Shirk:Can a muslim be forgiven?

 وَعَلَيْكُمُ السَّلاَمُ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ

SunniMuslim83,

Shirk is a very big sin towards Allah Subhanahu wata'ala.

Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala said:

إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ

�Verily joining others in worship with Allah is a great Zulm (wrong) indeed.� [Luqman (31) :13]

 إِنَّهُ مَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْصَارٍ

�Verily, whosoever sets up partners (in worship) with Allah, then Allah has forbidden Paradise to him, and the Fire will be his abode. And for the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers) there are no helpers.�[Al-Maidah (5):72]

إِنَّ اللهَ لاَ يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ يُشْرِكْ باللهِ فَقَدِ افْتَرَى إِثْمًا عَظِيمًا

�Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship), but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He wills, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.� [An-Nisa (4):48]

Thus, whoever when he died still carries the sin of shirk and does not repent before his death, then he will not get forgiveness from Allah Subhanahu wata'ala because the perpetrator has not repented.

But if the perpetrator immediately conscious and repent of the error and magnitude of the sin he has committed, then he should not despair of Allah Subhanahu wata'ala's forgiveness:

 قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ لا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللهِ إِنَّ اللهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعاً إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

�Say: �O �Ibadi (My slaves) who have transgressed against themselves (by committing evil deeds and sins) ! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.�[Az-Zumar (39):53]

In a Hadith Qudsi, the Prophet sallallaahu 'alaihi wasallam describes the hope of forgiveness for the repentant performers who repent before dying, as narrated by the Imam at-Tirmidzi:

يا ابنَ آدم إنَّك لو أَتَيتَني بِقُرابِ الأرضِ خَطايا ، ثمَّ لَقِيتَني لا تُشركُ بي شَيئاً ، لأتيتُكَ بِقُرابها مغفرةً

"O Son of Adam, if you come to Me with the full sin of the earth, then you meet Me without associating anything with Me, I will bring to you so much forgiveness."

In conclusion, the perpetrators of Shirk still have the opportunity to be wiped out sin while he was alive, ie with repent to Allah before death. This is confirmed by several texts of the Qur'an and Sunnah Shahihah.

وَالسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ