Is not the Hindu effort at trying to visualise God less misguided than Islamic view of banning all images?

Question

Islam bans all imagery including

* Listening to music or watching television
* Listening to radio
* Photographs or drawings of human beings or other living things which contain a soul
* Praying at tombs (praying at Mohammed's tomb, is also considered "shirk (polytheism)")
* Invoking any prophet, Sufi saint, or angel in prayer, other than God alone
* Following or strictly adhering (taqlid) to one of the four madhabs of Islamic jurisprudence.
* Celebrating annual feasts for the Mohammed or Sufi saints.
* Wearing charms, and believing in their healing power
* Innovation in matters of religion (e.g. new methods of worship) - Bid‘ah

The Hindus have hundreds of statues each attempting to explain a facet of GOD.
If GOD is beyond imagination then do we not need statues in vast unimaginable numbers?
This is what we see in India.

Maybe the god of 'Poki Poki' is scared of his/her own image & maybe even his/her own shadow.
What power!!

Perhaps 'mlaheji ' would be kind enough to tell that to the people running the website.

Maybe ' asim_aj2003' should try using more of his brain.

Maybe 'electrontransfer01' can lookup this website.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahabism
Look under Beliefs

Does 'Aalia' claim that the website
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wahabism
does not tell the truth?
Would she then get in touch with the website please.

Humans are made in the image of GOD.
If GOD made us in his image who are we to argue with GOD?
Why not start worshiping an image then?

Best answer so far is by 'HANS LAXMAN'.
Will it help remove the delusion of some though.

Thanks to ‘rav142857’ for the following. Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. There are so many images in the Catholic church. The Muslims keep the image of the Kabba stone when they kneel and do prayers. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantis, are all worshippers of idols. They keep some image or the other in the mind. We can no more think about anything without a mental image than we can live without breathing. By law of association the mental image calls up the mental idea and vice-versa.
Hence Hindus use an external image for worshipping.

Answer 1

I will try and explain "idol worship".

Hindus do not worship idols as God's, they worship God in the form of idols.
Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. There are so many images in the catholic church. The Muslims keep the image of the Kaba stone when they kneel and do prayers. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantins, are all worshippers of idols. They keep some image or the other in the mind. We can no more think about about anything without a mental image than we can live without breathing. By law of association the mental image calls up the mental idea and vice-versa.
Hence Hindus use an external image for worshiping.
As we find somehow or the other by the laws of our mental constitution we associate the idea of infinity with the blue sky, the ocean so we naturally connect our idea of holiness with the holy cross, the mosque, a church. The Hindus have associated the idea of holiness, purity, truth, omnipresence with external images and forms. But with this difference that some people devote their lives to the idol of the church and never rise higher because to
them religion means intellectual assent to certain doctrines, the religion of Hinduism is centered in realization. Man is to become divine by realizing the divine. Idols etc are only the support of the spiritual childhood.

The scriptures say that external worship is the lowest stage struggling to rise high, mental prayer is the next stage, and the highest stage is when God has been realized.

The Hindu will never call anyones idol or call its worship a sin. It is a necessary stage in life. The child is the father of the man so would it be right for the older man to say that childhood / youth is a sin? If a man can realize his divine self with the help of an image would it be right to call that a sin? Even when man has passed that stage it would not be correct to call it an error. To a Hindu, man does not travel from error to truth, but from truth to truth, lower to higher truth. All religions, from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism mean an attempt of man to grasp and connect with the infinite God. The absolute can only be realized of, or thought of, or stated through the relative and the images, the crosses, the crescents, kaaba, are simply so many symbols-so many pegs to hang the spiritual ideas on. It is not that this help is necessary for everyone, but those that do not need it have no right to say that it is wrong. Nor is it compulsory in Hinduism. "Idol worship" is just the attempt of undeveloped minds to grasp high spiritual truths. To Hindus all religions lead to the same goal. It is the same light through the glasses of different colors. But in the heart of everything the same truth reigns. The Lord has declared during his incarnation of Krishna that "I am in every religion as the thread through the string of pearls. Whenever thou seest extraordinary holiness and power raising and purifying humanity know thou that I am there."

There is no expression in Hindu philosophy saying that only the Hindu will be saved and not others.

Each and everyone of us in different ways is an "idol worshiper". As i explained above Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. There are images in the catholic church. The Muslims keep the image of the Kaba stone when they kneel and do prayers. They keep some image or the other in the mind. The mental image also is a form of idol. The difference is not one of kind, but only one of degree. All worshipers, however intellectual they may be, generate a form in the mind and make the mind dwell on that image.Everyone is an idol-worshiper. Pictures, drawings, etc., are only forms of Pratima or the idol. A gross mind needs a concrete symbol as a prop or Alambana and a subtle mind requires an abstract symbol.

Even a Vedantin has the symbol OM for fixing the wandering mind. It is not only the pictures or images in stone and in wood, that are idols but dialectics and leaders also become idols.

Let us take pictures / "idols" of our parents / Kaaba / the cross, if v do not worship it then surely u can spit on the "idols", garland them with shoes? Can v make an image of the quran / bible and then spit on it / disrespect it? "Idols" in this case only help the human mind to stay focussed. It is in a way an image of God.

Answer 2

I have posted this paragraph several times b4. I will post it again because it accurately and succinctly explains the rationale behind the idols:

The second myth is that regarding the Hindu idols. Hindus are often insulted by Muslims and Christians as being idolaters and stone worshipers. This is wholly inaccurate. The idols that we worship play only a symbolic role. They are there to symbolize the gods and not constitute the gods. No Hindu in his or her right mind actually believes that the idols they worship are the gods themselves and will come alive! That is nonsense. The Vedic texts actually prohibit the construction of idols, however ancient Indians chose to prevaricate this religious law. The reason was that they found idols of gods were good as a method to focus worship and give it a direction. No Hindu in their right mind actually believes that god can be reduced to a statue or a clay stone. There is a similar dynamic in all religions. Even Buddhism use religious idols for symbolic purposes. In churches there are often status of Jesus on a cross. Muslims run around the black rock at Mecca which they call "lord's house". Thus religious symbols are actually practiced in every religion. That is all the Hindu idols are - symbols. Nothing more and nothing less.

Answer 3

It depends on the deity. In general, most representations of Hindu gods are metaphorical in nature. However, I do remember hearing a story about Ganesh's head as a child. The story is that for some reason his father cut off his head, expecting that it would please his mother. When his mother discovered what had happened, she was very angry. She told his father to go get his head back, but he could not, so he replaced it with an elephant. Thinking about the story now, I suspect it might just have been a way to explain to a child why someone had an elephant's head. In general, the depictions of Hindu gods are meant to symbolize the aspects of life that each god effects, and not be taken as literal depictions of how they appear. Ganesh, for example, is often seen holding an ax and a noose, to symbolize the potentially mortal obstacles we face throughout our lives, and his ability to remove such obstacles (like chopping down a tree). I think the elephant head is supposed to represent wisdom, but I can't remember completely.

Answer 4

Different methods to see the divine.

The divine in Hinduism is multiple - they say that they have thousands of gods. Every image of a god or any divine figure is different, and this promotes realization of the multiplicity and immanence of the divine.

Denying images of the divine, on the other hand, prohibits linking the divine to any form at all. This stresses the transcendent aspect of divinity.

Multiple and immanent, or transcendent? Both! Divinity is full of contradictions wherever its encountered.

By and by: most muslims are not as restricted regarding their avoidance of images. A muslim professor I know in India has a portrait of a famous biologist in his office, watches no TV, but listens to the news on his radio regularly and enjoys movies, and was made uncomfortable when in his home I gave him a tin of cookies depicting Americans riding a trolley.
Also: most Hindus are surprisingly devoted to one particular image of God. They may pray or make offerings to a variety of images, but often focus on just one god or image of God.

Answer 5

where did u get this from?
i listen to music
i watch tv
i listen to the radio
i draw
i take and have photographs

as for the other ones
true you cannot make a picture to symbolize God or any of the prophets but thats out of respect whats wrong with it?
and the method of worship was clearly given so why make new ones? i mean no ones going to kill you for it but you wouldn't really be a muslim if you didn't follow the Quran.
i dont know about praying at tombs i think that is because u worship only God only God is worthy of any worship

electrontransfer01 read the link and she did not understand why you gave it to her. was tv invented in that time? is there something in the Quran that says watching tv is not allowed. please show me and i'll believe you. thank you.

another thing...do you want me to look up quotes in the bible just to make christianity look bad? i mean whats the point of this? why does it bother you that we dont idolize God. thats our way and you should just accept it. I dont see anything to criticize about that.

Answer 6

We all have an image of God that helps those who believe to communicate with this entity. It is when the image becomes the object of attention, instead of the entity that the problems begin. This is why many institutionalised religions try to ban representations of their God. Christianity did it in the Protestant reformation as much as any other religion. It seems to me that it is simply an expression of their desire to communicate with the 'true God' without distraction.

The regret able fact is that this belief is easily turned to fanaticism in many religions, and the sanctions are not restricted to those who volunteer their faith and service.

Answer 7

Islam is the best and right religion now . We are very proud that we are mulims . We blieve in allah as our God and we must worship Him and we believe in His devine and invisible power which cannot be seen by eyes but our heart feels it we take this power to enlighten our way which leads us to right messeges and messengers who where sent by Him .

Muhammad is the messenger of allah to all ppl and who do not believe on him he is not muslim and he will be responsible to his faiths and believes

May I ask you a question why USA and other countries to throw tons of growing food in the sea ???
Why you don't ask them to this bad thing ?? instead of that try ask solutions that help poor people ????
I am so sorry about your question

Answer 8

There are enlightened as well as less enlightened individuals in all religions. How one goes about ones belief as well as the good will emanating from their hearts are much more important than the vast majority of doctrinal beliefs. As long as you do not believe in killing and oppressing others for their beliefs I think it pretty much OK to believe a wide variety of things.

Answer 9

*Music and television is not forbidden, only strongly disliked if you are watching porn or the display of naked men/woman.
*Listening to the radio is also not forbidden, only strongly disliked because the Prophet SAW said that string instruments can play with your mind (and its true, afterall how many of you listened to a song and it was stuck in your head all day?)
*Photographs of human beings or things that contain a soul...why would we need them anyways?
*Praying at tombs...whats that gonna do for you?
*Invoking anyone other than God: Think about it...Would you ask Prophet Moses to protect your family?
*Following one of the madhabs: Ecouraged since all four of these men were great scholars of Islam, but me and my husband follow a little bit of each four and we are all going by Qu'ran and Sunnah
*Celebrating annual feasts for any Prophets: The Prophets were very humble and didnt like to celebrate anything but something for Allah SWT or something pertaining to Him (like when the Word of God came in the form of a Qu'ran).
*Wearing charms or believeing in their healing power: only Allah SWT can protect you from something bad, not a bracelet with lucky charms...save those for breakfast
*Innovation in matters of religion: We were already taught how to pray by the Prophet himself, and that was revealed through the Angel Jibreel (from Allah).

Wahhabis are VERY strict with these (Saudi Arabia) but in Islam we are taught to always take the middle-road. BE MODERATE BUT KEEP YOUR FAITH STRONG!!!!

Answer 10

Listening to radio is not banned in Islam, what nonsense.

And the other measures...are taken from the book we believe in.

Even Hindu scriptures have similar stuff, only most of them, like most Christians, don't practice it.