Hindutva Series - The Taliban is Right in destroying the Buddhas at Bamiyan?
The Taliban is Right in destroying the Buddhas at Bamiyan?
Is the Taliban right in destroying the Buddha Statues at Bamiyan? This is the question being asked by many. The logic which the Taliban has followed in doing their act of vandalism is based on the one of the many scriptures in the Quran. Even the Prophet Mohammed Paigamber also destroyed many idols at the pre-Islamic shrine at Kaa'ba at Mecca, before he proclaimed Mecca to be the main pilgrimage center of Islam.
The quotations given below, are only a few of the many such to be found in the Quran.
Islamic Theology supports the Destruction of ALL Non-Muslim Places of Worship
A reference to the Quran and to the Theology of Islam as perfected by the orthodox Imams, leaves little doubt about the violent and aggressive nature of Islam.
Jihad is Allah's command to the Muslims to destroy the non- Muslims. It is not at all necessary that the non-Muslims need have wronged the Muslims, for them to be attacked by the Muslims. The "crime" that the non-Muslims do not believe in Islam is enough for the Muslims to attack the non-Muslims. Here is what the Quran says:
"I have been commanded by Allah to fight the unbelievers until they believe in Allah and His prophet and follow the laws of Islam. It is only then that the safety of their lives and property may be guaranteed." (Sahih Tirmzi, Vol. 2: 192)
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Islamic Iconoclasm Today A gigantic image of the Great Master - Buddha that exists no more at Bamiyan near Kabul in Afghanistan. It is this image which has been blown up by the Taliban, the Islamic militia that rules Afghanistan. The statue faced its first defilement at the hands of Islamic invaders when they invaded pre-dominantly Buddhist Afghanistan in the 8th century. Incidentally the name Afghanistan is derived from the Sanskrit terms Upa-gana-stan which means "Lands where the Allied tribes live". Hence the Taliban wants to change the name of that country to "Khorasan" |
And why should they persecute and annihilate the non-Muslims? The Koran explains the point:
"God has bought from the believers their selves and their possessions against the gift of paradise; they fight in the way of God; they kill, and are killed; that is a promise; binding on God.... And who fulfills his covenant truer than God? So rejoice in the bargain you have made with Him that is the mighty triumph..." (Repentance: 192)
Jihad, as can be seen, is a covenant between Allah and the Muslims; the former offers paradise to the latter for killing and plundering the non-Muslims without having any moral qualm in return for Paradise. Obviously, according to Islamic theology the massacre of the fellow-beings and the plunder of their possession is an act of great righteousness because it attracts the highest reward - that is, paradise. The Quran justifies booty, the plunder of the infidels in the following words:
"It is not for any prophet to have prisoners, until he make wide slaughter in land.....
Eat of what you have taken as booty, it is lawful and good." (The Spoils: 65)
Here is the essence of Islamic Jihad: Invade the non-Muslims in the name of Allah for the sheer crime of not believing in Allah; first carry out an extensive carnage of the people then all their property including women and children become legally and morally the possessions of the Muslims, who are at liberty to use them as they think fit. Destroy their places of worship as an ultimate act of humiliating the defeated non-Muslims. In this light, the act of the Taliban is only one that is in line with the general behavior of the victorious Muslims over the defeated non-Muslims. The only difference is that there are no non-Muslims in Afghanistan today (except only the images of the non-Muslim Buddha). The second difference is that the vandalism of the Taliban appears to be in stark contrast to the modern age and modern attitudes of liberalism and individual liberty in the global village on the Information Superhighway.
The Rationalist censure of the Taliban
We need to underline here that we are not condemning the Taliban, because they destroyed an image for which we have any religious emotion in our minds. We are rationalists and do not worship anything at all. We go by quest and not by faith. Hence we also consider the act of worshipping the idol of the Buddha to be invalid, or to use a slightly less parliamentary word, we consider worship to be stupid. But the Taliban is censured because it has acted in a beastly manner and in this it draws valid sustenance from a creed that sanctions such behaviour.
The Next Targets?
The Islamic terrorists led by Osama Bin Laden have threatened to strike the US and Europe once again. Now is the Statue of Liberty at Manhattan - the Next Target of the Iconoclasts? Or is it the Vatican? Let's wait and see.
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