Definition of Iconoclasm: A belief that people should reject religious images (like icons or monuments) by destroying or avoiding them.
QUESTIONS FOR THE FORUM:
1. Historically, iconoclasm - destroying idols - is often spoken about in derogatory terms - as a heretical or deviant movement. Why is this the case? Isn’t this something to uphold tauhid?
2. What is the significance of imagery in religion - what is the connection between images and ibadah?
3. Common practice among Muslims: hanging pictures of righteous people such as “wali” on the wall. They don’t really have any intention of worshipping this righteous people, and they say it is to remind us to come closer to Allah. What’s the problem?
4. Seems there is a repeated tendency of human beings to return to shirik (idolatry, associating partners with Allah). We learnt from the history of shirik - in the case of the people of Nuh, in Amr bin Luhay. Even Prophet Musa, when he left, they immediately set up idol to worship. Is this totally the role of shaitan, or our human tendency to be inclined to imagery, drawn to idol worship?
5. A common symbol we have here is the “capal” - a drawing that allegedly represents the sandals/slippers of the Prophet ﷺ. They put this symbol as the brands, they wear this on their headgear, their clothing. What is the ruling of this?
6. Some Muslim businesses have these symbols they hang up with the intention of attracting “better business” - from numbers such as 786, to putting up little mini-Qurans up the ceiling - what’s the ruling here? Is this a form of shirik?
7. In Malaysia, we live in a multicutural society - Malay, Chinese, Indians, and ethnic groups with diverse cultural practices. Some of these cultural symbols look relatively harmless, they have an exotic value, but when you dive deep into the origins, turns out that much of it is actually grounded in shirk. How do we navigate these problems while trying to integrate with other cultures?
8. Youth today are very much exposed to items like Oulja boards, divination, fortune telling, amulets as jewellery, and many similar things that deal with black magic and sorcery are becoming mainstream in modern day media, something that is seen as "fun & games". How do we protect our youth from such issues?
9. Islam seems to place strict restrictions on hanging pictures, for reasons that this can lead to eventually being led to idol worship. But what about family photos - we hang them up, without any intention of spirituality, worship or ibadah. A person just wants to hang up pictures of his daughter, his wife, on the wall, because he loves to be reminded of them. Is this still an issue?
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