How valid is this statement: "A thing that is forbidden by its very nature is forbidden in all religions, and a thing that is forbidden for a specific cause becomes permissible once that cause is removed"?

The questioner : Some sects say that a thing forbidden by its very nature is forbidden at all times, and a thing forbidden for a specific cause is forbidden only for the sake of that cause; if that cause is removed, the thing becomes permissible or becomes... They give as an example the making of statues, which was permissible for our master Sulayman (peace be upon him), whereas zina and killing the soul that Allah has forbidden to be killed are forbidden in all religions. So this is forbidden. They say that now it is possible to make statues because the cause for their prohibition has been removed, and now there is no one who worships a statue or worships an image, or...?

The Shaykh : May Allah will it. This is said to one who speaks about what has not been narrated from him, as we have learned from some of the distinguished scholars and our noble sheikhs whom we have not met, but rather based on the principle:
"We have companions whose hearing we never tire of, *** Trustworthy in absence and in presence."
"If you say they are dead, you are not a liar, *** And if you say they are alive, you are not refuted."
So some of these sheikhs say to one who makes such a claim: "Establish the Throne, then engrave it." What is the evidence that the cause for the prohibition of idols and images is the fear that they will be worshipped instead of Allah (Mighty and Majestic)? And what is the evidence that we are safe from Muslims falling into this worship? I return to the first claim, which is that we demand evidence for the alleged cause. But we preempt the matter and say: Even if it is established that the cause is the fear that idols will be worshipped, where do we get the idea that we are finished, that we are safe, and as they say in our region in Syria, "We have put our feet in cold water, so we no longer fear that anyone will fall into shirk (associating partners with Allah)"? How can this be when the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said, as in Sahih al-Bukhari: This is a report from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) in the most authentic book after the Qur'an. So the one you referred to, among those who say this, says what he does not know, and indeed says what contradicts the words of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). I return to the cause: What is the evidence that the cause is the fear that Muslims will worship idols? It is possible that this is a wisdom or part of the cause, but to say it is the cause itself: First, they have no evidence for that except mere conjecture, and true is Allah:
Second: The hadith explicitly states the opposite of what they claim. He (peace and blessings be upon him) said: Or perhaps it was presented or delayed; perhaps the matter is so. The important point is: So this explicitly states that the cause of the prohibition is imitating Allah's creation. This also came in the hadith of Aisha: This is the fundamental cause that is explicitly stated in the authentic Sunnah. As for the fear I mentioned or narrated earlier, that is a cause derived from ijtihad (independent legal reasoning) taken from the history of some previous nations, such as the saying of Noah (peace be upon him), where our Lord (Mighty and Majestic) related in the Qur'an that he said: Ibn Abbas says, as in al-Bukhari and the Tafsir of Ibn Jarir and others: That they not bury them in their graveyards like the common people, but rather to glorify and sanctify them and remember their virtues, as they claimed. This is like what they say today, those who have started spreading idols and erecting them in public places and parks and the like. Satan left them for a generation, then came to them and inspired them: "The remaining of these people in these graves as they are, a storm from the sky or floods or winds may come and take away their graves, and you will forget them. What shall we do?" They said: "Take idols for them." So they made five idols for them and placed them in locations that the generation after them was inspired to place them in places worthy of their remembrance. The generation after that came and started worshipping them instead of Allah. Among those people were the people of Noah (peace be upon him), and he called them to worship Allah alone, having no partner. And their answer was what you have heard: Islam prohibits images and statues, especially three-dimensional ones. It can be said that this is in the category of sadd al-dhara'i' (blocking the means to harm), lest these idols be exalted. But we do not say that the cause is this cause mentioned in the two previous hadiths. In summary, the answer is that image-making is forbidden by definitive texts of Islam, and there is nothing at all that indicates that a time will come when these idols become permissible and people will know tawhid (the oneness of Allah) and not fall into shirk. What do we say today? We still complain of thousands, indeed millions, of Muslims who circumambulate graves and visit the righteous and the awliya (close friends of Allah) and call upon them instead of Allah. These people testify with us that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. What do we say about the disbelievers and communists who circumambulate the graves of Lenin and Stalin morning and evening? How do we say that these people have become aware of shirk and are avoiding it, while the masses of Muslims, unfortunately, fit the description of our Lord (Glorified and Exalted is He): This is enough of ignorance regarding tawhid. In fact, most of these Muslims assume that tawhid is believing that Allah is the one Creator, without a peer or partner, but that worshipping others has no relation to shirk and contradicting tawhid. This is very, very unfortunate. Images remain forbidden until the Day of Resurrection. Please.