[ShiaHazara]

Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha

The Buddha at Swat was only slightly damaged
Suspected pro-Taleban militants have tried to blow up an ancient carving of Buddha in north-west Pakistan.
The statue, thought to date from the second century BC, sustained only minimal damage in the attack near Manglore in remote Swat district.

The area has seen a rise in attacks on "un-Islamic" targets in recent months.

This is the first such attack in Pakistan and is reminiscent of the Taleban's 2001 destruction of the giant Buddhas at Bamiyan in Afghanistan.

Dynamite

Officials and witnesses in Swat said armed men arrived in the area on Monday night.

We heard the sound of drilling twice and then early Tuesday morning we heard two blasts

Villager Amir Khan


Afghan Buddha future unclear

"Militants drilled holes in the rock and filled them with dynamite and blew it up," provincial archaeology department official Aqleem Khan told Reuters news agency.

"The explosion damaged the upper part of the rock but there was no damage to the image itself."

And eyewitness, Shahid Khan, told the BBC that because of its location on a steep ridge the statue had been only slightly damaged. It is carved into a 40m (130-foot) high rock.

Local archaeology expert Professor Pervaiz Shaheen told the BBC that the Buddha statue in Swat valley was considered the largest in Asia, after the two Bamiyan Buddhas.

He said it was 2,200 years old. Swat valley is a centre of the ancient Gandhara civilization.

"They constructed similar smaller statues and figurines, dozens of which are still present in the area," Prof Shaheen said.

Swat has seen increased pro-Taleban activity in recent months, with the re-emergence of militant group Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) under new leader, Maulana Fazlullah.

Last week, militants blew up about 60 music, video and cosmetics stalls at a market in the valley after stall owners ignored warnings to close businesses deemed un-Islamic.

The world watched in shock in March 2001 as Afghanistan's then rulers destroyed the 6th-Century Bamiyan Buddhas. The Taleban said they were offensive to Islam.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha

this is the type of fanaticism that some on here support.

How much longer before the Egyptian people who support the Taliban and al-Qaeda do the same thing to their pyramids? after all, there are plenty of egyptian nutters who want to destroy ancient egyptian heritage.

the Pakistani Army should seriously mass its entire manpower to eliminate these dogs once and for all.

[SaidAbdullahofDarfur]

Originally Posted by ShiaHazara

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha

this is the type of fanaticism that some on here support.

How much longer before the Egyptian people who support the Taliban and al-Qaeda do the same thing to their pyramids? after all, there are plenty of egyptian nutters who want to destroy ancient egyptian heritage.

the Pakistani Army should seriously mass its entire manpower to eliminate these dogs once and for all.

Not all past is worth hanging onto...

Sometimes, culture especially a culture that os has to die in order for muslims to unite as one.

One Ummah

P.S.

Why do you think the sphinx look like it does?

People have tried to destroy in the past...

It is an Idol after all...

[A_Muminah]

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah,

Originally Posted by ShiaHazara

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha

this is the type of fanaticism that some on here support.

How much longer before the Egyptian people who support the Taliban and al-Qaeda do the same thing to their pyramids? after all, there are plenty of egyptian nutters who want to destroy ancient egyptian heritage.

the Pakistani Army should seriously mass its entire manpower to eliminate these dogs once and for all.

Mister, have you ever thought about looking about this matter in the Qur'aan and Sunnah?

Allow me to post some of the sayings of Prophet Mohammad (saw) and his companions (r).

Muslim narrated that Abu’l-Hayaaj al-Asadi said: ‘Ali ibn Abi Taalib said to me: “Shall I not send you with the same instructions as the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) sent me? ‘Do not leave any image without defacing it or any built-up grave without leveling it.’”

Muslim narrated from ‘Urwah ibn ‘Abasah that he said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): “With what were you sent?” He said, “I was sent to uphold the ties of kinship, to break the idols, and so that Allaah would be worshipped alone with no partner or associate.”

al-Bukhaari (3020) and Muslim (2476) narrated that Jareer ibn ‘Abd-Allaah al-Bajali said: The Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said to me: “O Jareer, will you not relieve me of Dhu’l-Khalsah?” That was a house (in Yemen) belonging to the (tribe of) Khath’am, which was called Ka’bat al-Yamaaniyyah. I set out with one hundred and fifty horsemen. I used not to sit firm on horses and I mentioned that to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He struck me on my chest with his hand and said, 'O Allaah! Make him firm and make him one who guides others and is guided on the right path.' " So Jareer went and burned it with fire, then Jareer sent a man called Abu Artaat to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). He said, “I did not come to you until we had left it like a scabby camel.” Then the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) blessed the horses of (the tribe of) Ahmas and their men five times.

Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar said, This hadeeth indicates that it is prescribed to remove things that may tempt or confuse the people, whether they are buildings, people, animals or inanimate objects.

Now, you are a servant of Allaah. Not your whims and desires. If He ordered His last Messenger to do such, it is a command for us to follow. If you would like more on how the Sahabah dealt with idols, let me know. I will gladly give you examples of what the likes Khalid ibn Waleed and Amr ibn al-'Aas did.

Fear Allah. I understand what history and culture are but there is a difference if it is mixing with religion.

Was-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah

[Kaminyu]

Originally Posted by ShiaHazara

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Attack on giant Pakistan Buddha

this is the type of fanaticism that some on here support.

How much longer before the Egyptian people who support the Taliban and al-Qaeda do the same thing to their pyramids? after all, there are plenty of egyptian nutters who want to destroy ancient egyptian heritage.

the Pakistani Army should seriously mass its entire manpower to eliminate these dogs once and for all.

Well, I think people care more about the Egyptian architecture, than they do about Buddhist statues in Afghanistan. Egyptian architecture is something important to a lot of people. Those Buddhist statues on the other hand, are not. They are obsolete, and the only time people seem to care about them, is when the Taliban wanted to blow them up.

No, it isn't about these obsolete statues that no one cares about, but about the intentional destruction of cultural art that people are offended by. Of course, when art offends them, they don't seem to have any problems destroying it then.

Originally Posted by SaidAbdullahofDarfur

Why do you think the sphinx look like it does?

People have tried to destroy in the past...

It is an Idol after all...

Actually, I've read that it was the French who shot the nose of the Sphinx.

[ChotooMotoo]

Originally Posted by Kaminyu

Actually, I've read that it was the French who shot the nose of the Sphinx.

That's correct. One of Napoleons soldiers shot it off with a cannon. Napoleon was pretty P.O.'d about that too.

[WarriorAndWiseman]

Originally Posted by SaidAbdullahofDarfur

Not all past is worth hanging onto...

Sometimes, culture especially a culture that os has to die in order for muslims to unite as one.

One Ummah

P.S.

Why do you think the sphinx look like it does?

People have tried to destroy in the past...

It is an Idol after all...

Originally Posted by A_Muminah

As-Salaamu 'Alaykum Wa Rahmatullaah,

I understand what history and culture are but there is a difference if it is mixing with religion.

I wonder, by that same logic, should Muslims feel angry when a mosque is raized anywhere in a country that is not Islamic?..

If your thinking that destroying a Mosque would affect billions of Muslims but destroying a statue of Buddha would not affect anyone, remember Buddhism is the third largest religion in the world.

[Variable]

Originally Posted by SaidAbdullahofDarfur

Why do you think the sphinx look like it does?

People have tried to destroy in the past...

It is an Idol after all...

The Sphinx looks like it does because it's more than 4500 years old and has been through a lot. Fortunately the first Muslims that ruled over the area had enough sense to protect those structures rather than destroy them. Probably because they were more enlightened than the robotic numb-skulls that go around destroying historic structures these days.

[Variable]

Originally Posted by Kaminyu

Egyptian architecture is something important to a lot of people. Those Buddhist statues on the other hand, are not. They are obsolete...

That has to have been the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say.

[Kaminyu]

Originally Posted by Variable

That has to have been the dumbest thing I've ever heard you say.

Egyptian architecture, I'm sure, is a big tourist attraction, which probably generates a lot of income. Those Buddhist statues, as far as I know, are not, and are virtually obsolete.

[Kaminyu]

Originally Posted by WarriorAndWiseman

I wonder, by that same logic, should Muslims feel angry when a mosque is raized anywhere in a country that is not Islamic?..

If your thinking that destroying a Mosque would affect billions of Muslims but destroying a statue of Buddha would not affect anyone, remember Buddhism is the third largest religion in the world.

There's a big difference between destroying something that has some value to people vs. destroying something that does not. For the comparison to be accurate, the question should be, 'should Muslims feel angry when an abandoned (and virtually forgotten) mosque is razed somewhere in a country that is not Islamic?'

[SaidAbdullahofDarfur]

The spinx had a lot of definite features, but people tried to destroy it...I mean they are muslim.

Muslim - submitter to the will of god...

So they should try to destroy these idols, they are only remnants of a kfr society that died out a long time ago...

[Khairan]

Originally Posted by Kaminyu

Egyptian architecture, I'm sure, is a big tourist attraction, which probably generates a lot of income. Those Buddhist statues, as far as I know, are not, and are virtually obsolete.

What does that have to do with anything? Either you believe that they are idols or not, unless you're trying to argue that idolatry is okay so long as it generates money. I know that's not what you mean, so why would you say that the Buddha statues aren't okay and the pyramids are only because the latter "generate a lot of income"?


On a related note (and not directed at Kaminyu), the salient issue here is that no Muslim would accept blandly the destruction of our mosques by other people -- it is no less than hypocrisy to claim that we shouldn't expect the same regard for other people's artifacts as we would want for our own. The worst thing that ever happened to Islam was Islamic supremacism -- all this "we're only doing it for God" talk is nothing but a mask for what strikes me as an unholy pride in being "above" the rest of humanity...or did we forget what it was that led to the first sin?

[MossadConspiracy]

A bunch of stupid extremists couldnt destroy the pyramids even if they tried. Lots of Egyptian art and artifacts were defaced by wackjob coptic groups during the centuries when Egypt was a christian country, and they went down in history as defacers of some of the world's great cultural relics, just like the Taliban. Muslims then ruled Egypt for over a thousand years without significantly damaging its ancient heritage. One incident where they did was when the nose of the sphinx was destroyed by an Egyptian muslim, the Napoleon story was just a myth cooked up, probably because Egyptians would be ashamed to acknowledge that one of us would be crazy and stupid enough to attack our heritage in that way, and its easier to just blame a foreigner. If the world today was as ignorant and poorly connected as it was in previous centuries, its possible that Afghans in 2100 AD would believe that the Americans or the Soviets were the ones who blew up the buddha statues