Covered in this lesson:

• Question 47 – What is Shirk Asghar (Minor Shirk)? – completion of its answer.
• Question 48 – What is the difference between وَ (and) and ثُمَّ (subsequently)? – and its answer.

• Minor Shirk doesn’t expel from the Religion, but makes Tawheed deficient.
• Shirk Asghar can happen in two ways:
  1) Shirk dhahir (apparent) – outwardly and visibly i.e. what one says (upon the tongue) such as swearing by other than Allāh and saying ‘What Allāh willed and what you willed’ and does (in action) such as wearing a ring, cord, necklace, etc. to repel or remove harm or tribulation, or wearing taweez (amulets and talismans) to protect from the evil eye, and
  2) Shirk khafee’ (internal) – relating to ones desires, wishes, intentions, motivations, etc. Wanting to be seen or heard of so people speak of you e.g. beautifying the prayer, giving in charity so people praise you, and so on. This is not for material gain but just for recognition and seeking praise from the people. Another form is to acquire material gain, worldly benefits.
• The four differences between Shirk Akbar (major Shirk) and Shirk Asghar (minor Shirk):
  1) Shirk Akbar expels from Islām but minor Shirk makes Tawheed deficient.
  2) Person who dies upon Shirk Akbar will reside in Hell for eternity.
  3) Shirk Akbar invalidates all actions, they will be nullified and void whereas for Shirk Asghar only the deeds in which the peoples’ praise were sought are nullified, and
  4) Shirk Akbar makes lawful the blood and wealth of a person guilty of it, as this is riddah (apostasy).
• وَ (and) signifies comparison and equating, likening the will of Allāh with the will of the servant. This is different to the conjunction ثُمَّ (subsequently) which is something that follows on, the will of a person did not happen except after the will of Allāh.
• Speech such as: ‘Had it not been for so and so I would have drowned’ or ‘My thirst was quenched by the water’ – this is permissible, when the cause is true, real and happening. Allāh is not mentioned in these statements, so nothing wrong with such utterances.

Listen to the lesson/download here:
Lesson24.mp3