{"id":1276,"date":"2023-04-21T11:13:06","date_gmt":"2023-04-21T09:13:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/?p=1276"},"modified":"2023-04-21T11:35:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T09:35:47","slug":"what-is-idolatry-in-the-21st-century","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/2023\/04\/21\/what-is-idolatry-in-the-21st-century\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>What is Idolatry in the 21st\u00a0Century<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_1276 social_share_privacy clearfix 1.6.4 locale-de_DE sprite-de_DE\"><\/div><div class=\"twoclick-js\"><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\njQuery(document).ready(function($){if($('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_1276')){$('.twoclick_social_bookmarks_post_1276').socialSharePrivacy({\"txt_help\":\"Wenn Sie diese Felder durch einen Klick aktivieren, werden Informationen an Facebook, Twitter, Flattr, Xing, t3n, LinkedIn, Pinterest oder Google eventuell ins Ausland \\u00fcbertragen und unter Umst\\u00e4nden auch dort gespeichert. N\\u00e4heres erfahren Sie durch einen Klick auf das <em>i<\\\/em>.\",\"settings_perma\":\"Dauerhaft aktivieren und Daten\\u00fcber-tragung zustimmen:\",\"info_link\":\"http:\\\/\\\/www.heise.de\\\/ct\\\/artikel\\\/2-Klicks-fuer-mehr-Datenschutz-1333879.html\",\"uri\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\\\/zekkblog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/21\\\/what-is-idolatry-in-the-21st-century\\\/\",\"post_id\":1276,\"post_title_referrer_track\":\"What+is+Idolatry+in+the+21st%C2%A0Century\",\"display_infobox\":\"on\"});}});\n\/* ]]> *\/<\/script><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Up until today&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>&nbsp;has been and is considered to be the greatest sin in Islam. But how can a phenomenon (traditional practice of idolatry) belonging for the most part to the historical past, at least in Muslim countries today, be understood nowadays if we take the message of the Quran to be time-transcending? Could it be that the Quran is up to something bigger and yet subtler here? It might be a consideration worth pondering on as to how this concept concerns our lives in the modern era \u2013 otherwise we just might make it a little too easy for ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All too often we put our materialistic concerns before interests of other human and non-human beings, e. g. buying unethically sourced things (being it due to child labour, inhumane working conditions or animal factories).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But then, these every-dayish, less-than-optimal actions like buying something seem unlikely be considered by the proclaimer of the Quran to be&nbsp;<em>the&nbsp;<\/em>unforgivable sin \u2026&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the relevance of this concept appears first and foremost theological, we might want to ask, what might be the secular side of the moral lesson that the Quran wants to teach us when introducing&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>. What could a Christian, Hinduist, an Atheist, a Druid learn from it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To me, battling&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>&nbsp;would include doing more frequently things that serve not necessarily me but bring joy to my loved ones, friends, neighbors in every sense of this word, and simply people (and animals!), getting involved in a charity, spending time to help somebody. And yet \u2013 even charity might become an&nbsp;<em>Ersatz<\/em>, a god of sorts. Not being a&nbsp;<em>mushrik&nbsp;<\/em>today is for me following this inner moral compass, which we can all feel and which at times, alas, defies absolute interpretations\u2026&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this sense I think the concept of&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>&nbsp;could also encompass practices of radical materialism \u2013 Apr\u00e8s moi, le d\u00e9luge!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I do not want to demonise materialism though, since the Quran itself reminds us not to shun terrestrial delights (Q 7:31, 2:172, 30:21). What I mean is rather its radical form that is not concerned about the other, and which has born such ugly fruits in history and still continues doing so \u2013 when human (or for that being said, living, beings) are reduced to a mere means for some purpose \u2013 child labour being one of the most terrible examples of it, forced prostitution another one. It is not by mere chance that in German, English and French some of the worst words have a \u201eutilitarian\u201c root:&nbsp;<em>Miss<strong>brauch<\/strong>, ab<strong>us<\/strong>, ab<strong>use<\/strong>, Ver<strong>nutz<\/strong>ung, ex<strong>ploi<\/strong>tation<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While a moderate materialism grounds us on this earth, its extreme forms can lead to some of the worst crimes \u2013 which God is protesting, rebelling against \u2013 in the Quran and in the Old and New Testaments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Klaus von Stosch writes: \u201eIt is JHWE who gives those that are marginalized, underprivileged and without hope, new courage; he alone and that because he is alone God and only his interpretation as Savior and Liberator is correct.\u201c<a href=\"\/\/F9FBF60D-558E-468B-8498-795124B72716#_ftn1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a>His Holy envy is that of a human rights activist \u2013 He is taking the side of the exploited and abused ones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thus for me, personally, the message of the Quran about&nbsp;<em>shirk<\/em>&nbsp;could also be understood as being about a boundless materialism going into extreme, when the welfare of another being is sacrificed on the altar of one\u2019s own whim and convenience. It is this kind of \u201eidolatry\u201c, I think, which the Quran rebukes most \u2013 in the modern world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"\/\/F9FBF60D-558E-468B-8498-795124B72716#_ftnref1\"><sup>[1]<\/sup><\/a>&nbsp;Klaus von Stosch, \u201eVollendungsgewissheit und Gewalt\u201c, 110 in: Klaus von Stosch, Muhammad Sven Kalisch, J\u00fcrgen Werbick (Hrsg.), Glaubensgewissheit und Gewalt. Eschatologische Erkundungen in Islam und Christentum, Paderborn 2011, 105-116. [Here my translation.]<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"702\" data-id=\"1283\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2023\/04\/landfill-6525289_1280-1024x702.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1283\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2023\/04\/landfill-6525289_1280-1024x702.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2023\/04\/landfill-6525289_1280-300x206.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2023\/04\/landfill-6525289_1280-768x526.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2023\/04\/landfill-6525289_1280-438x300.jpg 438w, https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/files\/2023\/04\/landfill-6525289_1280.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n<figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption wp-element-caption\">Bild von Pixabay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-blue-color has-text-color wp-block-paragraph\">Dr. Elizaveta Dorogova ist wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin f\u00fcr Koranwissenschaften am Paderborner Institut f\u00fcr Islamische Theologie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">#theQuran #materialism #childlabour #idolatry<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Up until today&nbsp;shirk&nbsp;has been and is considered to be the greatest sin in Islam. But how can a phenomenon (traditional practice of idolatry) belonging for the most part to the historical past, at least in Muslim countries today, be understood &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/2023\/04\/21\/what-is-idolatry-in-the-21st-century\/\">Weiterlesen <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9305,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allgemein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1276"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1285,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1276\/revisions\/1285"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uni-paderborn.de\/zekkblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}