I need a muslims opinion, about idols?

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim - In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

It is taught that idol worship first entered the world when a group of people erected images of leaders from their community. Initially, no one worshipped these images. They simply served as a reminder of good men whom these people admired. Over time, the original identities of these men was forgotten. The children of the children of the children and so on of the people who originally made the images eventually began to feel that the images had some power, and they began to do things like acts of worship, showing respect to the images, leaving offerings, asking help from them. All this because innocently enough some people decided to make statues....

This is why Islam is very strict in this regard. In Islam, we are keen to avoid things that lead to sin, let alone avoiding the sin itself. So, to avoid any possibility that somewhere down the line a statue of a leader or popular person would be worshipped, the making of any image that has a soul, such as a human or animal, is forbidden. You might think, well, this is the 21st century, we're too modern to fall into such things. But there are people who leave offerings at statues of Elvis in Tel Aviv and images in India and people who bow down in respect to statues of pagan Egyptian gods. Idol worship exists in the world today and unless we take strong measures to see that it doesn't arise in Muslim lands, we Muslims feel that it can overtake people because there are unfortunately still many ignorant and superstitious people in the world.

Islam did not invent this prohibition. It is clear in the Jewish Scriptures "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven images". There are some differences in images that are three dimensional and those on a flat plane surface, but really, a photo can be an object of worship as well. For instance, may Christians have photos of the Pope or paintings of Mary or Jesus, peace be upon them. Now, of course, no one really has a picture of Mary or Jesus because all images that exist are only fantasy and speculation. So they are basing their respect on a lie since they really don't know if the picture bears any resemblance to what the real Prophet Jesus looked like.

I'm sure you do not worship the trinkets you have collected, any more than I worship my collection of touristy silver spoons from all over the US. That is beside the point, as for Muslims the prohibition is clear. We live to please Allah, and since He forbade us to make and keep images, we simply obey because we know that Allah will not forbid something good and he will not allow something harmful. And Allah knows best.

I pray that Allah guides you to that which is best in this world and the next. Ameen.

Fi Aman Allah,

Nancy Umm Abdel Hamid

Muhammed himself, sacked the Temple with 360 Idols in it. He then kept one of the Idols (a Moon god) and declared it to be the one true god allah! This explains the crescent Moon on top of all mosques. So as you can see historically Islam is a moon god, idol worshiping religion. They also keep changing the Qumran to suit their needs. The Quran of today is NOT the same as the Ancient Quran. Yet they say Christians have changed the Bible, which is False, as one can see from the "Dead Sea Scrolls" the Bible today is the same as it was 2000 years ago. And having idols as a collection is fine, as long as you don't pary to or worship them as a God.

So, how about some of you Muslims giving Jesus a chance to redeem your souls.

I think it's is great that you are showing such a level of tolerance towards other faiths and cultures... we all should, right?

Being Muslim is believing that there is only one God and that only Him is worthy of being worshiped. Now having said that, any rememberance or signs of idolatery will not be accepted by Him on the Day of Judgment. Therefore Muslims are discouraged to have statues or photos in their houses as it may lead to some deviation in worship but also because angels to not enter homes where there are pictures, and dogs too (and thus statues, because only God can give life to the shapes)

This comes from hadiths, the rest is between the believer and God, I hope this answered your question, May He forgive me if I said anything wrong.

Peace to you.

for the first answer "MuhammadLustProphet", Jewish pray in front of a wall too, they don't worship it, but they face it when they pray.

to answer your question, prophet Muhammad once refused to enter his house because there was a picture of an animal or a bird inside his house, Angels do not enter the house that has a picture or statute of a soul, or dogs. so my suggestion, it should be hidden in a place in which you can't see while praying. i also have some idols in the figure of ancient egyptian figures, i don't know what to do with it as my parents don't want to get ride of it. from my reading about Islam, it's dislikeable to have it.

I agree with UmmAbdelHamid

As you mentioned these are idols from different religions:

It is possible you may show them respect as they are idols of different religion. This is what makes it Haram.

First and foremost, I apologize on behalf of any Muslim who may have made you feel degraded for any reason. Please accept my apology and consider the following. With regards to Muslims, Muslims pray in the *direction* (or in Arabic qibla) of the Kaaba and not at the Kaaba. Prior to the command from God to pray in that direction, Muslims prayed in the direction of Jerusalem. By praying in the same direction, all Muslims are united spiritually with other Muslims as we are all directing our worship to God in the exact same manner. As for kissing the black stone, Muslims kiss the black stone because the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) kissed the black stone. However, because he taught so ferverently against polytheism and idolatry, his kissing of the black stone is not associated with God or worship of God in any sense. With regard to Catholics, I would say this issue is beyond Catholicism and touches nearly all of Christendom. The Bible in Exodus 20:4-6 says (Ten Commandments) 4 You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6 but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments. Many Christians have taken upon themselves to reduce God, Jesus, Mary and other religious figures (saints) to paintings and statues and some actually worship these statues and paintings. From a biblical standpoint, these actions are blameworthy. None of this was done by Jesus (peace be upon him) so Christians shouldn't do it either.

I always wondered about this actually. From my reasoning (sorry I don't agree with the Ullema's much) there is nothing wrong with them. We are not supposed to worship them and that's it. Nothing wrong with having souvenirs from your travels. I bet they bring back good memories. :D

Allah is very jealous and legalistic. Even if you are not technically worshiping the idols, he just doesnt like it at all and will send you to hell.

I like the question though, asking people of one religion, a question about how you should conduct your religious practice, even though you have a different religion. Brilliant.

i dont know or sure but if i were you i would keep them in a drawer or something

i was watching a show on geo and it said that the idols you have doesnt mean u have to wroship them but instead ward of angels and actually invite jinns

i dont care what other people may say but this is what i believe

i think a muslim should destroy the idols he possesses and throw them away........i think its 'cause .....like.....imagine you die and then the idols remain and later some crazy people worship the idols you left......i am sorry...i am not good at answering questions....if you really want to know....then visit islam-qa.com and send in your question. why not give it a try?