University Essay: Islamic Shirk and Diverse Views in Religion

This essay delves into the concept of Islamic Shirk, the act of associating partners with God, and explores diverse viewpoints surrounding it. It examines the historical context of Shirk, referencing the Quran and Islamic traditions. The essay analyzes the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas by the Taliban, considering the religious and socio-political motivations behind this act of iconoclasm. It further explores philosophical perspectives on Shirk, including the postmodern emphasis on images and the appropriation of Buddhist theology. The essay concludes by highlighting the varying interpretations of Shirk and its significance in understanding religious ideologies, human actions, and life overall. The essay emphasizes the strength of Islamic understanding in upholding diverse beliefs and views.

Running head: RELIGION
Islamic 'Shirk' and Diverse Views
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RELIGION
Introduction
Islam is a monotheistic religion which has been coexisting with other religions for years
in many parts of in the world. In Islamic tradition Shirk is the worshipping of idols and believing
in multiple gods But Islam believes in only one god Allah (Khan 2015). Shirk is an unforgivable
sin that one can commit. The word Shirk literally means the sharing or becoming partners. In the
form of polytheism or idol worshipping God is associated with objects of worshipping, which is
completely prohibited in Islam. There are several references in the Quran that support the belief.
In the Quran it is mentioned as the greatest sin, as every other sin can be forgiven except
disbelievers and idol worshippers (Al-islam.org 2017).
Islam Is Not against Figurative Representation
Figurative representations are not directly prohibited in Islam; however it becomes
problematic if it becomes Shirk or worshipping the figure as a part of divine status. In the
Genesis all the worshipped statues by Terah were destroyed by Abraham (Dube 2015). The
hadiths discussed certain figurative representations can only be through plants, pictures and
inanimate objects.
Bamiyan Buddhas and The act of Shirk
Bamiyan is a famous valley of central Afghanistan that became significant Buddhist
centre during eighth century. In eleventh century the Muslims came in power in Bamiyan area.
The Buddha statues were extremely popular among the Chinese monks and Indian Buddhists.
UNESCO rewarded it by enlisting as one of the World Heritages (Whc.unesco.org 2017). In the
Hindkush mountain region, the two large Buddha idols made of sandstone cliff were the main

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attractions. The 181 feet tall Buddha idol was carved between 591 A.D to 644 A.D and
represents cultural combination of Greco Buddhist and Bamiyan traditional artistry (Litoing
2015). It is not just the contemporary Islamic practitioners of Taliban regime that attacked the
idols; the idols were faceless even before the destruction. This proves that even before the
Islamic era the idols have suffered various attacks.
The Contribution of Taliban in The Act
The Taliban regime is infamous for its obsession over religious identity and the act of
breaking leads that the motives were only religious in nature. The ideology they believe in is
built by Pashtun nationalism and Islamic fundamentalism (Roy 2015). Fundamentalists saw
Buddhism as an easy target. However the destruction of Bamiyan Buddhas has more than just the
Taliban religious identity. The edict said that the destruction was represented as an Islamic act
(Harding 2001). Therefore any idols, temples are shrines representing non Islamic religions are
considered to be the manifestation of polytheism and idolatry. The other idea behind the
destruction could be considered as the restoration of orthodox belief. The Taliban wanted to
secure that no one in the future could worship the statues. Mullah Mohammad Omar of Islamic
Emirate of Afghanistan raised the radical question regarding idol breaking that reflected their
perception of Shirk (Litoing 2015).
The Socio – Religious Perspective
Another connection can be made as one examines the time period when the destruction
occurred. This time of the year is significant for as the time of celebrating the Eid al Adha. This
is the celebration of the feast for Abraham’s sacrifice (Loue 2017). Abraham sacrificed his son
for fulfilling God’s desire. The time of celebration reminded them about their responsibility of

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life that is following God’s orders and offering him whatever is needed. Abraham’s practice of
idol breaking has already been discussed. So the specific time and Abraham’s association with it
made the Taliban feel the need more than ever. Mullah Mohammad Omar’s selection of the
specific time seems to be more than just a coincident.
The View on Negative Impacts
The Islamic people prove that the idols are meaningful to them by breaking them with so
much attention. Their concern for the existing idols highlights their acknowledgement of the
idol’s power more than the worshippers. The destruction also gained huge public attention which
those sites did not have during the period of preservation. Thus the idols also gained a greater
status after the breaking. This demonstrates various contradictory views in protecting Tawhid
and resisting shirk. Tawhid is the belief of unity of the lord (Bbc.co.uk 2014). As in Islamic
tradition Allah is the god that created all the beings on the earth and everything depends on him.
Islam believes that Allah is in the authority of all beings and no one else can share his
authorship. Tawhid al Ibadah declares that Allah is the only one to be worshipped and Shirk
paralyzes this core belief of Islam (Lamprecht 2014).
The Philosophical View on Appropriation
There can be other philosophical perspectives that can offer us a broader view that is
associated with the practice of Islamic Shirk, if one considers that unconsciously man worships
himself in the guise of God. The postmodern era has put too much stress on the concept of
image. The image has been given too much importance by the postmodern man in a very
commercial sense. Some theorists consider destroying the Bamiyan Buddha statutes to be a
‘typical postmodern phenomenon’ (Janowski 2015). The incident can be seen as the ‘Muslim

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appropriation of Buddhism’ (Rafiabadi 2007) The Buddhist theology is not just involved in idol
making and concentrating one’s good deeds on his feet. Buddha himself encouraged destroying
of one’s permanent self. So the obsession of the post modern era representing through idols
would not have been appreciated by him. Instead he could have encouraged the statue making
practice. However this is not enough to justify the destruction heritage statues by the Taliban.
Conclusion
Taliban are often accused of interpreting the Quran in a superficial and simplistic way.
There are various interpretations of the Islamic Shirk, fundamentalists use it for some
propagandist purposes, some theorists justify it through religious implications and philosophers
shed different light over it (Taniguchi 2017). However from the above discussions it is
undeniable that through Shirk one can understand the various perspectives related to it. Above
that, the power of the understanding is capable of unfolding various aspects of religion, human
acts and life over all. The Islamic understanding of Shirk possesses enough strength to uphold
the diverse ideologies, beliefs and views and their bearers.

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