Ruling

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With regard to the difference between both of the types as far as the ruling is concerned:

Major shirk puts a person beyond the pale of Islam, so the one who does that is judged to be out of Islam and to have apostatized therefrom, so he is a kafir and an apostate.

Minor shirk does not put a person beyond the pale of Islam, rather it may be done by a Muslim but he still remains in Islam; but the one who does that is in great danger because minor shirk is a major sin.

Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) said:

“If I were to swear by Allah falsely, that is better for me than if I were to swear by something other than Him sincerely.” So he regarded swearing by something other than Allah (which is minor shirk) as being worse than swearing by Allah falsely, and it is well known that swearing by Allah falsely is a major sin.

We ask Allah to make our hearts steadfast in adhering to His religion until we meet Him, and we seek refuge in His Might – may He be glorified – from going astray, for He is the Ever-Living Who never dies, but the jinn and mankind will die. And Allah knows best and is most wise, and to Him is the final return of all.