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SECOND SUBJECT
A CONSIDERATION OF A PRACTICAL ATTITUDE ON THE PART OF THE
BLESSED COMPANIONS
If
we go back to the history of the Islamic conquest of Egypt,
we find nothing that tells us that the companions destroyed
the too obvious and imposing temples and Pharaoic idols.
Some of these monuments, like the Sphinx, which remained
till our age, could have easily been destroyed ; they were
less fortified and less sturdy than fortresses and
strongholds which did not resist the war machine of Islamic
conquest.
Why
did not 'Amr Ibn Al 'As order and did not Abdellah Ibn 'Amr
issue a Fetwa calling for the destruction of these idols and
temples, especially that they are symbols of worshiped
things that go back to the time of the early Egyptians ?
The
answer is clear: the population of Egypt at the time of
Islamic conquests was mostly made up of Copts and Romans.
They were not worshipping those idols then ; they were
Christians ; heathenism was out of date then. There was
therefore no fear that it' will be revived after its death
just for the simple reason that the statues were there.
It
is doubtless that forbidding the acquisition or the making
of statues and the arts of sculpture and painting, even if
it were devoid of the intention of worshipping or the
pretence at being able to create, should remain forbidden
for a while in the Arabian Peninsula, to ensure that enough
time has elapsed and that honoring statues, which marked the
pre-Islamic era, was eradicated. This period went up until
after the death of the Prophet (PBUH). This gets us closer
to the reason that prevented the Prophet from destroying the
Ka'bah in order to renovate it as did Abraham, the
forefather of Prophets (peace be upon them all) before him.
The Prophet (PBUH) told Aïsha (MABH), "Don't you see that
your people did not abide by the foundation of Abraham when
they built al Ka'bah." She said," O Messenger of Allah! Why
don’t you restore Abraham's rules among them ? "He then
said, "If it were not for the liability of your people to
renege, I would"(13)
But
in Egypt, the people did not believe in worshipping stones
and statues ; that is why the Muslims did not destroy the
Sphinx nor the old temples. And who can claim that the
Pharaoic temples or the Sphinx will bring to the visitor's
mind the Pharaoh's capacity to create. A tourist in Egypt
will only be fascinated by the skilfulness of the Pharaohs
in the domains of art, construction and architecture and
would not give any importance to the stones except that they
are old monuments that resist the elements of erosion and
are slowly affected by them. The visitor will notice that
the stone is completely powerless and can be destroyed very
easily. Yet, why destroy them when their existence creates
no dissension in people's religion ? The Companions (May
Allah Bless their Souls) showed in an ideal manner their
understanding of the Islamic religion and their profound
abiding by its principles and their contribution to the
development of general rules of jurisprudence, especially
the principle that the "Fetwa (formal legal opinion) changes
with time and place"(14). This is an example of
perspicacity of opinion and judgement, which makes of their
acts models to be followed all throughout ages.
Forbiddance is therefore confined to arts that aim at
worship, infidelity or vanity. This conclusion validates the
fact that the Prophet permitted the use of images and
statues as toys for children. The problem can only be solved
if we say that forbiddance stands when there is an intention
of infidelity, and falls with the absence of this intention.
The problem resides in the fact that if children can use
representation to play with and to have fun, because they
are innocent, in need of that, or are minors, what of the
maker who is a mature person ? It should follow from that
that his act is not sinful because he does something for
kids even if lie imitates Allah's creatures. We say this in
response to those who call for forbidding these arts
because they are alleged to be always attempts at creation.
The fact that kids can use images and statues to play with
is in no way confined solely to inanimate or degraded
objects. It is possible that these dolls represent in a very
precise manner Allah's animate creature, be they animals,
vegetables or birds. They may even be in the form of
caricature or the form of mythical figures with no parallel
in reality. To elucidate this, we will refer to the
Prophet's (PBUH) saying in this context at the end, in the
section entitled, "Examples of Allowed Images."
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