Besides removing supposed temptations to idolatry, Islamic jihadists want to destroy the artifacts of non-Muslim civilizations because doing so testifies to the truth of Islam, as the Qur’an suggests that the destroyed remnants of ancient non-Muslim civilizations are a sign of Allah’s punishment of those who rejected his truth:
Many were the Ways of Life that have passed away before you: travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who rejected Truth. (Qur’an 3:137)
This is one of the foundations of the Islamic idea that pre-Islamic civilizations, and non-Islamic civilizations, are all jahiliyya — the society of unbelievers, which is worthless. Obviously this cuts against the idea of tourism of ancient sites and non-Muslim religious installations. V. S. Naipaul encountered this attitude in his travels through Muslim countries. For many Muslims, he observed in Among the Believers, “The time before Islam is a time of blackness: that is part of Muslim theology. History has to serve theology.” Naipaul recounted that some Pakistani Muslims, far from valuing the nation’s renowned archaeological site at Mohenjo Daro, saw its ruins as a teaching opportunity for Islam, recommending that Qur’an 3:137 be posted there as a teaching tool.
“ISIS destroys ancient tombs in latest crime against civilization,” Associated Press, September 4, 2015:
DAMASCUS, Syria — Islamic State militants destroyed three ancient tower tombs in the central city of Palmyra in the last few days, a Syrian government official said Friday.
Tower tombs, built on high grounds, are a particular feature of the Roman-era ancient caravan city.
Maamoun Abdulkarim, the head of the Antiquities and Museums Department in Damascus, said Friday the militants destroyed the tower tombs, including the Elahbel tower that dates back to the 103 A.D., 10 days earlier. Abdulkarim said his information was based on witness accounts and satellite images provided by the Boston-based American Schools of Oriental Research.
In a report issued Thursday, the ASOR Syrian Heritage initiative said the IS group has destroyed seven tower tombs since the end of June over two phases. The last round of destruction occurred between Aug. 27 and Sept. 2, including the destruction of the Tower of Elahbel, the most prominent example of Palmyra’s distinct funerary monuments. Earlier, the Tomb of Iamliku and that of Atenaten were also destroyed.
“Collectively, the damage to these tombs is not confined to a single area within the Valley of the Tombs, but instead it is distributed throughout various locations, leaving some towers destroyed and others still standing,” the report said, showing a sequence of satellite imagery with the sites before and after the damage. “The reasoning for this differentiation is unknown.”
The militants claim ancient relics and sites of worship promote idolatry. They have already destroyed more modern-day Islamic cemeteries and shrines in the city.
The militants had already destroyed on Sunday the two-millennia-old temple of Bel in the city, confirmed by UN satellite images. The smaller Temple of Baalshamin was also destroyed days before, and the group posted images of the damage.
In the most detailed report on the recent damage wrought by the IS group, the ASOR Syrian Heritage Initiative report confirmed the destruction of the smaller temple with satellite images. The report, through the satellite imagery, said the temple of Bel was severely damaged with only the front gateway to the inner sanctuary still standing. The temple’s colonnades were still standing, the report said.
The UN Cultural Agency UNESCO called the destruction of Palmyra an “intolerable crime against civilization.”
Walter Sieruk says
They destroy,that ‘s all the savages of ISIS know how to do . They destroy people and things The ISIS fiends never create anything that is good or of value or that is worthwhile. They just destroy.
Huck Folder says
I wonder how that resonates with their
water-carrying sinislam friends?
The ‘Religion of Peace™’?
Second thoughts perhaps?
Cognitive dissonance?
Anyone?
Oh, I know, they’re not REAL moslems;
the leftards know more about islam than
al-Baghdadi PhD (islamic studies).
Anon says
Isis have so much support from moderate muslims its unreal. I have a facebook cousin in australia who was raised a muslim but no longer. She has 2 sisters, one of them has a shit load of isis supporters on facebook yet she and her white liberal brother in law took me to task for complaining about radical Islam. My belief is, we are done, we WERE looking over the cliff 10 years ago and now we are falling to our deaths. No going back now. Look at Europe. It would have to take a new Hitler to save Europe. And that’s not going to happen in a million years. Enjoy your days as a free man whilst you still have them.
Angemon says
Which it is, but what is the UN planning to do about it? Are they rallying up troops and support to a wage swift, decisive war against ISIS in order to not only erase them from existence but also to take the necessary measures required to ensure no similar group will ever take its place? No, of course not, that might actually solve the problem, and heaven forbid that a large bureaucracy actually acts effective and efficiently.
nacazo says
According to the wahabbis, there is a hadith where Mohammed said “Do not leave any grave unleveled”.
I couldn’t find the specific hadith.
Jay Boo says
I’m sorry but I’ve got to give Muslims a free pass on this one.
I really can’t blame them in the least.
The insecurity of knowing Islam does not measure up is so spirit demoralizing.
I can only imagine the daily misery that every Muslim must go through each morning.
Just imagine how soul crushing it must be to wake up every day with an obligation to pray to a god figure as spiteful Allah.
Just imagine being a member of a religion that is so obviously flawed down to its fragile core doctrine that you would feel a desperate need to constantly prop it up by killing apostates, adulterers and even your daughters so as to keep others from laughing hysterically at the buffoonery of the man without a trace of honor that you use as your example for all Muslims to follow.
Islam is nothing but misery and death wearing a veil and a bloodstained man-dress.
abad says
Maybe some people at JW are familiar with the term “cancer curer” and how it is used in modern language, derogatory to be sure, but an element of truth in it.
I propose that ISL and their ilk all be relabeled “cancer curers.”
Alex says
I have a question for Mr Spencer or anyone else that could answer with proper sources to back up their answer: how come the invading Muslims did not level these tombs one millenium ago? Just curious.
gravenimage says
Several reasons, Alex.
Most of this ancient “Jahillyah” is off the beaten path–even though these ruins are in the lands Mohammedans conquered, most of them did not come into much contact with it in their daily lives. Out of sight, out of mind.
The second point is technology–until recently, dismantling these ruins would have been extremely labor-intensive for lazy Muslims, and completely beyond their abilities in many cases even then. Now, of course, they can just blow things up. Muslims regularly destroy statues and artwork, but demolishing major archeological sites was beyond their abilities. Just look at the Bamiyan Buddhas in Afghanistan.
The most salient point is this one, though–until the Western development of archeology, which dated from French and British involvement in Egypt two hundred years ago–these sites were no more than curiosities–and in the lands of dull-witted Muslims, rarely even that (note, for instance, that very few Muslims go to museum or visit archeological sites in places like Egypt or Turkey).
And until quite recently, Muslim countries such as Egypt and Syria had at least vestigial Western influence.
So, the short answer is that Muslims are destroying these sites because civilized Westerners such as ourselves *value them*–and we have (inadvertently) provided them with the technology to achieve this.
Alex says
Thanks for your answer. However, you said:
“Most of this ancient “Jahillyah” is off the beaten path–even though these ruins are in the lands Mohammedans conquered, most of them did not come into much contact with it in their daily lives. Out of sight, out of mind.”
How do you know this? Anything that I can read on this subject?
gravenimage says
Hi, Alex. There are exceptions, but most people do not live right next to ruins–by the very nature of an area having been allowed to fall into ruin, this is an area that has been abandoned at some point in the past.
In most cases where such “Jahillyah” is close to Muslim population centers, such buildings and artefacts have already been long since destroyed, or else appropriated by Muslims for use by Islam.
One prominent example of the latter would be the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, which was desecrated and turned into a Mosque after the women and children who had sought sanctuary there were slaughtered during the Muslim conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
gravenimage says
By the way, while I am not an archeologist I do have a degree in art history, and am fairly knowledgeable about the subject. My mother-in-law was also a docent at the Carlos Museum in Atlanta until just recently, which has an extensive collection of Ancient Egyptian, Nubian, and Near Eastern art and artifacts.
duh_swami says
Possibly because they didn’t have bulldozers and explosives…
Cecilia Ellis says
This is probably not a politcally correct question, but I am going to ask it anyway: If large ISIS crowds are gathering, with equipment and explosives, to destroy the ancient sites, then why doesn’t the “coalition” strike these thugs, while they work, with air-to-ground missiles? Yes, that would destroy the historic sites, but those sites will be destroyed by ISIS anyway. Might as well “strike fear” in the hearts of ISIS jihadists, “the best of people.” After all, it’s the perfect opportunity for the “vilest of creatures.”
Budvarakbar says
It does not take a crowd to set up and plant explosies!
Cecilia Ellis says
Budvarakbar, I am very aware that it does not take a crowd to set up explosives. But the jihadists do gather nearby to watch the destruction and to celebrate.
mortimer says
Every Western nation as well as Japan, Phillipines and Korea should send a commando team to attack a different ISIS camp. 40 different teams. There will be casualties, but ISIS will not sustain the combined effort of thirty or forty countries acting at once. The effect will be that of a multi-pronged ‘Market Garden’ that will bring ISIS to its knees. When caught all the commanders will be tried for crimes against humanity and ISLAM itself will be condemned in the World Court.
gravenimage says
Mortimer wrote:
When caught all the commanders will be tried for crimes against humanity and ISLAM itself will be condemned in the World Court.
……………………
Alas, Mortimer, I doubt we will be seeing a condemnation of Islam from the World Court anytime soon…
In fact, the The International Court of Justice (World Court) is far more lively to rule against civilized nations like the US and Israel than it is against Jihad terrorism:
“The International Court of Justice rules in favor of terrorism”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/2004/07/the-international-court-of-justice-rules-in-favor-of-terrorism
SpiritOf1683 says
Why should we try ISIS commanders for crimes against humanity? They’ll only put us on trial. Shooting them on the spot is much better. This is a battle for survival against these murderous savages, not a police action.
Baucent says
I’m inclined to believe the suggestion that these systematic destructions are more about marketing the ISIS brand than any moral outrage at these structures. Simply destroying stuff puts them back on the front page and revs up their overseas supporters, when news from the battlefield may not be good. And of course they know it angers the kuffirs. So sadly, 2,000 years of history is destroyed to generate 2 minutes of prime time news.
duh_swami says
The Islamic State destroys…everything in its path…As you destroy, so you will be destroyed…someday…as soon as Allah wills it…or maybe when Trump is elected…Maybe…
Matthieu Baudin says
When Islam falls world wide there will be an awful lot of Mosques taking up valuable city space. Perhaps the most architecturally significant, the most historically important and the most beautiful can be spared and reopened as coffee shops, museums or art galleries.
Baucent says
Or Shoe shops.
ManchesterLad says
They’d make great public toilets.
Anon says
The year is 2090, Islamic supremacists blow up Glastonbury Tor and Stonehenge.
The end.
mach37 says
The more I learn of the religion of Muhammad, the more twisted and cruel Allah becomes. It is as if Allah did not exist before Muhammad – ISIS leaders appear to believe that everything that existed before The Prophet’s revelations was worthless; But why had Muhammad’s Allah had been unable to get the attention of prophets prior to Muhammad? The Allah of Muhammad (and ISIS) becomes more and more like Satan, calling for pain, torture, and gruesome death for those who displease him and his followers.
SpiritOf1683 says
Just wait until savages like these start destroying Notre Dame and the Vatican in 100 or 150 years time, because we let them into Europe.
Christian A. Beltram says
The real source of jahiliyya in the world is neither pre-Islamic civilizations nor contemporary non-Islamic societies. Rather, it is Islam due to its devaluation of all things that existed before it. In other words, Islam is a religion that turns people into extremely violent and uncultured narcissists.