**Idolatrous Love Between Men and Women **
In the relationship between a man and a woman, the establishment of a mutual bond, outside of that approved by God, is one of the most critical factors leading to “idolatry.” It may take the form of marriage, or “living together,” which has gained an increasingly widespread acceptance.
In this romantic understanding of love, the “lovers” show to each other all the duties that should be directed toward God, and they show to each other those feelings that should be reserved for God, as if they had an existence apart from Him. These individuals, instead of keeping God in mind, think only of each other. When they first open their eyes in the morning, instead of thanking their Creator for the new day, they think of each other, seeking to please only each other, not to please God. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for each other, but not for God.
In short, each turns the other into god. Likewise, when we consider various examples of this warped understanding of love, as has become so widespread in the world, we will find that romantic men and women will openly declare to each other, “I worship you,” “Wherever I go, I think about you,” and other such expressions. However, wherever one looks, and wherever one goes, the only Being who deserves to be adored is God, the Lord of the Universe.
As we have been examining, romantic love appears to be an innocent kind of love, though it is a type of “idolatry,” reprehensible in the sight of God. However, Satan blinds people to the truth, and so, in this case, he has again warped the truth to make it seem pleasant, and to make people follow the way he shows them:
By God, We sent Messengers to communities before your time, but Satan made their actions seem good to them. Therefore today he is their protector. They will have a painful punishment. (Qur’an, 16:63)
… Satan made their actions seem good to them and so debarred them from the Way, even though they had been granted insight. (Qur’an, 29:38)
The Qu’ran calls special attention to the errant passion felt for a woman in this kind of romantic love. The recipient of this love can be any woman: a wife, girlfriend, even a distant “platonic” love. If this kind of love prevents a person from remembering God as he ought, or makes him prefer his beloved in his heart rather than God, it leads that person into idolatry. Of course, this is a threat posed not only for men, but also for women.
People who live absorbed in this romantic man-woman relationship, are often unaware of the dangers into which they have put themselves. Because of the fact that they have followed their cues since childhood from a misguided society, without knowing that the Qu’ran is their only guide to the right path, they are completely unaware that the way they have been living is a wrong in the sight of God. Because they live their lives without cognisance of God, they become trapped in a mire of ignorance, though, as we said before, they believe they are on the right way. However, because they have no faith in God, their wisdom and understanding have become blind.
Being caught in this mindless love, men and women, who have made idols of each other, are sometimes led into acts of self-destruction. For example, two young people in love with each other may be deluded to the point of taking pleasure in the idea of committing suicide. When the circumstances do not permit two young people to be together, they may jump off a bridge, hand in hand, in order to “immortalise” their love, or so that “their souls may be together for eternity,” or for some such other irrational motive. However, in committing such an act, they are not aware that they are actually throwing themselves directly into the jaws of hell. In committing such a forbidden act, without seeing the error in it, they believe that they will be reunited not with God but with each other after their death. This they will realise when they see the Angel of Death, at their final moment, but it will be too late. We can read in the newspapers of the deeply-saddened letters left behind by people who have committed suicide because of unrequited love. These are clear examples of how romanticism can completely shut up a person’s mind and conscience.
However, when the blindfold is removed, and a person sees that the promise of eternal torment is real, he will finally try to save himself by offering as ransom that partner to whom he had blindly devoted himself, and turned into a god under the influence of romanticism. What these people will ultimately do is described in a verse of the Qur’an as follows:
Even though they can see each other. An evildoer will wish he could ransom himself from the punishment of that Day, by means of his sons, or his wife or his brother or his family who sheltered him or everyone else on earth, if that only meant that he could save himself. (Qur’an, 70:11-14)
The same situation is described in another verse:
The Day a man will flee from his brother and his mother and his father, and his wife and his children: on that Day every man among them will have concerns enough of his own. (Qur’an, 80:34-37)
The kind of romantic love that leads to idolatry has become acceptable in society as completely “innocent,” as “mere romance” and as “true feelings;” it is even praised and encouraged. Usually, it is at a young age that people fall under the influence of romanticism, which prevents the development of their minds and conscience, keeping them ignorant of religion, faith and the purpose of creation. They have forgotten God, and know nothing about loving or fearing Him. Idolatry then becomes the common practise of this misguided generation.
Television and films often impose romantic and emotional subjects on viewers. They contend that sentimentality is merely a natural tendency in human beings. Romance is one of the most consistent and marketable themes in music, poetry and literature. Satan knows very well that sentimentality is a sickness that prevents people from thinking properly, of recognising reality, of being mindful of God, and of contemplating the purpose of creation and the afterlife, and that it lures people away from practising their religion, and leads them ultimately into idolatry. Therefore, he seeks to mislead society at every turn by means of an intense and constant bombardment of sentimental themes.
Consequently, those who think that idolatry simply refers to the worship of false-gods, or statues made of stone or wood, should be careful not to regard themselves as immune from this matter, or to be among those who will say on the last day, “By God, our Lord, We were not idolators.” (Qur’an, 6:23)
**Source: ]http://www.harunyahya.com/romanticism8.php **](http://www.harunyahya.com/romanticism8.php