Is it possible for praise of a created being or love of football to reach the level of worship?

Firstly:

A person’s actions cannot be regarded as worship unless two
essential factors are present, namely: complete love and complete humility.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Worship of the Most Gracious means to have the utmost love
for Him and the utmost humility when worshipping Him. These are two pillars
that form the foundation of worship, and there is no worship unless these
two pillars are there.

The utmost love and humility should only be for Allah, may He
be exalted. That is because of what the Muslim believes about Allah having
all perfect attributes and being far above all imperfections.

The Muslim believes that Allah, may He be exalted, is
Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful, Pardoning, Generous; He gives in abundance and
His blessings and favours are immense. Every blessing that reaches a person
is from Allah, so his love for Him is the utmost love.

And he believes that Allah is the Sovereign, the Almighty,
the Compeller, the Supreme, the Subduer, so he fears Him and humbles himself
before Him, showing the utmost humility. A man may humble himself before
another person, but he does not love him, so his humility towards him cannot
be regarded as worship. And he may love another person or thing, but he does
not humble himself before that person or thing, so his love thereof cannot
be regarded as worship.

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah (may Allah have mercy on him)
said:

The basic meaning of ‘ibaada (worship) is humbleness. A road
may be described as mu‘abbad if it has been smoothed out and stepped on by
feet. But the worship that is enjoined includes the concept of humility and
the concept of love. It includes the utmost humility before Allah, may He be
exalted, and the utmost love for Him.

If a person is subjugated to another person (and therefore
shows humbleness before him), but he feels resentment towards him, he is not
worshipping him. If he loves someone but does not submit to him, then he is
not worshipping him, such as when he may love his child or his friend.
Therefore either of them on its own is not sufficient when it comes to
worshipping Allah; rather Allah must be dearer to the person than everything
else, and Allah must be greater in his view than all things. Indeed no one
is deserving of the utmost love and humility except Allah. End quote.

Al-‘Uboodiyyah
(p. 6)

Thus it will become clear that merely praising a person –
even if it is exaggerated – and loving football and playing it a lot, is not
regarded as worshipping something other than Allah.

Shaykh Ibn ‘Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

Praise means describing the praised one as being perfect, out
of love, respect and veneration. If you describe your Lord as being perfect,
this is praise, but it must be accompanied by love, respect and veneration,
because if it is not accompanied by that, then it is called madh
(commending), not hamd (praise). Therefore we find that some of the
poets commend some people in an exaggerated manner, but if you were to check
the poet’s heart, you would find it devoid of love for that person; he is
only commending him because he hopes for some benefit from him or to ward
off some harm.

Our praise of Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is
praise that is accompanied by love, respect and veneration. End quote.

Majmoo‘ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(16/83).

He also said regarding the difference between hamd
(praise) and madh (commendation):

The correct view is that there is a great difference between
them, because hamd (praise) is based on love and veneration, but with
regard to madh (commendation), that is not necessarily the case. It
may be based on that, or it may not. I may commend a man but I have no love
or respect for him in my heart; rather it is out of hope for whatever he may
give me, even though there is no love or respect for him in my heart.

As for hamd (praise), it must be based on love and
veneration.

Hence we say, when defining hamd: it means describing
the praised one as being perfect, out of love and respect, and no one can
deserve this praise in a perfect sense except Allah, may He be glorified and
exalted. End quote.

Majmoo‘ Fataawa Ibn ‘Uthaymeen
(24/453)

Secondly:

Praise for a person may reach the level of shirk if one
ascribes to him attributes that no one deserves except Allah, such as
knowledge of the unseen, the power to do all things, or control of the
universe, and the like.

Some poets fell into shirk because of their exaggeration in
describing some individuals and ascribing to them some divine attributes.

An example is what Ibn Katheer (may Allah have mercy on him)
mentioned in his biography of the Andalusian poet Muhammad ibn Haani’:

He was an eminent poet, but more than one scholar deemed him
to be a disbeliever because of his exaggeration in the poetry he wrote
commending people in authority, such as when he wrote in praise of al-Mu‘izz
al-Faatimi (may Allah curse them both):

What you will and not what the divine decree wills; rule, for
you are the One, the Subduer.

This is a grave error and blasphemy. End quote.

Al-Bidaayah wa’n-Nihaayah
(15/341)

Al-Bukhaari (3445) narrated that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased
with him) said: I heard the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) say: “Do not exaggerate in praising me as the Christians exaggerated in
praising the son of Maryam. I am only His slave, so say: The slave of Allah
and His Messenger.”

Ibn Baaz (may Allah have mercy on him) said:

He forbade overstepping the bounds in praising him and going
to extremes, because that may lead to shirk. Hence he (blessings and peace
of Allah be upon him) feared for his ummah and forbade them to exaggerate
about him as the Christians did, until it went so far that they said
concerning the son of Maryam that he was the son of God, and they worshipped
him instead of Allah, because of exaggeration and overstepping the bounds.
End quote.

Fataawa Noor ‘ala ad-Darb
(2/214)

If the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him)
forbade exaggerating about him, overstepping the bounds and raising him
above the status that Allah ordained for him, then how about if that
exaggeration has to do with commending someone else, no matter who he is?

The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) said: “Beware of extremism (and exaggeration), for those who came
before you were only doomed because of their going to extremes in religion.”
Narrated by Ahmad (3248) from the hadith of Ibn ‘Abbaas; its isnaad is
saheeh.

Shaykh ‘Abd ar-Rahmaan ibn Yahya al-Mu‘allimi (may Allah have
mercy on him) said:

One of the greatest causes of misguidance is exaggeration
about virtuous people, and one of the things that may most reinforce one in
the path of falsehood is when one who exaggerates accuses anyone who tries
to bring him back to the truth of hating those virtuous people and opposing
them.

End quote from Athaar al-Mu‘allimi (9/110).

See also the answers to questions no.
75395 and 201029.

Thirdly:

Football may be blameworthy if one goes to extremes in
pursuing it to the point of neglecting his religious and worldly interests,
as in the case of one who plays football and neglects his prayers or delays
them until the time for them is over, or who fails to pray in congregation,
or who breaks the fast in Ramadan so that he will have the strength to play,
or he neglects his work and study…  And so on.

For more information, please see fatwas no.
75644 and 22305.

But in such cases it cannot be said that he is worshipping
football in the sense of worship that would put him beyond the pale of
Islam. Rather in this case it may be said that he is following his whims and
desires, which bar people from remembering and obeying Allah.

Following whims and desires is not all of the same level. In
some cases it may constitute major kufr or major shirk, but in other cases
it may be a major sin or a minor sin.

If he follows his whims and desires to the extent that it
leads him to reject what the Messenger said, or to ridicule it, or turn away
from it – as is clear from the two verses in al-Furqaan and al-Jaathiyah –
then he is a mushrik in the sense of major shirk. The same applies to anyone
whose whims and desires lead him to commit what the evidence proves is major
shirk or major kufr, such as praying to the dead, denying that which is well
established and well-known in the religion of Islam, giving up prayer, or
regarding zina (fornication or adultery) and khamr (intoxicants) as
permissible.

If he follows his whims and desires by swearing by something
other than Allah, may He be exalted, or by showing off his deeds, then he is
a mushrik in the sense of minor shirk.

If he follows his whims and desires by doing innovated deeds
that do not constitute kufr, then he is an innovator.

If he follows his whims and desires by committing a major sin
such as zina or drinking alcohol, without regarding it as permissible, then
he is an evildoer.

If he follows his whims and desires by committing a minor
sin, then he is a sinner but is not an evildoer.

Thus you will realise that following whims and desires leads
to matters that vary in seriousness, so it is not correct to say that
whoever follows his whims and desires is a disbeliever in a general sense,
or that he is worshipping that thing in a real sense, instead of Allah.

That has been discussed in detail previously in the answer to
question no. 145466.

And Allah knows best.