A116
Surah: 004 - Ayah: 116
Click here to see the translations
4:116
1. A spiritual sister is asking about the wisdom of verse (4:116) through Mr. Fath Ali Habib, Adam Colony, Lasbila House, Karachi 5. The verse: “Verily Allah does not forgive that partners should be associated with Him and He forgives all that, to whom He wills; and whoso associates partners with Allah, has indeed strayed far, far away (from the right path).”
A5. This verse clearly shows that association with God (shirk) is such a mortal sin that it is unforgivable and it is a deviation from which man cannot return to the straight path. When it is clear from this verse that shirk results in deviation from the right path and deprivation from the forgiveness of God, then this means that tawhid results in the guidance on the right path and God’s forgiveness. Thus those who adhere to the farman and amr (command) of the fountained of guidance, i.e. the present Imam, they are people of tawhid and far away from shirk and no mu’min doubts the Imam of the time as the fountainhead of guidance, as God says: “(O Prophet!) You are only a warner but there is a guide for every people.” (13:7). It is established through reliable sources that this verse is revealed about the light of imamat. It should be known that shirk is of many kinds and the greatest of them is to associate someone with the vicegerent of God, the imam of the time (see Wajh-I Din, chapter 43), as Iblis himself did with Adam (a.s.), the vicegerent of God, and said that he was better than Adam (a.s.). This shirk was so grave that he was not forgiven. The same event happened in the time of Nuh (a.s.) that those who were destroyed by drowning were, in reality, mushriks, because they gave preference to their own intellect over the intellect of Allah’s Khalifa and did not accept his unique position among the people of the world. Thus they, by rejecting the guidance of the true Guide, were so far away from the right path that it was not possible for them to come back to it. This was the sign of the greatest shirk, after which no means of guidance and forgiveness was left.
In the time of Hazrat Ibrahim, the same was the cause of the destruction of Nimrod and his people, who were destroyed by a plague of mosquitoes, because they considered their own intellect and knowledge superior to that of Hazrat Ibrahim, Allah’s Khalifa of their time. This amounted to (God forbid) them considering their intellect to be superior to God’s intellect. Consequently, they deviated from the centre of guidance and went very far away and committed the greatest mortal sin, shirk. Thus, these are the meanings of shirk. Such was the end of all those ummats in the times of other Prophets, who did not accept them as being unique and matchless in God’s vicegerency and guidance and thus they became mushriks. Now, despite all these facts about the meanings of shirk, if someone objects and says that this is not the meaning of shirk, rather it means to associate someone with God, as it is from the above-mentioned verse, then I would say:
From the stories of the Prophets it is clear that if idolatry started in a country or amongst a people or wherever a king raised the slogan of “I am God”, then God in His mercy sent a Messenger there so that he may guide the idolaters and claimants of Godhead. Had this shirk been the ultimate shirk after which there is no forgiveness and had this deviation been the farthest deviation after which there is no means of Divine guidance, and theywere to enter eternal chastisement without any respite, then God would have sent them a Messenger for the sake of guidance and forgiveness. But it is known to all that when nimrod claimed divinity, God sent to him Hazrat Ibrahim, and when the Pharaoh did the same, He sent Hazrat Musa and Hazrat Harun. Thus it is evident that idolatry or the claim to divinity is definitely shirk, but not the ultimate and greatest one. Those unbelievers who commit such kind of shirk, the final decision about them according to Divine law, depends on their obedience or disobedience to God’s Khalifah. If they obey him, then all their previous sins are forgiven and if they disobey him, then this is considered the farthest deviation and the ultimate and greatest shirk and they are thrown in to Hell. Verse (17:15) shows that God does not chastise a people or an individual due to a sin until He sends a Messenger for their guidance. This means that even if a person denies God’s existence, or commits idolatry or associates someone with God, still according to Divine law, this is not the greatest shirk, which entails the eternal chastisement without any delay or respite, rather, he is guided through a prophet, or an Imam or a pir or a dai. For, it is possible that through this guidance, he may abandon his sin, but if he rejects the farman of the Prophet or the Imam, then he is considered a definite mushrik and is flung into Hell.
Mortal Sin:
Question: What is the mortal or greatest sin, which cannot be forgiven? Please explain in detail.
Answer: The mortal or greatest sin, which cannot be forgiven, is shirk (associating someone with God), as God says in the Qur'an: “God forgives not that partners should be ascribed unto Him. He forgives all save that to whom He wills. Whoso ascribes partners unto God has wandered far astray (4:116)”. It should be well understood that as shirk is the greatest sin, to escape from this and to choose the path of tawhid (believing in one God alone) and His recognition is the greatest rewarding deed. However, if shirk and tawhid had been ordinary and comprehensible as the common people think, and they did not have some secrets, all people would have easily attained salvation and none would have gone astray. Obviously this is not the case, rather they contain some secrets.
This verse has been referred 0 times.