The Statues, Pyramids, and Idols, and Not Destroying Them in the Conquest of Egypt
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
This questioner asks: What is the response to the doubt that when 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) entered and conquered Egypt, he did not destroy the known monuments, but left them as they were?
The Shaykh:
What monuments?
The questioner:
Perhaps the pyramids.
The Shaykh:
The pyramids are not idols, my brother. The pyramids are not worshipped, nor are they idols. They are mountains. How can one destroy mountains? They are not worshipped besides Allah, nor are they idols. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. And this questioner asks: How do we reconcile, may Allah preserve you, between the statement...
The Shaykh:
Headphones.
The questioner:
Pyramids and idols that produce statues.
The Shaykh:
The pyramids are not idols; rather, they are built over the tombs of the Pharaohs. They are built over the tombs of the Pharaohs; they are tombs over the tombs of the Pharaohs, and they are not idols. As for the Sphinx, it is a mountain, a mountain carved in the image of a man, the image of a man's head. It is a mountain. How can one destroy it? It is not worshipped besides Allah. They call it art. Their art is empty; they have no useful work, so they carve mountains. They are idle. Yes.
The questioner:
And he says: Some statues exist, like Nefertiti and the like, as some statues used to exist in Egypt, such as Nefertiti and the like?
The Shaykh:
Titi.
The questioner:
Yes, Nefertiti. They call it that.
The Shaykh:
Statues that are worshipped other than Allah remain as long as they exist, whereas what follows is a matter of mere play or a matter in which there is no danger of this being worshipped.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
This questioner asks: What is the response to the doubt that when 'Amr ibn al-'As (may Allah be pleased with him) entered and conquered Egypt, he did not destroy the known monuments, but left them as they were?
The Shaykh:
What monuments?
The questioner:
Perhaps the pyramids.
The Shaykh:
The pyramids are not idols, my brother. The pyramids are not worshipped, nor are they idols. They are mountains. How can one destroy mountains? They are not worshipped besides Allah, nor are they idols. Yes.
The questioner:
May Allah reward you. And this questioner asks: How do we reconcile, may Allah preserve you, between the statement...
The Shaykh:
Headphones.
The questioner:
Pyramids and idols that produce statues.
The Shaykh:
The pyramids are not idols; rather, they are built over the tombs of the Pharaohs. They are built over the tombs of the Pharaohs; they are tombs over the tombs of the Pharaohs, and they are not idols. As for the Sphinx, it is a mountain, a mountain carved in the image of a man, the image of a man's head. It is a mountain. How can one destroy it? It is not worshipped besides Allah. They call it art. Their art is empty; they have no useful work, so they carve mountains. They are idle. Yes.
The questioner:
And he says: Some statues exist, like Nefertiti and the like, as some statues used to exist in Egypt, such as Nefertiti and the like?
The Shaykh:
Titi.
The questioner:
Yes, Nefertiti. They call it that.
The Shaykh:
Statues that are worshipped other than Allah remain as long as they exist, whereas what follows is a matter of mere play or a matter in which there is no danger of this being worshipped.
The presenter:
May Allah reward you.
Source
وجوب الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر، بداية من قول المُصَنِّف : وقد كان المسلمون في عهده وعهد أصحابه — islamhouse.com (46:39)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.