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monotheism which these verses mention. It is the greatest and the most fundamental requisite of justice which the Qur’ān directs its followers to dispense. For this very reason, polytheism is called a great wrong (zulmun ‘azīmun). The Qur’ān has also clearly stated the result of this great wrong: it is an unforgivable sin in the eyes of God in retribution of which people shall be humiliated and thrown into Hell. What is polytheism? Associating other gods with God Almighty is termed as polytheism (shirk) in the terminology of the Qur’ān. It means: a) to regard someone to have the same genre as that of God or to regard God to have the same genre as someone; or b) to regard someone to have a role in creation or in running the affairs of the creatures and in this manner make someone God’s peer to some extent or another. Examples of the first type of polytheism are the beliefs of Christians and the Polytheists of Arabia about Jesus (sws) and Mary (sws) and about the angels respectively. The belief of wahdat al-wujūd of the mystics is another example of this. Examples of the second type are the beliefs regarding Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva in Hinduism and the beliefs regarding Ghaws, Qutb, Abdāl, Dātā and Gharīb Nawāz among Muslims. Belief in evil spirits and stars and in the powers of Satan, also belong to this category of polytheism. The details of other directives which are mentioned in this regard are as follows: i. Worshipping God "All rights of this book are reserved for the publisher and the author. This
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website except those of the publisher and the author."