The firm beliefs of the polytheists and their deviation from them:

And the belief affirming the existence of Allah

- Exalted is He - and that He is the Creator of the earth and the highest heavens,

and that He is the Disposer of great events,

and that He is capable of sending messengers,

and rewarding the servants for their deeds,

and that He is capable and predestining of great events,

before their occurrence,

and that the angels are the close servants of Allah,

and that they deserve honor,

all of that was firmly established with them,

and their poetry points to that,

but the majority of the polytheists

fell into many doubts regarding these beliefs,

due to finding some matters far-fetched,

and their lack of familiarity in perceiving it and comprehending its concepts.

And the misguidance of these people and their deviation

in shirk, anthropomorphism, and distortion,

and denial of the Hereafter,

and finding the message of the master of the messengers - may Allah bless him and grant him peace - far-fetched,

and the prevalence of vile deeds and injustices among themselves,

and the innovation of false rituals and traditions,

and the extinction of true and correct acts of worship and rites.

The reality of shirk, its manifestations, and its types:

And shirk is: affirming the attributes specific to Allah - Exalted is He - for other than Him,

such as affirming absolute disposal in the universe by the absolute will

which is expressed as "Be and it is" or affirming inherent knowledge which