Prohibition of Shirk in Worship (3/4)
Shah Ismail Shaheed
Keeping people stand up in one's honor is prohibited:
It is reported on the authority of Mu'awiyah (May Allah have mercy on him) that Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon Him) said:
"Whosoever becomes pleased with the realization of fact that the people stand up (as a token of respect) before him like pictures (i.e. silent and immovable), let him have an abode in Hell-fire." (Reported by Tirmidhi)
It means that whoever so desires that the people should stand up before him as a token of respect with folded hands, becoming as immobile as statues, not budging an inch, observing a pin-drop silence and not even fluttering an eyelid, such a person is bound to taste Hell-fire, for he is laying a claim at Divinity and is looking forward to the kind of honor and dignity which Allah has specified for none but Himself. During a prayer, a person stands upright silently with folded hands without moving one's eyes in either direction. The posture of standing up is exclusively prescribed for the sole purpose of paying one's tributes to Allah the Almighty. Thus it becomes known to us that observing such a posture (standing up) before a person with an intention of giving him a respectful treatment is unfair and an act of Shirk.
Worshipping idols and the so-called "Sanctums of saints" is an act of Shirk:
It is reported on the authority of Thauban (May Allah have mercy on him) that Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon Him) said:
"The Doomsday shall not be heralded until the tribes of my Ummah join the polytheists and practice idolatry." (Reported by Tirmidhi).
Idols are of two kinds. Erecting someone's statue or his picture and worshipping it, is called Sanam in Arabic. Dedicating a thing, a place, a tree, a stone, a wooden ****** or a paper etc. to a certain deity and then worshipping it, is known as Wathan. A grave, a seat of a saint, a coffin, a stick, a Ta'zia, a flag, a Shaddah[1] the Hinna of Imam Qasim and Sheikh Abdul-Qadir, a raised platform of an Imam, the places where the teachers and preceptors are seated, are all included in Wathan. It also includes a shelf in the wall, a sign or a cannon dedicated to a martyr where a goat is sacrificed, or the places attributed to some diseases and dedicated to certain deities like Satila, Masani, Bhawani, Kali, Kalka and Barahi[2] etc. The worshipping of both Sanam and Wathn confirm one's Shirk. The noblest of the Prophets (Peace be upon Them) prophesied that the Muslims shall be involved in this kind of Shirk just prior to the Doomsday, contrary to the other polytheists like the Hindus or the erstwhile polytheists of the Arabian Peninsula. The people of both these kinds are polytheists and the enemies of Allah and the Prophet (Peace be upon Him).
Slaughtering an animal in a name other than that of Allah is a curse:
It is reported on the authority of Abu Tufail (May Allah have mercy on him) that Ali (May Allah have mercy on him) took out a book which contained a Hadith stating that:
"Whoever slaughtered an animal by invoking a name other than that of Allah, brings upon himself the curse of Allah." (Reported by Muslim)
It means that anyone who slaughters an animal in the name of a creature (to the exclusion of Allah the Almighty) is indeed an accursed and a condemned person.
Ali (May Allah have mercy on him) had written several Ahadith of Allah's Messenger (Peace be upon Him) in a note-book and this Hadith was one of those ones. Thus it becomes known to us that an animal becomes Halal (permissible and lawful for the human consumption) while the same is slaughtered by invoking only Allah's Name on it. Slaughtering an animal while invoking a name other than that of Allah is an act of Shirk and renders an animal thus slaughtered as unlawful. Similarly an animal which is dedicated to a deity other than Allah is unlawful even if Allah's Name is invoked on it while it is being slaughtered.
Indications heralding the advent of Doomsday:
It has been narrated by Aishah (May Allah be pleased with Her) that she heard Allah's Prophet (Peace be upon Him) saying:
"The day and night shall continue to chase each other until Al-Laat and Al-Uzza (names of two idols) are not worshipped again." She asked him, "O Allah's Prophet! Since Allah has revealed the verse, 'He it is Who sent His Messenger (Muhammad (Peace be upon Him)) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islamic Monotheism) to make it victorious over all (other) religions even though the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, and disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah and in His Messenger Muhammad (Peace be upon Him) hate (it).' I was predominantly of the view that this religion shall prevail until the end (without receding)." The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) answered, "This religion shall continue to thrive with the same magnificence as long as Allah wills it to be. Then Allah will send down a blissful and chaste breeze which, (in its wake) shall take away the lives of all who even possess merely an iota of Iman (Faith) in their hearts. Only the bad and vice-ridden people shall be spared to exist who will revert to the religion of their fore-fathers." (Reported by Muslim)
It implies that the sense which `Aishah (May Allah have mercy on her) inferred from the verse of Sural Al-Bara'ah (At-Taubah) is that Islam shall prevail until the Doomsday. The Prophet (Peace be upon Him) stated that Islam's supremacy shall persist as long as Allah wills it to be. Then Allah will send down a blissful and chaste breeze which will end the lives of all those having the least amount of Faith whereas the vice-ridden and irreligious people shall be spared to live on. The hearts of these people shall be devoid of the dignity of the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) nor shall they have any interest in religion. They shall eagerly snap on the customs and rituals of their grand-fathers who were none other than the ignorant polytheists. A man who adopts the ways of the polytheists will naturally become one of them. Thus it becomes known to us that the old polytheism shall also be wide-spread during the concluding periodic phase of the world. Presently, all kinds of Shirk (both the ancient and new ones) are rampant among the Muslims. What the Prophet (Peace be upon Him) prophesied earlier seems to be coming true now. For instance, the Muslims are treating Prophets, saints, Imam and martyrs etc. polytheistically. Similarly the old polytheism also seems to be gaining ground as the Muslims deify and believe in the idols peculiarly belonging to the polytheists and follow their rituals, i.e. consulting pundits about the future events, taking something as a bad omen, believing in propitious hours (hours of happy augury to commence an event or activity), worshipping Satila and Masani, invoking the so-called deities like Hanuman, Noona[3] and Kalwa, observing the festivals of Holi, Diwali, Nauroze and Maharjan[4], believing in the foreboding evil of the moon entering into the zodiac of scorpion and cherishing a belief that the last few days of a lunar month (in which the moon is not visible) are ill-fated. All these myths and superstitions originally belong to the Hindus which are now rife among the Muslims. Thus it becomes known to us that the Muslims shall be indulged into committing Shirk in such a manner that they shall abide by the customs of their forefathers by putting aside the injunctions and teachings of Qur'an and Hadith.
(Continued)
[1] It is a flag which accompanies Ta'ziya commemorating the martyrs of Karbala.
[2] These are the different goddesses of the Hindus:
Satila: A goddess of smallpox. In case this epidemic breaks out, her worship is conducted as a precaution to ward off the ailment.
Masani: According to the Hindu faith, Satila had seven sisters. Masani is one of them. She was considered the goddess of chicken pox or the goddess of younger sister. Bhawani, Kali, and Kalka are also among the several goddesses of Hindus.
Barahi: The name of a goddess of diseases amont the Hindus which is worshipped and propitiated so that she may obviate the diseases.
May be someone is intrigued with a question as to why Shah Shaheed (May Allah have mercy on him)made the mention of the customs among the Hindus. The answer to this question is that the Muslims, on many occasions, adopted Hindu customs as a result of following them, a fact which he himself points out to later on.
[3] Luna or Noona Chamari was a witch of Bengal.
[4] 'Nauroze' and 'Maharjan' are the festivals of Persians. The intromission of moon into the zodiac of scorpion was considered to be a bad omen.