[ILuvAllah]

I've got an essay question about Idolatry. When and how did it first appear to mankind? please help me answer this.

thank you

 

[IbnAbdulHakim]

well iirc after adam alaihisalaam left the world many generations later the people wanted a way to remember the good people of the past so shaytaan whispered to them to create idols to remember them (the first people to do this did it purely for remembrance and not worship) and few generations after shaytan came back (the patient shaytan) and then inspired man who had forgotten what the idols where for to start worshipping them.


I heard this in a lecture by Anwar Al-Awlaki and im saying it completely from memory. I am researching it right now aswell.

 

[IbnAbdulHakim]

FOUND IT ::::

THE ORIGIN OF IDOLATRY

A famous and authentic Muslim historian and Alim, Imam Ibni Katheer (rahmatullahi alaihi), gives a detailed account of how idol-worship started in the world. We shall summarize this account for you.

Among the generations that came between Nabi Adam Alaihis salam and Hazrat Nooh (alaihimas-salaam) there lived some very pious people. Some of their names are mentioned in Surah Nooh, such as, Wadd, Suwaa', Yaghooth, Ya 'ooq, and Nasr. These people were saints who were devoted to the worship of Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala , and they had a large following. When they died, people were very sad and missed them a great deal. Some of their followers cried for days out of mourning. One day, upon seeing the extreme grief and sorrow of these followers, Shaytaan came to them in the form of a human being and offered to draw pictures of these holy men which they could keep in their homes as reminders. This was accepted and soon all of them had pictures of their pious leaders in their homes. They drew inspiration for their ibadat from these pictures and the sight of these holy man lessened their grief. It was a great means of solace for them.

When these followers died, their sons grew up and continued keeping these pictures. However, Shaytaan again came in human form and offered to transform these pictures into images, which he did upon their consent. Later he managed to convince the younger generation, who had no idea why these pictures and images were made, that their forefathers actually worshipped them.

The newer generation started to worship these images, and thus began the evil of idol-worship on earth. The exact names of these pious people, as mentioned above, were given to the idols. Shaytaan kept on appearing to them with new ideas and suggestions, such as asking things from these idols, making dua to them for rain, etc.

As time passed, these images were modified and beautified, and eventually people forgot entirely about Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala and focussed all their attention on these images. Every generation that came after them, indulged in this form of worship, until Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala decide to appoint Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) as a Messenger to save these people from this evil sin.

He therefore invited them to the worship of one Allah SubhanhuWaTha'alas, and to submit to His SubhanhuWaTha'alas Law. Needless to say, this message was rejected, because people were so deep-rooted in idolatry that they were not prepared to forsake their beliefs in these idols. Hazrat Nooh alaihis salam used different ways and methods to explain the truth to them, but to no avail. He spoke to them in public and in private, at night and during the day, and kept on reminding them of the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala, but only a handful of people listened to him and accepted his message. These sincere ones who came from poor communities, were called mu'mineen or believers. For the rest, their hatred against Hazrat Nooh oAlaihis salamnly increased.

 

[ILuvAllah]

Oh thanks a lot. Now I can use that info to write my answer

 

[GuestFellow]

I've got an essay question about Idolatry. When and how did it first appear to mankind? please help me answer this.

thank you

Wow...that's a hard question. Wish I had time to research it. It's so interesting.

 

[Muhammad]

Ibn 'Abbaas - radiallaahu 'anhu - said: "Between Nooh (Noah) and Adam were ten generations, all of them were upon Sharee'ah (law) of the truth, then they differed. So Allaah sent prophets as bringers of good news and as warners."

​

Ibn 'Urwah al-Hanbalee (d.837 H) said: "This saying refutes those historians from the People of the Book who claim that Qaabil (Cain) and his sons were fire-worshippers." [3]

I say: In it is also a refutation of some of the philosophers and atheists who claim that the (natural) basis of man is Shirk, and that Tawheed evolved in man! The preceeding aayah (verse) falsifies this claim, as do the two following authentic hadith:​

http://www.sunnahonline.com/ilm/aqeedah/0028.htm​

 

[ILuvAllah]

FOUND IT ::::

THE ORIGIN OF IDOLATRY

A famous and authentic Muslim historian and Alim, Imam Ibni Katheer (rahmatullahi alaihi), gives a detailed account of how idol-worship started in the world. We shall summarize this account for you.

Among the generations that came between Nabi Adam Alaihis salam and Hazrat Nooh (alaihimas-salaam) there lived some very pious people. Some of their names are mentioned in Surah Nooh, such as, Wadd, Suwaa', Yaghooth, Ya 'ooq, and Nasr. These people were saints who were devoted to the worship of Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala , and they had a large following. When they died, people were very sad and missed them a great deal. Some of their followers cried for days out of mourning. One day, upon seeing the extreme grief and sorrow of these followers, Shaytaan came to them in the form of a human being and offered to draw pictures of these holy men which they could keep in their homes as reminders. This was accepted and soon all of them had pictures of their pious leaders in their homes. They drew inspiration for their ibadat from these pictures and the sight of these holy man lessened their grief. It was a great means of solace for them.

When these followers died, their sons grew up and continued keeping these pictures. However, Shaytaan again came in human form and offered to transform these pictures into images, which he did upon their consent. Later he managed to convince the younger generation, who had no idea why these pictures and images were made, that their forefathers actually worshipped them.

The newer generation started to worship these images, and thus began the evil of idol-worship on earth. The exact names of these pious people, as mentioned above, were given to the idols. Shaytaan kept on appearing to them with new ideas and suggestions, such as asking things from these idols, making dua to them for rain, etc.

As time passed, these images were modified and beautified, and eventually people forgot entirely about Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala and focussed all their attention on these images. Every generation that came after them, indulged in this form of worship, until Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala decide to appoint Hazrat Nooh (alaihis-salaam) as a Messenger to save these people from this evil sin.

He therefore invited them to the worship of one Allah SubhanhuWaTha'alas, and to submit to His SubhanhuWaTha'alas Law. Needless to say, this message was rejected, because people were so deep-rooted in idolatry that they were not prepared to forsake their beliefs in these idols. Hazrat Nooh alaihis salam used different ways and methods to explain the truth to them, but to no avail. He spoke to them in public and in private, at night and during the day, and kept on reminding them of the Mercy and Forgiveness of Allah SubhanhuWaTha'ala, but only a handful of people listened to him and accepted his message. These sincere ones who came from poor communities, were called mu'mineen or believers. For the rest, their hatred against Hazrat Nooh oAlaihis salamnly increased.

Would it be cheating if i copy paste it ? :s

 

[MysticSoumeya]

Hope my students don't do the same. Knowing their predispositions to cheating, I feel so gullible to have this wishful thinking ;D

 

[Perseveranze]

Would it be cheating if i copy paste it ? :s

Asalaamu Alaikum,

Yeah it would. What you should do is read it and try to understand what it's saying, then say it in your own words.

At best, you can copy small quotations and then reference it at the bottom.

 

[GuestFellow]

Would it be cheating if i copy paste it ? :s

Asslamu Aliakum,

You can copy and paste it, but you cannot claim that you wrote it. You have to mention the author. You can rewrite that post in your own words and mention your sources.

 

[ILuvAllah]

Yes I'm trying to put it in my own words but I just cant think of better words to rewrite it cause its already written in the best and most understandable way.

oh God! sometimes i feel so dumb:exhausted

 

[IbnAbdulHakim]

Would it be cheating if i copy paste it ? :s

ask your teacher lol

 

[Salahudeen]

Yes I'm trying to put it in my own words but I just cant think of better words to rewrite it cause its already written in the best and most understandable way.

oh God! sometimes i feel so dumb:exhausted

read it once then try to write the version of events from your memory, if you can't remember the version of events read it again. and keep doing this until you are able to write the story from your own memory without having to read it. Then it will come in your own words inshaAllah.

It can be done look


A popular and respected Islamic scholar from the past known as Imam Ibn Katheer delves into explicit details regarding the introducton of Idol worship to mankind. Below is a summary of his findings.

The first man to walk the face of the Earth was prophet Adam pbuh, Adam's children and subsequent generations were upon monothiesm, and
this was the case right up until the time of Prophet Noah pbuh. Between the time that Prophet Adam and Prophet noah lived, it is reported in the saying of Ibn Abbas that there existed 10 generations, and these 10 generations were upon monotheism and certain people reached such heights of piety that they became known as saints. Due to the fact that they dedicated themselves to the worship of Allah, many people respected them and took them as role models.

When these pious men who became known as saints passed away, the people who took them as role models and looked upto them became deeply saddended and struck with grief, it was at this point that the cursed one, Shaytaan exploited their vulnerable state by appearing to them as a man who sought to console the people by drawing pictures of the pious men who had died so that people could hang these pictures up as an act of remembrance, initially shaytaan did not introduce the idea of shirk he simply said that these pious men should not be forgotten and there is no harm in hanging their pictures on the walls of the houses to ensure their memory stays alive.

The people, in their grief accepted shaytaan's proposition and began hanging the saints images up on the walls, they would turn to these pictures for motivation when it came to acts of worship. Years passed like this, the images were not worshipped at this point, however by the time
those people, who listened to shaytaan's idea about simply hanging the pictures up on the wall died, their children had grown up, and shaytaan came again in the form of a man again, however this time he proposed to change the pictures into images, the children agreed to this.

 

[ILuvAllah]

read it once then try to write the version of events from your memory, if you can't remember the version of events read it again. and keep doing this until you are able to write the story from your own memory without having to read it. Then it will come in your own words inshaAllah.

It can be done look


A popular and respected Islamic scholar from the past known as Imam Ibn Katheer delves into explicit details regarding the introducton of Idol worship to mankind. Below is a summary of his findings.

The first man to walk the face of the Earth was prophet Adam pbuh, Adam's children and subsequent generations were upon monothiesm, and
this was the case right up until the time of Prophet Noah pbuh. Between the time that Prophet Adam and Prophet noah lived, it is reported in the saying of Ibn Abbas that there existed 10 generations, and these 10 generations were upon monotheism and certain people reached such heights of piety that they became known as saints. Due to the fact that they dedicated themselves to the worship of Allah, many people respected them and took them as role models.

When these pious men who became known as saints passed away, the people who took them as role models and looked upto them became deeply saddended and struck with grief, it was at this point that the cursed one, Shaytaan exploited their vulnerable state by appearing to them as a man who sought to console the people by drawing pictures of the pious men who had died so that people could hang these pictures up as an act of remembrance, initially shaytaan did not introduce the idea of shirk he simply said that these pious men should not be forgotten and there is no harm in hanging their pictures on the walls of the houses to ensure their memory stays alive.

The people, in their grief accepted shaytaan's proposition and began hanging the saints images up on the walls, they would turn to these pictures for motivation when it came to acts of worship. Years passed like this, the images were not worshipped at this point, however by the time
those people, who listened to shaytaan's idea about simply hanging the pictures up on the wall died, their children had grown up, and shaytaan came again in the form of a man again, however this time he proposed to change the pictures into images, the children agreed to this.

Wow brother you are really good. and thats a brilliant idea you just gave me. Super Like. :statisfie Excellent, I'm going to try it like that. Alhamdulillah Allah makes everything so easy for us. Allah is the greatest

 

[Insaanah]

See this post also, from a thread here called A Critical Analysis of Shirk, which was a lecture delivered by Yasir Qadhi:

http://www.islamicboard.com/tawheed-shirk/45420-critical-analysis-shirk.html#post773887

Start reading from point no 2 in the post onwards for the first appearance of shirk, though the whole thread is a good read, with shirk's definition, dangers, categories, history, causes, rulings, refutations of the justifications for it, etc.