المعنى الاصطلاحي

Setting equals to Allah, the Exalted, in matters related to the characteristics of Lordship, or ascribing something thereof to other than Him, such as creation, giving provision, disposing of affairs, and the like.

الشرح المختصر

"Shirk fee Tawheed-ur-Ruboobiyyah" (associating partners with Allah in His Oneness of Lordship) means believing that there are partners with Allah, Glorified and Exalted be He, who share the management of affairs with Him, in the sense that one does not believe that Sovereignty and management of affairs belong to Allah alone, by believing that Allah has a helper, supporter, minister, or the like of that. Only a few sects have committed "shirk-ur-Ruboobiyyah", and it is of two types: 1. "Shirk-ut-Ta‘teel" (polytheism of denial): It is from the ugliest types of "shirk" (polytheism). An example of it is the "shirk" of Pharaoh when he said: {And what is the Lord of the Worlds?} [Ash-Shu‘arā: 23] Pharaoh is the most infamous of those who denied the existence of the Creator, but he was internally certain that Mūsa (Moses), peace be upon him, was more truthful than him in his call to believe in Allah’s Lordship. Likewise are those who uphold the theory of coincidence or naturalism, and the "Dahriyyah" sect, who say: {There is not but our worldly life; we die and live, and nothing destroys us except time.} [Al-Jāthiyah: 24] They are the communists of our modern time, as well as the philosophers who believe that the world is eternal (without a beginning) and everlasting (without an end) and that the operative intellect is the creator and planner of everything under it. 2. Second type: Believing that there is more than one creator of the world, such as believing in dualism, like the Magians, who claim that there are two origins who created this world: the god of light, who creates goodness, and the god of darkness, who creates evil. The same applies to the "shirk" of the Christians, who believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Linked to this type is the "shirk" committed by those who worship graves and believe that the souls of the pious people can have control over some affairs after they die, whereby they can fulfill the needs, remove distress, help those who supplicate them, and protect those who seek refuge and shelter with them. Indeed, these are all characteristics that are unique to "Ruboobiyyah" (Lordship).