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Rationale Behind Ibrahim عليه السلام Destroying Idols
If someone came to a masjid and destroyed it and then said ‘ask your God who destroyed it’. We would think that he is ignorant- because that’s not how God works.
So how is Ibrahmin عليه السلام destroying the idols of his nation a rationale argument against their beliefs?
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28 Replies
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Rationale Behind Ibrahim عليه السلام Destroying Idols
updated 3 years, 2 months ago
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28
Replies
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Kaaba was originally established as the first center of monotheism on earth. With passage of time people started placing idols in it and started worshiping them.
The analogy you used is not appropriate for the action of Ibrahim AS.
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This was not with the kabah. This was when ibrahim عليه السلام destroyed the idols of his nation before the kabah was built
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Also that’s what I’m asking- what type of explanation and rationale? The analogy I have is the same I think- someone destroys a masjid and says ‘look your God couldn’t even say a thing to me’.
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I apologize that I confused it with the Kaaba.
Whatever the place of worship they placed their idols in, it was still supposed to be used for worshiping one God. It was not someone else’s place of worship – his own father was the caretaker of it. Ibrahim AS also reasoned with his people first – the time span of which we have no knowledge about – and then resorted to breaking the idols. Please see Quran verses 21:51-56. Your analogy about some outsider coming into a mosque and destroying it doesn’t apply.
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Even if someone comes and reasons with us, the act of destruction of the idols doesn’t seem to prove anything.
Also where is it said that they were his father’s idols or that it was his own property that he destroyed?
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Respectfully here is the point. Are we questioning our faith? Are we saying Allah does not exist or Allah is wrong? Are we saying prophets are no different than nonbelievers?
If we are not questioning the above, then no question exists why Abraham destroyed Idols. Allah guided him and he did it. Do we need reasoning for everything before we follow Allah’s command?
Abraham was a prophet. Allah could have commanded him to kill all idol worshippers and he would have done it without questioning. Allah himself destroys the entire communities of nonbelievers. Will we question Allah now why he destroys nonbelievers when nonbelievers God doesn’t destroy Muslims?
We know we are right and our god is the true god and we follow his commands. Other religions believe they are right and they follow their God’s command. Where is the injustice.
Justice will be served on the last day and truth will become evident.
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God has chosen to put this story in his book then the purpose must be to rationally disprove idol worship. I am just looking for that. Why is our religion so hard on idols? I have heard it is because they are false and a lie into God. This makes sense. But to destroy them doesn’t prove anything. To ask whether they actually eat doesn’t prove anything. To say they don’t harm or benefit you DOES prove something- that they don’t have any power. But how does destroying them do anything?
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Shoaib, first comes is our faith. If we are born in a Muslim family and just call ouselves Muslims, then it is a different thing, but if we are Muslims because we did our research and with our heart and mind we accepted Islam, then there are no questions remaining left to answer; except whether the informatiin we are reading is correct or not, whether the translation is correct or not and then we just ask questions to better understand Allah and his will because we want to be better Muslims.
In the case of Ibrahim, Allah guided him and he destroyed Idols. We can guess and try to find an answer to understand, but we can’t question out faith and Allah’s will. If our faith is shaken then every sentence and every word of quran may be a question.
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It must be a question. Otherwise the choice to be on the faith is upon blind faith. It is impossible to find all the answers, so we go off of what we find most reasonable. God specifically chose to mention this story. So there must be a reason he wanted us to find- he is the one who wanted us to ask this question it seems
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Our faith is based on overwhelming evidence and signs, but if we are demanding an absolute proof and certainty, then we are no different than disbelievers. We will only get absolute certainty when we die and it will be too late then. It is not in Allah’s scheme to provide absolute certainty because that will negate the plan of having this life as a test. Don’t you think Allah could have given us certainty if he wanted to. He just gives us pretty strong signs and we match those signs with our internal built in faith and that is all. We don’t question our faith every second, but we try to understand Allah that is all. Even some prophets didn’t have absolute certainty. Didn’t prophet Musa asked Allah to show him sign to strengthen his faith?
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The interesting thing is Prophet Ibrahim Alaysalam asks the idols do you not eat of your offerings and this is an indication that the pagan worshippers at the times very much like the Hindus today who would offer food to their idols and would believe that their idols physically or even spiritually could do things. So It was away of showing the absurdity of their beliefs in a statue. If non-muslims come in and breaks a masjid, it doesn’t belittle God , they can destroy all the mosques in the world if they want, God isn’t hindered in the slightest.
It’s interesting that Prophet Ibrahim Alaysalam would say to the idols they can’t speak, given nor does God speak to us all personally, but then again Prophet Ibrahim Alaysalam was given revelation (wahi) from Allah so he had personally communicated with Allah.
So from my understanding this is a way of Ibrahim Alaysalam promoting the voice of reason in religion and indicating to these pagan worshippers to use their aql.
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No one thinks their idols actually eat the food. Of course they don’t. Destroying them or asking them whether they actually eat doesn’t make sense
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So the analogy does stand- they will say that you can destroy all the statues in the world- it won’t belittle our gods in the slightest.
That’s the thing- to ask the idols to speak is like coming, destroying a masjid, and saying ‘go on- tell you God to stop me’. Or if a group comes, to say ‘go on- ask your God which one of us destroyed it’.
It seems to be this scenario.
I don’t think anyone at all worships the actual stone. No one is that stupid
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May be this can be another addition of your questions to ask Allah SWT or Prophet Ibrahim AS after life 🙂
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Just hope that we’re ahead of Ahmad in the line on the day of judgement. Otherwise we’ll be waiting a long long time! 😂
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😀
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Allah karey 🤣
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I understand the joke but this is a such a cop out answer. Some things I can accept like why did God do things a certain way or chose certain people etc. But when God has chosen to put this story in his book then the purpose must be to rationally disprove idol worship. I am just looking for that
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Shoaib we try, but we can’t always understand Allah’s will and his strategy. For a mement if I stop believing Allah, I can see questioning every sentence of Quran and will come up with some argument to reject it.
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I disagree with that. I think the Quran is very clear. All I’m asking is for the motive that God had when giving us this story since the Quran is for humans and for them to learn from it- so there must be a lesson here
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Perhaps the lesson in the story is faith. Ibrahim put his life on the line for his faith and obey Allah’s command. That is perhaps Quran telling us, but are we looking for another meaning that we like?
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The end goal seems to be disproving idol worship. I want to see how Ibrahim عليه السلام ‘s actions lead to that end rationally
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Why would you look for rationality when you believe in miracles beyond our comprehension maybe this is just another act we can’t phathom. BTW they clearly did believe their idols had some sort of powers and by destroying these idols that they worshipped , prophet Ibrahim Alaysalam is showing that they have no powers. That is why Prophet Ibrahim Alaysalam didn’t run away and destroy all the idols, but decided to place an axe on one to get the people to use their ability to critically think, which the idol worshippers did but their ignorance kept them away from true monotheism. From my understanding In essence prophet Ibrahim Alaysalam was the voice of reason in his time.
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If I believe in God it’s only rational to believe he can cause miracles. You can make a new thread snd discuss miracles إن شاء الله .
I have already answered this reply above. It’s like someone destroying a masjid snd then standing on the ruins and asking for God to smite him.
They believed in the people behind the idols- the things the idols signify- no one worships the actual rock but the person that it signifies of course.
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1. I think that it is erroneous to infer that all kinds of idolatry were/are merely symbolic. There have been, and still are, several polytheistic theologies and beliefs wherein the idols were/are deemed as more than just symbols. There were/are revered as the corporal manifestations of the deities, with the deities’ spirits and attributes. Their worshippers believe that the divine spirit present in those images listens and responds to them. They also ritually put the idols to bed, wake up them up in the morning, give them a bath, and even dress them up with garlands etc. This still happens in several variants of Hinduism. Considering all this, it is obvious that when such idols are unable to defend themselves, it conclusively proves the truth to their worshippers.
2. Even if the idols are merely symbolic, just consider the kind of devotion, emotional and divine aura that surrounds them, and through which they are seen by their worshippers. For them, it is impossible to conceive that someone like Ibrahim could so easily break those idols apart without any resistance by whatever gods they believe in. Hence, they are utterly shocked, and the false aura that surrounds their idols is shattered along with the stones.
3. Mosques are neither physical manifestations of Allah, nor are they worshipped. They are spaces reserved for people to gather and offer their prayers. If a mosque is attacked, it will not be, in any way, an attack on Allah Himself, nor its destruction the failure of Allah to defend Himself. Hence the analogy is false. I mean, destruction of a mosque proves nothing because it has never been given the kind of status that is conferred upon idols in the polytheistic theologies.
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Thank you- this seems to make sense. Do we have any way to know whether it was more 1 or 2?
Your message reminded me of some My Hindu neighbours who used to bathe their idols on Diwali i think
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This would have been easier to know if some polytheistic religions had survived in the regions of Kan’aan and Arabian Peninsula. Also, sometimes it is hard to figure out the binaries because, honestly, there is a very thin line btw 1 and 2. But the kind of stress that the Bible and Quran lay on the magnitude of the sin of idolatry, my guess is that it might be 1st.
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Well stated Haris!
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