when he is unaware of them, comes upon them, and breaks them, there is no blame on him. Even so, if he fears that he may be tracked down, identified, and that harm and discord may result, then it is not permissible for him to break them—let alone obligatory.

His statement: “and a cross” means that the cross likewise must be broken. A cross consists of two lines, one vertical and the other horizontal. The Christians claim that the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was killed and crucified upon it. Perhaps—Allah knows best—this was due to the strength of the Jews and their dominance over them, so that they were humiliated before them. Otherwise, it is well known that the Christians venerate Jesus, whereas those who claimed that they killed and crucified him were the Jews, as Allah, Exalted is He, says concerning them:

“And for their saying, ‘Indeed, we killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the Messenger of Allah.’ But they neither killed him nor crucified him; rather, it was made to appear so to them. Indeed, those who differ concerning it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of conjecture. And they certainly did not kill him.” [al-Nisa]

Therefore, we Muslims must believe that Jesus was neither killed nor crucified. We must also believe that the Jews incurred the sin of claiming to have killed and crucified him, because they acknowledged that they had killed and crucified him; thus, by their admission, they incurred the sin.

The Christians venerate this cross: they hang it around their necks, portray it on the doors of their homes, in their gatherings, and on everything else. They venerate it on the pretext that the Messiah was killed and crucified upon it. We regard it as a grave evil, because it is an emblem of disbelief and is founded upon a lie that has no reality. What is built upon falsehood—and falsehood is vain—is itself false.

Thus, if a person breaks a cross, he is not liable for it, because it is not permissible to leave it in place.