"The Dangers of Shirk: Its' Types & Punishments"

This book serves as an important creedal guide for English-speaking Muslims, addressing the fundamental issue of Tawheed (Monotheism) by warning against its antithesis, Shirk (polytheism) and illustrating its grave danger. It stems from the decisive verse in Surah An-Nisa, "Indeed, Allah does not forgive that partners should be set up with Him in worship, but He forgives except that to whom He pleases" to emphasize to the reader that Shirk is the only sin that Allah the Almighty does not forgive if a person dies upon it without repentance, thereby highlighting the utmost importance of understanding and avoiding this subject. The book elaborates on the definition of Shirk from a linguistic perspective as taking a partner or making someone equal to another, and from a legal (Shari'ah) perspective, which means ascribing a partner or rival to Allah the Almighty in His Lordship (Rububiyyah), His Worship (Uluhiyyah) or His Names and Attributes (Asma wa-Sifat). It reviews a collection of Qur'anic verses and Prophetic Hadiths that strictly forbid taking rivals to Allah, such as the Prophet's (ﷺ) saying: "Whoever dies claiming that Allah has a rival, will enter Hell." Furthermore, the book traces the historical roots of how Shirk first crept into humanity, relying on the narration of Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that mankind remained upon Monotheism for ten generations between Adam and Noah (peace be upon them) before they differed. The book then proceeds to detail the categories of Shirk, differentiating between Major and Minor Shirk, warning against its contemporary manifestations, and explaining its consequences which nullify good deeds in this world and sentence the perpetrator to eternity in Hellfire in the Hereafter.