What is the Cause of Shirk (Polytheism)

The root cause of Shirk and the motive behind its occurrence among mankind is their extreme dogma regarding the righteous and highly esteemed people, and their usual excess in extolling or praising them. Allah says,

And they said, "Never leave your gods; and leave neither Wadd, nor Suwā, nor Yaghūth, nor Ya'ūq, nor Nasr. And already they have misled many. And [O Allah!], grant no increase to the wrongdoers save error. [Quran (71):23-24]

                 These are the names of some righteous men among the people of Nūh (Noah), after whose death their contemporaries made their statues and named the same after them. Although their aim was to glorify the men, immortalize their remembrance and commemorate their virtues, they ended up worshipping them.

An indication to this is found in a narration by Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) who said, 

"The idols which the people of Noah had worshipped, later became objects of worship among the Arabs. The Kalb tribe at Daumat l Jandal [A village in the northern part of Arabian Peninsula. Presently, it is a famous town in al-Jouf, one of the Saudi Arabia provinces. Cf. al-Hamawi, Yagut, Mujam al-Buldan vol. ii p487; Junaidil, Sa'd, Mu'jam al-Amkinat al- Warid dhikrua fi Sahih al-Bukhari, Riyadh 1419 A.H, P. 231] used to worship Wadd, Hudhail were worshipping Suwā, while Yaghūth was first worshipped by Murād tribe, then by Banu Ghutaif of Jurf near Saba. The Hamadans took Ya'ūq as their object of worship, and the DhilKalā tribe of Himyar opted for Nasr. The aforementioned names of idols were initially those of some virtuous men among the people of Nūh (Noah). After the death of those righteous men, Satan inspired their people to place idols, which should be named after them, at the places where they used to sit during their lifetime. They did as Satan commanded them to do, but never worshipped the statues. After that generation, the reason for what they did concerning the statues of those men became obscure, and thus the new generation adopted the worship of their idols". [Sahih al-Bukhari (4920)]

As part of his commentary on the above mentioned verse:

And they said, "Never leave your gods..."

Ibn Jarir al-Tabari narrated from Muhammad bin Qais who said,

"They [Wadd, Suwā ...] were a group of virtuous people who had others who followed their example. After their death, it came to the minds of their followers that if they produced portraits of their deceased leaders, that would give them more enthusiasm for engaging in acts of worship as long as they remember those righteous men. They, therefore, made the portraits [without adopting them as objects of worship]. After their demise, Satan rushed to tell the succeeding generation that their ancestors used to worship those men, and that for their sake, they were usually blessed with rain. Thus, that generation worshipped them". [Tafsir al-Tabari, vol. xii, p.254]

                 By so doing they have combined two evils, their devotion to the graves of the virtuous men, and carving the portraits which they later put in the men's sitting-places and began to visit them. The two acts were the major causes of Shirk for the first time in human history, and remain the principle means thereof anytime, any place.


Also Read:

Definition of Polytheism (Shirk) in Islam

Proofs on the Condemnation and Danger of Shirk (Polytheism)

Saturday, May 10, 2014