[1] English fails to capture the semantic flexibility of the root « ش-ر-ك », which, in its original Arabic, allows Abū Jaʿfar al-Bāqir صلوات الله عليهما to apply it both to association of true, Divinely appointed Imams with false ones, and polytheism in regard to Allāh تبارك وتعالى Himself. The point is that by wilfully rejecting a Divinely appointed Imam in favour of a pretender, one has made oneself the ultimate cosmic judge in Allāh’s place.