Difference Between Worshipping Idols And Worshipping Shrines
The following excerpt answers your question: …”What is polytheism ? Associating other gods with God Almighty is termed as polytheism ( shirk ) in the terminology of the Quran. 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-wujud 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, Qutub, Abdal, Data and Gharib Nawaz among Muslims . Belief in evil spirits and stars and in the powers of Satan, also belong to this category of polytheism”… (Excerpt from Meezan: Javed Ahmed Ghamidi) (Translated by Dr. Shehzad Saleem) For Details, please see : Discussion 37171