I have gifted my non muslim friend their idol. Have I committed a shirk? I know I have. Years after I realized my mistake and begged allah for repentance. I have also asked my friend to return it.. Will Allah forgive me? I am very depressed since months regarding this. Please help.

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

There is no doubt that gifting a worshipped idol to a person is undoubtedly a reprehensible act; rather, it is one of the most reprehensible acts, because it is an apparent aid to polytheism, which is the greatest of sins. Allah Says (what means): {Cooperate with one another in goodness and righteousness, and do not cooperate in sin and transgression.} [Quran 5:02] Allah the Almighty sent His Messenger to break the idols, and not to gift them to the polytheists.

A Hadith reads: “He sent me to strengthen the ties of kinship, to destroy idols so that Allah alone should be worshipped, and nothing should be associated with Him.” [Al-Bukhari and Muslim] The jurists stipulated that idols must be destroyed. Zakariya Al-Ansari from the Shafi'i School of jurisprudence, said in Asna Al-Matalib: “The Muslim who is competent for religious assignments and is able is required to break the idols.”

Despite the greatness of the sin, if you repent to Allah Almighty with remorse for what you did, and resolve not to do it again, then have glad tidings of Allah's forgiveness and pardon. Indeed, Allah Almighty forgives all sins if the servant repents from them, even if the sin was polytheism, as Allah Says (what means): {Say, "O My servants who have transgressed against themselves [by sinning], do not despair of the mercy of Allah. Indeed, Allah forgives all sins. Indeed, it is He who is the Forgiving, the Merciful.} [Quran 39::53] Allah also Says (what means): {Say to those who have disbelieved [that] if they cease, what has previously occurred will be forgiven for them. But if they return [to hostility] - then the precedent of the former [rebellious] peoples has already taken place.} [Quran 8:38]

There is no excuse for losing hope and despairing of the Mercy of Allah if you repent, and strive to recover and break that idol, as a way of fulfilling the obligation of removing evil.

Allah knows best.