| Is touching and kissing of
the sacred objects a Shirk ? Is it Shirk to touch and
kiss the iron bars and walls of the shrine of the Holy Prophet(sws), or the doors
and walls of the shrines of Holy Imams, and the Taboot, Alum, and Tazia, of Imam
Hussain ? Some Muslims consider the above acts as Shirk
and do not allow the Muslims to do that in places which are under their control.
Other Muslims consider such acts as an expression of deep love, respect and commitment.
Let us analyze it rationally in the light of the Holy Quran. There
are certain specific acts such as Sijda, Ruku, and Dua, which we solely do in
front of Allah, to show our total submission to Him, and to seek all kinds of
help from Him. Of course, all such acts have been strictly prohibited by the Holy
Prophet (sws) and Holy Imams (as) to do for anyone other than Allah. But
touching and kissing are the common ways of showing love and affection for a thing
or a person. We kiss and touch the Holy Quran and Hajar al Aswad. We kiss the
hands of our parents. We kiss our children and others we love. No one says that
it is a Shirk. Then, why is kissing and touching of the sacred objects being interpreted
as Shirk? In fact, kissing and touching are the actions which are exclusively
for the humans or material things and definitely not for Allah as He has no body,
and He is not confined to any particular place. Thus, kissing and touching the
sacred material objects with emotional feelings is not Shirk. We
very greatly love The Holy Prophet (sws) and the Holy Imams (as) but find no way
to express our feelings, as they are not physically present among us. Hence, we
kiss and touch with warm feelings of reverence to anything linked to them. Thus,
kissing of or touching Alam, Taboot, Tazia, and walls and doors of the mausoleum
and Holy shrines of the Prophet and his Ahlal-bayait (as), is an expression of
love and respect and definitely not shirk. However, if anyone does not express
his love for Imams in tradiditional manner as many Shias do, there is nothing
wrong in it. The most important thing is the true love with commitment of following
the footsteps of the Holy Prophet (sws) and the Holy Imams(as) and the real understanding
that they are the staunch supporters of Tawhid and the mighty enemies of the Shirk.
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