Part 3 Tugu Negara And Statue Debate - Similarities Between Biblical / Jewish Teachings And Extra Quranic Religion

Mukaddimah :

[Surah 3:100]   Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika kamu taat akan sesuatu puak dari orang-orang (Yahudi dan Nasrani) yang diberikan Kitab itu, nescaya mereka akan mengembalikan kamu menjadi orang-orang kafir sesudah kamu beriman. 

[Surah 3:101]    Dan bagaimana kamu akan menjadi kafir padahal kepada kamu dibacakan ayat-ayat Allah (Al-Quran), dan dalam kalangan kamu ada RasulNya ? Dan sesiapa berpegang teguh kepada Allah, maka sesungguhnya ia telah beroleh petunjuk hidayah ke jalan yang betul.


There is a theory that clever beggars have stirred up the Tugu Negara statue debate (basically to declare statues are haram) to justify their spending that RM650 million on that new Tugu Negara project.  Its all about money ok. The National Monument may be removed. 

I have been listening to the statue debate ie whether statues are haram or not in their religion. The Islam which is in the Quran is different ok. Islam in the Quran is not a religion.

As usual, which I admit I have repeatedly bored you with for so many times, none of them quote any verses from the Quran about statues and images.  

They cannot quote a single verse from the Quran about statues or about forbidding statues.

THERE ARE NO VERSES IN THE QURAN WHICH FORBID THE MAKING OF STATUES, PHOTOGPRAPHS, PAINTINGS OR IMAGES.

So where does this idea to ban statues, carvings, images, photographs come from? 

Here is the Old Testament from the Christian Bible :

Leviticus 26:1  -  You shall not make for yourselves idols, nor shall you set up for yourselves an image or a sacred pillar, nor shall you place a figured stone in your land to bow down to it; for I am the LORD your God.

Deuteronomy 27:15 -  Cursed is the man who makes an idol or a molten image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'

Exodus 20:4  -  "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5"You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

Exodus 32:8  -  "They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them.They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, 'This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!'"

So there is a clear injunction in the Bible against "graven images" ie statues, carvings, molten castings of humans and animal forms.  As with any "religion" the christians debate if statues, carvings, images are fully forbidden or only forbidden for worship.

Some christians say it is ok to have statues, carvings so long as you dont worship. Others christians have said that all statues, carvings, images are forbidden - whether you worship them or not.  I will leave such arguments to the christian scholars.  

Without any doubt YOU CAN FIND VERSES in the Bible which forbid the making of statues, carvings, molten metal casting etc of animal and human forms.

What does the Quran say? The Quran certainly condemns the worship of statues. Here is Abraham speaking to his father and his people :

Surah 21:51-52

51]  Dan demi sesungguhnya, Kami telah memberi kepada Nabi Ibrahim sebelum itu jalan yang benar dalam bertauhid, dan Kami adalah mengetahui akan halnya. 

 
[52]  Ketika ia berkata kepada bapanya dan kaumnya: "Apakah hakikatnya patung-patung ini yang kamu bersungguh-sungguh memujanya?" 

And here is the story of Moses.

Surah 7:148  Dan kaum Musa, sesudah ia pergi, mereka membuat dari barang-barang perhiasan mereka, (patung) anak lembu yang bertubuh dan berbunyi. "Tidakkah mereka memikirkan bahawa patung itu tidak dapat berkata-kata dengan mereka dan tidak dapat juga menunjukkan jalan kepada mereka? Mereka menjadikannya (berhala yang disembah) dan sememangnya mereka adalah orang-orang yang melakukan kezaliman". 

This is from the story of Moses, whose people made statues of cows and worshipped them.  From these verses above, obviously the worship of idols is not allowed.

But in the next verse, the Prophet Solomon (Nabi Sulaiman) had statues made for him.

Surah 34:13   -  Golongan jin itu membuat untuk Nabi Sulaiman apa yang ia kehendaki dari bangunan-bangunan yang tinggi, dan patung-patung, dan pinggan-pinggan hidangan yang besar seperti kolam, serta periuk-periuk besar yang tetap di atas tukunya. "Beramalah kamu wahai keluarga Daud untuk bersyukur!" Dan sememangnya sedikit sekali di antara hamba-hambaKu yang bersyukur.

Here it is in English :

 

The word for statues in the above verses is 'tamatheel'. It is rooted in the word mithal which in Malay is also 'mithal' or 'misal' which means an example, an image, a representation or allegory.  

Statues (tamatheel) are images or representations of human and animal forms.

In 34:13 above the Prophet Solomon (Nabi Sulaiman) had statues (tamatheel) made for him.  A Prophet or 'Nabi' had statues made for him.

So it is NOT wrong to make statues or carvings. It is wrong however to worship statues (and stone buildings as well). 

As you can see, in the Quran there is nothing about forbidding paintings or making statues.Making statues itself is not haram in the Quran. 

It is the worship of statues that is not allowed.

What about photographs?  Photographs will certainly fall into the Biblical category of graven images. 

Once upon a time, the Taliban and the Wahhabis in Saudi Arabia (who obviously are in sync with Biblical teachings) totally banned the taking of photographs. 

But it was not practical. The religious guys found out they could collect more money by putting their pictures on posters, on CDs, on cassettes, appearing on tv etc. 

The Taliban have not changed but the Saudis came out with a new fatwa. The Saudis said that a photograph is like a reflection in a mirror. So it was halal.  I call this a Saudi fart.
    

[Surah 3:100]   Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika kamu taat akan sesuatu puak dari orang-orang (Yahudi dan Nasrani) yang diberikan Kitab itu, nescaya mereka akan mengembalikan kamu menjadi orang-orang kafir sesudah kamu beriman. 

[Surah 3:101]    Dan bagaimana kamu akan menjadi kafir padahal kepada kamu dibacakan ayat-ayat Allah (Al-Quran), dan dalam kalangan kamu ada RasulNya ? Dan sesiapa berpegang teguh kepada Allah, maka sesungguhnya ia telah beroleh petunjuk hidayah ke jalan yang betul.