Is "shirk" (polytheism) forgivable? Yes, it is.

I seek refuge in Allah, from the accursed Satan.
In the Name of Allah; the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Many people, Muslims and some non-Muslims, have their doubts about whether �shirk�, or polytheism, (ascribing/associating partners with God, and believing in them; like believing in multiple gods) is forgivable or not. Today, in sha Allah, we are going to see which one is true� Is shirk forgivable, or unforgivable?



�Say (this is adressed to the Prophet), "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful. And turn in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (Islamic Monotheism) to your Lord and submit to Him, (in Islam), before the torment comes upon you, then you will not be helped. And follow the best of that which is sent down to you from your Lord (i.e. this Quran, do what it orders you to do and keep away from what it forbids), before the torment comes on you suddenly while you perceive not!"� � Qur�an 39:53-55


Allah (SWT) forgives all sins, if you turn to Him in repentance and in obedience with true Faith (believing in ONE GOD). Turn to Him in repentance, and submit to Him, BEFORE the torment comes upon you, because AFTER that, you will not be helped. Obey that which God commands you. If He commands you to do something, then do that. If He commands you to NOT do something, then stay away from that, BEFORE the torment (of Hell) comes on you.



�And those who invoke not any other ilah (god) along with Allah, nor kill such life as Allah has forbidden, except for just cause, nor commit illegal sexual intercourse and whoever does this shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein in disgrace; Except those who repent and believe (in Islamic Monotheism), and do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds, and Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds, then verily, he repents towards Allah with true repentance.� � Qur�an 25:68-71


Whoever does shirk, kills illegally, or commits zina, shall receive the punishment. The torment will be doubled to him on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide in disgrace; EXCEPT those who repent (from the above sins), AND believe (in Islamic Monotheism, Qur�an, Sunnah, �), AND do righteous deeds, for those, Allah will change their sins into good deeds! And whosoever repents and does righteous good deeds, then verily, he repents towards Allah with TRUE repentance (the best kind of repentance, and obviously repentance that�s ACCEPTED, and therefore his sin is forgiven). So if you commit shirk, and you repent, and believe, and do good deeds, then you�re forgiven of shirk, and you�ve repented with true repentance. Shirk was mentioned at the top, so if shirk was unforgivable, surely Allah (SWT) would�ve mentioned it. But He said that if you repent from shirk, your repentance will be accepted. But, of course, your repentance has to be sincere (you have to mean it), otherwise it isn�t repentance.



�Surely, disbelievers are those who said: "Allah is the third of the three (in a Trinity)." But there is no ilah (god) (none who has the right to be worshipped) but One Ilah (God - Allah). And if they cease not from what they say, verily, a painful torment will befall the disbelievers among them. Will they not repent to Allah and ask His Forgiveness? For Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.� � Qur�an 5:73-74


You�re a disbeliever if you belief in the trinity. If you do not stop committing shirk, you will have a painful torment. UNLESS you repent! If this wasn�t the case, why would Allah (SWT) mention repentance if this sin was unforgivable? Shirk is forgivable if you repent.



"The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to �Amr ibn al-�Aas (may Allaah be pleased with him): �O �Amr, do you not know that Islam wipes out whatever came before it?� Narrated by Muslim, 121; Ahmad, 17861."


When you become a Muslim, all your sins will be wiped out and forgiven. Even shirk. So, again, if shirk was unforgivable, then wouldn�t it stay as a sin, even after you�ve reverted? Shirk is forgivable through reversion, AND repentance.



"And the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: �The one who repents from sin is like one who did not sin.� Narrated by al-Tirmidhi and classed as hasan by al-Albaani."


This is very important. If you repent, and you ask for forgiveness, and you ask Allah (SWT) to forgive you a particular sin, let�s say shirk, then you will be forgiven if your repentance was true, AND your sin will be wiped out, because of the above hadith. �The one who repents from sin, is like one who didn�t do the sin in the first place�, meaning; that that particular sin is wiped out, and it�s no longer a sin. It�s gone. Blank. So if someone commits shirk, and he repents sincerely, he is forgiven, and thus his sin of committing shirk will be WIPED out, and on the Day of Judgement that sin will not appear, because it�s forgiven, and thus wiped out (as a sin). So, to summarize it� Shirk is forgivable, if you ask for forgiveness, and it will be wiped out of your �list� of sins you�ve committed.



�And He it is Who accepts repentance from His servants, and forgives sins, and He knows what you do.� - Qur�an 42:25


Very general. Allah (SWT) accepts repentance from us, and forgives sins, and He knows what we commit. So, again, if Shirk was supposed to be �unforgivable�, then wouldn�t Allah (SWT) say something like this: �And He it is Who accepts repentance from His slaves, and forgives sins, except shirk because He does not forgive shirk, and He knows what you do�? Wouldn�t He say something like that? But He didn�t say it like that. He said it VERY general, that He accepts repentance (still general), and He forgives sins (very general), without making an exception of which sins He does not forgive.



�And verily, I am indeed Forgiving to him who repents, believes (in My Oneness, and associates none in worship with Me) and does righteous good deeds, and then remains constant in doing them, (till his death).� � Qur�an 20:82


This verse it vital. It�s very important. Here Allah (SWT) says that He forgives those who repent, believes (in My Oneness and associates none in worship with Me. Because we know that if we DO commit shirk, we no longer believe, so therefore you cannot �believe� and commit shirk at the same time), and does righteous good deeds, and then REMAINS CONSTANT IN DOING THEM (above things: repentance, believing, doing good deeds, UNTIL his death). So this means that shirk, for example, can only be forgiven if you repent, believe (so if you counter shirk, because Islam is all about believing in One god), and if you do righteous deeds to show Allah (SWT) that you really mean your repentance, i.e.: you want to show Allah (SWT) that you�re really feeling guilty about doing shirk, for example, and you want to make up for that. If you do this, AND you KEEP doing that until you die, you are ALWAYS forgiven of that which you sought forgiveness for. Always. But� You have to keep doing the above things, though, to be forgiven for EVERY sin. Shirk included. But that doesn�t mean that you HAVE to do these things if you want Allah (SWT) to forgive you the sin of stealing, for example. No. This verse talks about the automatic forgiveness for ANY sin, after you�ve done the above things. Again, shirk included. This question might arise in your head: �But what sins are ONLY forgiven this way (i.e.: by doing the above things)�? That�s a good question. The ONLY sin, that is ONLY forgiven if you do these things, is shirk. So shirk can ONLY be forgiven if you do the above things. Any other sin, can be forgiven in any other way. Shirk is the only exception, and the ONLY sin that is ONLY accepted through repentance. If you steal for example, and you do not seek forgiveness for that, then that doesn�t mean that you�re not forgiven for that� No. It might be that God forgave you that, without you seeking His forgiveness, that�s definitely possible. But when you commit shirk, and you do NOT seek forgiveness for that, then God will NEVER forgive you (because you didn�t seek for His forgiveness). So shirk is really an exceptional sin, and, like I said, it is ONLY forgivable through repentance. Where do I get this from? From the next verse, and the verse after that, and the tafsir of Ibn Kathir (and obviously also, as you saw, from the previous verses).



�Verily, Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.� � Qur�an 4:48


So in this verse we read that God doesn�t forgive shirk� To whom? �To whom He pleases�! It doesn�t say �To whom repent�� No. This verse means that God forgives EVERYONE any OTHER sin besides shirk, just like that, with no specific requirements. He could choose to forgive you for your stealing, or He could choose to not forgive you for your stealing, or any other sin. But when it comes to shirk, Allah (SWT) will not �choose to forgive or not forgive �randomly��. �To whom He pleases� means that God forgives any OTHER sin besides shirk, to just random people. But shirk is not forgiven to just �anyone�. No. Only to those who repent, as we saw in the previous verses. So, God doesn�t go around forgiving shirk randomly, no. This might be the case with any other sin, but not shirk. If you want Allah (SWT) to forgive you, because you�ve committed shirk, then repent. Otherwise you can forget it, and you�re pretty much doomed. So to summarize what this verse is saying� God does NOT forgive shirk randomly, but He CAN (I�m not saying that He WILL) forgive any other sin randomly, with no specific requirements. But in order for shirk to be forgiven, you ALWAYS have to repent, and God won�t forgive shirk if you don�t repent. So, He won�t forgive shirk �just like that�. It ALWAYS requires repentance. And then He finished by saying that shirk is a HUGE sin, in fact it�s the biggest sin. No wonder it can only be forgiven through repentance� If �to whom He pleases� wasn�t mentioned in this verse, then it would�ve been a contradiction, because then it would have no context, and the verse would mean that God doesn�t forgive shirk at all, which is incorrect. But that�s not what it says. Qur�an is perfectly made. And this is the proof of that.



IMPORTANT SIDE-NOTE:
Also� NOTE that Allah (SWT) didn�t specifically say that He won�t accept the REPENTANCE that people may offer after committing shirk. He is ONLY speaking about �forgiving� those whom He pleases, telling is that this is about �randomly forgiving�, and not about whether Allah (SWT) accepts repentance of shirk or not. He does accept repentance. If He wouldn�t, wouldn�t He say so right here, in this verse? Allah (SWT) promised us that He would forgive us when we commit shirk and the like, after we sincerely repent. That�s a promise. No way, no how, that Allah (SWT) isn�t going to forgive you for your sins after you�ve repented, even the worst of sins. He is definitely going to forgive us for shirk when we repent sincerely. He promised that. He also promised that He won�t �randomly forgive� shirk, like in the above verse. Read the following tafsir of Ibn Kathir:



�Allah Does not Forgive Shirk, Except After Repenting From it�
Allah said that He, (forgives not that partners should be set up with Him (in worship),) meaning, He does not forgive a servant if he meets Him while he is associating partners with Him, (but He forgives except that) of sins, (to whom He wills) of His servants. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Dharr said that the Messenger of Allah said, (Allah said, "O My servant! As long as you worship and beg Me, I will forgive you, no matter your shortcomings. O My servant! If you meet Me with the earth's fill of sin, yet you do not associate any partners with Me, I will meet you with its fill of forgiveness.'') Only Ahmad recorded this Hadith with this chain of narration. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Dharr said, "I came to the Messenger of Allah and he said, ("No servant proclaims,`There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah,' and dies on that belief, but will enter Paradise.'' I said, "Even if he committed adultery and theft'' He said, "Even if he committed adultery and theft.'' I asked again, "Even if he committed adultery and theft'' He said, "Even if he committed adultery and theft.'' The fourth time, he said, "Even if Abu Dharr's nose was put in the dust.'') Abu Dharr departed while pulling his Izar and saying, "Even if Abu Dharr's nose was put in the dust.'' Ever since that happened, Abu Dharr used to narrate the Hadith and then comment, "Even if Abu Dharr's nose was put in dust.'' The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith Al-Bazzar recorded that Ibn `Umar said, "We used to refrain from begging (Allah) for forgiveness for those who commit major sins until we heard our Prophet reciting, (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 his saying, (I have reserved my intercession on the Day of Resurrection for those among my Ummah who commit major sins.)'' Allah's statement, (and whoever sets up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin.) is similar to His statement, (Verily, joining others in worship with Allah is a great Zulm (wrong) indeed.) In the Two Sahihs, it is recorded that Ibn Mas`ud said, "I said, `O Messenger of Allah! Which is the greatest sin?' He said, (To make a rival with Allah, while He Alone created you.) i.e.: shirk.''


Click here for the source.


The part of �if he meets Him while He is associating partners with Him�, means that that person died committing shirk (in the state of shirk). Because we know that from this hadith:


Jaabir ibn �Abd-Allaah said: I heard the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) say: �Each person will be resurrected according to the state in which he died.� Reference: Book 040, Chapter 19, Number 6878 : Sahih Muslim


So if you died while committing shirk, you will be resurrected the way you died. So when you get resurrected, after you died while committing shirk, you will be in a state of shirk, after resurrection. Thus you will be amongst those who will enter Hellfire.


So again, to summarize� If you die in the state of shirk (meaning; while committing shirk), you will be resurrected like that, and you will meet your Lord like that. So you will not be forgiven, like Ibn Kathir commented. Because you died in the state of shirk, and you didn�t repent, which makes sense, because that�s what the verse means, and those before that verse.



�Verily! Allah forgives not (the sin of) setting up partners in worship with Him, but He forgives whom he pleases sins other than that, and whoever sets up partners in worship with Allah, has indeed strayed far away.� � Qur�an 4:116


This is pretty much exactly the same as the previous verse, so it has the same explanation of the previous verse.



�The people of the Scripture (Jews) ask you to cause a book to descend upon them from heaven. Indeed they asked Musa (Moses) for even greater than that, when they said: "Show us Allah in public," but they were struck with thunder clap and lightning for their wickedness. Then they worshipped the calf even after clear proofs, evidences, and signs had come to them. (Even) so We forgave them. And We gave Musa (Moses) a clear proof of authority.� � Qur�an 4:153


Here Allah (SWT) tells us that He forgave the people of Moses for committing shirk. Which can only mean one thing� They asked Allah (SWT) for forgiveness. They repented. That�s why Allah (SWT) forgave them for committing shirk. Here�s the verse that tells that they indeed repented, and that God indeed forgave them for committing shirk:



�Remember when Moses said to his people: �O my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf. So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill those among you (the innocent kill the wrong doers among you), that will be better for you in the Sight of your Creator.� Then He accepted your repentance. Truly, He is the One who accepts repentance, the Most Merciful.� (Quran 2:54).


For them to be forgiven for the act of shirk, they had to repent to Allah (SWT) AND kill the wicked people among them (the people among them who caused them to commit shirk and other evil sins), because this is better in the Sight of your Creator. What is better? It�s better to kill them, than to keep them alive. This is Gods command through Moses, so whatever God asks, they should do. So they had to do these two things if they want God to forgive them. And they did. Otherwise God wouldn�t say: �Then He accepted your repentance� if they didn�t actually do what God commanded them. So, once again, shirk is only forgivable through repentance. These people surely repented, and their repentance was accepted. However, it wasn�t the kind of repentance that we spoke about in the beginning, because even after that, they had problems with believing in God. Or maybe it�s better to say that it wasn�t the �truest repentance� you can do. But� Repentance, nonetheless. However, they could�ve repented better. But they still believed, because they didn�t commit shirk anymore, and they held onto the idea of that God is One, without partners. So, they did believe. But not the way they had to. And, obviously they committed good deeds after that. They STILL TRULY repented, because the verse tells us to BELIEVE, and not specifically to believe in God at a specific level, but just to �believe�. They did do that. So therefore, it�s actually still �true repentance�, but not on the highest level available. So to summarize it� There�s still no contradiction or problem when you bring these verses together.



�The repentance accepted by Allah is only for those who do wrong in ignorance {or carelessness} and then repent soon after. It is those to whom Allah will turn in forgiveness, and Allah is ever Knowing and Wise. And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: "Now I repent;" nor of those who die while they are disbelievers. For them We have prepared a painful torment.� � Qur�an 4:17-18


This verse is very interesting. Because: �Qatadah said that Abu Al-`Aliyah narrated that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to say, "Every sin that the servant commits, he commits out of ignorance.''�. Why? Because he has NO idea of what kind of punishment he is bringing upon himself� Do you have any idea what committing shirk will bring you? Eternal Hell! If you truly know what this means (and if you truly understand WHAT Hellfire is, and especially ETERNAL), you will NEVER think about doing it ever again! So we are ignorant of the punishment that a particular sin brings with it. Or even when you THINK you understand the punishment, you still DON�T. Why? Because if you truly knew� You wouldn�t be doing it� Nor would you consider it� So that�s what this means. If you do not understand this verse, or you have a problem with it, then read the tafsir of Ibn Kathir. I won�t go over it again, because you can read everything here:



Repentance is Accepted Until one Faces death:
Allah states that He accepts repentance of the servant who commits an error in ignorance and then repents, even just before he sees the angel who captures the soul, before his soul reaches his throat. Mujahid and others said, "Every person who disobeys Allah by mistake, or intentionally is ignorant, until he refrains from the sin.'' Qatadah said that Abu Al-`Aliyah narrated that the Companions of the Messenger of Allah used to say, "Every sin that the servant commits, he commits out of ignorance.'' `Abdur-Razzaq narrated that, Ma`mar said that Qatadah said that, the Companions of the Messenger of Allah agreed that every sin that is committed by intention or otherwise, is committed in ignorance.'' Ibn Jurayj said, "Abdullah bin Kathir narrated to me that Mujahid said, `Every person who disobeys Allah (even willfully), is ignorant while committing the act of disobedience.''' Ibn Jurayj said, "`Ata' bin Abi Rabah told me something similar.'' Abu Salih said that Ibn `Abbas commented, "It is because of one's ignorance that he commits the error.'' `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said about the Ayah, (and repent soon (afterwards)), "Until just before he (or she) looks at the angel of death.'' Ad-Dahhak said, "Everything before death is `soon ﴿afterwards﴾.''' Al-Hasan Al-Basri said about the Ayah, (and repent soon afterwards), "Just before his last breath leaves his throat.'' `Ikrimah said, "All of this life is `soon ﴿afterwards﴾.''' Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn `Umar said that the Messenger said, Allah accepts the repentance of the servant as long as the soul does not reach the throat. This Hadith was also collected by At-Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, and At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Gharib''. By mistake, Ibn Majah mentioned that this Hadith was narrated through `Abdullah bin `Amr. However, what is correct is that `Abdullah bin `Umar bin Al-Khattab was the narrator. Allah said, (It is they to whom Allah will forgive and Allah is Ever All-Knower, All-Wise.) Surely, when hope in continued living diminishes, the angel of death comes forth and the soul reaches the throat, approaches the chest and arrives at the state where it is being gradually pulled out, then there is no accepted repentance, nor a way out of that certain end. Hence Allah's statements, (And of no effect is the repentance of those who continue to do evil deeds until death faces one of them and he says: "Now I repent,'') and, (So when they saw Our punishment, they said: "We believe in Allah Alone...'') ﴿40:84﴾ Allah decided that repentance shall not be accepted from the people of the earth when the sun rises from the west, as Allah said, (The day that some of the signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good through his faith.) ﴿6:158﴾. Allah said, (nor of those who die while they are disbelievers.) Consequently, when the disbeliever dies while still a disbeliever and polytheist, his sorrow and repentance shall not avail him. If he were to ransom himself, even with the earth's fill of gold, it will not be accepted from him. Ibn `Abbas, Abu Al-`Aliyah and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas said that the Ayah: (nor of those who die while they are disbelievers), was revealed about the people of Shirk. Imam Ahmad recorded that Usamah bin Salman said that Abu Dharr said that the Messenger of Allah said, (Allah accepts the repentance of His servant, or forgives His servant, as long as the veil does not drop.) They asked, "And what does the drop of the veil mean '' He said, (When the soul is removed while one is a polythiest.) Allah then said, (For them We have prepared a painful torment), torment that is severe, eternal and enormous.


Click here for the source.


To be clear on this one... That part about that the disbeliever's repentance will not be accepted, even if he ransomed himself, is referring about him trying to ransom himself in the AFTERLIFE, or when the Angel of Death TOOK his soul.



So let�s summarize everything we�ve learned.

Is shirk forgivable? Yes.

How can it be forgiven? It is sufficient to sincerely repent (to be able to sincerely repent you have to at least believe in the Oneness of God). The best of repentance is when you sincerely repent, and you try your best to believe as best as you can, and you commit as much good deeds as possible. That�s the best repentance. But, like I said, the MINIMUM is to AT LEAST repent (and refrain from doing shirk, which means; stop committing shirk, and start believing in the Oneness of God). If you do this, then your repentance is accepted, and shirk is forgiven and wiped out.

Can it ONLY be forgiven through repentance? Or can it also be forgiven randomly? Yes, it can ONLY be forgiven through repentance. And no, it will NEVER be forgiven �randomly�.

Is shirk the ONLY sin that is ONLY forgiven through repentance? Yes. That�s why it�s such a serious sin.

Is shirk forgiven when you revert to Islam, from another religion? Yes. EVERY sin WILL be forgiven in this case.

What about other sins? They can be randomly forgiven, right? Yes, they can. When you once stole a car, and you haven�t repented, God CAN still forgive you for that, EVEN if you didn�t repent. But that doesn�t mean that God WILL forgive you even if you didn�t repent. No� If this was the case, then repentance would be useless, except when we talk about shirk. But it�s best to ALWAYS repent when you�ve sinned, just to be sure you�re forgiven. So when someone ONLY repents for shirk, and his repentance is sincere, then shirk is forgiven. But it could well be that other sins of his are ALSO forgiven, without him having to seek God�s forgiveness for those particular sins.

Until what time do you have time to repent? Until your death. So, basically when you�re still alive, you�ve got time to repent. But it�s best to not delay it.

Are ALL sins forgivable? Yes.

What happens when you die in a state of shirk, and you didn�t repent? You will not be forgiven, because you didn�t repent, and this sin will cause you to go to Hellfire for eternity, because when you meet Him in a state of shirk, you go to Hellfire in eternity. �You will be resurrected the way you died (the way you died in a particular believing state)�. So if you believe in the trinity, and you die upon that, you will be resurrected in that same state, and you will go to Hell because of it. For eternity.



So that's that. I hope that you could benefit from this, as I surely did. May Allah (SWT) forgive us for our sins, and may He accept our repentance. May He guide us, and show us the right path. Whoever wants me to talk about something in the Qur'an and/or Sunnah, he/she can ask me that, and we will go over that in the future, in sha Allah. I'm studying the Qur'an and the Sunnah at the moment, and I'm writing lots of stuff down, and if you guys want, I can share it with all of you. Just give me a specific topic, and I'll look into it, in sha Allah. Or if you have any questions regarding this topic, then ask me.

Jazakullah khairan, as-salaam aleikum!