What does the Quran say about shrine worshiping?

Question

There is a large contrast in the way the Kuffar media have reacted to the removal of the shrines in Timbuktu and news orginsations in the Muslim world. What does the Quran and Sunnah say about the shrines in the city, and are our brothers right to remove them?

Answer 1

Assalamu aalaikum brother,

Shrine worshiping is considered as an act of major Shirk (associating others with Allah in His Divinity or worship).

for Allah (Exalted be He) says: "Say (O Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم): "Verily, my Salât (prayer), my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allâh, the Lord of the ‘Alamîn (mankind, jinn and all that exists).", Surah Al-an'am 6:162

The Prophet (peace be upon him) also said: "Allah has cursed the one who sacrifices to other than Allah…", Muslim, Sahih, Book on sacrifices, no. 1978; Al-Nasa'y, Sunan, Book on sacrifices, no. 4422; and Ahmad, Musnad, vol. 1, p. 118.

Wallahu aalam.

Answer 2

Assalam alaikum brothers and sister in Islam. All i will say is if you want to know the truth about something then go to the depth of it and from where it has originated.So if you all want to know then refer to right context and from the place of origin.You all know that our Prophet Muhammed (P.B.U.H) is our last Prophet and is sent not only for Muslims alone but for entire humanity..if you go deep you will see that he is also for jinns and animals.So if our Prophet Muhammed (pbuh) has said not to do..then its for the entire humanity and not just muslims.Now if this above point is clear.I hope everyone accepts this.cause our first foremost thing for being muslim is the Tawheed.Now there is this hadith "narrated 'Aisha (R.A): Um Habiba and Um Salama mentioned about a church they had seen in Ethiopia in which there were pictures.They told to our Prophet about it, on hearing he said,"If any religious or pious man dies amongst those people they would build a place of worship at his GRAVE and make these pictures in it.They will be the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah on the Day of Resurrection." From this its clear tha building and worshipping (whether grave or Allah) is forbidden.But some scholars who favor shrines/dargas say our Prophet said that only for christians and jews..and is allowed for muslims.OK for once lets say they are right but let me ask you..Allah has created all humans and everything else.In Allah's sight all humans are equal i mean He sees everyone equally and rewards or punishes a person according to his deeds..now if in Allah's sight those people are the worst creatures then why for the same deeds He will be happy if a muslim does it?? think over it.now please dont say that because they are kafirs and we are muslims..cause its meaningless. All what i have written is from the Quran and Hadith..if i have made any mistakes its from the devil.May Allah forgive me for any wrong information in the above passage i have written. MY LORD, EXPAND FOR ME MY BREAST AND EASE FOR ME MY TASK AND UNITE THE KNOT FROM MY TONGUE THAT THEY MAY UNDERSTAND MY SPEECH. (TAHA 25-28)

Imam Abu Hanifa:

" O people don’t interpret religion by your own thinking and absolutely follow the Sunnah, for whosoever goes away from it goes astray! "

" People will try to interpret religion without Ahaadith, then they will develop trouble among themselves ..." [Aqdul Jayyed & Meezan by Shairani]

Imam Malik:

" Being a human being my sayings can be right or wrong so take those to follow which are in accordance with the Qur'an and the Hadith, and leave those which are against it " [Ref: Jaame by Ibne Abdul Bar]

Imam Ahmed:

" Don’t be my muqallid (person who follows someone without reasoning) or of Imam Maalik, Shaafi, Auzai or Imam Nawawi. Take the orders (regarding religious issues) from where these Imams have taken (i.e Qur'an and Hadith)." [Ref: said by Fulani]

1. The Holy Quran is opposed to any kind of following (Taqlid) and it is absolutely against blindly following anyone.

2. Taqlid is to follow without question, and reason and wisdom do not like this type of following.

3. Taqlid is the cause of disunity among the Muslims because there are usually more than one Maraja and their legal rulings are not the same.

"Verily, their return is to the flaming fire of Hell. They found their fathers on the wrong path; And they (too) hastened in their footsteps!" (Qur'an 37:68)

In the above ayah, Allah warns us against following the footsteps of our elders blindly.

We are forbidden from following an action without confirming its correctness and authenticity.

"And follow not that of which you have no knowledge. Verily! The hearing, and the sight, and the heart, of each of you will be questioned." (Quran 17:36)

The one who you are blindly obeying today can be the same person who you will blame and curse on Judgement Day.

"And they will say: "Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the (Right) Way. Our Lord! give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse!"

(Qur'an 33:67-68)

Answer 3

What does the Quran say about shrine worshiping? ... What does the Quran say about the shrines in the city?

By "Shrine worshiping" if you mean worshiping the shrine, or worshiping anyone beside or in place of God, then it is more than obvious that Quran forbids it as it is a major Kufr or Shirk. But if by "Shrine worshiping" you mean worshiping Allah from inside the shrines then Quran encourages that, and introduce such buildings roughly as landmarks of Religion (شعائر الله):

وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَعْثَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ لِيَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ وَعْدَ اللَّـهِ حَقٌّ وَأَنَّ السَّاعَةَ لَا رَيْبَ فِيهَا إِذْ يَتَنَازَعُونَ بَيْنَهُمْ أَمْرَهُمْ ۖ فَقَالُوا ابْنُوا عَلَيْهِم بُنْيَانًا ۖ رَّبُّهُمْ أَعْلَمُ بِهِمْ ۚ قَالَ الَّذِينَ غَلَبُوا عَلَىٰ أَمْرِهِمْ لَنَتَّخِذَنَّ عَلَيْهِم مَّسْجِدًا

Thus did We make their case known to the people, that they might know that the promise of Allah is true, and that there can be no doubt about the Hour of Judgment. Behold, they dispute among themselves as to their affair. (Some) said, "Construct a building over them, Their Lord knows best about them": those who prevailed over their affair said, "Let us surely build a place of worship over them." [18:21]

which says people of the time were arguing about the Resurrection, some definitely believed in it and some were not certain, even maybe there were people that were not a believer for that at all, then the companions of the cave one day got up from a 300 years dream in a cave and when people were informed of them they found out that the resurrection is not impossible. Everyone came to the cave to follow the news more directly, but what they found at the cave was the fact that all the companions of the cave have died. So they started their arguments again, some said this evidence is not sufficient, it doesn't prove anything, but also didn't deny the whole story and said their God knows them better but as the situation is not clear to us simply enclose them in a building (or behind a wall in their cave), they are just dead and we cannot understand through them any further. but those who found the evidence clear and became stronger in their beliefs understand the whole event a clear guidance of God and a blessing for them to believe and be stronger. They said we will build a mosque or shrine over them to be a place for worshiping God.

فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّـهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ يُسَبِّحُ لَهُ فِيهَا بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ / رِجَالٌ لَّا تُلْهِيهِمْ تِجَارَةٌ وَلَا بَيْعٌ عَن ذِكْرِ اللَّـهِ وَإِقَامِ الصَّلَاةِ وَإِيتَاءِ الزَّكَاةِ ۙ يَخَافُونَ يَوْمًا تَتَقَلَّبُ فِيهِ الْقُلُوبُ وَالْأَبْصَارُ / لِيَجْزِيَهُمُ اللَّـهُ أَحْسَنَ مَا عَمِلُوا وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ يَرْزُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

(Lit is such a Light) in houses, which Allah hath permitted to be raised to honour; for the celebration, in them, of His name: In them is He glorified in the mornings and in the evenings, (again and again) / By men whom neither traffic nor merchandise can divert from the Remembrance of Allah, nor from regular Prayer, nor from the practice of regular Charity: Their (only) fear is for the Day when hearts and eyes will be transformed (in a world wholly new) / That Allah may reward them according to the best of their deeds, and add even more for them out of His Grace: for Allah doth provide for those whom He will, without measure.[24:36,37,38]

these are the places that the past prophets and men of God were living and worshiping God, and God also wants the true believers to worship Him in such places. There are many such places which have become mosques, such mosques that are very high in rank according to the holy prophet's household --peace be upon them--, like the Sahleh mosque in Najaf and the mosque of Kufah which were living places of the prophets Edrees and Noah and maybe Ebraheem (at least for a short time) --Peace be upon them all.

The holy prophet --peace be upon him-- was asked if the house of Ali --peace be upon him-- was among such houses (note that only the holy prophet's and Imam Ali's house door was not closed into the mosque) and the holy prophet --peace be upon him and his household-- answered yes, and one of their best. Then see what the kingdom of the Saudia Arabia has done with respect to such places, the house of the holy prophet --peace be upon him and his household-- has ruined and WC is build there for the sake of comfortableness of Hujjaj(!), and all the other places that were and are landmarks of Islam is continuously being destroyed, just like what Allah has stated in his book about those who wanted the religion to be forgotten after the death of the companions of the cave.

are our brothers right to remove them?

Of course no one has the right to destroy a place of worshiping Allah unless be a Wali of Allah. Those brothers are not righteous to force the others --who are not necassarily less than them in faith-- to believe what they think as true (even if it is not true with respect to Quran but only according to their own scholars) otherwise they would be hurt or killed or etc? Collaborating with Kuffar al-Harbi (non believers who fight against Muslims) and only defending Islam against the other Muslims? That's odd to be believed as religous but merely political.