Is it obligatory to break idols and images in churches, based on the statement of Abraham, peace be upon him, in Surat Al-Anbiya (The Prophets): "And by Allah, I will surely plot against your idols after you have turned your backs and gone away." So he made them into fragments, except for their chief, that they might return to him," or is there another lesson, and how are rulings deduced from Quranic stories?

The purpose of mentioning the stories of the prophets in the Quran is to draw lessons from them, to illustrate their patience, diligence, tribulations, and the outcome of their affairs. The lesson lies in disavowing polytheism, hating it, and removing it when capable. Allah also made Ibrahim (peace be upon him) an exemplary figure for us in his clear declaration of monotheism and his disavowal of polytheism and its adherents. However, breaking idols is conditioned by ability and the absence of a greater harm resulting from it. Denouncing evil has four degrees: that it is removed and replaced by its opposite, or it diminishes, or it is replaced by something similar, or it is replaced by something worse. The first two are permissible, the third is a matter of ijtihad (independent reasoning), and the fourth is forbidden. Entering churches to break their statues and efface their images would lead to a greater evil. As for deriving rulings from the stories of the prophets: what is established in our Law that it was a law for those before us, and then it was clarified to us that it is also a law for us, then it is a law for us by consensus. What is not established in our Law at all, or it is established that it was a law for those before us but it was clarified to us that it is not prescribed for us, then it is not a law for us. And what is established in our Law that it was a law for those before us but its ruling was not clarified to us in our Law, then it is a matter of dispute, and the sounder view is that it is a law for us.