Idolatry Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Islam=== {{Main|Shirk (Islam)|Taghut}} {{See also|Aniconism in Islam|Blasphemy and Islam}} In Islamic sources, the concept of ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]'' ([[triliteral root]]: ''sh-r-k'') can refer to "idolatry", though it is most widely used to denote "association of partners with God".<ref name=britshirk>[https://www.britannica.com/topic/shirk Shirk], Encyclopædia Britannica, Quote: "Shirk, (Arabic: "making a partner [of someone]"), in Islam, '''idolatry''', polytheism, and the association of God with other deities. The definition of Shirk differs in Islamic Schools, from Shiism and some classical Sunni Sufism accepting, sometimes, images, pilgrimage to shrines and veneration of relics and saints, to the more puritan Salafi-Wahhabi current, that condemns all the previous mentioned practices. The Quran stresses in many verses that God does not share his powers with any partner (sharik). It warns those who believe their idols will intercede for them that they, together with the idols, will become fuel for hellfire on the Day of Judgment ({{qref|21|98}})."</ref> The concept of ''[[Kufr]]'' (k-f-r) can also include idolatry (among other forms of disbelief).<ref name="Waldman1968p442">{{cite journal | last=Waldman | first=Marilyn Robinson | title=The Development of the Concept of Kufr in the Qur'ān | journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society | volume=88 | issue=3 | year=1968 | pages=442–455 | doi=10.2307/596869 | jstor=596869 }}</ref><ref name="Campo2009p420">{{cite book|author=Juan Eduardo Campo|title=Encyclopedia of Islam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OZbyz_Hr-eIC|year=2009|publisher=Infobase|isbn=978-1-4381-2696-8|pages=420–421}}, Quote: "[Kafir] They included those who practiced idolatry, did not accept the absolute oneness of God, denied that Muhammad was a prophet, ignored God's commandments and signs (singular ''aya'') and rejected belief in a resurrection and final judgment."</ref> The one who practices ''shirk'' is called ''mushrik'' (plural ''mushrikun'') in the Islamic scriptures.<ref name="Hawting1999p67">{{cite book|author=G. R. Hawting|title=The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mh134wJLwkIC&pg=PA67| year=1999| publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-42635-0|pages=47–51, 67–70}}</ref> The Quran forbids idolatry.<ref name="Hawting1999p67"/> Over 500 mentions of ''kufr'' and ''shirk'' are found in the Quran,<ref name="Waldman1968p442"/><ref name="Firestone1999p88">{{cite book|author=Reuven Firestone|title=Jihad: The Origin of Holy War in Islam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=A6kVVeIkzDkC&pg=PA88 |year=1999|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-535219-1|pages=88–89}}</ref> and both concepts are strongly forbidden.<ref name=britshirk/> The Islamic concept of idolatry extends beyond polytheism, and includes some Christians and Jews as ''muširkūn'' (idolaters) and ''kafirun'' (infidels).<ref name="Goddard2000p28">{{cite book|author=Hugh Goddard|title=A History of Christian-Muslim Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bq2oLEvHzl8C&pg=PA28| year=2000| publisher= Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-1-56663-340-6|page=28}}, Quote: "in some verses it does appear to be suggested that Christians are guilty of both kufr and shirk. This is particularly the case in 5:72 ... In addition to 9:29, therefore, which has been discussed above and which refers to both Jews and Christians, other verses are extremely hostile to both Jews and Christians, other verses are extremely hostile to Christians in particular, suggesting that they both disbelieve (kafara) and are guilty of shirk."</ref><ref name="Leaman2006p144">{{cite book|author=Oliver Leaman|title=The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=isDgI0-0Ip4C&pg=PA145 |year=2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-32639-1|pages=144–146}}</ref> For example: {{Blockquote| Those who say, “Allah is the Messiah, son of Mary,” have certainly fallen into disbelief. The Messiah ˹himself˺ said, “O Children of Israel! Worship Allah—my Lord and your Lord.” Whoever associates others with Allah ˹in worship˺ will surely be forbidden Paradise by Allah. Their home will be the Fire. And the wrongdoers will have no helpers. |{{qref|5|72|c=y}}}} Shia classical theology differs in the concept of Shirk. According to Twelver theologians, the attributes and names of God have no independent and hypostatic existence apart from the being and essence of God. Any suggestion of these attributes and names being conceived of as separate is thought to entail polytheism. It would be even incorrect to say God knows by his knowledge which is in his essence but God knows by his knowledge which is his essence. Also God has no physical form and he is insensible.<ref>Momen (1985), p. 176</ref> The border between theoretical Tawhid and Shirk is to know that every reality and being in its essence, attributes and action are from him (from Him-ness), it is [[Tawhid]]. Every supernatural action of the prophets is by God's permission as Quran points to it. The border between the Tawhid and [[Shirk (Islam)|Shirk]] in practice is to assume something as an end in itself, independent from God, not as a road to God (to Him-ness).<ref name="MM">{{cite book |last1=Motahari |first1=Morteza |author-link=Morteza Motahhari |title=Fundamentals of Islamic thought: God, man, and the universe |date=1985 |publisher=Mizan Press |oclc=909092922}}</ref> Ismailis go deeper into the definition of ''Shirk'', declaring they don't recognize any sort of ''ground of being'' by the esoteric potential to have intuitive knowledge of the human being. Hence, most [[Shias]] have no problem with [[religious symbols]] and [[religious art#islamic art|artworks]], and with reverence for [[Wali]]s, [[Rasūl]]s and [[Imams]]. [[Islam]] strongly prohibits all form of idolatry, which is part of the sin of [[Shirk (Islam)|''shirk'']] ({{lang-ar|شرك}}); ''širk'' comes from the Arabic root [[shin (letter)|Š]]-[[resh|R]]-[[kaph|K]] ({{lang|ar|ش ر ك}}), with the general meaning of "to share". In the context of the Qur'an, the particular sense of "sharing as an equal partner" is usually understood as "attributing a partner to Allah". ''Shirk'' is often translated as idolatry and polytheism.<ref name=britshirk/> In the Qur'an, ''shirk'' and the related word (plural [[Arabic grammar#Stem formation|Stem IV]] active participle) ''mušrikūn'' (مشركون) "those who commit shirk" refers to the enemies of Islam (as in verse 9.1–15). Within Islam, ''shirk'' is sin that can only be forgiven if the person who commits it asks God for forgiveness; if the person who committed it dies without repenting God may forgive any [[Islamic views of sin|sin]] except for committing ''shirk''. {{Citation needed|date=March 2018}} In practice, especially among strict conservative interpretations of Islam, the term has been greatly extended and means deification of anyone or anything other than the [[God in Islam|singular God]]. {{Citation needed|date=March 2018}} In Salafi-Wahhabi interpretation, it may be used very widely to describe behaviour that does not literally constitute worship, including [[Aniconism in Islam|use of images of sentient beings]], building a structure over a grave, associating partners with God, giving his characteristics to others beside him, or not believing in his characteristics.{{Citation needed|date=November 2016}} 19th century Wahhabis regarded idolatry punishable with the death penalty, a practice that was "hitherto unknown" in Islam.<ref name="Valentine2014p47">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4omMCwAAQBAJ|title=Force and Fanaticism: Wahhabism in Saudi Arabia and Beyond|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2014|isbn=978-1-84904-464-6|pages=47–48|author=Simon Ross Valentine}}, Quote: "In reference to Wahhabi strictness in applying their moral code, Corancez writes that the distinguishing feature of the Wahhabis was their intolerance, which they pursued to hitherto unknown extremes, holding idolatry as a crime punishable by death".</ref><ref name="Hawting1999p1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mh134wJLwkIC|title=The Idea of Idolatry and the Emergence of Islam: From Polemic to History|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-1-139-42635-0|pages=1–6, 80–86|author=G. R. Hawting}}</ref> However, Classical Orthodox Sunni thought used to be rich in Relics and Saint veneration, as well as pilgrimage to their shrines. Ibn Taymiyya, a medieval theologian that influenced modern days Salafists, was put in prison for his negation of veneration of relics and Saints, as well as pilgrimage to Shrines, which was considered unorthodox by his contemporary theologians. [[File:Hajj.ogg|thumb|right|The [[Kaaba]] during [[Hajj]]]] According to Islamic tradition, over the millennia after [[Ishmael]]'s death, his progeny and the local tribes who settled around the [[Zamzam Well|oasis of Zam-Zam]] gradually turned to polytheism and idolatry. Several idols were placed within the [[Kaaba]] representing deities of different aspects of nature and different tribes. Several heretical rituals were adopted in the Pilgrimage (''[[Hajj]]'') including doing naked circumambulation.<ref name="Ishaq2">{{Cite book | last = Ibn Ishaq | first = Muhammad | title = Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah – The Life of Muhammad Translated by A. Guillaume | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | pages = 88–9 | date = 1955 | url = https://archive.org/stream/TheLifeOfMohammedGuillaume/The_Life_Of_Mohammed_Guillaume#page/n67/mode/1up | isbn =9780196360331 }}</ref> In her book, ''Islam: A Short History'', [[Karen Armstrong]] asserts that the Kaaba was officially dedicated to [[Hubal]], a [[Nabatean]] deity, and contained 360 idols that probably represented the days of the year.<ref name=armstrong/> But by Muhammad's day, it seems that the Kaaba was venerated as the shrine of [[Allah]], the High God. Allah was never represented by an idol.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e128|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151219070127/http://oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e128|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2015|title=Allah – Oxford Islamic Studies Online|website=www.oxfordislamicstudies.com|language=en|access-date=2018-08-25|quote=Only god in Mecca not represented by idol.}}</ref> Once a year, tribes from all around the Arabian peninsula, whether Christian or pagan, would converge on Mecca to perform the ''Hajj'', marking the widespread conviction that Allah was the same deity worshipped by monotheists.<ref name=armstrong>{{cite book|pages=11|title=Islam: A Short History|author=Karen Armstrong|isbn=978-0-8129-6618-3|date=2002|publisher=Random House Publishing }}</ref> Guillaume in his translation of [[Ibn Ishaq]], an early biographer of Muhammad, says the Ka'aba might have been itself addressed using a feminine grammatical form by the Quraysh.<ref name="Ishaq">{{Cite book | last = Ibn Ishaq | first = Muhammad | title = Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah – The Life of Muhammad Translated by A. Guillaume. ''The text reads "O God, do not be afraid", the second footnote reads "The feminine form indicates the Ka'ba itself is addressed"'' | publisher = Oxford University Press | location = Oxford | page = 85 footnote 2 | date = 1955 | url = https://archive.org/stream/TheLifeOfMohammedGuillaume/The_Life_Of_Mohammed_Guillaume#page/n65/mode/1up | isbn =9780196360331 }}</ref> Circumambulation was often performed naked by men and almost naked by women.<ref name="Ishaq2"/> It is disputed whether al-Lat and Hubal were the same deity or different. Per a hypothesis by [[Uri Rubin]] and Christian Robin, Hubal was only venerated by Quraysh and the Kaaba was first dedicated to [[al-Lat]] , a supreme god of individuals belonging to different tribes, while the pantheon of the gods of Quraysh was installed in Kaaba after they conquered Mecca a century before Muhammad's time.<ref>{{cite book|author=Christian Julien Robin|title=Arabia and Ethiopia. In The Oxford Handbook of Late Antiquity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GKRybwb17WMC&pg=PA304|year=2012|publisher=OUP USA|pages=304–305|isbn=9780195336931}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page