The Shirk of Obedience & Its Scope
Adi ibn Hatim was a very righteous man. His son was just like his father, and he came to the Messenger of Allah (SAW) with a cross hanging around his neck. Because the Prophet (SAW) had noble character, he came and sat beside him. When the Messenger of Allah (SAW) saw him, he recited this verse: verse 31 of Surah At-Tawbah:
They have taken their rabbis and monks as well as the Messiah, son of Mary, as lords besides Allah, even though they were commanded to worship none but One God. There is no god ˹worthy of worship˺ except Him. Glorified is He above what they associate ˹with Him˺!
He said: “O Messenger of Allah, we did not worship them.”
Which ordinary Christian gets up and prostrates to a priest in the church?
Which Christian bows to a priest in the church?
Which Christian says to a priest in the church, “You are a deity”?
Which ordinary Jew goes to the rabbi in the synagogue, says “You are a deity,” and prays and prostrates to him? Of course, none of them do.
So Adi ibn Hatim did not understand. He said: “O Messenger of Allah, how is this worship? We did not worship them.”
How did they worship them? What does Allah mean here? Before explaining this, the Prophet (SAW) said: “Take off that idol from your neck,” referring to the cross around his neck. He removed it and threw it away. Then he said: “When they made lawful what Allah made unlawful, and made unlawful what Allah made lawful, did you not obey them?”
When he replied, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah,” he said: “That is worship. This is your worship of them.”
So the concept of worship is not what many people assume it to be. From this hadith, many conclusions are derived, and the point reached is this:
There is such a thing as disbelief through obedience. But what is its scope?
A father gives his son money and says: “Go, my son, and buy me alcohol.” So he goes and buys alcohol. He obeyed in something unlawful, does that mean he worshipped his father? Or when does it become worship?
Obedience has categories. If we fail to distinguish this properly, the door to extremism (Kharijism) and laxity (Murji’ah) opens. All scholars unanimously say: if obedience is in sin, it is sin; if it is in disbelief, it is disbelief.
But regarding sin, they add a condition: if he considers that sin lawful (i.e. denies its prohibition), then it becomes disbelief.
If a man drinks alcohol and says, “Alcohol is forbidden, I know that,” does he become a disbeliever? No. But if a man says, “What’s the issue, brother? Alcohol is lawful. Where do you get that it is forbidden?” and drinks it, then he becomes a disbeliever.
Similarly, if a man says: “I know shaving the beard is forbidden, but my boss doesn’t allow it at work. What can I do? It’s my livelihood. I know it is sinful, but I shave,” then he is only a sinner. It is not said that he worshipped him.
But if a man shaves and says: “My boss is right. There is no such command in Islam. Where did this obligation come from?” then this man has worshipped him and has become a disbeliever.
So if obedience reaches the level of shirk, then it is shirk. If it is at the level of sin, then it is sin.
Otherwise, if we classify every act of obedience as worship, then a Muslim obeys Shaytan when committing a sin, so every sinner would have to be a disbeliever. We seek refuge in Allah from such a belief.
