Question # 593: The topic of shirk and 2 instances of shirk that may have been avoided with due diligence.
1st instance – One is going through regularly break ups, when looking to get engaged and married, so family assume he has black magic on him. He is misled by family into visiting a sheikh or “Aamil” thinking that they are seeking protection against black magic through halal means and through the use of a taweez. He trusts his family as his sister regularly visits this sheikhs and doesn’t do any research about him. Upon the first visit this person consults a friend who says, “it’s strange how he described you he probably deals with Jin”, and was suspicious of this sheikh, this person in a state of shock replies “I wouldn’t be surprised” . This friend also disputed the taweez, but this person asked family and they confirmed that the taweez has Quran in it and its use is to ward off black magic via the quranic verses. So the friend then said there is an opinion that allows it in the 4 schools of thought so it can’t be called haram or shirk, as-long as there’s a valid opinion. The friend also suggested to open the taweez to which this person said he couldn’t as he was informed it would have to be made again and may undo the “blessing”. Based on this information the person then still went to the sheikh despite suspicion and doubt now and dealt with him and few times despite not completely believing in him as a reputable sheikh anymore. After the relationship didn’t work he stopped dealing with him and warned family to stop going.
2nd instance – A few years later this same person is now in a happy relationship and his mother insists on getting him a taweez that will help protect him from the evil eye. He is against it and as she persists he says only if he doesn’t visit a “sheikh” and only if she is sure there is Quran in there. She confirms she knows these people well and trusts the sheikh. He again trusts the mother and this taweez she places this taweez in his pillow case.
Months later he runs into a ruqyah sheikh who insists it is all haram and requests opening the taweez. The taweez is opened and he states that it contains names of shaitans and infact at the same time also confirms the first sheikh that this person visited also does taweez with shirk as he has seen the contents of that sheikhs taweez.
In these two instances is this person guilty of shirk? As had he acted on his suspicions he would avoided both instances.Some sources may say the act itself is shirk but the person himself is guilty of a minor sin of negligence at worst. Or a simple error in judgement due to coercion at the least. If you could please provide clarity on the matter sheikh. Other sources saying holding a taweez regardless of intention is shirk but one must have clear knowledge of it. Does he constitute having clear knowledge in this scenario?
Bismi-llahi r-raḥmani r-raḥīm,
Assalamu ‘laikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
All praise and thanks are due to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), and peace and blessings be upon His Messenger (صلى الله عليه و سلم).
Dear questioner,
First of all, we implore Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) to help us serve His cause and render our work for His sake.
Shorter Answer: The person described in these scenarios is not considered guilty of shirk, based on authentic references from the Qur’an, Sunnah, and classical scholarly opinions. The decisive factors are the person’s intent, ignorance of the actual content, coercion, and lack of clear knowledge regarding the taweez (amulets) involved in both instances. Also, please refer to Question # 469: Wearing Amulets (Ta’wiz; Ta’widh) and Repentance from Shirk.
Long Answer: One of the most important obligations is to know the meaning of shirk, its seriousness, and its different types, so that our Tawheed (belief in the Oneness of Allah) and our Islam may be complete, and our faith may be sound.
Definition and Types of Shirk
Shirk in Islam means associating partners with Allah in worship, Lordship, or His attributes, and it is the gravest sin. Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says in the Qur’an: “Verily, Allah forgives not the sin of setting up partners in worship with Him, but He forgives whom He wills sins other than that…” (Soorah An-Nisa’a, 4:116). Islamically, shirk can be classified as:
- Major Shirk: This means ascribing to someone other than Allah something that belongs only to Allah, such as Lordship (rububiyyah), divinity (uluhiyyah) and the divine names and attributes (al-asma’ wa’l-sifat). This kind of shirk may sometimes be outward, such as the shirk of those who worship idols and graves, or the dead or absent. Or it may sometimes be hidden, such as those who put their trust in other gods besides Allah, or the shirk and kufr of the hypocrites. [It takes one outside of Islam.]
- Minor Shirk: This includes everything that may lead to major shirk, or which is described in the texts as being shirk, but does not reach the extent of being major shirk. This does not expel a person from Islam, but it is a major sin. This is usually [includes the following]:
- It may also take the form of beliefs, such as the belief that something may be a cause of bringing benefit or warding off harm, when Allah has not made it so; or believing that there is barakah (blessing) in a thing, when Allah has not made it so.
- It sometimes takes the form of words, such as when they said, “We have been given rain by such and such a star,” without believing that the stars could independently cause rain to fall; or swearing by something other than Allah, without believing in venerating the thing sworn by or regarding it as equal with Allah; or saying, “Whatever Allah wills and you will,” and so on.
- It sometimes takes the form of actions, such as hanging up amulets or wearing a talisman or string to dispel or ward off calamity, because everyone who attributes powers to a thing when Allah has not made it so, either according to shari’ah or according to the laws of the universe, has associated something with Allah. This also applies to one who touches a thing seeking its barakah (blessing), when Allah has not created any barakah in it, such as kissing the doors of the mosques, touching their thresholds, seeking healing from their dust, and other such actions.
- Sometimes it may be hidden, like a little bit of showing off (Ar-riya’a).
The Ruling on Taweez (Amulets)
Amulets (tamimah, pl. tamaim) are things … that are worn on the necks of children or adults [such as beads, strings, horse shoes, blue eyes, “hands of Fatima” and many other things], or are hung up in houses or cars, in order to ward off evil/harm, especially the evil eye, or to bring some benefits.
It was narrated from Zaynab, the wife of ‘Abd-Allah ibn Mas’ud (رضي الله عنه), from ‘Abd-Allah that he said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) say, ‘Spells (ruqyah), amulets and love-charms are shirk.” I said, “Why do you say this? By Allah, my eye was weeping with a discharge, and I kept going to So and So, the Jew, who did a spell for me. When he did the spell, it calmed down.” ‘Abd-Allah said: “That was just the work of the Shaytan who was picking it with his hand, and when (the Jew) uttered the spell, he stopped. All you needed to do was to say as the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) used to say: ‘Adhhib il-bas Rabb al-nas ishfi anta al-Shafi la shifa-a illa shifa-uka shifa-an la yughadiru saqaman (Remove the harm, O Lord of mankind, and heal, You are the Healer. There is no healing but Your healing, a healing which leaves no disease behind.’” (Narrated by Abu Dawud; Ibn Majah; this hadith was classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in al-Silsilat al-Saheehah)
It was narrated from ‘Uqbah ibn ‘Amir al-Juhani (رضي الله عنه) that a group came to the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) [to swear their allegiance (bay’ah) to him]. He accepted the bay’ah of nine of them but not of one of them. They said, “O Messenger of Allah, you accepted the bay’ah of nine but not of this one.” He said, “He is wearing an amulet.” The man put his hand (in his shirt) and took it off, then he (صلى الله عليه و سلم) accepted his bay’ah. He said, ‘Whoever wears an amulet has committed shirk.” (Narrated by Ahmad; this hadith was classed as saheeh by Shaykh al-Albani in al-Silsilah al-Sahihah)
The scholars of the Standing Committee said: “The scholars agreed that it is haraam to wear amulets if they contain anything other than the Qur’an, but they differed concerning those which do contain the Qur’an. Some of them said that wearing these is permitted, and others said that it is not permitted. The view that it is not permitted is more likely to be correct because of the general meaning of the ahadith, and in order to prevent means of shirk.” (Shaykh ‘Abd al-‘Aziz ibn Baz, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allah ibn Ghadyan, Shaykh ‘Abd-Allah ibn Qa’ud. Fatawa al-Lajnah al-Daimah)
[Further,] the ruling on the use of amulets …is that the one who acquires them or wears them, if he believes that they are a cause of bringing benefits and warding off harm and that benefit and harm are in the hand of Allah (سبحانه و تعالى), then he has fallen into minor shirk, because he has made something that is not a means into a means. If he believes that it can bring benefit or cause harm in and of itself, then he has fallen into major shirk. What anyone who has taken anything of that nature or anything like it must do is get rid of it and repent to Allah (سبحانه و تعالى).
It was narrated from Abu Basheer al-Ansaari (رضي الله عنه) that he was with the Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) on one of his journeys, and the people were at their places of rest. The Messenger of Allah (صلى الله عليه و سلم) sent a messenger (saying): “No camel is to be left among any group of people with a garland of sinew or a garland, but it is to be cut off.” (Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim)
Shaykh Muhammad ibn Saalih al-‘Uthaymeen said: “a garland of sinew or a garland” – the narrator was not sure, but the former is more likely, because garlands were made from sinew, and they believed that that could ward off the evil eye from the camels. This is a false belief, because it is placing one’s hope in a thing that is not a means or a cause. We have seen above that placing one’s hope in things that are not shar’i or tangible means or causes is shirk, because by placing his hope in them, he is believing in them as means when Allah has not made them means, whether by His law or by His decree. Hence, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) ordered that these garlands be cut. (Majmoo’ Fataawa al-Shaykh al-‘Uthaymeen)
Ignorance, Coercion, and Responsibility
Islamic law states that a person is not judged as a disbeliever (or guilty of major shirk) unless two conditions are met:
- The act itself constitutes major shirk,
- The person acts knowingly, without ignorance, coercion, or misinterpretation.
- If someone does not have clear knowledge, has been misled by a trusted family member, or acts under coercion, scholars say he is excused until proof and correct understanding are established.
- Minor negligence or error in judgment, especially due to family pressure or lack of knowledge, is considered a lesser sin, not major shirk.
Applying to the Scenario
First Instance: The person followed family advice, did not know the taweez contained shirk, and did not intend to ascribe power away from Allah (سبحانه و تعالى). His minimal suspicion was not conclusive knowledge. He ceased using/sharing taweez upon learning the truth.
Second Instance: Again, trust in family and ignorance of contents are evident. Only when the person knew the actual content of the taweez did he act correctly. Before this he was not fully aware, nor did he intend to commit shirk.
Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) says in the Qur’an: “And there is no sin on you concerning that in which you made a mistake, except in regard to what your hearts deliberately intend” (Soorah Al-Ahzaab, 33:5). He (سبحانه و تعالى) also says in the Qur’an: “Our Lord! Punish us not if we forget or fall into error” (Soorah Al-Baqarah, 2:286). And the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و سلم) said: “My ummah is excused for their mistakes, what they forget and what they are forced to do.” (Reported by Ibn Maajah; classed saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh Ibn Maajah)
This evidence indicates that whoever commits a sin but does not know it is a sin, is not to blame, and that Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) has forgiven him.
(The above reply is based on the following resources:
- Answer provided by Islamqa.info on similar topics
- Islamweb.net, a website belonging to the Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs in the State of Qatar)
Allahu A’lam (Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) knows best) and all Perfections belong to Allah, and all mistakes belong to me alone. May Allah (سبحانه و تعالى) forgive me, Ameen.
Wassalaam
