Difference between shirk and bidat?
Shirk: The sin of ascribing partners to God. This is polytheism or idolatry. There is only one God, and God has no partners. Shirk is the opposite of tawheed, which is monotheism. Islam is based on tawheed and the greatest sin in Islam is shirk. There are major shirks (ex; believing in multiple deities) and minor shirks (ex; believing in zodiac signs and their predictions). Shirk can lead to kufr (disbelief)
Bidat: The sin of innovation. A new belief that contradicts the Quran & sunnah. There are two types of bidaa; action and belief. You know at jumuah when you hear “every innovation is a bidah and every bidah is a heresy”, that’s what that is discussing. It is an innovation in religion (not in science, technology, etc)
Often, bidaa can lead to forms of shirk, which is why even the seemingly most simple bidaa should be avoided. An example of this is Mawlid Al-Nabi.
KUFR, SHIRK, AND BIDAH GO HAND IN HAND
Resources on each:
Types of Shirk I
Bidah Hasanah?
Grand List of Common Bidat
Avoiding Bid’a - Youtube
Differences & Examples of Minor and Major Shirk
6 Small Ways You Might Be Committing Shirk
Examples of Bidah
Arabic Resource
What is Bidat?
Innovation in Religion and Worship
May Allah guide us away from these acts and bring us knowledge so that we may avoid them continually
