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Type 1: Tauheed-fil-Ita’at vs. Shirk-fil-Ita’at**
It is not allowed to do Ita’at of anyone except Allah, not at all; it is strictly prohibited. All other Ita’ats may prosper, but under the realm of Allah’s Ita’at. We can do Ita’at of our parents, our ancestors, our teachers, our elders, wives can do Ita’at of their husbands; but it should be very clear in our minds that all these Ita’ats should at no point try to contradict Ita’at of Allah. This is the concept of Tauheed-fil-Ita’at. The moment any of our Ita’ats contradicts the Ita’at of Allah, it becomes Shirk i.e. Shirk-fil-Ita’at. For example: if a lady is very much obedient to her husband and at some point of time her husband asks her not to pray or to abandon wearing Hijab because of his wish, then the lady is not supposed to do so. If she follows such a wish of her husband, it will be violation of Qur’an’s ruling about Hijab. Similarly, if someone’s parents ask him / her to do any act which is against the will of Allah, it is not allowed to obey the parents in such a case, failing which one shall end up doing Ita’at of parents against the will of Allah. For example: if a father orders his son / daughter not to keep good relations with his / her maternal relatives or if a mother asks her son / daughter not to keep good relations with his / her paternal relatives, the person is not supposed to obey his / her parents in such a case, because if he / she does so, it will be against the will of Allah (Islam does not allow us to severe ties with our relatives). All these examples fall under the category of Shirk-fil-Ita’at.
Another dangerous example of Shirk-fil-Ita’at is obedience to our Nafs. When a person gives preference to the requirements of his / her Nafs over the will of Allah, he / she ends up doing ‘Shirk’. This is clearly mentioned in Holy Qur’an: أَرَأَيْتَ مَنْ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ أَفَأَنْتَ تَكُونُ عَلَيْهِ وَكِيلاً
“Have you (O Muhammad, PBUH) seen him who has taken as his Ilah his own vain desire? Would you then be a ‘Wakil’ (disposer of his affairs) over him?”
(Aayah No. 43, Surah Al-Furqan, Chapter No. 25, Holy Qur’an). This is a big question for all of us. What is meant by taking our Nafs (our vain desires, lust etc.) as Ilah? The word Ilah is such an important word; it is used for Allah only, it is the word used in La ilaha illallah…. And here it is mentioned that there are some people who take their Nafs as their Ilah. How? The answer is simple: if we follow our Nafs, without caring about what is correct and what is not according to Qur’an, it means we prefer our inner desires’ requirements over the requirements of Allah. Then doesn’t the Nafs becomes Ilah? This ‘Shirk’ is prevalent in abundance. We need money, whether it comes by fair means or unfair means, who cares! We need status, so what if it comes at the expense of our Islamic values, who cares! We shall watch cricket match, so what if it is time for Salat! We are busy in watching a movie, let the time of Salat pass by, who cares! Our houses should be elegant; our life should be sophisticated; our bank balances should be huge; our kids should get education in one of the most expensive schools of the place; our friends should be of elite society; who cares if Islam is compromised for the sake of achieving all these requirements of our Nafs. This is what the Ummah is busy in. Beware; this is Shirk-fil-Ita’at. And such people are not liked by Allah. Refer to the following verse from Holy Qur’an: أَفَرَأَيْتَ مَنْ اتَّخَذَ إِلَهَهُ هَوَاهُ وَأَضَلَّهُ اللَّهُ عَلَى عِلْمٍ وَخَتَمَ عَلَى سَمْعِهِ وَقَلْبِهِ وَجَعَلَ عَلَى بَصَرِهِ غِشَاوَةً فَمَنْ يَهْدِيهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ اللَّهِ أَفَلا تَذَكَّرُونَ
"Have you seen him who takes his own lust as his ‘Ilah’? And Allah knowing (him as such), left him astray, and sealed his hearing and his heart, and put a cover on his sight. Who then will guide him after Allah? Will you not then remember?
(Aayah No. 23, Surah Al-Jāthiya, Chapter No. 45, Holy Qur’an). So far we discussed *Shirk-fil-Ita’at *on an individual basis. Now let us see what happens when whole societies, nations, etc. get involved in this type of ‘Shirk’. This refers to the concept of Statehood which is prevalent in whole world nowadays. Qur’an says: إِنْ الْحُكْمُ إِلاَّ لِلَّهِ
“The command is for none but Allah.”
(Aayah No. 40, Surah Yusuf, Chapter No. 12, Holy Qur’an). and, اتَّخَذُوا أَحْبَارَهُمْ وَرُهْبَانَهُمْ أَرْبَاباً مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَالْمَسِيحَ ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ وَمَا أُمِرُوا إِلاَّ لِيَعْبُدُوا إِلَهاً وَاحِداً لا إِلَهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ سُبْحَانَهُ عَمَّا يُشْرِكُونَ
“They (Jews & Christians) took their rabbis and monks to be their lords besides Allah (by obeying them in things they made lawful or unlawful according to their own desires without being ordered by Allah), and Messiah, son of Maryam, while they were commanded to worship none but One Ilah – La ilaha illa Huwa – Praise & glory be to Him from having the partners they associate (with Him).”
(Aayah No. 31, Surah At-Taubah, Chapter No. 9, Holy Qur’an). The authority to rule and the authority to command is only for Allah. Keep in mind the above mentioned two verses from Qur’an and think: The definition of Republic, the Democracy – Sovereignty is in the hands of people. Direct challenge to the verses of Qur’an mentioned above! Sovereignty is only of Allah. How can people create rules which are against the rules of Allah? And how can we follow any such rules? How can a cabinet or any court decide that marriages of lesbians or gays are allowed, when it is already prohibited by Allah? How can a bunch of elected people decide about what punishments should be given for different sins, when this is already decided by Allah? How can the President of any country forgive a person who has raped a girl, while Allah has ordered either 80 lashes or stoning to death for such an adulterer? How can the Muftis or Qazis decide on their own about what is Haraam and what is Halaal, when Allah has already made it clear for us in Qur’an? How can we blindly follow all these concepts, all these leaders, all these scholars, without caring whether this is according to Allah’s will or not? Beware: this is Shirk-fil-Ita’at. It is the requirement of Tauheed that only commands of Allah be followed; none other has the authority of giving commands; no; never. However, there is no harm in following commands of others which do not violate the commands of Allah. But **the command of Allah is supreme.
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we’ll discuss it. 