Pakistan: Statue of symbolic warrior woman vandalized in Islamabad – Idol worship is Haram in Islam

Image: Twitter (@TahirNaeemMalik)

According to Dawn, unknown individuals allegedly vandalized a statue of a symbolic warrior woman that was installed in the Kachnar Park of Islamabad, Pakistan. The issue was brought to light on Wednesday morning by park visitors who also manage a Facebook page called ‘Friends of Kachnar Park.’

Twitter user Tahir Malik shared about the incident in a tweet. He wrote, “Shameful act of Vandalism in Kachnar Park,1 /8 Islamabad this excellent sculpture has been vandalized. The sculpture was presented by a great artist in Islamabad whose art is exhibited at public places.”

The monument was supposedly destroyed by someone at night and was in a good condition until Tuesday, according to Malik, who spoke to Dawn. Although the Capital Development Authority (CDA) claimed that the monument had fallen, he said that it could not be ruled out because other vandalism incidents had recently been reported in several other parts of the nation.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s statue was damaged in Lohore in December 2020

A nine-foot-tall statue of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Lahore, Pakistan, was vandalized in December 2020. The statue, which was located outside the Haveli of Rani Jindan Kaur, wife of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, at Lahore Fort, was vandalized on December 11 by a person identified as Zaheer Ishaq. After breaking the left arm of the monument, Ishaq was apprehended on the scene by a security guard.

Zaheer Ishaq said that Ranjeet Singh had killed several Muslims and harmed the sentiments of the Muslim community, which is why he damaged the statue. The culprit, who was said to be a staunch follower of the late Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was reportedly opposed to the placing of statue of the brave Sikh king at Lahore fort because he had converted the Badshahi mosque into a horse stable.

Idol worship is Haram in Islam

Worship of Idols and celebrating personalities through statues is considered Haram in Islam. The Quran states that idolatry is a grave sin, a violation of the first commandment in all of God’s teachings, and an impenitent sin if continued until death.

Surah 31 verse 13 says, And remember when Luqmân said to his son, while advising him, “O my dear son! Never associate anything with Allah in worship, for associating others with Him is truly the worst of all wrongs.”

Islam’s intolerance toward idol worship was most visible in the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas, the famed 6th-century massive sculptures of Gautama Buddha carved into the side of a cliff in central Afghanistan’s Bamyan valley. It was by far the most barbaric attack on Afghanistan’s historical and cultural legacy by the Taliban, eliciting harsh condemnation from nations around the world.

The world’s largest standing Buddha statues had survived for a millennium and a half—until the Islamists of the Taliban ordered their destruction. On 27 February 2001, Talibani leader Mullah Muhammad Omar, issued a decree ordering the elimination of all non-Islamic statues and sanctuaries in Afghanistan.

https://www.opindia.com/2022/11/pakistan-statue-of-symbolic-warrior-woman-vandalised-in-islamabad/