Bamyan Buddhas and the Taliban

Posted by Hamza

Jun 28

This picture was taken on 10 March 2006, it was the commemoration ceremony of the destruction of the Bamyan Buddhas by the Taliban in March 2001. When i saw this image i could not help bit get a little angry.

There was so much ‘hoo haa’ about the rightful destruction of those idols at the time…and then i read 5 years later people are still weeping over it…including Muslims!

When will people learn?!

The Taliban were simply acting upn the greatest sunnah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) and all the other Prophets (as) . The Prophets were all sent to move people away from stone worshiping and idol worshiping to worship ONE God. This mission of Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) was to restore Tawheed.

Allah (SWT) says:

(Surah10:18) They worship beside GOD idols that possess no power to harm them or benefit them, and they say, “These are our intercessors at GOD!” Say, “Are you informing GOD of something He does not know in the heavens or the earth?” Be He glorified. He is the Most High; far above needing partners.

There simply no place in this dunya for idols; let us look at the examples of our Prophets (as)

Prophet Ibrahim (as) destroyed the statues created by his father. (Surah 21: 51-60)

Prophet Musa’s (as response to the idol his people made of a golden calf (Surah 20:83-98)

The very first act of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) did upon entering Makkah, was when he went to the Kaaba, he destroyed the idols inside.

Sahih Muslim, Book 3, 68: Narrated Abdullah bin Masud. The Prophet entered Mecca and (at that time) there were three hundred and sixty idols around the Ka’ba. He started stabbing the idols with a stick he had in his hand and reciting: “Truth (Islam) has come and Falsehood (disbelief) has vanished.”

Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) didn’t care about public opinion; he didn’t think that this was bad Dawah to destroy the idols. Our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAWS) had a mission, his mission was to destroy idols in all there forms from the dunya so people could be free to worship Allah (SWT) as He should be worshipped.

I have heard many Alims and speakers say that the destruction of the Idols in Afghanistan was wrong, bad Dawah and that it should never had happened. They should ask themselves, who are you trying to please? Who, the non believers or Allah (SWT) ? Because if you look at the lives of the Prophets (as) you will see a pattern of idol rejection and destruction – they were firm in their conviction that this was the right thing to so and they did not blink for one moment.

Allah (SWT) says:

“Whoever seeks glory and power (’Ezzah),- to Allah (SWT) belongs all Glory and Power.”. (35:10)

Also, Khalifa Umar bin al-Khattab said in regards to seeking honour and respect in people other than Allah (SWT)

“…Have you forgotten that we were a low people and it was Islam that made us honourable? If we seek honour from anything other than Islam, Allah (SWT) will return us back again to that state of lowliness.”

The Taliban were well within their rights to destroy these idols, besides, there are far more pressing matters to be concerned with in Afghanistan, wouldn’t you agree!