Three weeks ago, I first heard about the sin of shirk. I read about it, and I found that swearing by anything other than Allah is shirk. I sometimes used to swear by my mother.
Can Allah forgive me if I repent?
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Salaam and welcome to Islam.SE. Since Islamic sects differ on many questions of Islamic theology and practice, you have to specify from which sect you want answers. And for your information, this subject in particular does happens to be judged differently by Shia and Sunni jurisprudences.– infatuatedJun 12, 2015 at 1:52
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2 Answers
Allah can forgive any sin, and I read somewhere saying the Shahdah is a way to repent for swearing by other than Allah so recite it and Insha Allah you’ll be forgiven.
Here is an explanation of shirk.
1 – Major shirk
This means ascribing to someone other than Allaah something that belongs only to Allaah, such as Lordship (ruboobiyyah), divinity (uloohiyyah) and the divine names and attributes (al-asma’ wa’l-sifaat).
This kind of shirk may sometimes be outward, such as the shirk of those who worship idols and graves, or the dead or absent.
Or it may sometimes be hidden, such as those who put their trust in other gods besides Allaah, or the shirk and kufr of the hypocrites. For even though their (hypocrites’) shirk puts them beyond the pale of Islam and means that they will abide forever in Hell, it is a hidden shirk, because they make an outward display of Islam and conceal their kufr and shirk, so they are inwardly mushriks but not outwardly.
2 – Minor shirk
This includes everything that may lead to major shirk, or which is described in the texts as being shirk, but does not reach the extent of being major shirk.
This is usually of two types:
1 – Being emotionally attached to some means which have no basis and for which Allaah has not given permission, such as hanging up “hands”, turquoise beads etc on the grounds that they offer protection or that they ward off the evil eye. But Allaah has not made them the means of such protection, either according to sharee’ah or according to the laws of the universe.
[Translator’s note: the “hands” referred to are objects made of metal, pottery etc, usually blue or turquoise in colour, that some people hang up to ward off the evil eye, according to their mistaken belief]
2 – Venerating some people or things in a way that does not go so far as ascribing lordship to them, such as swearing by something other than Allaah, or saying, “Were it not for Allaah and So and so,” etc.
But if you felt that you did wrong always ask forgiveness from Allah (swt) alone and do not despair in his mercy indeed he is the most merciful the owner of mercy.
