Islamic Online University

Bachelor of Arts in Islamic Studies

Question:

Explain how did Shirk begin and what were the main causes?

Answer:
At first mankind was one nation upon Tawheed and then slowly shirk spread among the people.
We can see this mentioned in the following hadeeth:
Ibn 'Abbaas - radiallaahu 'anhu - said: "Between Nuh (Noah) and Adam were ten generations, all of them
were upon Sharee'ah (law) of the truth, then they differed. So Allah sent prophets as bringers of good
news and as warners."
[Related by Ibn Jareer at-Tabaree in his tafseer (4/275) and al-Haakim (2/546) who said: "It is authentic according to
the criterion of al-Bukhari." Adh-Dhahabee also agreed.]

This also refutes the claim that mankinds origin was initially based on shirk and then evolved to
tawheed. The following hadith also refutes this and it also mentions the origins of shirk:
The prophet (pbuh) related from his Lord (Allah): "I created all my servants upon the true Religion (upon
Tawheed, free from Shirk). Then the devils came to them and led them astray from their true Religion.
They made unlawful to people that which I had made lawful for them, and they commanded them to
associate in worship with Me, that which I had sent down no authority"

[Related by Muslim. The Book Pertaining to Paradise, Its Description, Its Bounties and Its Intimates, Chapter 16: The
qualities by which the inmates of paradise and the denizens of hell can be recognised in this world, Hadith 6853]

So we know that from Adam and the generations after him that the people were on tawheed,
and this lasted until around the time of Nuh people then fell in to shirk. We will now look at how
exactly the devils came to them and led them astray from tawheed to shirk. Allah mentions in
the Quran about the people of Nuh:

"And they have said: You shall not forsake your gods, nor shall you forsake Wadd, nor Suwaa', nor
Yaghooth, nor Ya'ooq, nor Nasr." [Surah Nuh 71:23]

These five names mentioned above were actually good people as Ibn 'Abbas relates:

"Indeed these five names of righteous men from the people of Nuh. When they died Shaytaan
whispered to their people to make statues of them and to place these statues in their places of gathering
as a reminder of them, so they did this. However, none from amongst them worshipped these statues,
until when they died and the purpose of the statues was forgotten. Then (the next generation) began to
worship them."
[Related by Bukhari, Book 60: Prophetic Commentary on the Qur'an, Hadith No: 442]

It is also narrated from Muhammad ibn Kaab al-Quradhi that:

These were five pious people between the time of Adam and Nuh. When they died, a generation came
after them who used to follow their ways in the worship of Allah. But Iblis came to them, and said, Are
you grieved at the loss of your companions? They said, Yes! So he said, Should I not make images of
them, and place them in front of you while you pray, so that when you look at them, you will remember
them (and their worship of Allah)? They responded, We do not like that you place in front of us anything
while we pray. So he asked them, What if I place them behind you? They agreed to that. As time went
by, and that generations died, other generations replaced them, until Iblis cam to them once again, and
told them, Those who were before you used to worship these images. So they started worshipping them
as idols. [Reported by Abu al-Shaykh in his al-Adhamah (5/1590) and Ibn Mardawayah in his Tafsir, and others.
There is a slight weakness in the chain of narrators, though the narration of Ibn Abbas confirms it.]

It is evident from the above ayaat and narrations that Shaytaan slowly introduced shirk to the
people but it was the people who ultimately accepted it as a normal way of worship. This is the
way of Shaytaan that he takes people in to evil step by step, and this is why we are warned by
Allah to not follow in the footsteps of Shaytaan.
After the people fell in to shirk, Allah sent the Prophet Nuh to guide them back to Tawheed
though very few accepted the message.

Next we will look at how shirk began in Arabia and specifically in the tribe of Quraysh. We know
that most of the Arabs followed the way of Ismaeel and his father Ibrahim. The people followed
this way for a long time until they started to forget what the true message was, and this resulted
in some deviant practices but the fundamental belief of Tawheed still remained.
The people remained on tawheed until one man destroyed this purity. Amr bin Luhai, a chief of
Khuzaa, was well known for being a righteous, charitable, and religious person, and he also had
the full respect of his tribesman. Amr bin Luhai once took a trip to Syria and when he reached
there he saw the people worshipping idols. He found this to be a good thing as he believed Syria
was a place of messengers and revealed scriptures, so he brought back an idol called Hubal and
he placed it right in the middle of Al-Kabah. He told his people to worship it, and because of
their respect for him they agreed. This was the catalyst for paganism to spread all over the Hijaz
and before long there were all types of idols being worshipped.
It has also been mentioned that Amr bin Luhai was helped by a jinn who told Amr where the
idols of the people of Nuh were buried, namely Wadd, Suwaa', Yaghooth, Ya'ooq, and Nasr,
which he dug up and spread among the people. Amr bin Luhai also started other innovations
such as dedicating certain animals to idols. This is mentioned in a hadith of the Prophet:
Narrated Said bin Al-Musaiyab:
Al-Bahira was an animal whose milk was spared for the idols and other dieties, and so nobody was
allowed to milk it. As-Saiba was an animal which they (i.e infidels) used to set free in the names of their
gods so that it would not be used for carrying anything. Abu Huraira said, "The Prophet said, 'I saw Amr
bin 'Amir bin Luhai Al-Khuzai dragging his intestines in the (Hell) Fire, for he was the first man who started
the custom of releasing animals (for the sake of false gods).' "
[Bukhari Volume 4, Book 56: Book of virtues of the Prophet and his companions, Number 723]

After this idol worship became rampant in the Quraysh, so much so that there were 360 idols in
and around Al-Kabah when the Prophet (pbuh) conquered Makkah.

Resources
The sealed Nectar by Saifur Rahman al-Mubarakpuri
A critical study of Shirk by Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi
The Origins of Shirk by Muhammad Nsir ad-Dn al-Albn
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