Here the question arises: Can the Muslim Ummah fall into Shirk? The answer is yes, because many Hadiths of the Prophet ﷺ point towards this:
① Sayyiduna Abu Huraira رضي الله عنه narrated that the Prophet ﷺ said: The Day of Judgment will not come until the women of the tribe of Daws circumambulate around Dhu al-Khalasa (i.e., they will perform Tawaf around it). Dhu al-Khalasa was an idol of the tribe of Daws which they used to worship during the time of Jahiliyyah.
Reference: Bukhari, Book of Tribulations, Chapter: The Change of Time Until Idols Are Worshipped: 7116, Muslim, Book of Tribulations, Chapter: The Hour Will Not Be Established Until Daws Worship Dhu al-Khalasa: 2906
② لا تقوم الساعة حتى تلحق قبائل من أمتي بالمشركين و حتى يعبدوا الأوثان
The Day of Judgment will not come until some tribes of my Ummah join the polytheists and worship idols.
Reference: Tirmidhi, Book of Tribulations, Chapter: What Has Been Reported That the Hour Will Not Be Established Until Liars Appear: 2219
③ You will follow the ways of the previous people step by step, hand in hand, until if they enter the hole of a horned bull, you will also enter it.” The Companions رضي الله عنهم said: O beloved Messenger of Allah ﷺ! Do you mean the Jews and Christians by the previous people? You ﷺ said: “Who else?”
Reference: Bukhari, Book of Adherence to the Book and Sunnah, Chapter: The Prophet’s Saying ﷺ: You will follow the ways of those before you: 7320, 3456], [Muslim, Book of Knowledge, Chapter: Following the ways of Jews and Christians: 2669
And in the Quran, it is mentioned repeatedly that Jews and Christians are polytheists. The following verses of the Quran clearly show that the People of the Book, Jews and Christians, committed shirk (polytheism).
They are committing shirk in judgment:
[قَاتِلُوا الَّذِیۡنَ لَا یُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِاللّٰہِ وَ لَا بِالۡیَوۡمِ الۡاٰخِرِ وَ لَا یُحَرِّمُوۡنَ مَا حَرَّمَ اللّٰہُ وَ رَسُوۡلُہٗ وَ لَا یَدِیۡنُوۡنَ دِیۡنَ الۡحَقِّ مِنَ الَّذِیۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الۡکِتٰبَ حَتّٰی یُعۡطُوا الۡجِزۡیَۃَ عَنۡ یَّدٍ وَّ ہُمۡ صٰغِرُوۡنَ]،[وَ قَالَتِ الۡیَہُوۡدُ عُزَیۡرُۨ ابۡنُ اللّٰہِ وَ قَالَتِ النَّصٰرَی الۡمَسِیۡحُ ابۡنُ اللّٰہِ ؕ ذٰلِکَ قَوۡلُہُمۡ بِاَفۡوَاہِہِمۡ ۚ یُضَاہِـُٔوۡنَ قَوۡلَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَفَرُوۡا مِنۡ قَبۡلُ ؕ قٰتَلَہُمُ اللّٰہُ ۚ۫ اَنّٰی یُؤۡفَکُوۡنَ]،[اِتَّخَذُوۡۤا اَحۡبَارَہُمۡ وَ رُہۡبَانَہُمۡ اَرۡبَابًا مِّنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ وَ الۡمَسِیۡحَ ابۡنَ مَرۡیَمَ ۚ وَ مَاۤ اُمِرُوۡۤا اِلَّا لِیَعۡبُدُوۡۤا اِلٰـہًا وَّاحِدًا ۚ لَاۤ اِلٰہَ اِلَّا ہُوَ ؕ سُبۡحٰنَہٗ عَمَّا یُشۡرِکُوۡنَ]
[Fight those who do not believe in Allah nor in the Last Day, nor forbid what Allah and His Messenger have forbidden, nor follow the religion of truth, from among the People who were given the Scripture, until they pay the jizyah with willing submission and feel themselves subdued], [And the Jews say, "Ezra is the son of Allah," and the Christians say, "The Messiah is the son of Allah." That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved before. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?], [They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.]
Reference: At-Tawbah: 29 to 31
From the above verses, the following points emerge:
① The People of the Book do not believe in Allah and the Resurrection because they are polytheists.
② The People of the Book committed shirk in the Divine Essence.
③ Doing so is disbelief and polytheism.
④ Instead of obeying Allah’s commands, they obeyed their clerics and ascetics (spiritual leaders).
⑤ They made Jesus عليه السلام their Lord (i.e., their provider).
⑥ They committed shirk in worship.
They are committing shirk in the Divine Essence, as has been explained above.
Further references:
Reference: Al-Ma'idah: 17, 72 to 77], [Al-Baqarah: 117, 116], [An-Nisa: 171 to 173], [Yunus: 68 to 70], [Al-Kahf: 5, 4], [Maryam: 36, 35 and 88 to 95]
They are committing shirk in worship as has been explained above.
(For further references see:
Reference: Al-Ma'idah: 117, 116], [Al-Baqarah: 83, 133 to 138], [Aal Imran: 62 to 64, 80, 79], [An-Nisa: 172, 171], [Al-Ma'idah: 72 to 77]
They are committing shirk in control and authority:
[لَقَدۡ کَفَرَ الَّذِیۡنَ قَالُوۡۤا اِنَّ اللّٰہَ ہُوَ الۡمَسِیۡحُ ابۡنُ مَرۡیَمَ ؕ وَ قَالَ الۡمَسِیۡحُ یٰبَنِیۡۤ اِسۡرَآءِیۡلَ اعۡبُدُوا اللّٰہَ رَبِّیۡ وَ رَبَّکُمۡ ؕ اِنَّہٗ مَنۡ یُّشۡرِکۡ بِاللّٰہِ فَقَدۡ حَرَّمَ اللّٰہُ عَلَیۡہِ الۡجَنَّۃَ وَ مَاۡوٰىہُ النَّارُ ؕ وَ مَا لِلظّٰلِمِیۡنَ مِنۡ اَنۡصَارٍ]،[لَقَدۡ کَفَرَ الَّذِیۡنَ قَالُوۡۤا اِنَّ اللّٰہَ ثَالِثُ ثَلٰثَۃٍ ۘ وَ مَا مِنۡ اِلٰہٍ اِلَّاۤ اِلٰہٌ وَّاحِدٌ ؕ وَ اِنۡ لَّمۡ یَنۡتَہُوۡا عَمَّا یَقُوۡلُوۡنَ لَیَمَسَّنَّ الَّذِیۡنَ کَفَرُوۡا مِنۡہُمۡ عَذَابٌ اَلِیۡمٌ]،[اَفَلَا یَتُوۡبُوۡنَ اِلَی اللّٰہِ وَ یَسۡتَغۡفِرُوۡنَہٗ ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ غَفُوۡرٌ رَّحِیۡمٌ]،[مَا الۡمَسِیۡحُ ابۡنُ مَرۡیَمَ اِلَّا رَسُوۡلٌ ۚ قَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِنۡ قَبۡلِہِ الرُّسُلُ ؕ وَ اُمُّہٗ صِدِّیۡقَۃٌ ؕ کَانَا یَاۡکُلٰنِ الطَّعَامَ ؕ اُنۡظُرۡ کَیۡفَ نُبَیِّنُ لَہُمُ الۡاٰیٰتِ ثُمَّ انۡظُرۡ اَنّٰی یُؤۡفَکُوۡنَ]،[قُلۡ اَتَعۡبُدُوۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ مَا لَا یَمۡلِکُ لَکُمۡ ضَرًّا وَّ لَا نَفۡعًا ؕ وَ اللّٰہُ ہُوَ السَّمِیۡعُ الۡعَلِیۡمُ]،[قُلۡ یٰۤاَہۡلَ الۡکِتٰبِ لَا تَغۡلُوۡا فِیۡ دِیۡنِکُمۡ غَیۡرَ الۡحَقِّ وَ لَا تَتَّبِعُوۡۤا اَہۡوَآءَ قَوۡمٍ قَدۡ ضَلُّوۡا مِنۡ قَبۡلُ وَ اَضَلُّوۡا کَثِیۡرًا وَّ ضَلُّوۡا عَنۡ سَوَآءِ السَّبِیۡلِ]
[Undoubtedly, those who said, "Indeed, Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary," have certainly disbelieved. And the Messiah said, "O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord." Indeed, whoever associates others with Allah - Allah has forbidden Paradise for him, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.] [Undoubtedly, those who said, "Indeed, Allah is the third of three," have certainly disbelieved. And there is no deity except one deity. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.] [So will they not repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.] [The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; [other] messengers have passed on before him. And his mother was a supporter of truth. They both used to eat food. See how We make clear to them the signs; then see how they are deluded.] [Say, "Do you worship besides Allah that which holds for you no power of harm or benefit while Allah is the Hearing, the Knowing?"] [Say, "O People of the Scripture, do not exceed limits in your religion beyond the truth and do not follow the inclinations of a people who had gone astray before and misled many and have strayed from the soundness of the way."]
Reference: Surah Al-Ma'idah: 72 to 77
From these verses, the following points emerge:
① To hold the belief that the Prophet is Allah in human form is disbelief.
② Worship is only permissible for Allah alone.
③ Allah is the Lord (i.e., the Provider) of the Prophets as well as of all other people.
④ Christians are polytheists, and whoever commits shirk is forbidden Paradise.
⑥ Shirk is to worship others besides Allah, to consider others besides Allah as providers.
⑥ There is no deity except Allah; He alone is the only deity.
⑦ If a polytheist repents and seeks forgiveness from Allah, Allah forgives him.
⑧ Allah Almighty sent many messengers; they used to eat food, so they were not from the essence of Allah.
⑨ Worship of the prophets is forbidden because they are not the owners of benefit and harm.
⑩ Worship of the prophets is also forbidden because only Allah Almighty hears and knows the calls and conditions of people.
⑪ Min doon Allah (i.e., other than Allah) here refers to Sayyiduna Isa (Jesus) peace be upon him and Sayyida Maryam (Mary) peace be upon her.
⑫ Christians exaggerated in the matter of Sayyiduna Isa (Jesus) peace be upon him and Sayyida Maryam (Mary) peace be upon her, meaning they gave them the rights that belonged to Allah.
⑬ Instead of obeying Allah's commands, Christians followed the desires of others.
⑭ Those who did so themselves went astray and also led others astray.
- Since the People of the Book are polytheists: therefore, they do not believe in Allah and the Day of Resurrection, as has been explained above. This ruling applies to every polytheist, such as the polytheists of Mecca, even though they all claim to be followers of the Abrahamic faith. See: Reference: (Tafseer Muradabadi:135/2, F(246)
- They are committing shirk in knowledge: as mentioned in Reference: (Surah Al-Ma'idah:117,116), on the Day of Resurrection Allah will ask Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), "O Jesus! Did you command your people to worship Me and My mother Mary (peace be upon her)?" Then Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) will say before Allah on the Day of Judgment, "I only commanded them to worship Allah, who is my Lord and your Lord, but after You took me up, You know best what they did, I do not know."
- The People of the Book are exaggerating: as has been explained above. Exaggeration means abandoning the path of moderation, which can be in the form of excess or deficiency.
- For exaggeration see:Reference: (An-Nisa:171 to 175), (Al-Ma'idah:72 to 77)
[*]The Christians call Jesus (peace be upon him):Reference: (Bani Isra'il:57,56), (see: Tafseer Muradabadi and translation by Ahmad Raza Khan Sahib)
It should be noted here that the word ،،یدعون،، means to call out, as Muradabadi Sahib wrote under these verses
Reference: Faida 118
. Here, it is written in Muradabadi Sahib's tafsir that the People of the Book call upon Jesus (peace be upon him) and Uzair (peace be upon him). And[وَّ اَنَّ الۡمَسٰجِدَ لِلّٰہِ فَلَا تَدۡعُوۡا مَعَ اللّٰہِ اَحَدًا]،[وَّ اَنَّہٗ لَمَّا قَامَ عَبۡدُ اللّٰہِ یَدۡعُوۡہُ کَادُوۡا یَکُوۡنُوۡنَ عَلَیۡہِ لِبَدًا]،[قُلۡ اِنَّمَاۤ اَدۡعُوۡا رَبِّیۡ وَ لَاۤ اُشۡرِکُ بِہٖۤ اَحَدًا]،[قُلۡ اِنِّیۡ لَاۤ اَمۡلِکُ لَکُمۡ ضَرًّا وَّ لَا رَشَدًا]
[And that the mosques are for Allah, so do not call upon anyone with Allah], [and the matter is that when Allah's servant stood up, he was called upon, and they were about to fall upon him in layers], [Say, I only call upon my Lord and I do not associate anyone with Him], [Say, indeed I do not have power to harm you or to bring you benefit]
Reference: Al-Jinn: 18 to 21
Under these verses of the Holy Quran, in Ahmad Raza Khan Sahib's tafsir it is written: Just as it was the way of the Jews and Christians that they committed shirk in their churches and places of worship. This means that they called upon others besides Allah in their places of worship, just as nowadays some people of the Muslim Ummah are calling upon others besides Allah in mosques.
Some people among the Muslim Ummah are also committing shirk. We will prove from the Quran, authentic Hadith, and books of Fiqh that some people among the Muslim Ummah are doing the same as the People of the Book, and the above-mentioned Hadith of the Prophet of Arabia ﷺ that you will follow the ways of the previous Ummah is proving to be one hundred percent correct. It should be noted that Christians call Jesus عليه السلام as we have explained in detail, and Allah Almighty has called them polytheists and disbelievers in the Quran because of this. Now, those who say with the Kalima, "Allah Almighty help," or "O Messenger of Allah help," or "O Ali help," or "O Ghaus-e-Azam help," have certainly become polytheists according to the Quran.
① Some individuals, out of misunderstanding, wrote that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ said that monotheism has permeated the veins and arteries of my Ummah to such an extent that I have absolutely no fear of them returning to polytheism. Similarly, some other people cite the part of the hadith narrated by Mardiyah Aqbah bin Aamir رضي الله عنه in
Reference: (Bukhari, Book of Funerals: 1344)
, where the Prophet ﷺ said: "By Allah! I do not fear for you that you will commit polytheism after me, but I fear that you will compete with one another in worldly matters," and they present it as if the Muslim Ummah can never commit polytheism, along with other similar hadiths.Refutation: When these hadiths and those hadiths in which the Prophet ﷺ said that my Ummah will commit shirk are considered, along with the verses of the Holy Quran in which the People of the Book are called polytheists and disbelievers, the overall review shows that the Muslim Ummah as a whole will not become polytheists, but rather some individuals among the Ummah will commit shirk, and some tribes will start idol worship. The commentator of Bukhari, Hafiz Ibn Hajar Asqalani, may Allah have mercy on him, states: The Prophet’s ﷺ statement: "I do not fear shirk for you" means that you will not commit shirk collectively, because shirk has occurred from some individuals among the Muslim Ummah. May Allah protect us in His refuge.
Reference: (Fath al-Bari:211)
And Allama Badr al-Din Ayni Hanafi also wrote the same.
Reference: (Umdat al-Qari Sharh Sahih Bukhari:157/8)
And Allama Abu al-Abbas Ahmad bin Muhammad al-Qastalani also wrote the same.
Reference: (Irshad al-Sari li Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari:440/2)
From the explanations of the Imams and Muhaddithin, it is understood that the Muslim Ummah as a whole will not become polytheistic; however, some individuals and tribes will commit shirk, just as nowadays many people are involved in shirk by seeking help from the people of the graves, supplicating to them, making vows and offerings, etc. They are doing exactly the same acts for which the polytheists of Makkah and the Jews and Christians were called mushrik (polytheists) by Allah in the Qur'an, even though they all claimed to be followers of the religion of Ibrahim. (See:
Reference: Translation with Tafsir by Ahmad Raza Khan Sahib: (Al-An'am:161), (Al-Baqarah:135), (Aal Imran:67)
). The meaning of these ahadith could also be that after the Prophet, the companions (may Allah be pleased with them) will not commit shirk because they were the primary addressees of this matter.
