This is a doubt of those who find fault with Ahl al-Sunnah for constantly teaching people the affairs of Tawḥīd, its foundations and details.
Question:
There is found [one] who says: "Do not call people to Tawḥīd because they are already Muwaḥḥidūn (monotheists in belief, word and deed)."
Shaykh al-Fawzān’s answer:[1]
Not all of the people are Muwaḥḥidūn, and the Muwaḥḥidūn are [a faction] among them.[2] We call them to Tawḥīd for the purpose of strengthening and firmly establishing [in their hearts].
A Muwaḥḥid is in danger from the doubt of the people of misguidance, so we protect them.
And is the Tawḥīd of those [people] greater than the Tawḥīd of Ibrahīm (عليه السلام), the one who said: ( وَٱجْنُبْنِى وَبَنِىَّ أَن نَّعْبُدَ ٱلْأَصْنَامَ ), “Keep me and my sons from worshipping idols.” (14:35).
He feared for himself, so how can we not make them fearful of shirk, that it may spread among them, while our Prophet (صلى الله عليه وسلم) says: “O Turner of the Hearts, make my heart firm upon your religion”[3] and he is the Messenger of Allāh (صلى الله عليه وسلم).
There is no one who sould feel safe about himself, and no one who should praise himself and say: “I am a Muwaḥḥid, I am not in need of [reminders or teachings about] Tawḥīd.”
Rather, you are in need of knowing Tawḥīd and knowing Shirk because you could be confused, and doubts could be thrown upon you. Hence it is necessary that you protect yourself from these matters.
The Companions used to fear minor shirk, something that can be very hidden and obscure, and they would learn supplications from the Messenger (صلى الله عليه وسلم) to protect themselves from it, as did Abu Bakr (رضي الله عنه).
As such, there is no one in this ummah who can feel secure from these affairs, even if he is the most knowledgeable of Tawḥīd. We are all prone to forgetfulness and error, and we can often be victims of circumstances in which we may say or do what is erroneous, whether voluntarily or otherwise, with or without knowledge of its erroneous nature.
The way to protect oneself is through knowledge, by studying the detailed particulars of Tawḥīd which have been discussed by scholars such as Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn al-Qayyim and Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb(رحمهم الله), so as to remove ignorance that could be a cause.
Then to make supplication to Allāh for refuge and protection, and to be granted success in being correct and precise in belief, word and deed, in one's statements and behaviours.
Minor shirk, in the realm of intentions and motivations, is an ocean with no shores, as Ibn al-Qayyim said. This includes riyāʾ (seeking to be seen, praised), sumʿah (seeking to be heard of, spoken about), seeking the world through deeds of the Hereafter and so on.
It also occurs in speech, such as when one says, “Because of you [such and such would or would not have happened]”, or “Had it not been for the dog, the thief would have entered”, "We were given rain due to such and such a star rising”, or “This camel gave its scabies to the other camels”, or “He gave the flu to his grandmother”, and invoking contagion or transmission to explain the occurrence of disease among herds and populations and what is similar.
In these types of statements, mention of Allāh as the Creator and Causer of all causes is forgotten, or others are given precedence or equal mention in attribution of causes, or errors and exaggerations are made in causation and are then expressed verbally, as is the case with attributing rain to the rising of certain stars and attributing occurrence of disease to contagion and transmission.
So all of this relates to speech, what is expressed on the tongue.
Minor shirk can also enter into the subject matter of the causes (asbāb) when what is not a cause is made a cause, and when activities are performed or abandoned based upon this error in causation, such as wearing a bracelet to ward off pain, or not shaking hands with disease-free healthy people based on mere suspicion or avoiding them for fear of the negated contagion[4] and the likes—these are from the fabrications and crass pseudosciences of the disbelievers and enter into the affairs of Jāhiliyyah as explained by Shaykh al-Albānī and others.
We seek refuge in Allāh and ask for His protection.
Footnotes
1. Daʿwat al-Tawḥīd wa Sihām al-Mughriḍīn (Dār al-Imām Aḥmad, 1426H), pp. 41-42.2. Meaning, they are only a faction among the people, as not all the people of the Earth are Muwaḥḥidūn.
3. Reported by al-Tirmidhī and also what is similar to it, by Muslim (no. 2654).
4. Taking precaution, for those who affirm contagion, is with respect to sick people, and not healthy people. What is claimed these days of "social distancing of six feet (between the healthy)" being from the means to prevent contagion is based upon speculative theories of disease with the disbelievers and is nothing but falsehood. Shaykh al-Albānī (who affirms contagion) and Shaykh Muqbil (who negates contagion) have made these affairs clear, as have scholars from the Salaf. Further, this is from the admitted fabrications of the disbelievers. However, it can be the case that people are misled into wrongly believing that something is from the means—especially in the modern era of deceptive and unscrupulous science and medicine—when it is not from the means at all. So long as one calls to obedience to those in authority in their ijtihāds so as to avoid disturbance and commotion and to maintain order in society, then no one can prevent knowledge-based discussion of alternative views (in these differed over religious and worldly matters) and prevent people from hearing and understanding views from scholars that are greater in the affirmation and corroboration of Tawḥīd and better in evidence, both religious and worldly.
