Shirk Destroys All Good Deeds
Shirk causes the complete loss of all deeds, according to the consensus of Muslim scholars. Other sins, such as theft, lying, etc., may partially erase good deeds, but not all of them.
The claim that a person could practice shirk and still be a Muslim contradicts this inevitability.
Thus, Allah سبحانه وتعالى addresses the Messenger in the Qur'an with the following words:
﴿وَلَقَدْ أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ وَإِلَى الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ لَئِنْ أَشْرَكْتَ لَيَحْبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ﴾
And it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you would commit shirk, your work would surely113 become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers.
[sura az-Zumar, 39:65]
Here, the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم is directly addressed, although he was, according to the consensus of Islamic scholarship, protected from shirk. In this verse, a scenario is presented for clarification, even though it is completely clear that it will never occur. The Arabic scholars referred to this as fardu l-mustahil. It is therefore evident that this message is not primarily directed at him, but at those people who are being addressed through the message of the Qur'an114.
The meaning, therefore, is: “If even the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم were to lose all his (good) deeds due to a single act of shirk and would thus certainly be among the losers, then this loss will undoubtedly affect all other people even more so.”
From the Islamic source texts, it is understood that the prophets عليهم السلام are considered the most severely tested of all people. Their actions are the best deeds ever performed by human beings.
Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم holds an even more special status among the prophets. He is the Seal of the Prophets. Only when one considers all of this does the magnitude of the statement in the verse become clear. The meaning of the entire life of the Seal of the Prophets would be extinguished void by a single act of polytheism – the endurance of the heavy revelation, his call to this religion, his steadfastness in the face of the hostility of the idolaters.
If all these deeds would be lost due to shirk, then will the less significant deeds of any polytheists remain and subsequently grant them entry into Paradise?
In another verse, this very thought is once again clearly expressed in the same manner regarding the other messengers عليهم السلام:
﴿وَتِلْكَ حُجَّتُنَا آتَيْنَاهَا إِبْرَاهِيمَ عَلَى قَوْمِهِ نَرْفَعُ دَرَجَاتٍ مَنْ نَشَاءُ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٌ (83) وَوَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَاقَ وَيَعْقُوبَ كُلًّا هَدَيْنَا وَنُوحًا هَدَيْنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِ دَاوُودَ وَسُلَيْمَانَ وَأَيُّوبَ وَيُوسُفَ وَمُوسَى وَهَارُونَ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ (84) وَزَكَرِيَّا وَيَحْيَى وَعِيسَى وَإِلْيَاسَ كُلٌّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ (85) وَإِسْمَاعِيلَ وَالْيَسَعَ وَيُونُسَ وَلُوطًا وَكُلًّا فَضَّلْنَا عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ (86) وَمِنْ آبَائِهِمْ وَذُرِّيَّاتِهِمْ وَإِخْوَانِهِمْ وَاجْتَبَيْنَاهُمْ وَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ إِلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ (87) ذَلِكَ هُدَى اللَّهِ يَهْدِي بِهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَلَوْ أَشْرَكُوا لَحَبِطَ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ (88) أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحُكْمَ وَالنُّبُوَّةَ فَإِنْ يَكْفُرْ بِهَا هَؤُلَاءِ فَقَدْ وَكَّلْنَا بِهَا قَوْمًا لَيْسُوا بِهَا بِكَافِرِينَ﴾
And that was Our [conclusive] argument which We gave Ibrahim against his people. We raise by degrees whom We will. Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing.
And We gave to Ibrahim, Ishaq and Ya'qub - all [of them] We guided. And Noah, We guided before; and among his descendants, Dawud and Sulayman and Ayyub and Yusuf and Musa and Harun. Thus do We reward the doers of good.
And Zakariyya and Yahya and 'Isa and Ilyas - and all were of the righteous. And Isma'il and Alyasa' and Yunus and Lut - and all [of them] We preferred over the worlds. And [some] among their fathers and their descendants and their brothers - and We chose them and We guided them to a straight path.
That is the guidance of Allah by which He guides whomever He wills of His servants. But if they had associated others with Allah, then worthless for them would be whatever they were doing.
Those are the ones to whom We gave the Scripture and authority and prophethood. But if the disbelievers deny it, then We have entrusted it to a people who are not therein disbelievers.
[sura al-An'am, 6:83-89]
Chapters in this Section
Notes
- The statement in the verse is emphasized twice with the heavy nun of emphasis (nunu t-tawkidi th-thaqilah), which has been rendered in English as “certainly.” ↩
- According to the statement of the Qur'an itself (see 7:158), the message of Islam has been directed to all of humanity since the sending of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم. ↩