Unforgivable Sin (4:116)

The Unforgivable Sin

[4:116] GOD does not forgive idol worship (if maintained until death),* and He forgives lesser offenses for whomever He wills. Anyone who idolizes any idol beside GOD has strayed far astray.
*4:116 A simple definition of idolatry: Believing that anything beside God can help you.

http://www.quranalone.com/the-quran/appendices/appendix-27.php

Appendix 27 – Who Is Your God?

Most people are outraged upon hearing this question. “What do you mean, `Who is your god?’ they ask, `My god is the Creator of the heavens and the earth.’ ” And most of these people will be shocked to find out that their proclamation that their god is the Creator of the heavens and the earth is no more than lip service, and that they are in fact destined for Hell (12:106).

Your god is whoever or whatever occupies your mind most of the time.

Your god can be your children (7:190), your spouse (9:24), your business (18:35), or your ego (25:43). This is why we note that one of the most important and most repeated commandments in the Quran is:

[33:41] “O you who believe, you shall remember God frequently; glorify Him day and night.” 

[25:3] Yet, they set up beside Him gods who do not create anything – they themselves are created – and who possess no power to even harm or benefit themselves, nor do they possess any power to control life, or death, or resurrection.

Messengers Are Powerless; They Do Not Know the Future

[7:188] Say, “I have no power to benefit myself, or harm myself. Only what GOD wills happens to me. If I knew the future, I would have increased my wealth, and no harm would have afflicted me. I am no more than a warner, and a bearer of good news for those who believe.”

[5:76] Say, “Would you worship beside GOD powerless idols who can neither harm you, nor benefit you? GOD is Hearer, Omniscient.”

[10:18] They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, “These are our intercessors at GOD!” Say, “Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?” Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.

[13:6] Say, “Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth?” Say, “GOD.” Say, “Why then do you set up besides Him masters who do not possess any power to benefit or harm even themselves?” Say, “Is the blind the same as the seer? Is darkness the same as the light?” Have they found idols besides GOD who created creations similar to His creations, to the point of not distinguishing the two creations? Say, “GOD is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Supreme.”

[22:55] Yet, they still set up beside GOD idols that cannot benefit them, nor harm them. Indeed, the disbeliever is an enemy of his Lord.