पूर्वतने भागे वयं क्रिस्तीयरिलिजन् इत्यस्य विषये विस्तारितरूपेणालोचनामकुर्म । अस्मिन् भागे वयमिस्लामीयमतमनुसन्दधामः । देशस्था: विदेशस्था: च जनाः हिन्दुधर्मं जीवनपद्धतिं (“way of life”) वा अनेकदेववादं (“polytheism”) वा सममाचक्षन्ते । मुसलमानजनाः मूर्तिपूजकामस्मान् (“Idolater”) भणित्वा गर्हन्ते । परन्तु महम्मदीयविचारधारा का इति मीमांसामहे अत्र वयम् । वयमालोचनाया: पूर्वं पाठकमहानुभावेभ्यः कानिचन प्रश्नानि निवेदयामः ।
- किमर्थं मुसलमानसमाजे महिलानां निम्नं स्थानम् ? किमर्थं ताः पुरुषैः दण्ड्यन्ते वा दम्यन्ते वा पीड्यन्ते वा तुद्यन्ते वा त्रास्यन्ते वा ?
- यस्मिन्स्थाने महम्मदीयजनाः सङ्ख्यया गरिष्ठाः तस्मिन्स्थाने अल्पसङ्ख्यका: किमर्थमत्याचारिताः ?
- कस्मात् कारणात् प्रथागतरूपेण मुसलमानजनाः हिन्दुमतविरोधिनः? किमर्थं ते मूर्तिपुजायाः विरोधं चिकीर्षन्ति ?
- सहस्रवर्षपरिमिते शासने ते किमर्थं बहूनि मन्दिराणि ग्रन्थालायाँश्च अनाशयन्?
- “Zakat” (ज़कत्) इति किम्? मूघलशासकाः इस्लामीयकरं हिन्दुजनेभ्य: किमर्थं बलात् ग्रथ्नन्ति स्म?
इस्लामीयमजहब् इत्यस्य मूलतत्त्वानि
एतानि सर्वाणि प्रश्नोत्तराणि तेषां पवित्रे कुर्-आन् (“Koran / Quran”)नामके ग्रन्थे उपलभ्यन्ते । इस्लामीयमतस्य मुख्या: विचारधारा: अधः प्रस्तूयन्ते :
- इस्लामीयमतं तौहीद् (“Tawhid”) इति परिकल्पनायामाधारितम् । अल्ला इति मुक्तश्चाद्वितीयश्चानुपमश्च परन्तु सृष्ट्याः भिन्नः ।सः विश्वं रचयाञ्चकार ।
- कुप्यति सोऽल्पेनैवं समकामिनमतीव द्रुह्यति । सः स्वयं नारीणाम् दण्डयाञ्चकारैवं दमितुमाज्ञापयति ।
- सोऽविश्वासकर्तृषु, प्राक्तनमुसलमानजनेषु, अन्यमतावलम्बिषु च घृणां करोति । सः मूर्तिपूजाया: विरोधी ।
- अल्ला इति कफिर् इत्येभ्यः जनेभ्यः पीडादायकमृत्युं वा हिंसात्मकदण्डं वा मतपरिवर्तनं वा घोषयाञ्चकार ।
- काफिर् इतीमे जनाः जकत् इतीदम् महम्मदीयकरम् ददीरन् ।
- मुहम्मद् इति अल्ला इत्यस्य सर्वशेषदूतः । सः अल्ला इत्यस्य च मनुष्यस्य च मध्यवर्ती । यः दूतं चित्रयति सोऽवश्यमेव हन्यते ।
- अल्ला इतीममर्चेयुर्मनुष्याः । ते शान्तोपायेन वा हिंसात्मक-जिहाद् इत्यनेन माध्यमेन वा महम्मदीयमते परिवर्तेयुः ।
संक्षेपे एतानि इस्लामीयदीन् इत्यस्य मूलतत्त्वानि । इस्लामीयमतं पश्चिमएशियामहादेशमरुभूमेः अल्पसंख्यकजनानाम् मध्ये आरभत । परन्तु इदानीं सर्वाधिकाः मुसलमानजनाः भारतमहादेशे निवसन्ति । १५००-वर्षपूर्वम् एतेषां जनानां पूर्वपुरुषाः हिन्दुजैनबौद्धमताविलम्बिनः आसन् । भारतमहादेशस्य बहुसंख्यजनेषु प्रचण्डहिंस्रेण भयङ्करेन बलपूर्वकमतपरिवर्तनेन इस्लामीयदीन् इत्यस्य सर्वाधिकवृद्धिः भारतमहादेशे अप्राप्नोत् । परिवर्तितमुसलमानजनाः च इस्लामीयशासकः च स्वान् भिन्नान् प्रमाणयितुं पार्श्वर्तिनः सनातनसमाजस्य विपरितम् आचरन्ति स्म । उदाहरणम् – वयं धेनून् नमामः तथा च मन्महे मातृतुल्याम् परन्तु ते गोखादकाः ।
प्रत्यक्षरूपेण एतत् सुस्पष्टम् यत् नारीणामत्याचारः च सङ्ख्यया लघूनामवहेलनम् च इस्लामस्याङ्गम् । एतदपि सुस्पष्टम् यत् प्रथागतरुपेण महम्मदीयदीन् इति सनातनधर्मविरोधी । एवमेव इस्लामसमाजस्यान्तरात् शोधनम् भवेत् नैव बहिष्टात् ।
आगामिभागे वयं ख्रिस्तीयरिलिजन् इत्यस्य च इस्लामीयदीन् इत्यस्य च सन्दर्भे सनातनधर्मस्य विषयमालोचनां करिष्यामः ।
Hindu Dharma 3 – Analysis of Islam
In the previous part we had discussed the main features of Christianity. In this part we will investigate Islam. World-wide people know Hinduism as a polytheistic faith or as a “way of life”. Muslims refer to Hindus as idol-worshippers and often make fun of us.
But what is their belief-system? Before starting the discussion, we present a few questions to our esteemed readers.
1. Why are women treated as inferior to men? Why are they more often than not victimized?
2. In states or countries where Muslims are majority, why are minority groups (like Jains, Buddhists and Hindus) treated as lower class citizens?
3. Why are Muslims ideologically against Hinduism and idol worship?
4. Over 1000 years of their rule, why did Muslim warlords destroy over thirty thousand temples and a large number of libraries?
5. What is Zakat? Why did Muslim rulers extract this Islamic tax from Hindu subjects?
The answers to all these questions are available in the Koran, the holy text of the Muslims. In that respect, main features of Islamic faith are presented below:
1. Allah is the Creator of the universe. Islam is based on the doctrine of Tauhid of One God who is unique and is separate from his creation.
2. Allah is prone to anger, dislikes homosexuals and considers women inferior to men.
3. Allah detests atheists, ex-Muslims, non-Muslims and is strictly against idol-worship.
4. Violent death, painful life or conversion to Islam are the options offered to a Kafir/ Non-Believer.
5. If they are allowed to live they have to pay zakat in any case.
6. Muhammad (PBUH) is the last Prophet of Allah. He is the intermediary between man and God. He should never be depicted in any art form.
7. Man’s purpose is to abide by Allah and to bring others to the fold of Islam, either peacefully or through violence (“Jihad”).
In brief these are the core beliefs of Islam.
Islam started out as a small cult among nomadic tribes in the Middle-East. However, the largest numbers of Muslims today reside in the Indian sub-continent. 1500 years ago, the ancestors of all these people were either Hindus, Jains or Buddhists. However on account of violent attacks and forced conversions, Muslim population in Indian subcontinent rose drastically.
The converted Muslims as well as middle-eastern Muslim warlords, to show their difference from the existing Hindu society, started behaving in a diametrically opposite ways. For example we respect cows and consider a cow to be the same as our Mother – however Muslims are beef-eaters.
It cannot be denied that discrimination against women and minorities are scriptural injunctions. Moreover there is ample evidence to show that ideologically Islam as a belief system has been opposed to “polytheist” Hindus. However, any change or reform in Islam must come from the folds of Islam itself, and not from external agencies.
In the next part we will analyze Hinduism in the context of Christianity and Islam.
References-
1. इस्लामी जम्हूरि-ये पाकिस्तान, इस्लामी-गणप्रजातन्त्री बांग्लदेश, इंडोनेशिया गणराज्य इत्यादि
2.(Hindu American Foundation, 2017)
3. हिन्दुजनाः, बौद्धजनाः जैनजनाः इत्यादि
4. For example, Aurangzeb issued a general order to destroy all temples on 9 April, 1669: “The Lord Cherisher of the Faith learnt that in the provinces of Thatta, Multan and especially at Benaras, the Brahmin misbelievers used to teach their false books in their established schools, and their admirers and students, both Hindu and Muslim, used to come from great distances to these misguided men in order to acquire their vile learning. His Majesty, eager to establish Islam, issued orders to the governors of all the provinces to demolish the schools and temples of the infidels, and, with the utmost urgency, put down the teaching and the public practice of the religion of these unbelievers… (IndiaFacts Staff, 2013)
5. Tawhıd means that God is one, unique, and not divisible into hypostatic entities or incarnated manifestations. He gives birth to no “son” or demiurge, nor is he begotten from another, for he is independent of his creation: “Your Lord is utterly independent, All-Engendering. If he wills, he can expel you and replace you with others, just as he multiplied you from the seed of others” (5:133). (Cornell, 2004, pp. 3561-3562)
6. Sura 7.54 Your Guardian-Lord is Allah, Who created the heavens and the earth in six days
7.Quran (7:80-84) – “…For ye practice your lusts on men in preference to women: ye are indeed a people transgressing beyond bounds…. And we rained down on them a shower (of brimstone)”
8. Quran (2:282) – (Court testimony) “And call to witness, from among your men, two witnesses. And if two men be not found then a man and two women.”
Quran (5:6) – “And if ye are unclean, purify yourselves. And if ye are sick or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have had contact with women, and ye find not water, then go to clean, high ground and rub your faces and your hands with some of it”
9.Quran (4:34) – Men have authority over women because God has made the one superior to the other, and because they spend their wealth to maintain them. Good women are obedient. They guard their unseen parts because god has guarded them. As for those from whom you fear disobedience, admonish them, forsake them in beds apart, and beat them. Then if they obey you, take no further action against them. Surely God is high, supreme.”
10. Quran (22:19-21) – But as for those who disbelieve, garments of fire will be cut out for them;boiling fluid will be poured down on their heads; Whereby that which is in their bellies, and their skins too, will be melted; And for them are hooked rods of iron.
11.Quran (8:55) – Surely the vilest of animals in Allah’s sight are those who disbelieve
12. Quran (3:151) – “Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority”.
13. Quran (2:193) – Fight against them until idolatry is no more and God’s religion reigns supreme.
14. Quran (4:56) – Those who disbelieve Our revelations, We shall expose them to the Fire. As often as their skins are consumed We shall exchange them for fresh skins that they may taste the torment Lo! Allah is ever Mighty, Wise.
15. Quran (3:56) – “As to those who reject faith, I will punish them with terrible agony in this world and in the Hereafter, nor will they have anyone to help.”
16. Quran (9:5) – Slay the idolaters wherever ye find them, and take them captive, and besiege them, and prepare for them each ambush. But if they repent and establish worship and pay the poor-due (Zakat), then leave their way free. Lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.”
17. Quran (9:29) – Fight those who believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued”
18. Quran (2:216) – “Fighting is prescribed for you, and ye dislike it. But it is possible that ye dislike a thing which is good for you, and that ye love a thing which is bad for you. But Allah knoweth, and ye know not.”
19.Quran (8:12) – “I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”
20. Quran (8:39) – “And fight with them until there is no more fitna (disorder, unbelief) and religion is all for Allah”
21. Quran (4:95) – “Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home), except those who are disabled (by injury or are blind or lame, etc.), and those who strive hard and fight in the Cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has preferred in grades those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and their lives above those who sit (at home).Unto each, Allah has promised good (Paradise), but Allah has preferred those who strive hard and fight, above those who sit (at home) by a huge reward ”
Bibliography
Cornell, V. J. (2004). Encyclopedia of Religion, Vol 5. Thomson/ Gale.
Hindu American Foundation. (2017, February 26). Discrimination and Persecution: The Plight of Hindus in Pakistan. Retrieved from Hafsite: https://www.hafsite.org/media/pr/discrimination-and-persecution-plight-hindus-pakistan
IndiaFacts Staff. (2013, December 20). Hindu temple destructions a myth: Richard Eaton. Retrieved from indiaFacts: https://indiafacts.org/hindu-temple-destructions-a-myth-richard-eaton/
Surya, T. (2013, November 13). Ashish Khetan equates Islamic Jihad with Hindutva. Retrieved from IndiaFacts: https://indiafacts.org/ashish-khetan-equates-islamic-jihad-with-hindutva/
Quran Translation from Noble Quran – http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/noble/index.html
Subhodeep Mukhopadhyay is from a data science background and his research interest includes history, religion and philosophy. He is the author of “The Complete Hindu’s Guide to Islam” and “Ashoka the Ungreat”.