Which is worse: minor shirk, major sins or innovation (bid‘ah)?

Praise
be to Allah.

Undoubtedly the matter is as
the questioner said, which is that the most serious of all prohibited
matters is falling into major shirk, which is the sin that renders all
good deeds null and void, and which Allah, may He be exalted, does not
forgive unless one repents from it, although He may forgive lesser sins
for whomever He will. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, says
(interpretation of the meaning):

“Verily,
Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but
He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases, and whoever sets
up partners with Allah in worship, he has indeed invented a tremendous sin”

[an-Nisa’ 4:48]

“And
indeed it has been revealed to you (O Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him)), as it was to those (Allah’s Messengers) before you: ‘If you
join others in worship with Allah, (then) surely (all) your deeds will be in
vain, and you will certainly be among the losers’”

[az-Zumar 39:65]. 

Although major shirk is the
most serious of prohibited actions and sins, it comes under the heading of
major sins, although it is the gravest and most serious of them all. 

It was narrated that ‘Abdullah
ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: A man said: O Messenger of
Allah, which sin is most grievous before Allah? He said: “Attributing an
equal to Allah when He has created you.”

 Narrated by al-Bukhaari (4477)
and Muslim (86). 

It was narrated from Abu
Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Avoid the seven sins that doom a person
to Hell.” They said: What are they, O Messenger of Allah? He said:
“Associating others with Allah (shirk); witchcraft; killing a soul whom
Allah has forbidden us to kill, except in cases dictated by Islamic law;
consuming riba; consuming orphans’ wealth; fleeing from the battlefield; and
slandering chaste, innocent women.”

Narrated by al-Bukhaari (6857)
and Muslim (89). 

With
regard to innovations (bid‘ah), not all of them are of the same degree of
seriousness. Innovations are divided into categories according to the
rulings on them and their consequences; those categories are innovations
that constitute disbelief (kufr) and innovations that do not constitute
disbelief. 

Shaykh Haafiz Hakami said in Ma‘aarij al-Qubool (3/1026): 

Moreover innovations are divided into two categories according to their
impact on one’s faith: those which constitute disbelief to the one who
engages in them and those which do not constitute disbelief. 

The
guideline on innovation that constitute disbelief is that a person denies a
command on which there is scholarly consensus, it is narrated via mutawaatir
reports, and it is so well established that no Muslim has any excuse for not
knowing it, such as denying something that is obligatory, regarding as
obligatory something that was not enjoined as obligatory, or regarding as
permissible something that is prohibited, or regarding as prohibited
something that is permissible, or believing something that is not befitting
to Allah and His Messenger and His Book, whether that is denying or
affirming something, because that constitutes disbelief in the Book and in
that with which Allah sent His Messenger (blessings and peace of Allah be
upon him – such as the innovation of the Jahamis who denied the divine
attributes and said that the Qur’an was created, or saying that any of the
attributes of Allah is created, or denying that Allah, may He be exalted,
took Ibraaheem as a close friend, or that He spoke directly to Moosaa, and
so on; or the innovation of the Qadaris who denied the knowledge and deeds
of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, and denied His will and decree;
or like the innovation of the Mujassimah who likened Allah, may He be
exalted, to His creation; and other ideas that are based on whims and
desires. 

But
among these people were some who knew what they were doing and their aim was
to undermine the basic principles of the religion and cause its people to
doubt it. Such a person is definitely a disbeliever; in fact he is a
complete stranger to the faith and one of the most hostile of enemies to
it. 

However others are known to have been deceived and got confused; in their
case they are only deemed to be disbelievers after binding proof has been
established against them. 

The
second category is innovation that does not constitute disbelief. This is
that which does not imply rejection of the Qur’an or of any of that with
which Allah sent His Messenger, such as the innovation of the Marwaanis
which was denounced by the senior Sahaabah, who never approved of it, but
they did not deem them to be disbelievers because of that, and they did not
recant their allegiance to them because of that, such as when they delayed
some of the prayers until the end of their times, or they delivered the
khutbah before the Eid prayer, or they sat whilst delivering the khutbah on
Fridays and other occasions, and they reviled the senior Sahaabah from the
minbar, and other things they did, not because they thought it was based on
Islamic teachings; rather they based them on misinterpretations, whims and
desires, and pursuit of worldly gains. End quote. 

Similarly, with regard to
innovations, some of them constitute major sins and some constitute minor
sins. The guideline on differentiating between them is the extent to which
the innovation is contrary to the basic teachings of Islam. 

Ash-Shaatibi said in al-I‘tisaam
(2/540): 

Major sins are limited to the
sins that undermine the basic principles in every religion, namely:
religious commitment, life, offspring, reason and wealth. Every text deals
with these issues, and any text that does not refer to these principles
comes under the same categories. That includes all issues that the scholars
discussed or did not discuss that come under the same categories. 

Similarly we say with regard to
major innovations: any innovation that undermines one of these basic
principles is a major sin, and whatever is not like that is a minor sin. End
quote. 

With regard to minor shirk,
although it comes under the general heading of major sins, it is regarded,
because it is an issue of ‘aqeedah (belief), as being more serious than
major sins that consist of actions that do not have to do with ‘aqeedah. 

It was narrated from a number
of the early generations that they stated that minor shirk was more serious
than major sins, quoting as evidence for that the words of the Messenger of
Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him): “What I fear most for you
is minor shirk.” They said: O Messenger of Allah, what is minor shirk? He
said: “Showing off. For Allah, may He be blessed and exalted, will say on
the Day when He will requite all people for their deeds: ‘Go to those for
whom you used to show off with your deeds in the previous world, and see
whether you find any reward with them.’”

Narrated by Ahmad (27742);
classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Jaami‘ (1555). 

Similarly, ‘Abdullah ibn
Mas‘ood (may Allah be pleased with him) said: To swear by Allah even when
telling a lie is dearer to me than swearing by anything other than Him even
if I am saying something true.

Narrated by at-Tirmidhi in
at-Tarheeb wa’t-Targheeb (4/58); classed as saheeh by al-Albaani in
Irwa’ al-Ghaleel (2562) 

This hadith may indicate that
this specific type of minor shirk, swearing by something other than Allah,
is more serious than the particular sin mentioned along with it, namely
swearing a false oath. That does not mean that everything that is classified
as minor shirk is worse than everything that is classified as a major sin.
Rather, as we have said, that is a general rule, but it is not applicable in
all cases, as there are some grave major sins that are far worse than minor
shirk. 

Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan al-Barraak
(may Allah preserve him) was asked: 

Is minor shirk worse than major
sins, and does this apply in all cases? 

He replied: 

Praise be to Allah. The texts
indicate that shirk may be major or minor. 

Major shirk is contrary to the
basic principles of faith and Tawheed, and implies that one is an apostate
from Islam, will abide for eternity in Hell, and all one’s good deeds will
be rendered null and void. The correct view is that it is the sin that will
not be forgiven, as Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the
meaning): “Verily,
Allah forgives not that partners should be set up with him in worship, but
He forgives except that (anything else) to whom He pleases”
[an-Nisa’ 4:48]. 

With regard to minor shirk, it
is not like that; it comes under the heading of sins that are less serious
than major shirk, so it is included in the general meaning of the words:
“but He forgives
except that (anything else) to whom He pleases”. 

It is of various types: 

Shirk in the heart, such as
showing off, which is mentioned in the hadith of the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him): “What I fear most for you is minor shirk.” He
was asked about that and he said: “Showing off. 

Another type has to do with
words that are spoken, such as swearing by anything other than Allah, as the
Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: “Whoever swears by
anything other than Allah has committed shirk (associated something with
Allah).” 

Another example is if a man
says: “Were it not for Allah and you”, or “This is from Allah and you”, or
“Were it not for the little dog the thief would have come to us”, “Were it
not for the goose in the house, the thief would have come to us”, as it says
in the report narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas in the commentary on the verse in
which Allah, may He be exalted, says (interpretation of the meaning): “Then
do not set up rivals unto Allah (in worship) while you know (that He Alone
has the right to be worshipped)”
[al-Baqarah 2:22]. 

Another example is if a man
says: “Whatever Allah wills and you will.” 

Some of the scholars stated
that in the view of the early generations, minor shirk was more serious than
major sins. This is supported by the words of Ibn Mas‘ood (may Allah be
pleased with him): To swear by Allah even when telling a lie is dearer to me
than swearing by anything other than Him even if I am saying something
true. 

It is well-known that swearing
by Allah falsely comes under the heading of yamen ghamoos (a false oath that
could cause a person to enter Hell), yet despite that he thought that this
was less serious than swearing by something other than Allah. 

What appears to be the case –
and Allah knows best – is that instances of minor shirk are not all of the
same degree; rather some of them are more sinful and haraam than others. 

Swearing falsely by Allah is
more serious than a man saying “Whatever Allah wills and you will”,  because
it is narrated in the hadith of at-Tufayl, that was narrated by Ahmad and
others, that the Sahaabah (may Allah be pleased with them) used to say:
Whatever Allah wills and Muhammad wills”, and the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) did not tell them not to do that in the
beginning, until at-Tufayl saw the dream and told the Prophet (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) about it, then the Prophet (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) addressed them and told them not to do that, and he
said: “You used to say something that shyness before you prevented me from
telling you not to do it; do not say, ‘Whatever Allah wills and Muhammad
wills.’” 

According to another report:
“Say: ‘Whatever Allah wills then whatever Muhammad wills.’” 

Classed as saheeh by the
commentators on al-Musnad (no. 20694) 

What appears to be the case is
that the view of the early generations, that minor shirk is more serious
than major sins, is applicable to anything that comes under the same
category (namely shirk), such as such as swearing oaths, because swearing by
something other than Allah is more serious than swearing falsely by Allah,
as it says in the report of Ibn Mas‘ood. The category of shirk is more
serious than the category of major sins, but that does not imply that
everything that is described as minor shirk is more serious than everything
that is described as being a major sin, because some major sins are spoken
of in the sternest terms and there is the strictest warning against them,
such as is not the case with regard to some types of minor shirk, as we see
in the example given above about a man saying “Whatever Allah wills and you
will.” And Allah knows best.

End quote. 

http://www.albrrak.net/index.php?option=com_ftawa&task=view&id=17618 

And Allah knows best.