TIRUPATI, South India - The basic article of
faith about God in Islam is "La ilaha illallah". (There
is no God but the one God.)
This is called
wahdaniat in Islam. The Brahma Sutra of Vedanta,
too, is a most emphatic and repeated affirmation of the
oneness of God: "Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste nen na naste
kinchan" or in Hindi: "Bhagwan ek hi hai, dusara nahi
hai, nahi hai, nahi hai zara bhi nahi hai." (There is
only one God, not the second, not at all, not at all,
not in the least bit.")
The most popular among
all Hindu scriptures, the Bhagwad Gita, which is justly
considered the essence of Vedanta, also makes the same
point in Chapter 7, Verse 20, "Those whose intelligence
has been stolen by material desires worship demigods."
That is, "Those who are materialistic, they worship gods
besides the One true God."
The same concept of
wahdaniat is repeated through all Hindu
scriptures: Take, for example, the verse in Chandogya
Upanishad, 6-2-1 - "Ekam evaditiyam", "He is one only
without a second". (The principal Upanishad by S
Radhakrishnan, page 447 and 448, sacred books of the
East Volume 1 the Upanishads, part I, page 93)
This corresponds almost exactly to what we are
told in the Holy Koran: "Say he is Allah, one and only."
(Surah Ikhlas, 112-1)
Svetasvatara Upanishad
6-9, - "Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah". (Of him
there is neither parents nor lord." )
This is
precisely what the Holy Koran too says: "He begets not,
nor is he begotten." (Surah Ikhlas, 112-3)
"Na
tasya kascit patir asti loke, na cesita naiva ca tasya
lingam, na karanam karanadhipadhipo na casya kascij
janita na cadhipah."
"Of him there is no master
in the world, no ruler, nor is there any mark of him. He
is the cause, the lord of the lords of the sense organs;
of him there is neither progenitor nor lord." (The
principal Upanishad by S Radhakrishnan page 745 and in
sacred books of the East Volume 15, the Upanishads, part
II, page 263)
In Svetasvatara Upanishad, 4-19:
"Na tasya pratima asti." "There is no likeness of him."
(The principal Upanishad by S Radhakrishnan page 736
& 737 and in sacred books of the East Volume 15, the
Upanishad, part II, page 253)
Precisely the same
message is given by the Holy Koran in Surah Ikhlas,
112-4: "And there is none like unto him."
Also
in Surah Shura, 42-11: "There is nothing whatever like
unto him."
In Svetasvatara Upanishad, 4-20:
"nasamdrse tishati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas
canainam. Hrda hrdistham manasa ya enam, evam vidur
amrtas te bhavanti."
"His form is not to be
seen; no one sees him with the eye. Those who through
heart and mind know him as abiding in the heart become
immortal." (The principal Upanishad by S Radhakrishnan
page 737 and in sacred books of the East Volume 15, the
Upanishad part II, page 253)
A similar message
is given in the Holy Koan in Surah Anam, 6-103: "No
vision can grasp him. But his grasp is over all vision:
he is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with
all things."
Yajurveda,32-3: "na tasya pratima
asti." ("There is no image of him whose glory verily is
great. He sustains within himself all luminous objects
like the sun etc, may he not harm me, this is my prayer.
As he is unborn, he deserves our worship." (The
Yajurveda by Devi Chand M A page 377)
Rigveda, Book 1, Hymn 164, and Verse 46: "God is
one; sages call Him by many names. They have styled Him
Indra [the resplendent], Mitra [the
surveyor], Varuna [the venerable],
AgniGarutmat [the great], for learned priests
call one by many names as they speak of the adorable as
Yama [ordainer] and Matarisvan [cosmic
breath]."
Rigveda gives no less than 33
different attributes to Almighty God. several of these
attributes are mentioned in Rigveda (2-1-3): Amongst the
various attributes given in Rigveda, one of the most
beautiful attributes for Almighty God is "Brahma".
"Brahma" means "the creator". Translated into Arabic, it
would become "Khaliq", which is of course one of the
names by which Muslims also call Him. Similarly, the
name Vishnu in Rigveda, II-1-3 or Sustainer is again
what Muslims call Rabb.
How can any Muslim not
help feeling affinity to all of the above or the
following formulation?
"Ma cid anyad vi sansata
sakhayo ma rishanyata in dram it stota vrishanam saca
sute muhaur uktha ca sansata." "O friends, do not
worship anybody but Him, the divine one. Let no grief
perturb you. Praise Him alone, the radiant, and the
showerer of benefits. During the course of
self-realization, go on repeatedly uttering Hymns in His
honor." (Rigveda Samhiti, Volume IX, page 1 and 2
by Swami Satyaprakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidhya
Lankar)
Or to the formulation in Rigveda,
5-81-1: "Verily great is the glory of the divine
creator." (Rigveda Samhiti, Volume 6, page 1,802
and 1,803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam
Vidhyalanka)
Muslims say more or less the same
thing in every prayer as they read the essence of the
Holy Koran in Surah Fateha, the very first chapter of
the Koran: "Praise be to Allah, the Cherisher and
Sustainer of the worlds. Most Gracious, most Merciful."
Rigveda 3-34-1 says the same thing by calling
God "The bounteous giver". (Hymns of Rigveda,
Volume 2, page 377, by Ralph T H Griffith)
Yajurveda 40-160 contains this prayer: "By
goodly path lead us to riches, Agni, thou God who
knowest all our works and wisdom. Remove the sin that
makes us astray and wander: most ample adoration will we
bring thee." (The Yajurveda Samhiti by Ralph T H
Griffith, page 541)
Surah Fateha in the Koran
makes the same prayer in his way: "Lead us to the good
path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wonder
... show us the straight way, the way of those on whom
thou has bestowed thy grace, not those whose [portion]
is your wrath."
Rigveda, VI, 45-16 says: "Ya eka
ittamushtuhi." (Praise Him who is the matchless and
alone.)(Hymns of Rigveda by Ralph T H Griffith,
page 648)
How can any Muslim disagree or object
to any one of the above formulations from the Hindu
scriptures?
Nevertheless, despite the powerful
philosophy of advaita (non-duality) or Oneness of
God preached so strongly in the Vedas and Upanishads,
the vast majority of Hindus worship images of a
multiplicity of gods. This naturally raises questions
about Hinduism's real commitment. But it is only natural
for an ancient religion to have allowed idol-worship to
its followers who were at that time not intellectually
mature enough to grasp the Rigveda idea of "One Being,
neither male nor female, above all conditions and
limitations of personality and of human nature".
As the later religion, Islam bans idol worship
as in its view humanity has grown mature enough to do
without them. But even today, many Muslims look for
similar crutches. What are the visits to the shrines of
various Sufis and saints, for instance, or the replicas
of Karbala in the form of tazias, if not akin to
a mild form of idol worship? Of course, Muslims would
vociferously deny any such contention, but the fact
remains that many Muslims still find it difficult to
worship an abstract, formless, invisible God and thus
look for crutches in the form of some sort of images.
The pantheistic tendencies of Muslims in the Indian
sub-continent are best illustrated by well-known mystic
and Mughal prince Dara Shikoh's thoughts, given below:
Here is the secret of unity [tauhid -
oneness of God], O friend, understand it; Nowhere
exists anything but God. All that you see or know
other than Him, Verily is separate in name, but in
essence one with God.
Like an ocean is the
essence of the Supreme Self, Like forms in water are
all souls and objects; The ocean heaving and stirring
within Transforms itself into drops, waves and
bubbles.
So long as it does not realize its
separation from the ocean, The drop remains a
drop; So long he does not know himself to be the
Creator, The created remains a created.
O
you, in quest of God, you seek Him everywhere, You
verily are the god, not apart from Him! Already in
the midst of the boundless ocean, Your quest
resembles the search of a drop for the ocean! – Dara
Shikuh, Risala-i-Haq-numa, pages 24, 26
Dost
thou wish to enter the circle of men of
illumination? Then cease talking and be in the
"state"; By professing the unity of god, thou canst
not become a monotheist As the tongue cannot taste
sugar by only uttering its name. - Dara Shikoh,
Husana: ul-Arifin, page16 (From Dara Shikoh in the
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal, vol 5; p
168)
It is also noteworthy that many Sufi
saints, who are also called rishis in Kashmir,
have had no hesitation in expressing their love of idols
of gods and goddesses. In fact, they consider idol
worship as part of the phenomenon of mystical love.
Sheikh Yaqub, a Sufi of the Kubravi order, for instance,
proudly calls himself a Kafir of Ishq
(Divine Love) and yearns to burn himself in the fire of
love. He challenges the ulema (scholars) who find
fault with the love of idols to tell him if anything
else is more meritorious in the world than the crime of
loving idols. He asserts repeatedly that his faith is
the love of idols.
This was not always easy.
Sheikhul Alam Sheikh Nooruddin of Kashmir, for instance,
faced restrictions during the reign of Suha Bhatt, who
had started persecuting non-Muslims in his newfound
Islamic zeal after conversion to the new faith. Aware of
the tension created between Hindus and Muslims during
the reign of Sultan Sikandar, Sheikh Nooruddin wrote:
"We belong to the same parents. Then why this
difference? Let Hindus and Muslims [together]
Worship God alone. We came to this world like
partners. We should have shared our joys and sorrows
together.
Also known as Nand Rishi, Kashmir's
patron saint Sheikh Nooruddin's message was not confined
to Hindus and Muslims alone. It speaks to all mankind.
That is why his sayings and his verses have acquired the
character of proverbs and are routinely referred to by
Kashmiris of all hues in their daily life. Another
reason for the popularity of his verses and that of many
other rishis may be the fact that they expressed
their thoughts in the simple language used by the common
folk. The message given by Kashmiri rishis or
even Sufis of previous orders, who had arrived from
Central Asia, is always the same - divine unity of God
and the kaaenat, All That Is.
In fact, it
is the Sufis of previous orders who had prepared the
ground for the emergence of rishis with their
powerful message of religious synthesis. One poem is of
special relevance. This is from the verses of Sarfi, a
Sufi of the Kubravi Order. "O, Sarfi! What
benefit are you going to gain from the pilgrimage?
If Kaaba, temple and tavern are not identical with
you. O, Sarfi! As on every side a ray has fallen
from His face to light the night, Impossible it is
for you to say that Somnath has not the Kaaba's light."
Islamic mysticism or Sufism involves the
improvement of man's relationship with man as well as
man's relationship with Allah. Those who believe in the
philosophy of Wahdat-ul-wujud (unity of existence) also
believe that the only real existence is Allah, who is
therefore called Wajib-ul-wujud. All other beings are
shadows, phantoms of our creation, as the Urdu poet Meer
Taqi Meer says: Ye tawahhum ka karkhana hai Yan
wohi hai jo aitebaar kiya (This universe is nothing
but delusion Nothing exists except what we assume.)
Dara Shikoh, too, makes an effort to find a
common ground between Hindu and Muslim religious thought
by showing the obscurantist, exclusivist mullah his real
place: Paradise is there where no mullah exists
Where the noise of his arguments is not heard May
the world become free from the noise of the
mullah! And none should pay any heed to his
decrees! In the city where a mullah resides, No
wise man ever stays. ( The Royal Asiatic Society of
Bengal. Vol 5\1, p 68\56. Hasrat, Dara Shikoh, pp
260-68)
But there can also be no denying that
both the Hindu and Islamic ideology essentially remains
the worship of one, universal and formless God. Sri
Aurobindo, who perhaps of all modern interpreters of the
Gita has caught the spirit of the poem, speaks of the
Gita's concept of God:
" ... it is no shrinking
and gingerly theism afraid of the world's
contradictions, but one which sees God as the omniscient
and omnipotent, the sole original Being, who manifests
in himself all, whatever it may be, good and evil, pain
and pleasure, light and darkness as stuff of his own
existence, and governs himself what in himself he has
manifested. Unaffected by its oppositions, unbound by
his creation, exceeding, yet intimately related to this
nature and closely one with her creatures, their spirit,
self, highest soul, lord, lover, friend, refuge, he is
ever leading them from within them and from above
through the mortal appearances of ignorance and
suffering and sin and evil, ever leading each through
his nature and all through universal nature towards a
supreme light and bliss and immortality and
transcendence. This is the fullness of the liberating
knowledge.
"It is a knowledge of the Divine
within us and in the world as at the same time as
transcendent Infinite. An absolute who has become all
that is by his divine nature, his effective power of
spirit, he governs all from his transcendence. He is
intimately present within every creature and the cause,
ruler, director of all cosmic happenings and yet is he
far too great, mighty and infinite to be limited by his
creation." (Sri Aurobindo Ghose, Essays on the
Gita. (second series), pp 133f)
Next
Friday: Part 6 - Prophets and avatars
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