However, when the current video showed them destroying monuments and artifacts at the Mosul Museum, begs the question are their acts in line with Islamic principles? The situation aggravated by the lack of response from Muslim scholars.
In fact, it was not the first of its kind. Ten years ago, the Taliban destroyed Bamiyan, the giant centuries-old Buddha in Afghanistan. This is not surprising as both group (ISIS and Taliban) come from the same ideological root and the statue are considered to be non-Muslim heritage. However, when a few sites of early Islam in the holy place Mecca also comes under threat of destruction, it seems that heritages even Muslim heritages have no place in Islam.
In our beloved country, we have witnessed some Lembah bujang archeological sites destroyed by developers. While this issue has triggered outrage politicians, historians, archaeologists and activists, it did not seem to attract Muslim scholar and religious authorities to make any comments based on Islamic perspectives. At the same time, there are claims that most treasury of our Malacca sultanate, have been sold on the black market.
Based on my instant research, there are a few Muslim scholars who claim that heritage conservation is prohibited in Islam, including of Muslim heritage materials. The reason is clear as most of the heritage materials, especially that from ancient civilization are statues or idols. In fact, Islam through its main sources namely by Al-Quran and prophetic teaching (hadith) does not tolerate with any kind of sacrilege. Moreover, those who involve or support this effort might be considered to be partaking in blasphemous activity. This view is exploited by certain governments to justify their acts in demolishing heritage site for physical development.
While the Quran and hadith are the highest references for Islam, these two sources have their own methods of interpretation and implementation. With the heritage issue, it is necessary to understand the concept clearly, instead of jumping to conclusions. Nowadays the Heritage conservation and restoration awareness has emerged all over the world under UNESCO for the civilization and education purposes. Thus, to relate these efforts as the sacrosanct acts is totally wrong.
While there are no clear versus from Quran or Hadith to indicate this venture is prohibited, a few versus do show indirectly that ancient heritage are vital in Islam. For example, in chapter of Rum, Allah said:-
“Do they not travel in the land, and see what the end of those before them was? They were superior to them in strength, and they tilled the earth and populated it in greater numbers than these (pagans) have done, and there came to them their Messengers with clear proofs. Surely, Allah wronged them not, but they used to wrong themselves.” (Ar-Rum 30:9)
According to this versus, Allah asked people to travel and
observe the ancient remains of bygone civilizations to learn the lessons
from their history. In other words, to manage and preserve ancient sites is
necessary so that man can learn from history.
In addition, there are not historical records that the
companions of the prophet (PBUH) destroyed any idols, statues or artifacts
related to the ancient civilization. When they conquered new lands like Syria,
Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan which are rich in heritage materials,
they still preserved. In Islam, the companions of the prophet (PUBH) were
considered to be the best person in term understanding and implementing Islamic
teaching. If this such materials were against Islam, why not the
companions destroy it early?
As long as there is no clear evidence from Quran, Sunnah and the companions acts indicate that preserving the heritage materials is disallowed, we should not be too hasty in making the conclusion. In fact, heritage conservation is in line with the objectives of Islamic (maqasid syariah) which are to promote the well-being of all mankind. These objectives comprise with the safeguarding people’s religion ( faith ), their life, their intellect, their posterity and their wealth as follow:-
Protecting the religion : The sanctity and the truth of religion must be protected by its followers. By preserving remaining materials of bygone civilizations could be include the evidences for ancient folk tales in sacred book. In other words, it proves that the revealed book is truly from god. For example, the discovery of the royal ancient Egyption mummies has verified what was told in the Quran.
Protecting the life : The human self must be protected. Preserving heritage especially monuments pertaining to wars and human conflicts could be the best reminder for the current and future generation in order keep their relationship harmonious and avoid bloodshed.
Protecting the intellect : Islam encourages people to learn and discover knowledge as far as it give the benefits to their life. Protecting the heritage is in line with this objective since it is the broad source for science, history, civilization, sociology, religion and art studies as well as to build up human intellect.
Protecting the posterity : To maintain life and pass the torch to generations to come, Islam aims to protect progeny. By preserving heritage, our history, culture and identity can be safeguarded. This is important especially, when a nation faces a dispute with other nation as heritage could be the main proof to claim.
Protecting the wealth : People need property and money in their life and Islam asserts their right to gain, possess, and protect them. Maintained heritage sites and material can boost the government economy through collecting tax and also for the local people as they can sell their product for the tourists.
In a nutshell, if preserving heritages is beneficial to religion, education, civilization and also boost the Muslim economy, then this effort should be supported in the name of Islam.
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