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Prohibitions in Islam - Page 8

about the influence of the stars and planets is a mushrik, and the one who reads them for entertainment is a sinner, because it is not permitted to entertain oneself by reading things that contain shirk, because Shaytaan will try to lead him to shirk through this.

Believing that certain things can bring benefit when the Creator has not made them so

Yet another form of shirk is believing that certain things can bring benefit when the Creator has not made them so. For example some people believe in amulets and spells, or wearing certain types of pearls or seashells or metal earrings and so on, on the advice of fortune-tellers or magicians or in accordance with inherited customs. So they hang them around their own or their children’s necks toward off the evil eye - or so they claim; or they tie them onto their bodies or hang them in their cars and homes, or wear rings with special stones, thinking that these things can relieve or ward off distress. This without a doubt is contrary to the idea of relying on Allah, and will only result in making a person even more weak, like seeking medicine in a haram way. These amulets obviously contain much shirk, such as seeking the help of some jinns and devils, or vague drawings and illegible writing. Some of these liars even write aayat from the Qur’aan, or mix them with words of shirk, or write them with impure substances such as menstrual blood. Hanging up these amulets or tying them to one’s body is haram because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever hangs up an amulet is guilty of shirk.” (Reported by Ahmad, 4/156; see also Silsilat Al- Sahihah, No. 492).

If the one who does this believes that these things can cause benefit or harm instead of Allah, he is a mushrik who is guilty of Al-shirk Al-Akbar. If he believes that they are a means of causing benefit or harm, then he is a mushrik who is guilty of Al-shirk alasghar, which includes shirk that consists of attributing causes to things other than Allah.

Showing off in worship

Among the conditions for any good deed to be acceptable are that it should be free of any kind of showing off and within the framework of the Sunnah. The person who performs acts of worship, like praying, in order to be seen by other people is a mushrik and his deed is unacceptable. Allah says (interpretation of the meaning): “Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up for prayer, they stand with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.” [Al-Nissa’ 4:142]

Similarly, the person who does a good deed so that news of it will reach other people has also fallen into the sin of shirk. The threat of punishment for the one who does this was reported in the hadith narrated by Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and his father), in which the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever does things to be seen and heard by others, Allah will cause him to be seen and heard as an example to others.” (Reported by Muslim, 4/2289). Whoever does any act of worship for the sake of Allah and other people, his deeds will be unacceptable, as is stated in the hadith qudsi: “I am so self-