Islam came to eliminate saint and grave veneration from its very roots, especially in the forms of erected graves, shrines, mausoleums, statues, and images of revered figures. One of the greatest iconoclasts in Muslim history was none other but the Commander of the Believers, ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib:

عن أبي الهياج الأسدي قال: قال لي علي -رضي الله عنه-: «ألا أَبْعَثُك على ما بَعَثَني عليه رسول الله -صلى الله عليه وسلم-؟ أن لا تَدْعَ صُورَةً إلا طَمَسْتَها، ولا قَبْرًا مُشْرِفًا إلا سَوَّيْتَه».
 [رواه مسلم.]

Abu al-Hayyaj al-Asadi said: ‘‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) said to me: ‘Shall I not send you with the same instructions as the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent me? Do not leave any image without blotting it out, nor any raised or built-up grave without leveling it.’ [Muslim]

Unlike what Rafidis want us to believe, the Prophet (ﷺ) did not put his trust in his cousin alone, in fact, he sends numerous of his companions (that are detested by the Rafidah, especially those companions that participated in the conquest of the Sassanian Persian empire) with the greatest mission of Tawhid, the mission of idol-smashing. Here just a few of many examples:

• The Prophet (ﷺ) sent Khalid ibn al-Walid (may Allah be pleased with him) on a campaign to destroy an idol of al-‘Uzza.
• He (ﷺ) sent Sa’d ibn Zayd al-Ashhali (may Allah be pleased with him) on a campaign to destroy Manat.
• He (ﷺ) sent ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas (may Allah be pleased with him) on a campaign to destroy Suwa’. All of that happened after the Conquest of Makkah.

Islam is keen to cut off whatever may lead to polytheism, whether hidden or apparent. In this Hadith, ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) explains that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) sent him on a mission and commanded him to erase and blot out every image that he would encounter because they represent contention with Allah, the Almighty, in terms of creation. Also, people may glorify such images and end up as idolaters.

The Prophet (ﷺ) also commanded him to level all built-up graves and any grave raised above the height approved by the Shariah. Raising graves may tempt people into glorifying the dead buried inside them and regarding them as associates with Allah, the Almighty. This keenness aims to guard the pure creed of Muslims, because making images and building over graves leads to overestimation, glorification, and sanctification of such things, as well as granting them rights that are exclusively limited to Allah, the Almighty.

Unnecessary depiction of ordinary human beings (and anything that has a soul) are either prohibited or detested by the scholars of Islam, as for the depiction of Prophets, etc. especially in places of worship, then there is no disagreement on the prohibition of this evil act.

It was narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (ﷺ) saw images in the Ka’bah and he did not enter until he had ordered that they be erased. [Bukhari]

And here one of the many idolatrous Khomeini statues in Iran: A typical Shia place of worship and self-flagellation (‘Hussainiah), covered with effeminate and Persianised (whitewashed) depictions of the Ahlul-Bayt.

‘Omar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) said: We will not enter your churches because of the images in them. Ibn ‘Abbas would pray in a ‘chapel’ except a ‘chapel’ in which there were statues.

Iconoclasm

Iconoclasm means ‘icon/image smashing’ and refers to a recurring historical impulse to break or destroy images for religious or political reasons. Apart from a short period in history in the seventh and eighth centuries (when some Christians started rejecting Iconography), iconography has been an integral part of the major Churches such as the Catholic and especially Eastern Churches who argued that iconoclasm is a Jewish-Muslim heresy. The Iconodules (venerators of icons) also known as Iconophiles (Greek for ‘lovers of images’)  have ever since vigorously defended the place of icons in the life of the Church. They see iconography as a necessity (!) in worship, where the believer can focus more when looking at the divine saint. They also shun plain and modest churches (mainly Evangelical ones), much more mosques, for them their idolatry manifests beauty and this is how Satan has misled them in the name of art and beauty:

By Allah, We did certainly send [messengers] to nations before you, but Satan made their deeds attractive to them. And he is the disbelievers’ ally today [as well], and they will have a painful punishment. [Qur’an, 16:63]

Reviving The Ibrahimic Axe

Reviving The Ibrahimic Axe and Smashing the idols that have been erected in the name of the Awliyah/Ahlul-Bayt should be the aspiration of every Muslim.

The Prophet (ﷺ): “With what were you sent?” He said, “I was sent to uphold the ties of kinship, to break the idols, and so that Allah would be worshipped alone with no partner or associate.” [Sahih Muslim]

A Muslim is an iconoclast by nature and not an Iconophile (‘lovers of images i.e. idols’). No, that doesn’t mean that we must tear down the pyramids or the Sphinx (the likes of Daesh have a false and shallow understanding of this issue). The Sahabah must have certainly seen some of the statues of ancient Iraq, however, they did not smash them, as they were not worshipped or revered by anyone at their time. Therefore, it is unnecessary to destroy statues and monuments that are displayed in museums.

However, no Muslim should ever erect any statues of anything that has a soul, especially not of religious figures.

Images – let alone statues – of religious figures and shrines and mausoleums (yes, even those in the name of Imam Bukhari and Imam Abu Hanifah) that have been erected over the (once modest) graves of many Sahabah, Ahlul-Bayt, and their students must be razed to the ground.

Of course, in Islam we don’t desecrate graves (that’s what the Rafidi leaders have done more than once in history), we level them (like in al-Baqi’), big difference.

‘But you worship the Ka’bah, an idol, I’ve seen it on the telly!’

‘Muslims worshipping the Ka’bah/the blackstone/’the rock’, etc., honestly, such pathetic ‘arguments’ shouldn’t even be entertained, especially not if they are peddled by textbook idolators who worship a ‘god’ who hangs half-naked on a piece of wood after being tortured by a bunch of skirt-wearing heathen Roman soldiers.

In fact, the Ka’bah is the ultimate symbol of monotheism providing one understands its basic history.

The Ka’bah is nothing more than a modest house of God (Allah) as in a house of worship. There is nothing special inside it (check it out, it basically empty inside) since it is simply a symbolic house of worship that was built by none other than the forefather of all idol-smashers i.e. Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham), peace be upon him.

Not only that, the blood (i.e. life) of a single Muslim is more worthy than the Ka’bah.

Abdullah ibn ‘Omar reported: I saw the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) circling the Ka’bah and saying, “How pure you are and how pure is your fragrance! How great you are and how great is your sanctity! By the one in whose hand is the soul of Muhammad, the sanctity of the believer is greater to Allah than your sanctity, in his wealth, his life, and to assume nothing of him but good.” [Sunan Ibn Mājah 3932. Grade: Sahih li ghayri (authentic due to external evidence) according to al-Albani]

And the students of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) understood this issue very well and thus reminded the people that the only reason why Muslims kiss the black stone is due to their obedience towards Allah:

”Omar came near the Black Stone and kissed it and said “No doubt, I know that you are a stone and can neither benefit anyone nor harm anyone. Had I not seen Allah’s Messenger (ﷺ) kissing you I would not have kissed you.’ [Bukhari]

So when we Muslims pray by facing the direction of the Ka’bah, we do so because Allah has commanded us to do that. If he had commanded us to pray by facing in any other direction, we would have had to do that. The same applies to many other acts of worship.

All houses of Allah (Masajid) are sacred, the most sacred is the first house of Allah built by Ibrahim (peace be upon him) i.e. the Ka’bah (which was rebuilt numerous times, as the laws of nature do not stop at the Ka’bah thus floodings, accidents, etc. do not prove the absence of God as some foolish enemies of Islam claim).

The plain truth is, Muslims do not worship the Ka’bah and the Black Stone (al-Hajar al-Aswad) and whoever does this is a polytheist pagan according to Islam itself!

Yes, all Muslims bow towards the Ka’bah, yet they know with certainty that the Ka’bah and the Black Stone have no divine powers whatsoever. Rather, their existence is simply to remind them of the unity and oneness of Almighty God, Allah. The Ka’bah is to show the direction (Qiblah) for the 5 prayers and if praying towards a (not to a) Qiblah makes one an idolator then Christians must be idolators too as the Israelite Prophets prayed towards the temple in Jerusalem. As a matter of fact, a reference to the practice is found in the biblical Book of Daniel:

And when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house – now his windows were open in his upper chamber towards Jerusalem – and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did afore-time (Dan. 6:11).

Was Daniel a pagan? No, just like Muslims are no pagans for facing a Qiblah.

Conclusion

Islam is inherently iconoclastic. Iconoclasm even existed during a brief period in Christian history, however, their evil clergy revived Iconography and branded those who oppose it as heretics which is absolute ironic considering that the true idolatrous (in the name of spirituality and art) were the fathers of the Church who have viewed Iconography as a necessary means to connect with God (via saints), similar to Shi’ism and Sufism.

Furthermore, championing the cause of iconoclasm doesn’t equate to advocating for vandalism, however, we have got the absolute right to work towards and to aspire that at the very least Muslim rulers in Muslim lands will one day tear down all statues at the very least.