The Modern world places utmost importance to the historical monuments, regardless of the countries to which they belong. From the local point of view these historical monuments are known as the cultural heritage of a nation. The Islamic tradition, no less than other traditions and disciplines attaches great importance to cultural heritage or, historical monuments. The preservation of cultural heritage, in fact, is related to the general matters of humanity, where there is no difference between the secular and the Islamic point of view. According to Islam, historical monuments are indeed worthy of being preserved, as being indispensable records of the past. If these records were not to be maintained, future generations would lose authentic sources of knowledge. It would be an irremediable loss.

Islam is a religion of Nature. Everything which is in accordance with nature and reason is regarded as important in Islam. One important and accepted principle of the Islamic Shariah holds that ‘all things, in essence, are lawful, when not forbidden.’ Looked at in the light of this Shariah principle, the preserving of a cultural heritage is certainly lawful in Islam: nowhere in the Quran or Sunnah, are we commanded not to preserve our cultural heritage. Since we are not forbidden to do so, such action becomes lawful per se. No other proof is required for this.

Moreover, when we study the Quran, we find references regarding the importance of cultural inheritance. We reproduce below certain relevant passages from the Quran and Hadith, the sacred texts of Islam, which validate the argument for its preservation.

One such verse in the Quran says:

“Bring me a scripture revealed before this, or any other remnant of knowledge you may have, if you are telling the truth!” (46:4)

In my opinion, what is meant by ‘remnant of knowledge’ is what, in today’s jargon, we would call an archaeological or historical record. Such records serve as vital sources from which to learn about past events, therefore, it becomes essential to preserve them, both from the academic and the Islamic point of view.

One significant example of the importance of preserving a cultural or historical record is found in the Quran in relation to Pharaoh, the Egyptian King and Moses’ contemporary, who died by drowning. The Quran makes this statement about him:

“This day shall we save you in your body, so that you may be a sign to those who come after you!” (10:92)

The body of this Pharaoh was embalmed according to Egyptian custom and entombed in a pyramid. This embalmed body, a part of the Egyptian culture, remained preserved for posterity by the will of God Himself. At the end of the 19th century, the mummy was removed from its tomb and, by applying the modern method of carbon dating, was proved to be the earthly remains of the same Pharaoh who had been drowned during the times of the Prophet Moses. The preserved mummy of this Pharaoh, still in existence in the museum at Cairo, bears witness to the veracity of the above Quranic verse. Despite Pharaoh being an idolatrous king, God willed that his mummified body be preserved. This clearly shows us that not only common things pertaining to cultural history but also the body of an idolatrous king can also be preserved! We can therefore safely infer that the preservation of the Buddha statues in Afghanistan, which date back 2000 years, is as desirable in Islam as it is in other traditions and disciplines.

In the context of the history of the Israelites, the Quran tells us that they possessed a sacred relic (the Ark of the Covenant), a part of their heritage which they preserved for generations as a source of peace and security. This relic, or cultural legacy, was first preserved by the generations of Moses and Aaron. We learn from the Quran that such great importance was attached to this inherited Ark that, on one occasion; it was borne aloft by the angels from one place to another! (2:248)

This incident is a direct illustration of the preservation of cultural heritage. This underscores the importance of cultural heritage as well as the fact that such preservation, for the benefit of coming generations, does not run counter to the spirit of the divine shariah.

An important attribute of a believer, as described in the Quran, is that of a ‘traveler’ (9:112). That is, one who travels in the land from one place to another, in order to take lessons from these historical places left for us by former generations. As the Quran in another verse says:

“And how many towns have We destroyed, which exalted in their wanton life of ease and plenty! Now their dwellings are deserted—all but a few! And We are their heirs!” (28:58)

It also says: “Say: Roam the earth and see what was the end of those who rejected faith.” (6:11)

According to this verse, it is desirable in Islam to preserve cultural heritage of the past in order that the coming generations may derive lessons from them. In the absence of such historical relics, the very purpose of traveling would be rendered meaningless!

Every group or community has its own particular culture. And they possess the absolute right to safeguard it. In matters relating to culture, the question of whether it is against or in favour of Islam should not arise. Indeed, any community that wants to protect its culture should be given the right to do so. Just as this has been endorsed by secularism, so also has it been accepted by Islam.

There is an event in Islamic history which very aptly illustrates this point. Jerusalem was conquered during the Caliphate of Umar, the second Caliph of Islam. Caliph Umar went to Jerusalem from Makkah, and signed an agreement with the Christians. This agreement contained, among other things, the guarantee that all the relics in the Christian churches,—for instance, the statues of Mary and Jesus, and the Holy Cross, believed to be the one on which Christ was nailed would be left intact. All these objects were part of the Christian culture, and it was specified in the agreement that the Christian community had the right to preserve and maintain them. (Tarikh Tabari)

This act on the part of the second Caliph of Islam shows that it is the right of every community to safeguard its culture, whether under Muslim rule or not. No government is vested with the right to interfere in the cultural affairs of another community. The issue of the preservation of culture must remain independent of government intervention. One important point to be borne in mind is that, as far as international matters are concerned, the Islamic norm would be the same as the agreed norms of other nations. This principle of Islam can be inferred from certain incidents in the life of the Prophet.

For instance, during the last days of the Prophet of Islam, a Yemenite called Musailima claimed prophethood. He sent two envoys to the Prophet of Islam to ask him to accept his claim. The Prophet asked the two men what their views were regarding Musailima, and they replied that they believed in his claim. At this, the Prophet replied that, since it was the prevailing custom not to kill any messengers, he would refrain from doing so. Otherwise he would have done so. (Seerat Ibn Hisham).

This tradition of the Prophet clearly shows us that, if any principle has been accepted at the international level, it has to be followed. This being so, the preservation of cultural heritage will be considered as important by Islam as it is by other nations. In the modern world, great stress indeed is laid upon the preservation of cultural legacies or historical monuments and Islam has no quarrel with this. It will certainly never follow a divergent course on matters of common consent.

The Prophet of Islam was born in Makkah where there were no date palms. When he migrated to Madinah, he found date-orchards in abundance. One day, as the Prophet was passing by an orchard, he saw some men high up in the palm-trees, pollinating them with their hands. The Prophet said that he did not think there was any particular advantage in doing this and advised them to leave off this practice. That year, the yield of dates was very low. When the Prophet asked why this was so, he was told that since he had discouraged the owners of the trees from pollinating them, the yield of dates had fallen. At this, the Prophet said, “Continue to do what you have been doing, for you know your worldly matters better.”

This advice given by the Prophet points to a very important principle. It is the necessity to differentiate between matters of creed and practicalities. According to Islam, practical matters, which are of a purely worldly nature, will not be subordinated to religion. They will instead be subjected to academic research and be judged by experience. Those which satisfy academic criteria will gain general acceptance as standard concepts and practices. This will include the various disciplines ranging from agriculture to horticulture, as well as all the departments of engineering and history. The preservation of historical legacies will fall within the province of academic research rather than that of religion.

Supposing that a non-Muslim cultural heritage, considered at variance with Islamic interests, exists in some Muslim country, the people of that country are not authorized to destroy it, simply by virtue of their being in political control. They should rather hand over the concrete Symbols to whichever countries that wish to preserve them. The demolition of the Buddhist statues in Bamiyan in Afghanistan was totally against Islam. It was an act of extremism, and according to both the Quran and the Hadith, extremism has neither basis nor sanction in Islam. To sum up, the principles of Islam and their practical applications both demonstrate that, in matters regarding the preservation of cultural or historical heritage, the stance adopted by Islam is the same as that of other traditions and disciplines.

Conversing with God More and with men less

Thaur ibn Yazid tells of how in the course of his reading, he came across an interesting dialogue between Jesus and his disciples. “Converse with God more and with people less” admonished Jesus. “How can we converse with God more? His disciples asked him, “By prayer and supplication to Him in private” answered Jesus. (Abu Nuaym)