The following is from "Ruling of Istighatha" by Zameelur Rahman posted on daruliftaa.net :
.....Expressions and Acts of Shirk
Based on their polytheistic beliefs, the mushrikūn rendered acts of worship to their idols as an expression of their belief in their divinity and to draw their favour. Apart from obvious rituals like prostrating, bowing and praying before them, they would perform other acts in the service of their idols which were representative of their false beliefs; for example, taking oaths by them, vowing to them, slaughtering animals for them, and so on. Although some of these actions when done to other than Allāh do not in themselves entail the belief of the mushrikūn, and may simply indicate reverence and respect, the Sharī‘ah commands Muslims not to direct them towards any being besides Allāh, for three primary reasons:
Firstly, it creates a resemblance with idolaters, and resembling harām is also harām.
Secondly, there is a danger that these acts could escalate and lead the common people into actual shirk.
Third, they are against the etiquette of how to interact with Allāh and His creation.....
.....Resemblance with idolaters, or doing acts that are suggestive of shirk, is forbidden. The Prophet (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam) said:
من حلف بغير الله فقد أشرك
“The one who takes an oath by other than Allāh, he has committed shirk.” (Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhī)
The meaning of this is that the idolaters would show reverence to the false gods by taking oath by their name, while holding the belief that if the oath was thereafter broken, they would suffer a terrible fate at the hands of that idol. Muslims who adhere to the belief in Tawhīd would, of course, not hold this belief were they to take an oath by other than Allāh. Nonetheless, since this was a distinctive feature of polytheism, Rasūlullāh (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam) has forbidden taking an oath with other than Allāh. However, this is not shirk that takes one out of Islām. Here, shirk is in the meaning of an expression of shirk in resembling the actions of the idolaters. Hence, the term “shirk” may at times be used in the meaning of a lesser form of shirk and not the greatest shirk which takes its perpetrator out of Islām,
When a Sahābī said in conversation with Rasūlullāh (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam), “What Allāh wills and you will”, he replied:
أجعلتني مع الله عدلا؟!
“Do you make me an equal with Allāh?!” (Sharh Mushkil al-Athār)
In other words, even this vague resemblance with shirk is prohibited in Sharī‘ah. (end)
In other words he's arguing that vowing by them, making oaths to them and slaughtering animals in their presence do not constitute shirk akbar (and merely expressions of shirk) as long as it is merely done out venerance i.e. respect not worship. Nonetheless it is still haram.
I agree with him that taking oaths and slaughtering are conditional acts of major shirk. However, I speculate that we might disagree on all the factors that make them reach the level of major shirk.
The following is from "Ruling of Istighatha" by Zameelur Rahman posted on daruliftaa.net :
.....Expressions and Acts of Shirk
Based on their polytheistic beliefs, the mushrikūn rendered acts of worship to their idols as an expression of their belief in their divinity and to draw their favour. Apart from obvious rituals like prostrating, bowing and praying before them, they would perform other acts in the service of their idols which were representative of their false beliefs; for example, taking oaths by them, vowing to them, slaughtering animals for them, and so on. Although some of these actions when done to other than Allāh do not in themselves entail the belief of the mushrikūn, and may simply indicate reverence and respect, the Sharī‘ah commands Muslims not to direct them towards any being besides Allāh, for three primary reasons:
Firstly, it creates a resemblance with idolaters, and resembling harām is also harām.
Secondly, there is a danger that these acts could escalate and lead the common people into actual shirk.
Third, they are against the etiquette of how to interact with Allāh and His creation.....
.....Resemblance with idolaters, or doing acts that are suggestive of shirk, is forbidden. The Prophet (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam) said:
من حلف بغير الله فقد أشرك
“The one who takes an oath by other than Allāh, he has committed shirk.” (Jāmi‘ al-Tirmidhī)
The meaning of this is that the idolaters would show reverence to the false gods by taking oath by their name, while holding the belief that if the oath was thereafter broken, they would suffer a terrible fate at the hands of that idol. Muslims who adhere to the belief in Tawhīd would, of course, not hold this belief were they to take an oath by other than Allāh. Nonetheless, since this was a distinctive feature of polytheism, Rasūlullāh (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam) has forbidden taking an oath with other than Allāh. However, this is not shirk that takes one out of Islām. Here, shirk is in the meaning of an expression of shirk in resembling the actions of the idolaters. Hence, the term “shirk” may at times be used in the meaning of a lesser form of shirk and not the greatest shirk which takes its perpetrator out of Islām,
When a Sahābī said in conversation with Rasūlullāh (sallAllāhu ‘alayhi wasallam), “What Allāh wills and you will”, he replied:
أجعلتني مع الله عدلا؟!
“Do you make me an equal with Allāh?!” (Sharh Mushkil al-Athār)
In other words, even this vague resemblance with shirk is prohibited in Sharī‘ah. (end)
In other words he's arguing that vowing by them, making oaths to them and slaughtering animals in their presence do not constitute shirk akbar (and merely expressions of shirk) as long as it is merely done out venerance i.e. respect not worship. Nonetheless it is still haram.
Is this reflective of scholarly tradition?
I agree with him that taking oaths and slaughtering are conditional acts of major shirk. However, I speculate that we might disagree on all the factors that make them reach the level of major shirk.
Assalamualaikum may I share this piece?
wa alaykum assalam, why not? It's public. Please do.