Assalaamu alaikum wa rahmattullahi wa barkatuhu.

Why is SHIRK, the sin of associating partners with the ONE TRUE GOD, considered the GREATEST SIN in Islaam? Worse than murder, plunder and even rape!!! We all know of so many people who commit this sin and are at the same time doing a lot of social service, helping the poor and the needy, fighting against oppressive rulers and sometimes even giving up their lives in this struggle. And yet Islaam says that they are all doomed to Hell! Why?!!!!!

Allaahafiz!

I was juss thinking about this issue!!!!!!!!!
I mean why is it the greatest sin?
Does god care more about us worshiping him or does he care about us being good people and heloing each other?

I am happy someone braught up this topic which i think is very important.

First of all i will take your second sentence and reply to it...

We all know of so many people who commit this sin and are at the same time doing a lot of social service, helping the poor and the needy, fighting against oppressive rulers and sometimes even giving up their lives in this struggle.

There is a very important issue that we always tend to ignore, that is every and each human being is good in his nature no matter what his religion is. Ofcourse there are some exceptions as there is an exception to every rule.
But anyway you cannot say that there isnt this bad creature in every human as well - including muslims- that makes the person commit sins... and here is where Islam comes to teach us how to catch the bad soul in us that wants to commit sins and how to convert our urge to do bad things into an urge to do good things.

æóäóÝúÓò æóãóÇ ÓóæøóÇåóÇ 7 ÝóÃóáúåóãóåóÇ ÝõÌõæÑóåóÇ æóÊóÞúæóÇåóÇ 8 ÞóÏú ÃóÝúáóÍó ãóä ÒóßøóÇåóÇ 9 æóÞóÏú ÎóÇÈó ãóä ÏóÓøóÇåóÇ

And by Nafs (Adam or a person or a soul, etc.), and Him Who perfected him in proportion;
Then He showed him what is wrong for him and what is right for him
Indeed he succeeds who purifies his ownself (i.e. obeys and performs all that Allâh ordered, by following the true Faith of
Islâmic Monotheism and by doing righteous good deeds).
And indeed he fails who corrupts his ownself (i.e. disobeys what Allâh has ordered by rejecting the true Faith of Islâmic Monotheism or by following polytheism, etc. or by doing every kind of evil wicked deeds).

So being good is natural in every human being what ever his background was, infact being good is the rule and being bad is the exception.

Comming to the first and more important part of the topic. But before we can come up with a conclusion we should first read the objectives of us being in this world.

."æóÅöÐú ÞóÇáó ÑóÈøõßó áöáúãóáÇóÆößóÉö Åöäøöí ÌóÇÚöáñ Ýöí ÇáÃóÑúÖö ÎóáöíÝóÉð ÞóÇáõæÇú ÃóÊóÌúÚóáõ ÝöíåóÇ ãóä íõÝúÓöÏõ ÝöíåóÇ æóíóÓúÝößõ ÇáÏøöãóÇÁ æóäóÍúäõ äõÓóÈøöÍõ ÈöÍóãúÏößó æóäõÞóÏøöÓõ áóßó ÞóÇáó Åöäøöí ÃóÚúáóãõ ãóÇ áÇó ÊóÚúáóãõæäó

And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: "Verily, I am going to place (mankind) generations after generations on earth." They said: "Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, - while we glorify You with praises and thanks (Exalted be You above all that they associate with You as partners) and sanctify You." He (Allâh) said: "I know that which you do not know

æóãóÇ ÎóáóÞúÊõ ÇáúÌöäøó æóÇáúÅöäÓó ÅöáøóÇ áöíóÚúÈõÏõæäö
And I (Allâh) created not the jinns and humans except they should worship Me (Alone).

So we see that the main goal is worshiping Allah.. even in the question of the Angles they were wondering " Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood, - while we glorify You with praises and thanks ?!"

So when someone comes in this world , he has been created from nothing but a sperm.. grew and became a man and now he has these stupid idea about there being more than one God ?
If he used his mind a little bit, he would realize that if there were more than one then there would be a fight about who rules who and who creats what and when.....

.áóæú ßóÇäó ÝöíåöãóÇ ÂáöåóÉñ ÅöáøóÇ Çááøóåõ áóÝóÓóÏóÊóÇ ÝóÓõÈúÍóÇäó Çááøóåö ÑóÈøö ÇáúÚóÑúÔö ÚóãøóÇ íóÕöÝõæäó 22 áóÇ íõÓúÃóáõ ÚóãøóÇ íóÝúÚóáõ æóåõãú íõÓúÃóáõæäó 23 Ãóãö ÇÊøóÎóÐõæÇ ãöä Ïõæäöåö ÂáöåóÉð Þõáú åóÇÊõæÇ ÈõÑúåóÇäóßõãú åóÐóÇ ÐößúÑõ ãóä ãøóÚöíó æóÐößúÑõ ãóä ÞóÈúáöí Èóáú ÃóßúËóÑõåõãú áóÇ íóÚúáóãõæäó ÇáúÍóÞøó Ýóåõã ãøõÚúÑöÖõæäó

Had there been therein (in the heavens and the earth) gods besides Allâh, then verily both would have been ruined. Glorified be Allâh, the Lord of the Throne, (High is He) above what they attribute to Him!
He cannot be questioned as to what He does, while they will be questioned
Or have they taken for worship (other) âliha (gods) besides Him? Say: "Bring your proof:" This (the Qur'ân) is the Reminder for those with me and the Reminder for those before me. But most of them know not the Truth, so they are averse



Summary is that our minds lead us to know that there is only one Allah, so this means he is the one who deserves worship and no one else.
He Allah have created us along with other creatures to worship him in this world (following Islam is how we worship him now).
Anyone who disobeys his wills surely should be punished and surely should be the worst of all human beings because he is not following the main objective for which he has been created to do so.

Ad may Allah help us to worship him as he deserves.

The greatest sin is intentional ignorance.

Hmmmm, I think maybe that's second to intolerance.

I can tolerate ignorant people, but I can't educate intolerant ones ;)

(I tried, but it never works...)

Originally posted by mimosa
The greatest sin is intentional ignorance.

and that in the Islamic terms would mean the intentional ignorence of Allah's exsitince and that he is the only one who should be worshiped :)


Mooni, you can educare intolorant ones if you just understand why they are intoloerant and understand thier beleives.

Guwantanamist, still I found no answer, you said that the main purpose of creating humna beings is worshiping god, would that mean that worshiping god is more important than doing good deeds?
God doesnt need us to worship him right? The point of worshiping him is getting closer to him and therefore not sinning and doing good deeds, so if the person already does good deeds and doesnt sin much then what is wrong in him not worshping god or believing that there is more than one god?

And the theory about if there more than one god they would fight, doesnt seem to make alot of sense to me, I mean if there were gods they arent supposed to fight on who would what and who would have more control, I mean they are gods not human beings, it doesnt make sense that gods would fight upon such a thing.

so if the person already does good deeds and doesnt sin much then what is wrong in him not worshping god or believing that there is more than one god?

Who specifies what is good and what is bad ?
Imean if he does not belive in Allah, what makes him know what is good and what is bad ?
You will tell me because it is clear what is good and what is bad .... I tell you that yes that is the nature of human beings, but then who taught the human the good and bad ?
What are the specifications that we compare our acts to other than the teachings of the one and only Allah ?

Btw ... i heard about someone in Oman who does good deeds, but does not belive in Allah. To him i say

Þõáú åóáú äõäóÈøöÆõßõãú ÈöÇáúÃóÎúÓóÑöíäó ÃóÚúãóÇáðÇ 103 ÇáøóÐöíäó Öóáøó ÓóÚúíõåõãú Ýöí ÇáúÍóíóÇÉö ÇáÏøõäúíóÇ æóåõãú íóÍúÓóÈõæäó Ãóäøóåõãú íõÍúÓöäõæäó ÕõäúÚðÇ 104 ÃõæáóÆößó ÇáøóÐöíäó ßóÝóÑõæÇ ÈöÂíóÇÊö ÑóÈøöåöãú æóáöÞóÇÆöåö ÝóÍóÈöØóÊú ÃóÚúãóÇáõåõãú ÝóáóÇ äõÞöíãõ áóåõãú íóæúãó ÇáúÞöíóÇãóÉö æóÒúäðÇ 105 Ðóáößó ÌóÒóÇÄõåõãú Ìóåóäøóãõ ÈöãóÇ ßóÝóÑõæÇ æóÇÊøóÎóÐõæÇ ÂíóÇÊöí æóÑõÓõáöí åõÒõæðÇ

Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds?
"Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds![]
"They are those who deny the Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) of their Lord and the Meeting with Him (in the Hereafter). So their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall not give them any weight.
"That shall be their recompense, Hell; because they disbelieved and took My Ayât (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and My Messengers by way of jest and mockery.

Originally posted by afu
Why is SHIRK, the sin of associating partners with the ONE TRUE GOD, considered the GREATEST SIN in Islaam

To answer you briefly afu, if someone associate a partner with Allah (God) this means that he will miss the entire message of God and live on one of the best creation of God, the earth, without getting the real meaning of his existance and what surrounds him.

Believing in more than one God will only lead someone to live with false informations about the world, its universe and God's creations. It is a choice that person can make, but it will simply not be the truth.

If someone doesn't know the 'truth', how can he necessarily differenciate between what is right or what is wrong, like rape, murder ect which you gave as an exemple.

To make it simple for all of you:

Worshiping Allah alone is the key for accepting our daily work. If we do not worship Allah, or have him shared with another creature/thing/ whatever .. your daily work will just be ignored.

X-pressIf someone doesn't know the 'truth', how can he necessarily differenciate between what is right or what is wrong, like rape, murder ect which you gave as an exemple.I obviuosly don't know the truth because i am not muslim and do not follow the teachings of Islam.

Do you really think I don't know the difference between right and wrong and I don't mean things that are so obviously wrong like murder and rape?

Sorry, but I just can't miss the chance.

You don't know Jack !

Originally posted by jack
Do you really think I don't know the difference between right and wrong and I don't mean things that are so obviously wrong like murder and rape?

Mr.jack, what make you think that I was talking about YOU? This is just a general statement, so sit down and listen to what you know not.

X-pressThis is just a general statement, so sit down and listen to what you know not.Your general statement suggest that if you do not practice Islam you can't know the truth about right and wrong. Which is a pretty arrogant statement.

So Miss X-press, what ya going to teach me about right and wrong? I am a quick learner, you won't have to work too hard!

BTW: do you look anything like your av? :c2:

http://thumb1.image.altavista.com/image/142815878

Mr.Jack,

First I never brought up the word "islam" in my post and only gave my personal view on why it is the greatest sin to associate a partner to God. Even if this thread highlights something related to islamic believes, at the end my God is your God and the One and Only God of mankind, whether you agree on this or not.

Not believing in his oneness means that we don't believe in Him and in His message. If we don't believe in His message then we are more prone to do wrong and not follow what is right.

God made it very clear in the Quran that the very purpose why He has created us is to worship Him throughout our lives.. He I tells us:

“I have created not the jinn and men except that they should worship Me (Alone). I seek not any provision from them nor do I ask that they should feed Me. Verily, Allâh is the All-Provider, Owner of Power, Most Strong.” (51:56-58)

“O mankind! Call to mind the grace of Allâh unto you! Is there a Creator other than Allâh to give you sustenance from heaven or earth? There is no god but He. How then are you deluded away from the Truth? (35:3)

If you worship others than the Only Creator of the universe and the earth, and all what is in between, you have missed the purpose behind the meaning of your existance.

If you find this arrogant, it is between you and your creator, nobody else!

at the end my God is your God and the One and Only God of mankind, whether you agree on this or not.I agree that there is only one God. We have no difference there.

Where we would disagree is some what that message is and how it would be implmented in our daily lives.

Where we would disagree is some what that message is and how it would be implmented in our daily lives.


Why should we disagree in this ?
The same book that told us that there is one creator, told us exactly how to worship him :)