Page 52 - The Worst Slander: Idolatry

50 THE WORST SLANDER: IDOLATRY

Those who worship idols

Previous sections have defined idol as any animate or
inanimate object set up as an equal to Allah. In this section,
we shall use this word in its classic sense: statues carved
out of the stone, metal and wood and worshipped by peo-
ple. At first sight, a person might think that worshipping
idols was a custom of very ancient societies or of certain
primitive tribes who have not yet been reached by modern-
day science and technology. But such an assumption
would be incorrect, because at the heart of this kind of idol-
atry lie the concepts that these totems represent. Therefore,
idol worshippers generally adopt the concept represented
by their idols, rather than the idols themselves. In other
words, they try wrongfully to immortalize the entities they
regard as equal to Allah (e.g., guides, law-givers, protec-
tors, or saviors) by making statues of them
There is a perverse logic behind this activity.
Aware that such statues represent the entity or concept
regarded as Allah's equal, they are shown the respect and
adoration to which He alone is entitled. What is actually
being put forward as an equal of Allah is the meaning and
mentality the idol in question represents. Allah mentions in
the Qur'an about the Prophet Abraham's (pbuh) people in
this context:
When he asked his father and his people: "What are
these statues to which you are clinging?" they replied:
"We found our fathers worshipping them." (Surat al-
Anbiya': 52-53)
As can be seen from these verses, such forms of wor-