IDOLATRY. The word used in the Qurʾān for idolatry is shirk (شرك), and for an idolater, mushrik (مشرك), pl. mushrikūn. In theological works the word was̤anī (وثنى) is used for an idolater (was̤an, an idol); and ʿibādatu ʾl-aus̤ān (عبادة الاوثان), for idolatry.
In one of the earliest Sūrahs of the Qurʾān (when chronologically arranged), lii. 35–43, idolatry is condemned in the following language:—
“Were they created by nothing? or were they the creators of themselves?
“Created they the Heavens and Earth? Nay, rather, they have no faith.
“Hold they thy Lord’s treasures? Bear they the rule supreme?
“Have they a ladder for hearing the angels? Let anyone who hath heard them bring a clear proof of it.
“Hath God daughters and ye sons?
“Askest thou pay of them? They are themselves weighed down with debts.
“Have they such a knowledge of the secret things that they can write them down?
“Desire they to lay snares for thee? But the snared ones shall be they who do not believe.