in many churches. A similar disagreement over the use of images broke out between Protestants and Roman Catholics during the 1500's in which Protestant destroyed many statues and images which were being worshipped by the Catholics.

The ancient Greeks and Romans had polytheistic religions. They assumed sky, stars, sun, planets, moon, and many other things as gods and used to worship them. They named each day of the week and month by their god such as Sunday (sun), Monday (moon).

The ancient Egyptian people considered their kings( Pharaohs ) to be living gods. In the Shinto religion of Japan, gods are thought to reside in par ticular trees, rocks and streams.

Before World War 11( 1935 -1945 ), the Japanese people honored their emperor as god. On September 2, 1945 Emperor Hirohito who was considered and worshipped by Japanese as their god, officially surrendered and announced his defeat. Thousand of Japanese were weeping seeing their god in such a humiliated condition. On Jan. 1, 1946, Emperor Hirohito renounced all claims to the divinity (god) that for merly had been claimed for him. The constitution of 1947, which he approved, changed him from sovereign to "symbol of the state"

The Gallis or Ghullat (extremists), among Muslims, form another group of Mushriks. They are also called Mufawwiza. They believe that Allah has delegated His powers or entr usted all affairs to the Holy Imams. According to them, the Imams give life and death, and they also give us sustenance. According to all Shia Ulama, any person who has this belief or similar views about Imams is a Mushrik.

Islam considers all such religions as polytheistic and believes in the absolute oneness of God. Quran has rigorously condemned all these religions and tells that the followers of these religions will be severely punished.

Thus, all religions, except Islam, are polytheistic religions. Islam is the only religion which strongly believes in pure monotheism (i.e., absolute oneness of God).Associating God with someone. Another kind of Major Shirk is:

G to associate Allah with someone as par t of Him,

G to consider anyone like Him,

G to give Allah's attributes to anyone else,

G to include anyone in the worship of Allah.

Imam Jafer Sadiq (as) has said;

"If someone performs an action for Allah, and includes in it the pleasure of a human being, then the doer of that action is a Polytheist".

All Shia Ulama agree, as stated by an eminent Shia scholar of Iran, Sultan'l-Wa'izin Shirazi, who is well-known for his monumental book, The Right Path, also published in English with a title, Peshawar Nights, that offering in the name of other than Allah, or to include anyone in the offerings being made in the name of Allah, is not allowed in Mazhab -e- Ahlal- Bayit. He further writes in the same book at page number 40 that;

"If we make an offering not in the name of Allah, but for someone else, whether he be dead or alive, or if we include him with the name of Allah, even if he is an Imam or his son, the offering is not valid If this is done knowingly then it is evident polytheism as is clear from the verse "and not join anyone in the service of your Lord" (18:110) He further adds,

"All Shia Jurists agree that to make an offering in the name of any person, including Prophets or Imams, is wrong. If it is done intentionally, it is polytheism. An offering must be made in the name of Allah.Although, we are allowed to do it wherever and whenever we like. For instance, if someone takes a goat to a particular place of worship or to the tomb of an Imam and sacrifices it in the name of Allah alone, there is no harm in it. But if pledges to make an offering in the name of the Prophet or an Imam, or some other person, it is forbidden."

Portraying anyone like God.

The third kind of Shirk is to por tray anyone as God. This type of Shrik is the outgrowth of inferiority complex and scantiness. Many grand personalities, powerful kings, and great saints were worshipped as gods by their people.

Krishna, popularly known as Lord Krishna, Ram Chanderji, Gautam Buddha, Firaun, Namr ud,were all human beings. But people worshipped them because they were highly impressed by their character, or wealth, or power.

Nusairi call HazratAli( as) their god because of his extraordinary personality. Apparently it seems that they have raised the status of Hazrat Ali (as) by calling him god. Some ignorant Shia poets also, under this false impression, refer Hazrat Ali ibn-Abi Talib (as) as the god of Nussairi in their poetry. But in actuality, they commit a big sin of degrading the Holy Imam and putting his sacred name in the list of gods( people of much lower rank )mentioned above. Thus, whenever we find any great personality and his incredible achievements, we must appreciate him, but we must glorify Allah, as He is the one who gave him power, talent, energy, opportunity, and finally success.

Portraying Prophets or Imams as gods.

All Muslim scholars, Shia and Sunni, without any difference of opinion, consider it a major Shirk [Shirk-e -Akber].

A Muslim becomes Mushrik if he por trays any of the Prophet or Imam in any way or in any form as God or like God or part of God. In the articles of Islamic acts, Ayatullah al-UzmaAs- Sayyid Abul Qasim al - Khui, (and all other marja as well) describes Ghulat as a kind of Shirk and Kufr, and writes;

"Those who believe one of the holy twelve Imams to be God or say that God has penetrated into him are Kafirs."(ar ticle 107)

Imams have cursed those people who give them Divine attributes and call them in a way as some body is calling God.

During the time of Hazrat Imam Jafer Sadiq (as), some one attributed some false hadith to his father, Hazrat Imam Muhammad Baqir (as), in which various aspects of divinity were attached to the Imams, notably Amir ul- Muminine Hazrat Ali(as). The people who were spreading these fabricated ahadith were the followers of Mughir bin Said and those of Abi Khattab Muhammad bin al-Assadi.

When Imam Jafar Sadiq (as) heard about this, he said; "May Allah curse Mughira bin Said as he used to tell lies against my father, May Allah make him taste the heat of burning iron, May Allah curse those who say about us what we do not say ourselves, May Allah curse those who try to make us away from the servitude of Allah, Who created us, and to Him is our return and in His hand is our control".Rijal al-Kishi. Precisely, according to the teaching of the Holy Prophet (sws) and his Ahlal Bayit (as), if anyone knowingly or ignorantly commits any of the followingact , then he has committed a major Shirk.

To consider any Prophet, or Imam, or a leader as an Independent Power.

To portray the Prophet, or any Imam as god or like a God.

To give the Prophet, Imam, or anyone, attributes of Allah or Divine titles which make them to look like a God.

To associate anyone of them with God in His Power of Execution.

All of the above mentioned acts are just the same but different kinds of major Shirk. Muslims must abstain from all such acts with full determination as the Shirk is an un-forgivable crime. The Holy Prophet of Islam and his Ahlal-bayithave taught us to believe that Allah has created everything when nothing existed. Thus, creating, giving sustenance, granting bounties, death, life, health, wealth, sickness, all in all are under His control.

Amirul Mu'mineen Ali ibn Abi Talib(as) wrote a lengthy letter to his son Imam Hassan(as) advising him to ask Allah alone in all desperate situations. Imam Ali (as) writes:

" In all your affairs resign yourself to your Allah, because you will thus be resigning yourself to a secure shelter and a strong protector. You should ask (dua) only from your Lord because in His hand is all the giving and depriving. Seekgood (from Allah) as much as you can...." Letter no 31 Nahjul Balagha.

Muslims should take extreme caution while praising the Prophets and Imams. The magnitude of their greatness is certainly unimaginable and their status is beyond our praise, but they all were human beings and we mustn't depict them as God or like a God or give Allah's attributes to any one of them.

Quran reflects:

"They (Christians) have taken their rabbis and monks as Lords besides Allah, and also al- Masih, son of Maryam, though they were ordered to serve one God only. There is no god but He, Exalted be He above those whom they associate with Him." (9:31)The teaching of monotheism is that their is no god but Allah, Who has no par tner. There is none like Him. It is basically impossible that there could be anyone like Him. If anyone is like Him then it means that there are two gods which is impossible.

Divine Warnings to Mushriks.

Quran has explicitly warned all the inhabitants of the planet earth that all kinds of Mushrikeens (polytheists) will straight go to the Hell-Fire and will remain there for ever. Allah has made His Paradise haram for them.

"Allah has forbidden to him (mushrik) the paradise, and his abode is the fire." (5:72) Quran has also made it very clear that The Most Merciful Allah may forgive our other sins but will definitely not forgive the sin of Shirk.

"Surely Allah does not forgive those who associate other gods with Him, and forgives what is besides that to whomsoever He pleases; and whoever associates other gods with Allah, is guilty of a heinous sin". (4:48)

Quran also informs that all prophets and wise men have condemned Shirk and have advised their followers not to commit this heinous crime. "And Luqman said to his son when admonishing him: My son, associate none with Allah, for to associate others with Him is a tremendous wrong." (31:13) Quran has announced that Mushriks have been driven out from the human community.

Islam considers the Mushrik, the outcast of the human race. They are officially not allowed to enter the sacred places like Makkah, Madinah and all mosques. There are special security posts at all entry points of Makkah and Madinah for screening.

"O Believers: Know that that the idolaters (Mushriks) are unclean. Let them not approach the sacred mosque".....( 9:28) Muslims are not allowed to marry Mushrik man or woman.

"Do not marry Mushrik women until they become Muslims. A Muslim slave woman is better than a Mushrik woman even though she allures you. Nor marry (your girls) to Mushriks until they become Muslims. A Muslim slave is better than a Mushrik, even though he allures you. Mushriks invite you to the Hellfire. But Allah invites you by His grace to the gardens of (BLISS) and forgiveness." (2:221)

Islam considers Mushrik, the most discarded persons.

"The adulterer should marry only an adulteress or a Mushrik and the adulteress should marry only an adulterer or a Mushrik. Muslims are not allowed to marry such persons." (24:3) Quran admonishes Muslims not to socialize with Mushriks and follow their lifestyle. However, Islam allowsto have business relationships with extreme caution.

"If you were to obey them, you shall indeed become polytheist (Mushrik)". (6:121)

The reason Quran discourages mingling with Mushriks is, because they have been infected by Satan and will transmit the satanic germs to all those who will freely join them. "(Satan has) no authority over those who believe and put their trust in their Lord. He (Satan) only has power over those who befriendhim, and those who serve other gods besides Allah (i.e., Mushriks)". (16:99-100) Three Staunch Enemies of Shirk [Polytheism].

All the 124,000 Prophets, their successors, associates and the true followers effectively preached Tawhid [Pure Monotheism] and exhaustively fought Shirk [Polytheism], but THREE out of them will be remembered as the Heroes and Men of admirable exploits in the histor y of mankind.

The three Champions are:

1- Hazrat Ibrahim (as).

2- Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (sws)

3- Hazrat Ali (as).

Hazrat Ibrahim (as) embarked a historic war against the Shirk and idolatry. He alone destroyed all the idols which were being worshipped by his whole nation. Quran has quoted many of his beautiful scientific speeches which he gave to his nation denouncing the Shirk and idol-worship.

Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (sws) waged a grand and heroic war against all kinds of polytheism and taught pure and absolute monotheism, "There is no god but Allah, Who has no partner ".

Thousands of people rejected Shirk and accepted his message of Tawhid in his life time, and billions of people, since then, have followed his teaching of pure monotheism. He is the Hero of the Heroes.

HazratAli( as) destroyed all the 360 idols which were placed in the Kaaba. He made the historic announcement that no Mushrik is allowed to enter in the vicinity of sacred Kaaba. The Divine Order of Exclusion, declared by him,are enforced till today and will remain valid until the entire human race rejects polytheism and becomes Muslim.

One of the titles of Hazrat Ali (as) is Killer of Mushrikeens

MINOR SHIRK OR SHIRK-E-ASGHAR. [CONCEALED SHIRK]

The Holy Prophet and the 12 Imams have tightly sealed the Islamic faith to leave no way for penetration of shirk. Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881), a Scottish essayist, historian and great philosopher, writes in his famous book, 'On Heroes and hero-worship', that Prophet Muhammad (sws) has dismantled all man-made gods when he acquired the highest position and claimed that he is a human being.

The Holy Prophet made extensive effor ts that Muslims should never commit Shirk like the nations of the previous prophets. But despite his great effor ts of crushing Shirk, he expressed his fear that his Ummah will commit Shirk-e-Asghar. He, therefor, specifically cautioned about the Shirk-e-Asghar. The Holy Prophet (sws) said;

"Abstain from minor Polytheism. The worst thing which I fear for you is your hidden polytheism; so rise above it since among my followers polytheism is more secret than the creeping of the ant on a hard stone in the dark night."

What is Shirk-e-Asghar ?

Shirk-e-Asghar means hidden Shirk. A person commits Shirk-e-Asghar, when he says in words that there is no god except Allah, but his thoughts and action doesn't reflect his belief. The most apparent example of Shirk-e- Asghar, as mentioned by the Holy Prophet (sws), is Al-Riya (show-off). Riya means to do any work with the intention of the Ibadat (i.e., to please Allah) but in actuality to show the people or to please and gratify anyone else.

The Holy Prophet (sws) said;

"One who offers the ritual prayers in an ostentatious way is a polytheist. One who keeps the fast, or gives alms, or performs the Hajj to show the public his righteousness or to earn good name is a polytheist."

The Holy Quran warns

"Whoever hopes to meet his Lord, he should do good deeds, and not join anyone in the service of his Lord". (18:110)This verse shows that the fundamental ar ticle of faith is that man should do obedience and worship Him alone, and not include anyone in worship, or associate anyone else with God. In other words, if a person offers prayers or performs hajj or does any good act merely to show the public, then it is Shirk. If anyone intends to pray to a created being, he is a polytheist. Other examples of Shirk-e-Asghar are:

1- Lack of trust in Allah.

2- To depend on material resources.

3- To consider anyone other than Allah as his sole helper or savior.

4- To rely on secondary causesthat completely divert the attention from Allah (s.w.t).

In fact, all the above kinds of Shirk are interrelated and have emerged due to the weak Imaan and poor knowledge. Aperson who has no strong faith in Allah, will always build his hopes and fears on secondary causes. He thinks that power lies intrinsically in secondary causes. This is also a kind of polytheism.

Secondary causes means, the apparent source. For instance, the sun, air, water and plants are the basic source of life. Without them, living beings can not survive. It is a truth, which no one can deny. But if one considers them the first cause or the original source of life, then this is polytheism.

But if we believe that the power of the Sun and beneficial proper ties of air, water and plants are by the Power of Allah (swt), and that they are simply the means of life fixed by Him to enjoy His benevolence, then this is not polytheism. It is rather a form of worship. To pay attention to the signs of Allah (swt) is a prelude to attending to Allah (swt). A reference has been made in the verses of the Holy Quran to the fact that we should ponder in the creations of Allah (swt) to build up our faith in Him.

Imam Jafar-e-Sadiq (as) has beautifully explained, how to avoid this kind of Shirk. He said, if anyone saves your life and you feel obliged to thank him immensely (which is also necessary) thendon't say that, it is you who have saved my life. Instead of this, Imam said, you should say, I am indeed grateful to Allah that he saved my life through you, I pray Allah to give you full reward of your service.

This means that we must thank the person who makes himself available to offer help, but we must realize in the bottom of our hear t that the real source of help is Allah Subhanahu Taala, who made him available and capable to help me.

This is applied to all kinds of help and favors whether small or big. Thus, whenever, we seek help from anyone, be he a Prophet or Imams, we must bear this fact in mind that the help will come from Allah and that the entire matter depends on Allah's will. In other case, if we ask help from anyone, even the Prophet or Imam, which diver ts our attention from Allah (swt), then cer tainly it is a Shirk which has been strictly forbidden by The Holy Prophet (sws) and Imams.

All Shia ulamaa and scholars believe that if anyone considers the Prophet or Imam as being Allah or partners in His-self, or ignorantly portrays them like Allah, he is surely a Mushrik. Whenever we call our Imams for help, as they are alive by the grace of All-Mighty Allah, we consider them precisely the means of approaching Allah Taala. We seek the help of Allah Taala through them as they are the chosen ones. We never ask dua from them, but we ask dua from Allah through them. It is just like as we approach a doctor for some medical assistance, knowing that he has good knowledge and experience, but we never consider him God or like God, who can save us by his own power. However, if anyone does so, then he is a Mushrik, whether he does it knowingly or unknowingly.

It is very important to read the duas of our Imams who have educated us that we should always ask help from Allah and how to seek help from others without committing Shirk.

Amirul Mu'mineen HazratAli( as) says in his sermon no - 225 in Nahjul Balagha; "O Lord! You are the best Companion of those who love you; and the best source of remedy for all who place reliance onyou .... and if hardship and difficulty assail them, You alone are their refuge."

What is Shirk and What is notShirk ?

Some Muslims accuse Shias of committing Shirk, and call them Mushrik. They charge Shias on the grounds that they portray Imams as god. Of course if anyone does so then he is definitely a Mushrik. But this is definitely not true that Shia madhab portrays Imams as gods. They do a basic mistake in analyzing the Shia mazhab. They have formed their opinion about Shia mazhab from their observation of some Shia practices and not from the authentic books which truly describe basic faith of Shia madhab.

If one wishes to determine the faith of a community, he should not rely on uninformed people of that community or unconfirmed reports or unreliable books.

For example, a vast majority of Muslims in the world are uneducated, and many educated Muslims are not practicing Muslims. An ignorant non-Muslim can form a wrong opinion about Islam from this surface observation. He can wrongly conclude that Islam does not give importance to education. But the truth is just opposite. Islam considers education as the basic requirement of being a Muslim, but Muslims have not fulfilled this prerequisite condition, and it is their unforgivable sin, for which Islam can never be blamed.

Similarly, if Sunnis wish to know about Shi'ism, they should not end up their research on their surface observation. Sunnis must know that if they see any ignorant Shia doing something against the basic teachings of Quran, then it can not be the teaching of Shia mazhab or learned Ulema. The Shia mazhab can not be blamed for someone's performance who just claims that he is Shia. Also Sunnis should not just believe what they hear from unreliable people about Shia mazhab. The Quran clearly warns on this issue:

"O you who believe! if an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a person in ignorance, then feel sorry for what you have done." (49:6)Now let us analyze the allegation which says that Shias por tray Imams as gods. Can any normal person get confused if someone por trays Imams as gods, when Imams have made themselves an open book which everyone can read without any problem.

All our Imams have left for us a treasure of sermons, Duas, and hadiths which are more than enough to guide us and to keep us on the straight path. Only those can go astray who deliberately ignore the teachings of the Imams and do exactly what Imam has advised not to do.

No one can show any hadith or statement of Imam which says that Imams have advised their followers to ask dua's from them in a manner as one asks dua from God, or to praise them as one glorifies God.

Imams knew their noble position and status and for this reason they left a large number of duas so that no body should confuse the Imams with God due to their greatness. Here are some of the Duas of Imams which clearly show that Imams have left no room for the penetration of Shirk.

Munajat of Imam Ali (as)

All Shia and Sunni must read this dua of Hazrat Ali (as) in which Imam Ali(as) has made it very clear that, it is Allah alone and none other then Him, Who deserves to be worshipped, and all including the Prophets and the Imams approach Him for anything and ever ything, they need in this world and hereafter.

Translation of the Munajat of ImamAli( as)

1- O Allah, I am asking for your protection against the day when nothing like wealth or children will be of use and only that person will benefit who will come with a pure hear t.

2- And I am asking for your protection against the day when a wrongdoer will be biting the back of his hand in regret and will be saying, 'Oh, I wish I had chosen the way shown by the Prophet of Allah.

3- And I am asking for your protection against the day when sinners will be known by their faces, and will be taken by their hair and feet.

4- And I am asking for your protection against the Day when a father will not ser ve instead of his son nor will a son be punished instead of his father for anything, since Allah has promised thus and His promise is true.

5- And I am asking for your protection against the Day when apologizing of the wrongdoers will not do them any good and because of that they will be cursed and will be put in the evil abode (of Jahannum)

6- And I am askingYou for your protection against the day when nobody will have control over anybody and the power will belong to Allah (alone) that day.

Imam continues

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Master and I am the Slave,

and who else can be merciful to the Slave except the Master?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Owner and I am the one Owned by You. Who else can be merciful to the Owned except the Owner?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Mighty and I am the Low, who else can be merciful to the Low except the Mighty?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Creator and I am the Creature,

who else can be merciful to the Creature except the Creator?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Glorious and I am the Miserable,

who else can be merciful to the Miserable except the Glorious.

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Powerful and I am the Weak,

Who else can be merciful to the Weak except the Powerful?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Wealthy and I am the Poor,

who else can be merciful to the Poor except the Wealthy.

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Bestower, and I am the Beggar,

who else can be merciful to the Beggar, except the Bestower?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Living, and I am the Dead,

who else can be merciful to the Dead except the Living.

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Eternal, and I am the Transient,

who else can be merciful to the Transient except the Eternal.

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Permanent, and I am the one

Short-lived, who else can be merciful to the Shor t-lived except the Permanent?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Provider, and I am the Blessed,

who else can be merciful to the Blessed except the Provider?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Generous, and I am the Miser,

who else can be merciful to the Miser except the Generous?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Free, and I am the Afflicted,

Who else can be merciful to the Afflicted except the Free?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Great, and I am the Insignificant

Who else can be merciful to the Insignificant except the Great?

My Lord, O my Lord, You are the Leading, and I am the Straying,

Who else can be merciful to the Straying except theLeading.

My Lord, O my Lord Youare the Nourisher, and I am the Nourished,

who else can be merciful to the Nourished except the Nourisher?

My Lord, O my Lord,have mercy on me by Your Kindness, and be pleased with me by Your generosity and Your magnanimity and Your grace. O, the Generous, and Beneficent, O the Almighty and the Benefactor, by Your Mercy, O Most Kind.

After reading these duas of Ameer ul mumineen Hazrat Ali (as), no one but a mad man can call him god. Imam, who is the greatest and the most perfect man, has shown the depth of his humbleness and submission to Allah Subhanahu taala. He has beautifully demonstrated the truth that his greatnesslies in his servitude to Allah.

All Muslims without any difference of opinion consider Shirk a major sin. But there is a serious controversy among the Muslims over the issue of identifying the Shirk. There are many things which some Muslims consider Shirk while they are not Shirk. It is a pity that Muslims do not settle their differences rationally and honestly in the light of the Holy Quran. Let's discuss some of these controversies and misconceptions about Shirk which have caused a serious tension among the Muslims.

Is touching and kissing of the sacred objects aShirk ?

Is it Shirk to touch and kiss the iron bars and walls of the shrine of the Holy Prophet(sws), or the doors and walls of the shrines of Holy Imams, and the Taboot, Alum, and Tazia, of Imam Hussain ? Some Muslims consider the above acts as Shirk and do not allow the Muslims to do that in places which are under their control. Other Muslims consider such acts as an expression of deep love, respect and commitment.

Let us analyze it rationally in the light of the Holy Quran.

There are certain specific acts such as Sijda, Ruku, and Dua, which we solely do in front of Allah, to show our total submission to Him, and to seek all kinds of help from Him. Of course, all such acts have been strictly prohibited by the Holy Prophet (sws) and Holy Imams (as) to do for anyone other than Allah.

But touching and kissing are the common ways of showing love and affection for a thing or a person. We kiss and touch the Holy Quran and Hajar al Aswad. We kiss the hands of our parents. We kiss our children and others we love. No one says that it is a Shirk. Then, why is kissing and touching of the sacred objects being interpreted as Shirk? In fact, kissing and touching are the actions which are exclusively for the humans or material things and definitely not for Allah as He has no body, and He is not confined to any particular place.

Thus, kissing and touching the sacred material objects with emotional feelings is not Shirk. We very greatly love The Holy Prophet (sws) and the Holy Imams (as) but find no way to express our feelings, as they are not physically present among us. Hence, we kiss and touch with warm feelings of reverence to anything linked to them.

Thus, kissing of or touching Alam, Taboot, Tazia, and walls and doors of the mausoleum and Holy shrines of the Prophet and his Ahlal-bayait (as), is an expression of love and respect and definitely not shirk.

However, if anyone does not express his love for Imams in tradiditional manner as many Shias do, there is nothing wrong in it. The most impor tant thing is the true love with commitment of following the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (sws) and the HolyImams( as) and the real understanding that they are the staunch suppor ters of Tawhid and the mighty enemies of the Shirk.

Is visiting the Graves of Imams aShirk ?

Some Sunni Muslim brothers unknowingly charge Shias of committing Shirk when they visit the graves (Roza-e-Muqaddas) of the Holy Imams. The word Ziarat-e-Rauzai-Muqaddus of Imams, itself significantly shows that this par ticular act can not be a Shirk as the Rauza belongs to a person who is buried there. Ever yone knows that aperson who is buried, can never be a God but definitely a human being. Allah is free from birth and death and anything concerning birth and death solely belongs to a creature and not the creator.

Thus, Ziarat or visits to the graves of Imams is a strong proof in itself that we do not consider Imams as gods or a part of God.

Apart from this, if Sunni brothers sincerely and honestly read the whole procedure of Ziarat, they will not find any trace of Shirk but will witness the declaration and affirmation of Tawhid at each and every step of the Ziarat.

The prescribed instructions for a person doing Ziarat are as follows;

G When the pilgrim reaches the ditch ofKufa, he stands there and recites the following: Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great, the possessor of Greatness, Sublimity, and Eminence. Allah is most great, the possessor of Greatness, Holiness, Glory and Grace. Allah is Most Great above that which I fear. Allah is Most Great. He is my suppor t, on Him do I rely and in Himlies my hopes, and toward Him I return.

When the pilgrim reaches the Gate of Najaf, he shouldrecites :

Praisebe to Allah, Who guided us to this. We would not have been guided if Allah had not guided us.

When the pilgrim reaches the Gate of the sacred Courtyard, he should recite, after praising Allah: I bear witness that there is no god except Allah, the One. He has no par tner. I also bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and His Prophet. He brought us truth from Allah. I also bear witness that Ali is a servant of Allah and brother of the Prophet of Allah.

Allah is Most Great, Allah is Most Great,Allah is Most Great. There is no god except Allah, and Allah is Most Great. All praise is due to Him for His Guidance and His suppor t to respond to what He has revealed on the way to Him.

When the pilgrim reaches the gate of the mausoleum, he should recite:

I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, the One. He has no par tner with Him....... When, after having asked permission of Allah, the Prophet, and the Imams, the pilgrim reaches the inside of the mausoleum, recites various Ziarats which contain salutations to the Holy Prophet and the Commander of the Faithful. After Ziarat, he offerssix rak'ats of ritual prayers , two rak'at for the Commander of the Faithful and two rak'ats each for the Prophets Adam and Nooh, who are buried in the same precincts.

People must know that this salat is like another salat in which each and every action is solely for Allah Taala. This salat also is a mere confirmation that we believe in none other than Allah as the creator of the universe and everything and everyone.

This is the whole description of the visits of the sacred places which Shias perform solely for the pleasure of Allah Taala. Is there any element of Shirk in the whole performance of this great ibadat? Every honest Muslim will acknowledge that it is a pure Ibadat of Allah as from the time a pilgrim sets his foot on the soil of Najaf until after he offers his Namaz-e-Ziarat, he is constantly busy in the remembrance of Allah.

How to prove the oneness of God at school level. If there are two gods, then there should be two different types of major systems gover ning the mechanism of creation in the universe.

If there are three gods then there should be three different kinds of systems. And if there are many gods then we should find plenty of systems. But scientists have confirmed that they have seen only one system throughout the universe. Let us analyze the working mechanism of the creation.

Atom is the smallest indivisible and invisible par ticle of matter. It is a unit of matter. Scientists took 400 years just to know the secrets locked inside the atom. Still a lot of secrets are not yet disclosed and scientists are trying day and night to know them. Every atom in the universe is a complete sign of Divine creation. They all have a great organization, beauty and purpose in them.

Now we know that everything is made up of atoms. All objects consist of atoms. The billions of things we see around, natural or man-made, living or non-living, visible or invisible are made up of atoms. They differ widely from one another only because they are made up of different kinds of atoms or they have different arrangements of atoms.

Scientists have arranged the known atoms (elements) in the periodic table according to their atomic numbers. The atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom. It is a religious belief of all the scientists, that all atoms, which constitute billions of different kinds of natural and synthetic compounds, have the same basic structure. i.e., all atoms have one thing in common - they all have electrons (negatively charged par ticles) that whirl around the nucleus and protons (positively charged par ticles) and neutrons in the nucleus (core of the atom). They all follow the same rule of chemical combination to form billions of different kinds of substances.

Thus, when all atoms in the universe which are the basic raw material of ever ything that exist in the universe, have only one kind of machinery i.e., common working mechanism, it convincingly proves that they all have one and only one origin of creation. This scientific observation which is not disputed by any atheist scientist is a clear proof of oneness of God.

Thus Tawhid is a scientific belief of all scientists, when they are in their experimental labs, be they Christians in their Churches, Jews in their Synagogues, Hindus in their temples and atheists or polytheist in their imagination.

Quran also gives a very strong proof that why there should be only one God.

"Had there been other gods in heavens or earth besides Allah, there would have been confusion in both". (21:22)

Thus, a beautiful harmony in Nature and a perfect orderliness in the universe acknowledged by all scientists of the world is a strong proof of absolute oneness of God. "Say: I only call upon my Lord, and I do not associate anyone with Him". (72:20)