Chapter of the book: The Doctrine of Monotheism · Read as PDF

The Word mushrikun in the Qur'an Always Includes the Ignorant Polytheist

Through several examples, it has already become evident how an incorrect assumption regarding the fundamental matters of the Islamic creed leads to various further false conclusions and contradictions.

Many analogous cases could be mentioned, as an error in the foundation will inevitably extend into numerous areas that are based on this foundation. The following are just a few examples to further illustrate this point:

﴿مَا كَانَ لِلنَّبِيِّ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ يَسْتَغْفِرُوا لِلْمُشْرِكِينَ وَلَوْ كَانُوا أُولِي قُرْبَى مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا تَبَيَّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ﴾

It is not for the Prophet and the mu'minin¹¹⁸ to ask forgiveness for the mushrikin, even if they were relatives, after it has become clear to them that they are companions of Hellfire.

[sura at-Tawbah, 9:113]

The Qur'an states that a Muslim may not seek forgiveness¹¹⁹ for a mushrik. In the explanations of the early scholars (as-salaf), this is specified as referring to the prohibition of istighfar for a polytheist who has already passed away. Narrations on this matter are mentioned, for example, in the tafsir works of Ibnu Abi Hatim and at-Tabari in their explanation of this Qur'anic verse.

As can be clearly seen, this verse establishes a general Islamic legal ruling. It uses the word mushrikun, which includes all polytheists without exception. It would be a misinterpretation of this verse to assume that this prohibition applies only to those polytheists of whom it is known for certain that the message reached them and that they had sufficient knowledge of its content.

For this reason, the early Muslim jurists derived a general prohibition from this verse. These jurists (fuqaha') did not claim that a distinction should be made, nor did they state that one may seek forgiveness for some already deceased polytheists due to their ignorance.

Another example from the Qur'an is the following verse:

﴿وَكَذَلِكَ زَيَّنَ لِكَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ قَتْلَ أَوْلَادِهِمْ شُرَكَاؤُهُمْ لِيُرْدُوهُمْ وَلِيَلْبِسُوا عَلَيْهِمْ دِينَهُمْ وَلَوْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مَا فَعَلُوهُ فَذَرْهُمْ وَمَا يَفْتَرُونَ﴾

And likewise, their partners have made the killing of their children seem pleasing to many of the idolaters¹²⁰ in order to bring about their destruction and to cover them with confusion in their religion. And if Allah had willed, they would not have done so. So leave them and that which they invent.

[sura al-An'am, 6:137]

Here too, the general word mushrikun certainly refers to every mushrik. Once again, this passage explicitly states the reason why these people are described as mushrikun. The reason for this designation was that these people took shuraka' beside Allah, making them partners in worship alongside Him – regardless of whether these people were aware of their wrong actions and their consequences or not.

Another example is the following verse:

﴿وَإِنْ أَحَدٌ مِنَ الْمُشْرِكِينَ اسْتَجَارَكَ فَأَجِرْهُ حَتَّى يَسْمَعَ كَلَامَ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ أَبْلِغْهُ مَأْمَنَهُ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾

And if any one of the mushrikin seeks your protection, then grant him protection so that he may hear the words of Allah¹²¹. Then deliver him to his place of safety. That is because they are a people who do not know.

[sura at-Tawbah, 9:6]

Once again, these people are called mushrikin. Additionally, it is explained that they are people who do not know.

It would therefore be somewhat absurd to claim that the “ignorant polytheist” (al-mushriku l-jahil) was not even meant by the word “mushrikun” in this verse.

One might argue that at that time, the revelation had already been conveyed, meaning that these idolaters had knowledge of it. While this is generally true, assuming that this applied to every single idolater across the entire Arabian Peninsula would be absurd. Regardless of how widespread knowledge or ignorance about the religion may be in a given time period, such circumstances can never serve as a universal assumption for every single individual.

It may well be that many idolaters of the period described had already understood the core message of Islam but had not yet converted to Islam – something that is repeatedly referred to in the language of the Qur'an as a form of ignorance.

Nevertheless, the expression in this Qur'anic verse also refers to every polytheist who did not know or did not properly understand the core message of the prophetic revelation. Any opposing claim would need to be substantiated by clear textual evidence.

In another verse of the Qur'an, it is stated:

﴿فَإِذَا رَكِبُوا فِي الْفُلْكِ دَعَوُا اللَّهَ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ الدِّينَ فَلَمَّا نَجَّاهُمْ إِلَى الْبَرِّ إِذَا هُمْ يُشْرِكُونَ﴾

And when they board a ship, they supplicate Allah, keeping their religion pure for Him¹²². But when He delivers them to the land, at once they (again) commit shirk.

[sura al-'Ankabut, 29:65]

This Qur'anic verse is also perfectly clear. Moreover, instead of using the ismu l-fa'il (active participle) “mushrikun”, the verb “yushrikun” is used. There can therefore be no doubt that this definitely refers to people who practise shirk, as the act itself is explicitly mentioned here.

This fact also becomes apparent in the following passage:

﴿أَوْ تَقُولُوا إِنَّمَا أَشْرَكَ آبَاؤُنَا مِنْ قَبْلُ وَكُنَّا ذُرِّيَّةً مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ أَفَتُهْلِكُنَا بِمَا فَعَلَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ﴾

Or you say, “It was only that our fathers committed shirk before, and we were but descendants after them. Then would You destroy us for what the falsifiers have done?”

[sura al-A'raf, 7:173]

In this verse and the following two verses, it is mentioned that the ancestors referred to therein practised shirk. Here, once again, the verb is used, in this case, in the past tense as ashraka.

There is therefore no doubt that these people were mushrikun due to their polytheistic actions. If those ancestors had not been mushrikun, the argumentation of the descendants mentioned in the verse, and thus the entire verse itself, would lose its meaning.

Whoever practises polytheism is therefore a mushrik, regardless of his level of knowledge about the contents of the prophetic message.

The same applies to the following two verses:

﴿فَلَا تَكُ فِي مِرْيَةٍ مِمَّا يَعْبُدُ هَؤُلَاءِ مَا يَعْبُدُونَ إِلَّا كَمَا يَعْبُدُ آبَاؤُهُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَإِنَّا لَمُوَفُّوهُمْ نَصِيبَهُمْ غَيْرَ مَنْقُوص﴾

So do not be in doubt as to what these serve. They serve only as their fathers served before. And indeed, We will give them their share undiminished.

[sura Hud, 11:109]

In the following passage, the prophet Yusuf / Joseph, after being unjustly imprisoned, addresses his two fellow prisoners with the following words:

﴿يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَأَرْبَابٌ مُتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللَّهُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ (39) مَا تَعْبُدُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ إِلَّا أَسْمَاءً سَمَّيْتُمُوهَا أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ إِنِ الْحُكْمُ إِلَّا لِلَّهِ أَمَرَ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا إِيَّاهُ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَ النَّاسِ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ﴾

O two companions of prison, are separate (worshipped) lords better or Allah, the One, the Prevailing? (39) You serve¹²³ not besides Him except names you have named them, you and your fathers, for which Allah has sent down no authority. The decision¹²⁴is not but for Allah. He has commanded that you serve none but Him. That is the straight religion, but most of the people do not know.

[sura Yusuf, 12:39–40]

Notes

Or “it is not right.” This is a stylistic form in Arabic, which means: “he must not” or “it is impossible for him to do so.” ↩
In Arabic: istighfar ↩
This sentence can hardly, if at all, be rendered into proper English while maintaining the original sentence structure, which is why it was formulated in the manner mentioned above. Its meaning can be clarified as follows:
“Likewise, those who were associated as partners, whom the idolaters worshipped, made the killing of their children seem pleasing to those idolaters.” ↩
Or: “until he hears the word of Allah”, or also “until he is able to hear it.” ↩
That is, they directed supplications to Allah and turned only to Him, thus committing no shirk. The Arabic text once again uses the word mukhlisin, which – as previously explained multiple times – indicates that one purifies his religion, rites, and acts of worship from polytheism. ↩
or worship ↩
In Arabic: “hukm”, meaning sovereignty, governance, decree, judgement, and decision-making. The term encompasses all these meanings, as, according to the Islamic understanding, Allah's right to rule and judge is not limited to the hereafter.
It is important to note that this expression, linguistically speaking, is of the same nature and strength as the Arabic testimony of faith because both use the exception particle illa. The shahadah thus means “No 'ibadah except for Allah”, while this expression reads, “No hukm except for Allah.”
The khawarij exaggerated in their interpretation of this Qur'anic verse, using it to declare Muslims outside of Islam based on major sins. Conversely, many people today attempt to push this verse to the opposite extreme, glossing over its obvious wording to deflect consequences from various tyrannical rulers. However, a more detailed analysis of this issue would require a separate study. ↩