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Forums Forums Epistemology and Philosophy Idol Worship

  • Posted by Ahmad Shoaib on August 25, 2020 at 6:07 am

    What is the philosophy behind prohibiting this practice. Is it that people give shake and confine the unlimited being that is God by stone?

    We as Muslims also have certain symbols which we bow in the direction of but we are worshipping God in essence.

    The Quran presents reasonings that the idols cannot eat not help you or anything . But from my research the people don’t actually Worship the stone of the idols rather the concept of the God through it

    Umer replied 2 months, 3 weeks ago 4 Members · 7 Replies
  • 7 Replies
  • Umer

    Moderator August 25, 2020 at 2:20 pm

    It is the rationale/ideology behind that idol which makes it shirk not the idol itslef.

    Please refer to the video below from 25:04 to 29:23

    https://youtu.be/5T1j6yT5LRk?t=1504

  • ashif ahmed

    Member June 2, 2022 at 8:22 am

    @UmerQureshi is video ek jagah kaha gaya ki murti banana woh asal masla nehi hei … aur ek jagah kaha gaya ki shetan ki 3 murti banakar pathhar marnne ki bat par ki shaitan haqiqat me hei agar na ho toh shirk hei kuch samajh nehi aya baki …?

    • Umer

      Moderator June 4, 2022 at 1:02 am

      Moorti kai peechay jo tasawwur hai masla us tasawwur ka hai kyunkai moorti jis ki shakal main banaye gae hai, us hasti ki peechay koe haqeeqat nhi. Jamrat kai pathar kisi shakkal main nhi hain, bas pathar hai jo shaitan ki aik nishani banaye gaye hain, un pathar kai peechay shaitan ki haqeeqat hai jo Allah nai hamain bataye hai, moorti ki us shakal kai peecahy kya haqeeqat hai jo kisi ilham main bataye gae hoo? sawal asal yai hai.

      Yai neechay dee gae video main jitni moortiyan bataye jaa rahi hain ya jitnay khuda baatye jaa rahay hain, unki haqeeqat ka masla hai:

      https://youtu.be/-ZrZTLo6tGQ

  • Abdul Sattar Ahmed

    Member January 2, 2024 at 1:09 pm

    One question I have with reference to this short below:-

    This guy said because SRK participated in these rituals, he is now outside the fold of Islam (takfir which I don’t agree with and more in line with Ghamidi Sahibs opinion) as he has done Shirk.

    I did research on this topic of shirk and saw a lot of vids and stuff online. After seeing Yasir Qadhi, I inferred that in order to do shirk you have to have the beleifs of polytheism and do the ritual or action for it to be considered shirk. While bowing down/invoicing/doing rituals to a statue or idol is Haram and most likely a major sin, the act itself is not shirk unless you believe that Idol/statue/depiction to be a god/rabb worthy of worship. Having said that the act of doing the ritual without the beleif is a potential gateway to shirk and thus what one would call “shirky rawaiya”.

    Another reality life scenario I can think of is Buddhists going to a Buddhist temple and offering gold leafs and bowing to Buddha. Since Buddhism is an agnostic religion and they don’t believe in Buddha to be any kind of god or Diety, that particular Buddhist ritual is indeed an act of shirky rawaiya but not in itself shirk.

    Plz correct me if I’m wrong. Looking forward to a response/clarification/enlightenment on this issue!

    • Umer

      Moderator January 3, 2024 at 9:26 am

      Polytheism is infact a belief system. Polytheistic actions like praying to a deity other than Allah are a result of that belief system. But in Islam, just the way polytheism as a belief system is prohibited similarly, adopting symbols of polytheism like bowing/prostrating/praying to an idol are also prohibited. Quran 22:30 condems them both in a way where both the belief and the action seem to be equated:

      فَاجۡتَنِبُوا الرِّجۡسَ مِنَ الۡاَوۡثَانِ وَ اجۡتَنِبُوۡا قَوۡلَ الزُّوۡرِ

      “…So guard yourselves against the filth of these idols and abstain from falsehoods which you fabricate about them regarding God“.

      (Excerpt from Quran 22:30)

      It is a very serious act for which one might be held accountable on the day of judgement depending on the excuse/reason for such an act which may or may not be acceptable in the sight of God. The comparison with a Buddhist situation is not accurate since such an act is not done in front of a known idol which is worshipped, this situation involves a bow of respect. In Islam, even bow and prostration of respect which look like ruku and Sajda have also been prohibited on grounds of Sadd-e-Zariya but it is still different than bowing to an idol.

    • Abdul Sattar Ahmed

      Member January 3, 2024 at 9:55 am

      I understand. My question still remains though. Consider the following hypothetical and perhaps bizarre situation:-

      If there is some sort of idol, live animal, jinn etc that a pagan culture takes as it’s God and does ritual worship to it. Having that pagan beleif system and doing the ritual is Haram and for a monotheist/Muslim to take that object of worship as also their rabb/god/wali and doing the ritual has fallen into “unforgivable shirk”.

      However if a monotheist or someone who is Muslim happens to visit those pagan people. Even though he is a monotheist by belief and knowledgeable in his faith. He willingly takes part in the those pagan rituals but without the beleif of the object to be a god or rabb (but maybe believing that this thing is a creation of Allah with some supernatural powers etc) for reasons other than ibadat or worship which could be to just to pay respect/ask for some material gain or any other gain in a form of ritual barter. This act of the monotheist of taking part in the ritual is Haram and a very big sin yes and it is a shirky Amal. Now my question is that even though the monotheist took part in the ritual knowingly and voluntarily, while still retaining his monotheist beliefs, does he still fall into ‘unforgivable shirk’?

      I already know that pagan rituals are Haram under all situations it’s just the part of falling into “unforgivable shirk” in confused about Plz clarify.

    • Umer

      Moderator January 5, 2024 at 11:30 pm

      No it is not same as polytheism as a belief but at the same time, in certain scenarios and considering the gravity of this sin, it may put person in the same list of polytheists. One scenario would be repeated actions of this sort which is an indicator of a person’s arrogance and this sort of arrogant behavior has effectively the same result as that of an unforgivable shirk. It is for the God to decide after considering the person’s knowledge, circumstances, reason, excuse etc. but it is not something that can be brushed off so easily by simply calling it a sin.

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