Author: Vinod Kumar
Publication: The Hindu Renaissance
Date: Chaitra Shukla 1, 5103
On Monday February 26, 2001, Afghanistan's
Taliban militia supreme leader Mulla Mohammad Omar, an Islamic scholar
himself, issued a decree: "Based on the verdict of the clergymen and the
decision of the supreme court of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) all the
statues around Afghanistan must be destroyed."(1)
This included two giant Bamiyan
Buddha Statues over 1500 years old and towering 120 and 175 feet, carved
into a mountain side, that had withstood the ravages of time and weather,
the invading hordes, and the cannon shots ordered fired by the Mughal Emperor
Aurangzeb.
Elaborating, the Talibans say these
statues are un-Islamic and an insult to Islam. They accept that no one
in Afghanistan worships them now but sometime in the future people might
worship them. They want to prevent that.
The decree evoked sharp condemnation
and outcry from Tokyo to New York and from ordinary citizen to the United
Nations and its cultural wing UNESCO. In the last ditch attempt to save
the world's cultural heritage, UN Secretary General met in Islamabad, the
capital of Pakistan with Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil.
Secretary General Annan walked out
of the meeting after his plea to stop the destruction was rejected by Muttawakil
and was told "Work on destruction of the Bamiyan statues has already started,
and there is not much left."(2)
Many Islamic scholars including
Maulana Wahiduddin Khan have called the destruction of Buddha statues un-Islamic
saying: "There are verses in the Quran which state: "Do not worship idols".
But there is no verse in the Quran which says: "Destroy idols". The way
of Islam is to purify that heart of idolatry; it is not to destroy statues
made of stone."(3)
Let us see if the destruction of
these statues is Islamic as the Talibans claim or un-Islamic as others
assert.
"Of the 6,236 verses of the Holy
Quran not one prescribes the destruction of idols" wrote Qazi Faez Isa,
reinforcing what Maulana Wahiduddin claimed. (4)
However, the Holy Quran does narrate
the destruction of idols by Prophet Abraham (21:56-57). If the Holy Quran
does not call for the destruction of idols, it also does not condemn or
criticize the destruction of idols by Prophet Abraham.
The Talibans pride themselves on
following the true Islam and their decree cannot be brushed away by mere
statements that it is un-Islamic. They are unlikely to do something that
goes against the spirit and the letter of Islam. Since there is no verse
in the Quran which calls for the destruction of the idols, where do they
get their religious justification from?
For a Muslim, the Quran, --"the
word of God, immutable and unalterable; it contains guidelines which a
Muslim must follow" (5) -- forms the first and the foremost "guidelines"
but that is not the only one. What one cannot find in the Holy Quran, one
has to emulate from the life of the Prophet. According to Rafiq Zakaria,
an Islamic scholar: "The Prophet is presented in the Quran as the best
example of its teachings and a perfect model of human behaviour ……Muhammad's
life is a mirror for his followers; in him they see the fruition of the
Quranic values -- he is the ideal to be followed." (6)
And Maulana Wahiduddin Khan also
agrees: "Throughout his (the Prophet) life, not only was he a supremely
successful person himself, but also stood out as a superb model for others
to imitate." (7)
Let us now turn to second most important
article of faith for a Muslim -- the life of the Prophet.
Sahih Muslim -- one of the four
most authentic traditions of the Prophet records "The Holy Prophet (may
peace be upon him) entered Mecca. There were three hundred sixty idols
around the Ka'ba. He began to thrust them with the stick that was in his
hand saying: 'Truth has come and falsehood has vanished. Lo! Falsehood
was destined to vanish." (8)
These words are narrated in sura
17:81 also. Mohammad Marmaduke Pickthall, in the footnote to the above
sura writes: "These words were recited by the Prophet when he witnessed
the destruction of the idols round the Ka'bah after the conquest of Mecca."
(9)
Tabaqat ibn Sa'd -- an important
source on the life of the Prophet and the Companions -- wrote that "'Ali
was chosen to destroy the idols (which he did by mounting the shoulders
of the Prophet) and 'Umar the pictures on the walls of the Ka'ba. Other
men were sent to the neighboring areas for the same purpose and for looting
the temple treasuries. Khalid b. Walid was sent to Nakhl to destroy the
idol of Al-Uzza, the tutelary goddess of Banu Kinan and the Quraish; Umro
b. Al'as to destroy the idol of Suwa'; and Sa'd b. Zaid al-Ashahali to
destroy Al-Manat, the deity of the tribes of Aus and Khazraj. (10)
Sir William Muir notes that images
were destroyed and the pictures of Abraham and Angels painted on the walls
of the Ka'ba were obliterated. (11) The demolition of idols by the Talibans,
however barbaric it might seem to the rest of the world, is not un-Islamic
as it is fully in accordance with the traditions of the Prophet.
1 Destroy ancient statues -- Taliban
Leader, Report, February 27, 2001, Times of India
2 Annan walks out of Taliban minister's
meet, Agencies, March 2, 2001, The Hindustan Times
3 DeIslamizing Islam: The Taliban
Project, Khan Maulana Wahiduddin, March 14, 2001, Times of India
4 Destruction of Bamiyan statues,
Isa Qazi Faez, March 11, 2001, The Dawn
5 The Struggle within Islam, Zaakaria
Rafiq, 1988, Penguin Books, pp302
6 Muhammad and the Quran, Zakaria
Rafiq, 1992, Penguin Books, pp. 8 - 9
7 Islam and Peace, Khan Maulana
Wahiduddin, 1999, Goodward Books, pp. 60
8 Sahih Muslim, Siddqi Abdul Wahid
(Translated by) , 1994, Kitan Bhavan, vol. 3. Pp 978
9 Meaning of the Glorious Koran,
Pickthall Mohammad Marmaduke, Mentor Books, pp 209
10 Understanding Islam through
Hadis, Swarup Ram, 1983, Exposition Press, pp. 115 (quoted from Tabaqat,
vol. 1 pp. 484-486)
11 The Life of Mahomet from Original
Sources, Muir Sir William, 1992, Voice Of India, pp. 409
