Q: I really need to know something so badly! In my art project at school last year in year 13, it was about festivals so I looked into Diwali and wrote about what they believe in and I also did an observational drawing of one of their deity who sits on a lotus flower. I didn’t have any intention of worship at all and I did rip it out of my book but I did leave an image of one of the deity in my sketchbook and recently saw it and ripped it out. At the time I didn’t know what shirk was really and I didn’t think what I done was bad because to me it was all part of my coursework for school and the beliefs I wrote about never was something I believed. I did write about the stories and the hindu gods and wrote down what the Hindus referred to them as but I know they’re not lord or god but I had to write down that because that is what Hindus believe and so that’s what I was meant to write but it all looks so bad that I think about it. Did I do shirk?
A: What you had done was wrong and forbidden. This has got the potential of taking you out of the fold of Islam. As a precaution you should renew your imaan and make taubah sincerely to Allah Ta`ala.
And Allah Ta'ala (الله تعالى) knows best.
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