Why is polytheism (shirk) the biggest of all sins?

- Why is shirk (that is, associating partners with Allah) the biggest of all sins?
Someone asks this question:
- Why does Allah consider associating partners with Him as the biggest of all evils? Is He possessive? Does it hurt His EGO?
- Does He look for opportunities to punish?
- Does He have an interest He wants to protect?
- Will you please answer by quoting from the Quran and hadiths?

Dear Brother / Sister,

The attributions about Allah in the question never fit the belief of a sane believer.

Polytheism (shirk) means rebellion against a universal law to which the heavens, the earth and what is in them, matter and life necessarily surrender.

The reason why shirk is regarded as zulm (oppression/wrongdoing) is not only because it is a violation of, slander on and insult to the law of Allah. Shirk is also a great insult to and transgression of the laws of the universe and all creatures. The first purpose of the universe is to introduce Allah to people and to prove the reality of oneness (tawhid). All beings serve this purpose; if man ignores and denies this main purpose, it means he underestimates the action and duty of every being, from atoms to planets, and violates their rights. So, denial, which seems simple, is a very big and cruel act in terms of its result.

After stating it, we will give some information we believe will explain the issue:

a) Allah becomes displeased by not only shirk but also disobedience and disrespect to all His commands and prohibitions. This fact is underlined in the verse below: “There is nothing whatever like unto Him (Allah), and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).” (see ash-Shura, 42/11)

You can see that it is stated in the verse that “There is nothing like Allah”, and then attention is drawn to the fact that “Allah hears and knows”. Its meaning is as follows:

Allah has attributes such as knowledge, wisdom, power, seeing and hearing, but they do not resemble the attributes of human beings and other creatures. Likewise, the following is stated in a hadith:

“Allah is jealous and a believer is also jealous. Allah becomes jealous when a believer does what Allah has forbidden.” (Bukhari, Nikah 107; Muslim, Tawba 36; Tirmidhi, Rada 14)

In other words, Allah becomes jealous not for His own sake but due to His servants breaking the divine laws. He becomes jealous when they commit fornication, murder, drink alcohol and abandon prayers. That is, He becomes displeased.

b) Nobody does any good to Allah by obeying him or any harm to Him by disobeying Him.

“Muhammad is no more than an apostle: many Were the apostle that passed away before him. If he died or were slain, will ye then Turn back on your heels? If any did turn back on his heels, not the least harm will he do to Allah. but Allah (on the other hand) will swiftly reward those who (serve Him) with gratitude.” (Aal-i Imran, 3/144)

This fact is indicated in the verse above.

c) One of the names of Allah is Samad. That is, everything needs Him, but He does not need anything:

Therefore, nothing that Allah orders to be done in the book / the Quran sent by revelation is of any use to Him; nor does anything that He forbids do any harm to Him. These orders and prohibitions aim to ensure that the humans He created as the most honorable of creatures live a peaceful life both in this world and in the hereafter, and serve Him:

“If ye reject (Allah), Truly Allah hath no need of you; but He liketh not ingratitude from His servants: if ye are grateful, He is pleased with you. No bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. In the end, to your Lord is your Return, when He will tell you the truth of all that ye did (in this life). for He knoweth well all that is in (men’s) hearts.” (az-Zumar, 39/7)

This fact is underlined in the verse above. 

d) Everybody knows that the gravity of crimes and sins is different. The crime of stealing an apple and killing a person is definitely not the same. In other words, there is a huge difference between breaking a country’s laws and attempting to abolish that country’s constitution. A thief is imprisoned but a person who wants to be a partner of the state, to abolish the state or to destroy the legal system is sentenced to death or life imprisonment.

Likewise, crimes and sins are different in the religion of Islam. There is a big difference between killing a person and committing robbery.

Denying the sacred essence of Allah, or attempting to attribute the authority of Allah to others, or actions aiming to destroy the divine state are the biggest crimes. “Shirk (false worship) is indeed the highest wrong-doing.” (Luqman, 31/13) The expression in the verse above confirms the trueness of the explanations above.

A book can be written regarding the issue. We regard the explanations above as sufficient.

Questions on Islam