Is there not a difference between having a picture of someone and praying to that picture? Asking for them for the same guidance that only God can provide.

There is a difference between seeing a picture and acknoledging feeling and another giving that person mystical, forgiveness, powers.  No human can be God. Humans are so "small" compares to God. How many people you know have created a universe? 

It is human egoism that puts any human on the same plane as the Divine. 

For ur information having pictures and statues of any living things are haram in Islam and there are many clear proofs of that. I show u one of them and if you want other proofs i can posts them also

Now concerning the "humans equal to God" that Hayfa mentioned. I
believe you speak of the Saints which are purely followed by the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox faiths.

Actually I was referring to putting Jesus (PBUH) on the same plane as God.

As far as Saints.. they may be more "pure" and be role models as such as St. Francis of Assisi. But I am not sure they as followers of God, would want you to pray to them. Most, I assume, were quite humble and would probably say you should pray directly to Your God, your Creator, The Divine.

And as Rami mentioned the intention was not idolatry, but it has turned into it. 

The Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) did not want people to ever pray to him. He is not God. He is but a humble servant. And that is prboably true of any follower of God. Be it a Prophet or Saint or guru. It puts another person between you and God. And really, if God is with you all the time, within you, there is no need to bring another person into it.

Peace

E.S. you posed a really good question here and I'd like to answer you.

The general consensus especially to adherents of the Abrahamic faiths is that all forms of idolatry is wrong. With that I'm sure Christians Jews and Muslims can agree. Now, what we run into is the complex issue of what is considered idolatry? Of course the general opinion, again, would be to revere an animate object which is of material substance and to revere it aside from revering God (or revering it more than God).

However what is considered reverence is of issue. I know exactly what Christians are saying when they say "we are not revering the image but seeking intercessors on our behalf." To Christians, "Saints" are closer to God than the humans on earth so from my understanding when I was Christian to ask a Saint (again this is done mostly by Catholics) is to ask for blessings on behalf of oneself. To the Muslim viewing this, this is nothing more than idolatry (if the Muslim looks at this for face value).

However, to the Christian it is not. It is simply seeking out God through his "beloved." As a child I never agreed with praying to replicas of Saints and/prophets. Even when I thought that I was doing the right thing I never felt like it was the right thing. Of course this is because around this time I fell out with Christianity. I really don't knock Christians that do this. Frankly, I'm not God and neither are Muslims or Jews. I believe that since God has designed our minds he can very much read them and know what is in them and know our intentions.

In some respect I think its noble. Some Christians say that they are unworthy to approach God in prayer because of their sins therefore they pray to Saints to intercede on their behalf which is one of the reasons why they pray to statues. Some believe that these replicas of Saints have some spiritual value to them. I think its a matter of personal perspective. Whether we believe that the statues have value or not is for the person to decide. I hate when we put value judgements on people especially those we disagree with.

Muslims exactly do the same thing but different. We kiss the stone because in the Hadith, the prophet kissed the stone. For an outsider, this type of action is reverence to an animate object. E.S. what this boils down is to religious opinion on the matter and I think no Muslim or Jew or Christian has any right put value judgements on the other simply because we may disagree with it. God ultimately will decide our right and wrong action.

As for your inquiry above the general Muslim opinion is Muslims do not revere the Kaa'ba although we may call it Beit'ullah or House of God we do not believe God resides inside. The circumbulation of the Kaa'ba is basically performing a ritual which others that have come before have done from the prophet Muhammad to Adam himself. I don't believe Muslims kneel before it but yes Muslims that go on the pilgrammage to Mecca do kiss the stone but not because of worship but because the prophet kissed it and it is made Sunnah. In a previous thread I made the mention that I will choose to not kiss it.

Like I said before your interpretation of this practice is that it looks like idolatry when Muslims consider it religion. Its a matter of opinion if you believe its idolatry then you believe its idolatry.

E.S. wrote: I've noticed Muslims and many Christians from other congregations label Catholics as idol worshippers. A question to some. I'm sure many of you carry pictures of your children, parents, siblings, etc.. in your wallets and at times you find yourself kissing the picture out of longing or love. Are you actually kissing the material? The paper? The ink? No your kissing the representation of the person. In the early years of the Church there were many instances where cult worship of an image such as a statue for example were taking place. That was supressed by the leaders of the Church, showing that these new Christians (whom recently converted from a paganistic idol worshipping religion) still carried on there old practice only transfering it over to Christianity. This line was specifically drawn by the leaders and was stopped. Therefore you cannot label any Christian as an idol worshipper.

The commandment reads:

 4"(E)You shall not make for yourself [b]an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.

 5"(F)You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a (G)jealous God, (H)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

 6but showing lovingkindness to (I)thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

E.S. God knows the minds and intentions of every creature from the great to the minute. I too feel unworthy before God that is why I hardly quote scripture. In the past when I was first here I used to but I don't because number one I'm no scholar in the Qur'an and number two I may misinterpret a verse. That is why it baffles me to see some Christians quote the Bible and in between stating their opinions use Hebrew words in conjunction to their opinions like when they talk about the Sh'ma (or sometimes pronounced Shema) they, somehow, make elohim to refer to Jesus someway and Echad (which literally means one in Hebrew similar to the Arabic word ahad) to mean a trinity.

See with this all this boil down to is interpretation