Reading the chapter "Islam Forbids Statues" from the book *Al-Halal wa al-Haram* by al-Qaradawi, and Shaykh al-Albani's response to it
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh :"Islam forbids statues:
Islam has forbidden that the Muslim home contain statues, and by this I mean three-dimensional images that are not trampled upon"
And his phrase "not trampled upon" excludes the prohibition of three-dimensional images that are trampled upon.
He said: "And He made the presence of these statues in a house a cause for the angels to flee from it, and they are the manifestation of the mercy and pleasure of Allah the Exalted. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:Muwatta Malik 54:6 Agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim"
Here we pause for a moment to draw attention to this authentic hadith and its general usage of the terms "images" and "statues." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in this hadith:Muwatta Malik 54:6 He did not say "three-dimensional" or "that are three-dimensional," but rather he used the general term . In the language, a statue is an image, whether it is three-dimensional or not. Perhaps the book will mention some hadiths in which the term "statues" is used for images depicted on curtains. Images depicted on curtains, in the expression of the jurists, are not three-dimensional, and in the opinion of the author as well, I think, they are called statues. This is a usage of the old Arabic. A statue is not, as many minds today assume, the three-dimensional idol. No, the term "statue" in language is broader than being three-dimensional. It serves the place of... and he says the reality is not so... one should narrate what he heard, except that if he doubts, he mentions the doubt, as you saw in this hadith . And the reality is that there is no difference between the two terms in terms of their linguistic meaning. So the general usage of the term here includes the three-dimensional and the non-three-dimensional, as it includes the three-dimensional that is trampled upon and the three-dimensional that is not trampled upon, and it includes the non-three-dimensional that is trampled upon and the non-three-dimensional that is not trampled upon. And this general usage Muwatta Malik 54:6 This is a comment from me.
He says: "The scholars said: The angels do not enter the house in which there is an image, because the one who makes it has imitated the disbelievers, because they make images in their houses and venerate them. So the angels disliked that, and did not enter his house in boycott of him"
Here is an observation or discussion regarding the author's statement: "because they make images in their houses and venerate them". I see that this reasoning is deficient, especially if we look at it from the angle of the images in question. We know that images have become, among the European disbelievers, not a sign of venerating every image. There is no doubt that there is a type of images that they venerate, but it should also be no doubt that there are images that they do not venerate, but rather they are like toys and dolls, as it is said, and things with which they decorate their houses, and they do not intend behind that a worshipful sanctification which is shirk (associating partners with Allah) itself.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: The veneration of church images.
The Shaykh : As for the images of the churches, whereas the images that are placed, for example, on palaces... and the borders of gardens and the like, this does not fall under the images that they make for the purpose of venerating them or worshipping them besides Allah the Mighty and Majestic. And if this explanation is clear and factual, then the imitation by which the Muslim imitates the disbeliever when he places images in his house would be a general imitation regarding the images that are venerated besides Allah, and those that are not venerated besides Allah, because both types are what the disbelievers do. Therefore, the statement: "because the one who makes it has imitated the disbelievers" is correct, but the reasoning for the imitation that they make images in their houses and venerate them is a deficient reasoning. It is better to say: Because they make images in their houses, either for veneration or for adornment, and this is the reality. And in that case, any Muslim who makes an image or images in his house is imitating the disbeliever. But there is a great difference between one imitation and another. The one who makes an idol and worships it besides Allah, that is the worst imitation on the face of the earth... And the one who makes an image or images not to venerate them besides Allah or worship them, but for adornment, as we said, this is imitation, as we said, this is also imitation, but less than the third imitation. In any case, the one who makes these images is imitating the disbelievers absolutely. And thus, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):Sunan Abi Dawud 4155Sahih (Al-Albani) is absolute, whether this image is venerated besides Allah or used to decorate the house, and whether it is three-dimensional or not three-dimensional. This is what is taken from the general usage of the hadith in his saying:
Islam has forbidden that the Muslim home contain statues, and by this I mean three-dimensional images that are not trampled upon"
And his phrase "not trampled upon" excludes the prohibition of three-dimensional images that are trampled upon.
He said: "And He made the presence of these statues in a house a cause for the angels to flee from it, and they are the manifestation of the mercy and pleasure of Allah the Exalted. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
The angels do not enter a house which contains pictures or images.
إن الملائكة لا تدخل بيتا فيه تماثيل أو تصاويرHere we pause for a moment to draw attention to this authentic hadith and its general usage of the terms "images" and "statues." The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said in this hadith:
The angels do not enter a house which contains pictures or images.
إن الملائكة لا تدخل بيتاً فيه تماثيل أو تصاويرStatues
تماثيلStatues or images
تماثيل أو تصاويرThe angels do not enter a house which contains pictures or images.
إن الملائكة لا تدخل بيتاً فيه تماثيل أو تصاويرHe says: "The scholars said: The angels do not enter the house in which there is an image, because the one who makes it has imitated the disbelievers, because they make images in their houses and venerate them. So the angels disliked that, and did not enter his house in boycott of him"
Here is an observation or discussion regarding the author's statement: "because they make images in their houses and venerate them". I see that this reasoning is deficient, especially if we look at it from the angle of the images in question. We know that images have become, among the European disbelievers, not a sign of venerating every image. There is no doubt that there is a type of images that they venerate, but it should also be no doubt that there are images that they do not venerate, but rather they are like toys and dolls, as it is said, and things with which they decorate their houses, and they do not intend behind that a worshipful sanctification which is shirk (associating partners with Allah) itself.
The student: ...
The Shaykh : Yes
The student: The veneration of church images.
The Shaykh : As for the images of the churches, whereas the images that are placed, for example, on palaces... and the borders of gardens and the like, this does not fall under the images that they make for the purpose of venerating them or worshipping them besides Allah the Mighty and Majestic. And if this explanation is clear and factual, then the imitation by which the Muslim imitates the disbeliever when he places images in his house would be a general imitation regarding the images that are venerated besides Allah, and those that are not venerated besides Allah, because both types are what the disbelievers do. Therefore, the statement: "because the one who makes it has imitated the disbelievers" is correct, but the reasoning for the imitation that they make images in their houses and venerate them is a deficient reasoning. It is better to say: Because they make images in their houses, either for veneration or for adornment, and this is the reality. And in that case, any Muslim who makes an image or images in his house is imitating the disbeliever. But there is a great difference between one imitation and another. The one who makes an idol and worships it besides Allah, that is the worst imitation on the face of the earth... And the one who makes an image or images not to venerate them besides Allah or worship them, but for adornment, as we said, this is imitation, as we said, this is also imitation, but less than the third imitation. In any case, the one who makes these images is imitating the disbelievers absolutely. And thus, his saying (peace and blessings be upon him):