shirk, (Arabic: “making a partner [of someone]”), in Islam, idolatry, polytheism, and the association of God with other deities.
The Qurʾān (Islamic scripture) stresses in many verses that God does not share his powers with any partner (sharīk). It warns those who believe their idols will intercede for them that they, together with the idols, will become fuel for hellfire on the Day of Judgment (21:98). The great majority of mushrikūn (polytheists) in the Prophet’s time were those who had never become Muslims; thus, the words of the Qurʾān were addressed not to Muslims with the intention of keeping them firm in their faith but rather to non-Muslim Arabs.
In fiqh (Islamic jurisprudence), shirk became legally equivalent to kufr (unbelief). Those Muslims who profess it are considered outlaws who should be ousted from the Muslim community; all their legal rights are suspended until they denounce their polytheistic beliefs.
Shirk, however, received considerable extension of meaning throughout the dogmatic development of Islam. It did not remain simply a term for the idolatry prevailing outside Islam but came to be used as the opposite of tawḥīd (the oneness of God) and became synonymous with any belief or practice rejected by a particular sect.
Different grades of shirk have been distinguished, apart from pure and blatant polytheism. There is shirk al-ʿādah (“shirk of custom”), which includes all superstitions, such as the belief in omens and the seeking of help from soothsayers. Shirk al-ʿibādah (“shirk of worship”) is manifested in the belief in the powers of created things—e.g., the reverencing of saints, kissing holy stones, and praying at the grave of a holy man. There is shirk al-ʿilm (“shirk of knowledge”)—e.g., to credit anyone, such as astrologers or interpreters of dreams, with knowledge of the future. All these types of shirk are shirk ṣaghīr (“minor shirk”) in comparison with polytheism.