Luqman's Advice to His Son

Allah tells us how Luqman advised his son. His full name was Luqman bin `Anqa' bin Sadun, and his son's name was Tharan, according to a saying quoted by As-Suhayli. Allah describes him in the best terms, and states that he granted him wisdom. Luqman advised his son, the closest and most beloved of all people to him, who deserved to be given the best of his knowledge. So, Luqman started by advising him to worship Allah Alone, and not to associate anything with Him. Then he warned him:

إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ

Out of these wise advices, first comes the soundness of beliefs, the primary article of which is that one believes in Allah Ta’ ala to be the Creator and master of the entire universe without any association or partnership of anyone or anything. In consequence, one should not take anyone other than Allah as an object of worship, for no injustice can be as grave in this world as the act of one who stoops to equate some creation of Allah Ta’ ala with the Creator. Therefore, it was said: يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِ‌كْ بِاللَّـهِ ۖ إِنَّ الشِّرْ‌كَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ (My dear son, do not ascribe partners to Allah. Indeed, ascribing partners to Allah is (shirk) grave transgression - 13). Later, follow other words of good counsel and wisdom spoken by Luqman (علیہ السلام) to his son. In between, there appears another command to highlight the gravity of Shirk and that it has to be avoided under all circumstances. This command is as follows: