Shirk: Difference between revisions

:The fact is that the boundary between monotheism and polytheism in the relation between God, human beings, and the world, is in terms of "from Him" and "to Him". The boundary between them in theoretical monotheism is "from Him". Every entity can be conceived of in monotheistic terms insofar as his essence, attributes and acts are known to be "from Him", whether or not it has any causal effects or not, and whether or not it has supernatural powers or not, because God is not the God of the divine realm; he is also the God of this world. He is as close to the nature as He is to the divine realm; thus the mere supernaturality of something does not turn it into a god. ... In the Islamic worldview, the world has a "from-Him" character. The Qur'an attributes to some prophets some supernatural powers such as bringing some dead back to life, but qualifies all of these attributions with the phrase "by His leave". This is expressive of the "from-Him" character of such acts, in order to prevent the thought that prophets have any independent powers. Thus the boundary between theoretical monotheism and theoretical polytheism is the character of being "from Him". The belief in the existence of an entity whose being is not "from Him" counts as polytheism. The belief in the efficacy of an entity whose efficacy is not "from Him" also counts as polytheism, whether or not it is a great natural entity, such as all skies and earths, or an unimportant phenomenon, such as a movement of a leaf.