Al-Shirk al-Khafī
Definition
Al-shirk al-khafi — 'hidden association' — is al-Ghazali's term for the most subtle and dangerous form of riya: the near-imperceptible admixture of human-approval-seeking into acts of worship that appear, to all external observation and even to the person themselves, to be performed purely for God. The Prophet ﷺ described this as 'more subtle than the movement of a black ant on a black stone in the darkest night.' It is called 'association' because it associates a created being — the approving spectator — with God as the true audience and judge of one's actions. Al-Ghazali considers this the primary spiritual illness of the educated and the pious, whose outward religiosity is most susceptible to this form of self-deception.
As understood in the classical tradition of Imam al-Ghazali and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Al-Shirk al-Khafī.
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"Then, if you repent from standing with creation and associating them with your Lord, the Almighty, and return to earning, eating by earning, relying on earning, and finding peace in it, forgetting the bounty of the Lord, the Almighty, you are also associating partners, but it is a hidden association, more hidden than the first. God punishes you and veils you from His grace and the beginning of it."
— Shaykh Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, Futūḥ al-Ghayb — Revelations of the Unseen
Appears in
2 books in the library
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