Believers Commit Shirk

بسم ٱلله ٱلرحمن ٱلرحيم مؤمنين يشركن

By: Triple A (أحمد عبد ٱلأول)

و ما يؤمب اكثرهم بالله الا و هم مشركون

And most who believe in Allaah they also associate with him 12:106

That is a very strong Qur’aanic verse. One statement constitutes the entire verse, coming directly from Allaah and not a hadiyth of what someone else said. Every Muslim who has read that verse should have given considerable thought to it. Unfortunately I don’t think that’s the case for the majority of Muslims, and if they thought of it at all their response was probably on the order of “that’s talking about someone else, not me.” Considering the amount of Muslims in the world who supposedly read The Qur’aan, how could so much bloodshed and oppression exist that they are involved in? The answer would appear to be; they do not think about what they read, or do not believe what they read in The Qur’aan, or both. There is a third possibility but I will go into it later. My belief is it’s a combination of factors and each factor is Shirk.

I believe it’s a fact that most Muslims do not study The Qur’aan. The Qur’aan is no longer held in esteem as it once was, is no longer sacred, is only a book for show. For far too many Muslims respect for The Qur’aan means not to sit anything on top of it, always carry it in your right hand, and always put it somewhere high when it is not being read. Qur’aanic verses are good for use in salaat (prescribed prayer), at funerals, the two yearly Id celebrations, but not as guides for their daily lives; they have something else for that.

ذالك الكتاب لا ريب فيه هدى للمتقين

This is The Decree which has nothing doubtful in it, it is guidance to those who reverence Allaah 2:2

Verse 2:2 says that The Qur’aan is guidance for those who revere Allaah. How can it be the guidance and how is Allaah being revered if Muslims prefer to follow and obey other than The Qur’aan? Muslims have consciously chosen Allaah’s creation over him. Muslims are quick to turn to scholars, Amir’s (whom they call leaders), Imaam’s, and writers for their guidance, and quote extensively from those sources. What is strange is that the very ones whom they turn to are no more than persons they chose to rely on. They were the ones who chose them and not Allaah. They chose them and, placed them on the pedestal, choosing them and their words above Al Rahmaan (Allaah). They chose others over Allaah thereby choosing to be Mushrikiyn (people who associate others with Allaah). They made themselves the ones in verse 12:106 despite being forewarned against it. They disobeyed Allaah and made Kaafiriyn of themselves (people who do not believe Allaah) in addition to already being Mushrikiyn. It may be the reason why Muslims do not study The Qur’aan is because they can’t read. Is there some other logical explanation available?

ما جعل الله لرجل من قلبين فى جوفه

Allaah has not made for any man two hearts in his body 33:4

Where are the hearts of Muslims today? Are the hearts of Muslims with Allaah or with others than him? The heart this verse is referring to is not the physical organ or muscle that pumps blood throughout the body, it is the spiritual heart and it pumps spiritual blood throughout the spiritual body. This heart has the ability to love, can’t be divided, and will remain only one. This spiritual heart can not go in two directions at the same time. If it is filled with love for Allaah then Allaah is the companion of that heart and it will spurn the advances of any other suitors for its affection. If the spiritual heart is filled with love for Allaah there is no chance of its committing infidelity. Were you aware that the word infidel shares the same etymology as infidelity? So, where are the hearts of Muslims today? Are they faithful to their hearts companion or are they committing infidelity? The verse says there is only one heart in the body; examine yours to see who its lover is! Are you an infidel?

و تضحكون و لا تبكون

And will you laugh and not weep 53:60

Muslims believe that because they recited “shahaadatayn” (there is no God but Allaah and Muhammad is his Deliverer) in Arabic at some point in their lives it made them Muslims. They also believe, from that recitation in Arabic and having become Muslims they automatically became Muw’’miniyn (believers) also, and that Muslims and Muw’’miniyn are forever protected from the fires of hell. They have become convinced of those assertions. If those assumptions are correct; why then do so many verses in The Qur’aan commence with “O you who believe” and are ‘warning verses’? Those verses are not mistakes, just as verse 12:106 isn’t. That is Allaah warning us over and over again not to be complacent. Allaah wants to be the companion of our Spiritual Heart, but can’t be if we don’t let him, and he is warning us not to commit infidelity to him by committing shirk. We are warned in various ways to avoid shirk for two reasons, two decrees, one for the future and one from the past.

ان الله لا يغفر ان يشرك به و يغفر ما دون ذالك لمن يشآء

Verily Allaah forgives not associating with him, but forgives other than that to whomsoever he chooses 4:48

و اذ اخذ ربك من بني ءادم من ظهورهم ذريتهم و اشهدهم على انفسهم الست بربكم قالوا بلى شهدنآ ان تقولوا يوم القيامة انا كنا عن هاذا غافلين

And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their loins, their offspring / descendants,

and made them bear witness against themselves saying,

"Am I not your Lord",

they said “yes, we bear witness” 7:172

In the first paragraph I spoke of a possible third reason and it might be appropriate to deal with it now, its being the Muslims Qur’aanic illiteracy. For some, the cause of this illiteracy is laziness by allowing someone else to interpret The Qur’aan for them. For some others it is also laziness, but it is from not engaging in the jihaad to learn Arabic and thus being able to read Al Qur’aan as it was intended to be. I was one of those; I occupied a front row seat in both these categories for over twenty years. I don’t mind exposing myself to you if it will help, because both reasons are detrimental for Muslims. The first laziness allowed me to accept that what I was being told by fellow Muslims was Islaamicly correct and the second laziness allowed me to believe that a person who had been chosen by a congregation to fill the position of Imaam (leader) also meant that person was both knowledgeable and sincere. I had to discover for myself that both assumptions were false. For over twenty years I was content to read The Qur’aan but not Al Qur’aan. The difference between the two is that The Qur’aan is in a language other than Arabic, it has been interpreted, and Al Qur’aan is in Arabic, as Allaah sent it down, and the differences between the two can be as great as that of night and day. Over those years I had read a good number of English editions of The Qur’aan and I still own and read them, but Al Qur’aan, it’s just not the same. If a person is literate in Arabic only one Al Qur’aan is even necessary, and there is no chance of confusion from different interpretations based on the perspectives of the translators. There are nuances in Al Qur’aan that can not be manifested in interpretations, there are other reasons as well and you can read about them in “Interpreting Al Qur’aan.” I also believe there are blessings to be had, if you are sincere, when reading Al Qur’aan, one of which is the ability to ‘study the word of Allaah’, which is impossible with an interpretation. If you’re sincere you will get something from the interpretations (read My Journey) but you will not get the fullness of what Allaah actually put in it. The following three verses direct us to assurance, protection from evil, and comprehension, they are generalized in the words of the verses, but what is beyond the words is infinite, unexplainable in mere words, and can only be accessed by a sincere heart. Please take note of what each of the following three verses have in common, and they are not the only ones with that commonality. Are you willing to become literate to Allaah’s word? Try it yourself - accept Allaah, and reject shirk.

انآ انزلناه قرآنا عربيا لعلكم تعقلون

Verily we have sent down the Arabic Qur'aan to you so that you can understand 12:2

قرآنا عربيا غيرذى عوج لعلهم يتقون

An Arabic Qur'aan free from flaws so that they can guard against evil 39:28

كتاب فصلت آياته قرآنا عربيا لقوم يعلمون

A book of detailed verses an Arabic Qur'aan to people of knowledge 41:3

There is a technique I call ‘flipping the scrip’ by which I will take a verse or phrase and rearrange it in different ways to help me gain a deeper understanding of its message. I will sometimes ‘flip the script’ by additions, such as adding the name Muhammad or the name of a different Deliverer or Receiver where one is not mentioned. Or I might substitute an implicit Deliverer or Receiver for another. I only cited two methods here, I don’t want to give away all my little secrets and spoil the enjoyment for you, but the point is that I develop methods to help see a broader picture. There’s no reason why Al Islaam, Al Qur’aan, and obeying Allaah should not be enjoyable. Verse 12:106 was a verse that was shocking for me, and by ‘flipping the script’ it became even more so, especially since I had read the verse numerous times over the years and had not gotten the message. ‘Flipping the script’ of verse 12:106 enabled me to answer the questions, who are being referred to, which believers, what time period? Al Qur’aan was sent down to Deliverer Muhammad; I flipped the script and saw the believers being referred to were those previous to the revelation of Al Qur’aan, those of Muhammad’s time, and those of later times. The verse is referring to believers irrespective of time or geography; it’s inclusive of past, present, and any future believers. My conclusion is based on the fact that no exclusions are mentioned in the verse. Do you understand the implications? The very ones that Muslims place so much faith in the reliability and righteousness of are included. The same ones who are believed to have such amazing memories and are unquestionably relied on - if they were even the ones who recounted the stories in those countless ahaadiyth (stories about Deliverer Muhammad) in the first place - which Muslims use to justify their following of what they supposedly said over what Allaah did say in Al Qur’aan, they are included. That’s right; I’m referring to the Saahibiyn (companions)! There are no exceptions or exclusions in verse 12:106, therefore the Saahibiyn are included with everyone else.

There’s a phenomenon that is impossible for me to understand. I’ve put a great deal of thought into it yet it still eludes me; it goes directly to the heart of verse 12:106. Why is it so easy for humankind to follow humankind and nearly impossible to follow Allaah? Why do Muslims so strongly resist the grace and guidance of our Lord and instead feverously rush to follow man, like the rodents in the story of The Pied Piper, and to their own destruction?

و لا يأمركم تتخذوا الملآءكة و النبين اربابا ايأمركم بالكفر بعد اذ انتم مسلمون

And would he command you to take Angels and Receivers for Lords,

would he command you to disbelief after you have submitted 3:80

If Muslims are not to take the ones who are near to Allaah - those whom he has personally chosen - over him, how can they justify taking the ones that ‘they have chosen’ over Allaah and Al Qur’aan? Yes, my co-Muslims are really full of it. They’re full of Shirk!

و من يشرك بالله فقد افترى اثما عظيما

but whoever associates with Allaah has definitely fabricated a great sin 4:48

و من الناس من يتخذ من دون الله اندادا يحبونهم كحب الله و الذين ءامنوا اشد حبا لله

Yet there are men who take others besides Allaah as equal they love them as they should love Allaah,

but those who believe are firm in their love to God 2:165