The idol-worshiping Quraish in their hearts of hearts thought they were monotheist; they thought that since they were attributing all power to God, therefore, their actions of mentioning another entity was not idolatry. This is the exact same argument that traditionalists make today. They think that because they don’t use the term “partner,” that they are clear of wrongdoing, but they are mentioning the prophet’s name in their Shahadah and Salat as an entity besides God, even if they claim that it is the servant of God.
This is consistent with the warning in the Quran that up until the Day fo Judgment, the idol worshipers will vehemently deny that they were worshiping idols.
6:22 On the day when we summon them all, we will ask the idol worshipers, “Where are the idols you set up?”
Their disastrous response will be, “By GOD our Lord, we never were idol worshipers.”
Note how they lied to themselves, and how the idols they had invented have abandoned them.
The Quran warns that the majority of people commit idol worship, and even among the majority of those who claim to believe, they do not do so without committing idol worship.
6:116 If you obey the majority of people on earth, they will divert you from the path of GOD. They follow only conjecture; they only guess.
God’s path is strict monotheism, while Satan’s path is the disobedience of God. When God gives us a commandment, if we choose to follow some other source, we are setting up partners with God and following the path of Satan.
4:60 Have you noted those who claim that they believe in what was revealed to you, and in what was revealed before you, then uphold the unjust laws of their idols? They were commanded to reject such laws. Indeed, it is the devil’s wish to lead them far astray.
4:87 GOD: there is no god except He. He will surely summon you on the Day of Resurrection—the inevitable day. Whose narration (Hadith) is more truthful than GOD’s?
If individuals choose to follow other Hadith besides the Quran, then they are indicating that they think these other sources are more truthful and thus setting up partners with God and falling into the trap of Satan.
25:27 The day will come when the transgressor will bite his hands (in anguish) and say, “Alas, I wish I had followed the path with the messenger.
25:28 “Alas, woe to me, I wish I did not take that person as a friend.
25:29 “He has led me away from the message after it came to me. Indeed, the devil lets down his human victims.”
25:30 The messenger* said, “My Lord, my people have deserted this Quran.”
As mentioned in many previous articles, to “follow the path of the messenger” means to follow the Quran alone. Notice the messenger’s claim against his people on the Day of Judgment is that his people (umma) have deserted this Quran and absolutely no mention of the Hadith or Sunnah. Ironically, even the Hadith that the Muslim masses claim to believe in warns of people following other than what is imposed upon them in Allah’s Book.
Narrated `Aisha: Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) came to me and I told him about the slave-girl (Barirah) Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) said, “Buy and manumit her, for the Wala is for the one who manumits.” In the evening the Prophet (ﷺ) got up and glorified Allah as He deserved and then said, “Why do some people impose conditions which are not present in Allah’s Book (Laws)? Whoever imposes such a condition as is not in Allah’s Laws, then that condition is invalid even if he imposes one hundred conditions, for Allah’s conditions are more binding and reliable.”
حَدَّثَنَا أَبُو الْيَمَانِ، أَخْبَرَنَا شُعَيْبٌ، عَنِ الزُّهْرِيِّ، قَالَ عُرْوَةُ بْنُ الزُّبَيْرِ قَالَتْ عَائِشَةُ ـ رضى الله عنها دَخَلَ عَلَىَّ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم فَذَكَرْتُ لَهُ، فَقَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم ” اشْتَرِي وَأَعْتِقِي، فَإِنَّ الْوَلاَءَ لِمَنْ أَعْتَقَ ”. ثُمَّ قَامَ النَّبِيُّ صلى الله عليه وسلم مِنَ الْعَشِيِّ، فَأَثْنَى عَلَى اللَّهِ بِمَا هُوَ أَهْلُهُ، ثُمَّ قَالَ ” مَا بَالُ أُنَاسٍ يَشْتَرِطُونَ شُرُوطًا لَيْسَ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ، مَنِ اشْتَرَطَ شَرْطًا لَيْسَ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ فَهْوَ بَاطِلٌ، وَإِنِ اشْتَرَطَ مِائَةَ شَرْطٍ، شَرْطُ اللَّهِ أَحَقُّ وَأَوْثَقُ ”.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2155
https://sunnah.com/bukhari:2155