77. The ark (chest, box) and its sacredness.

 This verse (2:248) talks about a chest sent down by God that contained the remnants used by prophets.

People misunderstand this verse and believe that preserving things used by so called saints would bring them peace of mind.

These people declare some as saints without any substance and deceive the gullible to believe that the things used such as footwear, the places where these so-called saints sat down as holy.

Please refer to explanation point No; 215 whether we can declare someone as a saint, godmen etc.

When keenly observed we find the family members of prophet Musa and prophet Haroon did not preserve the things used by them but were later brought down by the celestials. This proves one to conclude preservation of things used by prophets as unnecessary.

When Taloot was appointed the king, the people of his time questioned his qualification, and as a testimony to establish the installation of Taloot, the sacred chest was sent down.

God did not send down the sacred chest in order to preserve its sacredness, nor did he order to preserve it.

Only God has the power to make something sacred, just because He made Safa and Marwa sacred, we cannot arbitrarily declare Uhad mountain also sacred.

Hence when declaring something or someone as sacred, there is a need to substantiate it with Quranic verses or from the guidance (Sunnah) of Prophet Muhammad.