473. Was the act of breaking idols justified?

The verses (21:57, 21:58, 37:93) of the Quran reveal the idols that were considered gods were broken by Prophet Ibrahim. Is the breaking of the idols justified? Does it allow the thinking to break idols ourselves? A doubt arises in us.

We should first know the place of idols and places of worship of others in Islam.

We find verse 6:108 of the Quan saying not to be abusive about what others worship. Please refer to point No; 170 of this compilation. 

Similarly, verse 22:40 of the Quran says that no one should not damage the place of worship of others. This has been clearly explained in point no;433 of this compilation. The reason for this is also given in this verse. The reason is if idols considered as gods of other people are abused, they counter abuse Whom we worship, and if a place of worship is damaged others will react in the same way, and damage our places of worship.

If we damage the places of worship of others the consequences will be as stated above. 

Now the question is could Prophet Ibrahim damage the idols that were placed inside the Kaaba?

We need to understand without any doubt, the act committed by Prophet Ibrahim is not against this verse. 

When there is only one community living in a city or state, and when they keep following a particular religion, one among them is dissatisfied with the way of worship being carried on, it is natural he expresses his anger by damaging the community place of worship. When all these incidents take place within a community there is no chance for an intercommunity clash taking place. Because there was no other community place of worship involved in this case, and there is no case of another community involved and neither was the act done on behalf of another community. People accepted the act of Prophet Ibrahim merely by construing he let himself free of the faith of those idols.

This was the position of Prophet Ibrahim.

Prophet Ibrahim was born to an idol worshipper by the name of Azar. There was no other religion at that period of time nor was the act of damaging the idols carried out on behalf of any other religion. He expressed his anger about his dislike for his family’s worship of deities and damaged them, and he was prepared for the consequences arising out of it.

We need to consider this like, when a whole locality converts over to another religion, the place of worship of the previous religion gets broken down. 

There is a difference between a group of people from elsewhere coming to demolish a place of worship, and an individual from the same locality breaking it down. 

To know more about this subject please refer to explanation points 170, 143, 464 of this compilation.