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ISLAM AND
HINDUISM
Part 2: Non-Muslims and co-existence
By Sultan Shahin
Part 1: Spiritual symbiosis
TIRUPATI, South India - Like any
other living faith, controversies abound in Islam. One
of the most controversial issues is the relationship of
a Muslim with people belonging to other religions. Since
in India Muslims have always lived next to a very large
non-Muslim community, this issue has created even deeper
controversies. While there are Muslims who would insist
on treating Hindus as kafir
(infidel), there are others who would insist that they
should actually be treated as Ahl-e-Kitab, people
bearing revealed books, a people who have a special
place in Islamic theology and practice. It is one of the
most serious and often-expressed grievances of Hindus
that Muslims consider them kafir
and that it therefore becomes their religious duty to
either convert them or kill them.
Disregarding
the advice of some ulema (scholars) of his time,
the first Arab to conquer parts of India, Sind and
Multan made a good beginning, giving Hindus the same
status as Ahl-e-Kitab, people with whom Muslims are
supposed to have good social relations, including
marital ones. But the question of the place of Hindus in
Islamic theology has persisted since then. There are
Muslims who have no reservations whatsoever in
considering Hindus as Ahl-e-Kitab. In fact, anyone with
any sense and understanding of spiritualism would see at
a mere glance that Hindu scriptures are divine in
origin. The question whether Sri Krishna, for instance,
is an avatar (incarnation of a Hindu deity) of God or a
messenger of God is merely an issue of semantics,
though, of course, there are complex ideological debates
over the issue. The important thing is that the message
is certainly divine.
Hindu scriptures are indeed
our Adigranth (original scriptures). It is only
reasonable to think that they must have undergone any
number of changes, accretions, deductions, fabrications,
etc during the millennia that they have guided the
spiritual growth of Indians, particularly as in
pre-historic times the literature was transmitted to
succeeding generations orally, and even when later
written in a variety of ways they couldn't be preserved
very well.
A Muslim, therefore, cannot view
every word of these holy books with the same amount of
authenticity he attaches to the Koran. The Koran is
unique among all the scriptures in the sense that it is
the only holy book that has survived exactly as it came.
Muslims do not attach the same amount of authenticity
even to the Hadees (also written as Hadith, meaning
sayings of the Prophet), however, as most of these were
compiled a couple of generations after the demise of the
Prophet. Indeed, there is no doubt that the nefarious
elements who captured Islam after killing the Prophet's
grandsons and other family members, and turned it into
an empire under the guise of Khilafat, interpolated into
the Hadees ideas that suited their un-Islamic feudal,
monarchical, exploitative and expansionist designs.
The Hindus, therefore, must be treated by the
Muslims as Ahl-e-Kitab. This thought has been best
expressed by Maulana Mohammed Ali in his monumental
work, The Religion of Islam. While discussing the
issue of marital relations between Muslims and
non-Muslims, he says: "As the Holy Koran states that
revelation was granted to all nations of the world [35:
24], and that it was only with the Arab idolaters that
marriage relations were prohibited, it is lawful for a
Muslim to marry a woman belonging to any other nation of
the world that follows a revealed religion.
"The
Christians, the Jews, the Parsis, the Buddhists and the
Hindus all fall within this category; and it would be
seen that, though the Christian doctrine of calling
Jesus Christ a god or son of God is denounced as
shirk [partnership with God], still the
Christians are treated as followers of a revealed
religion and not as Mushrekeen (religious deviants), and
matrimonial relations with them are allowed. The case of
all those people who were originally given a revealed
religion, though at present they may be guilty of
shirk, would be treated in like manner, and Parsi
and Hindu women may be taken in marriage, as also may
those who follow the religion of Confucius or of Buddha
or of Tao."
Important guidance on this issue
comes from verses in the Holy Koran): "Mankind was one
single nation, and God sent Messengers with glad tidings
and warnings; and with them He sent the Book in truth,
to judge between people in matters wherein they
differed; but the People of the Book, after the clear
Signs came to them, did not differ among themselves,
except through selfish conduct and hatred of one
another." (Sura al-Baqara - 2.21)
The doctrine
of kafir and rejection of
co-existence with the so-called
kafir being spread by some
obscurantist elements is thus patently un-Islamic.
Ignorant Muslims are being indoctrinated into the theory
that it is a Muslim's religious duty to fight and kill a
kafir wherever he finds one. This
leads to a general misunderstanding that in Islam a
kafir is "unworthy of Allah's mercy
and compassion". In point of fact, even if someone can
be described as kafir in Islamic
terminology, he or she would be as worthy of God's
compassion as any one else. Islam has not authorized
anyone to judge who is a kafir or a
munafiq (hypocrite), deserving God's wrath or
punishment. In fact, a wrong accusation of
kafir reverts to the accuser
himself, thus making him kafir.
The only people whom the Koran does describe as
kafir, ie, the pre-Islamic Meccans,
were beneficiaries of the highest act of God's
compassion and mercy. He sent to them His last messenger
who perfected the message that He had been sending to
people living in all parts of the world at various times
through a galaxy of 124,000 prophets since the advent of
the first Prophet, Hazrat Adam.
The reason
pre-Islamic Meccans were described as
kafir seems to be that they were
the only people on earth who had not been sent a Prophet
before. But now that all peoples of the world have
received prophets, and all the prophets brought
revelations (according to the Koran), all the people
following those prophets - no matter how imperfectly -
are to be treated by Muslims as Ahl-e-Kitab. Some
polytheistic practices of Hindus cannot be used as an
excuse for calling them kafir as
similar practices of Christians do not make them
kafir. This, in a nutshell, is the
correct Islamic position.
The only people who
can be called kafir today with a
clear Islamic conscience are the ones who have the
temerity to call others kafir. For,
according to the Prophet, a wrong accusation of
kafir makes the accuser himself a
kafir. In fact, this places nearly
all ulema belonging to different Islamic sects
who routinely keep calling each other
kafir on the list of
kafirs themselves. Also, these are
the people who are concealing the truth about Islam,
that is, committing Kufr (denial of truth). If
Islam is at all in danger today, the danger comes from
these very people. This, too, makes them
kafir in one of the original senses
of the word.
The meaning of
Kufr
Kufr is defined by most
commentators of the Holy Koran as "denial of the truth".
Basically, the word means to cover, to conceal. In
Arabic language the word Kufr is used in a
variety of ways. One meaning, for instance, is
concealment or withholding of the means of subsistence,
which God has created for the good of all mankind and
which He wants to be freely available to all. According
to this definition, hoarders of goods for the sake of
business or hoarders of wealth would be considered
kafir.
In Egypt, the word
kafir is used to describe the
farmers as they conceal seeds in the ground and cover it
up. In Urdu poetry the word kafir
is used to describe the beloved, usually a beloved who
spurns the poet's advances. The beloved can be
haqiqi or mjazi, meaning spiritual or
earthly, the object of love being either God or an
earthling. Urdu's greatest mystic poet Mirza Ghalib
says:
"Mohabbat mein nahin hai farq jeene aur marne
ka;
Usi ko dekh kar Jeete hain jis
kafir pe dam nikle.
Khuda ke
waste parda na Kaabe se utha Zaalim;
Kahin aisa na
ho yan bhi wohi kafir sanam nikle.
(In love, there is no difference between life
and death,
We live gazing at the same
kafir [beloved] on whom we die.
For God's sake, do not lift the veil from the face
of Kaaba,
Who knows, maybe the idol of the same
kafir is installed there.)
The Prophet, too, used the word
kafir in a variety of ways.
Ingratitude, for instance, was equated with Kufr.
Similarly, excessive eating was considered by the
Prophet one of the attributes of a
kafir. This would place nearly all
fundamentalist ulema, maulvis (clergy) and
maulanas (scholars) on the list of the
kafiroon. According to the Prophet,
a Muslim killing another Muslim is a
kafir. All the mujahideen in
Afghanistan or Kashmir are thus also placed on the list
of kafiroon.
Most Muslims
would dare not accuse others of Kufr. But some
theologians take a different view and do not mind
calling even something as routine as neglect of prayer
as Kufr. Someone who confirms the obligations of
prayer yet neglects it out of laziness or pretence of
being too busy (without a valid legal excuse) would in
their view attract the provisions of Kufr.
Many ulema arrogate to themselves the
right to judge others in a purely subjective fashion.
And this is despite the clearly and repeatedly expressed
view of the Prophet that Muslims should not call any one
either a kafir or a munafiq.
In fact, the Prophet's motto was: "Whoever calls
believers in One God kafir is
himself nearer to Kufr." Indeed, he continued to
treat well-known munafeqeen in Madina as Muslims.
Calling Ahmadiyas in Pakistan kafir
thus makes many Pakistanis susceptible to the charge of
being kafir themselves.
Similarly, those Muslims who call Hindus,
Christians, Jews, Buddhists or Parsis, etc
kafir may themselves be committing
Kufr. In Islam, to believe in some prophets and
reject others is condemned as Kufr: "Those who
say, we believe in some [prophets] and disbelieve in
others ... these are truly non-believers
[kafiroon] ... Those who believe in Allah
and his messengers and make no distinction between any
of the messengers will be duly rewarded ... "
(4;150-152)
Maulana Mohammed Ali thus rightly
concludes: "A belief in all the prophets of the world is
thus an essential principle of the religion of Islam,
and though the faith of Islam is summed in two brief
sentences, 'there is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is
His apostle', yet the man who confesses belief in the
prophethood of Mohammed, in so doing accepts all the
prophets of the world, whether their names are mentioned
in the Holy Koran or not. Islam claims universality and
lays the foundation of a brotherhood as vast as humanity
itself."
Co-existence with other religions
In common parlance, the word kafir
is supposed to mean a non-believer in God. For many
ignorant Muslims in the sub-continent, it is virtually
synonymous with the word Hindu, even though several
eminent theologians insist that Hindus be given the
status of Ahl-e-Kitab (people who follow Divine Books
brought by messengers of God before the Prophet
Mohammed), with whom Muslims are asked to have the best
of social - including marital - relationships.
This debate could have remained innocuous, and
like most theological disputes interminable. Islam is
well known to believe in coexistence with non-believers.
Its quintessence being the Koranic verse that
specifically addresses the kafiroon
(plural of kafir) and asks Muslims to say:
Lakum Deenakum Waleya Deen (For you your religion
and for me mine, the Holy Koran 109:5). "Say, 'O ye
disbelievers! I worship not that which you worship; nor
worship you what I worship. And I am not going to
worship that which you worship; nor will you worship
what I worship. For you be your religion and for me
mine." (Sura Alkafiroon, 109:2-7)
The Holy Koran is absolutely clear that
differences in color and creed constitute a deliberate
design of Allah with a divine purpose but confer no
superiority to any one group over another: "Among His
signs is the creation of the Heavens and the Earth, and
the diversity of your tongues and colors. In that surely
are signs for those who possess knowledge." (30:23)
This message is repeated in the Koran in a
variety of ways: "O mankind, we have created you from a
male and a female; and we have made you into tribes and
sub-tribes so that you may recognize one another.
Verily, the most honorable among you, in the sight of
Allah, is he who is the most righteous among you.
Surely, Allah is all-knowing, all-aware." (49:14). And
righteousness is defined in the following words: "It is
not righteousness that ye turn your faces to the East
and the West; but righteous is he who believeth in Allah
and the last day and the angels and the scripture and
the prophets; and giveth his wealth, for love of Him, to
kinsfolk and to orphans and the needy and the wayfarer
and to those who ask, and to set slaves free; and
observeth proper worship, and payeth the poor-due. And
those who keep their treaty when they make one, and the
patient in tribulation and adversity and in times of
stress. Such are they who are sincere. Such are the
God-fearing." (2:177)
Obviously, Islam does not
attach as much importance to the worship of God as to
the righteous conduct. Huqooq-ul-Ibad (rights of
other creations of God over us or conversely our duties
towards other creations of God) is thus given primacy in
Islam over Huqooq-ul-lah (rights of Allah over us
or our duties towards God).
In the matter of
religion, Islam allows man to follow his own dictate, so
that many religions can exist at the same time. Indeed
the Holy Koran could not be more explicit: "And if thy
Lord had enforced His will, surely, all who are on earth
would have believed together [in the same religion].
Wilt thou, then, force them to become believers [in
Islam]?" (10:100). Then there is the overriding
instruction in the famous verse La Ikraha fid
Deen (Let there be no compulsion in religion: 2:25).
Islam confirms validity of other
religions
Some mullahs have taken to issuing
fatwas (religious edicts) against the people of
other religions, giving expression to their Medieval
mindset of intolerance. They are clearly turning Islam
that came as a blessing for the world into a tool for
oppression. As Shivaji had pointed out to Aurangzeb in
his famous letter: "The Holy Koran describes Allah as
Rahmatul-lil-Aalemeen [Blessing for the Worlds] and not
just Rahmatul-lil-Muslemeen [Blessing for the Muslims]."
The main feature of the exclusivist view of
Islam that is being extensively propagated today by some
obscurantist mullahs can thus be summarized in one word:
intolerance. They are preaching and practicing Islam as
an intolerant religion. This is a total negation of all
that Islam stands for. Indeed, the exclusivist view of
Islam is the same as that of the Christian Crusaders.
This view was best refuted in the early 20th century by
Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall, an Englishman, and an
Orientalist, who had converted to Islam and is best
known by his translation of the Holy Koran. (The
meaning of Koran by Pickthall, first published in
1930)
Pickthall makes an interesting point that
the obscurantist mullahs would do well to ponder, if
they really have any regard for Islam. He says: "It was
not until the Western nations broke away from their
religious law that they became more tolerant; and it was
only when the Muslims fell away from their religious law
that they declined in tolerance and other evidences of
the highest culture ... Of old, tolerance had existed
here and there in the world, among enlightened
individuals; but those individuals had always been
against the prevalent religion. Tolerance was regarded
as un-religious, if not irreligious. Before the coming
of Islam it had never been preached as an essential part
of religion." ("Tolerance in Islam", a lecture delivered
by Pickthall in 1927.)
Speaking from a Christian
perspective and comparing Islam with Judaism and
Christianity, Pickthall declares: "In Islam only is
manifest the real nature of the Kingdom of God. The two
verses of the Koran (2:255-256) are supplementary. Where
there is that realization of the majesty and dominion of
Allah, there is no compulsion in religion. Men choose
their path - allegiance or opposition - and it is
sufficient punishment for those who oppose that they
draw further and further away from the light of truth."
Further on in his famous lecture, Pickthall
explains the relationship between Islam and other
religions in these words: "The Koran repeatedly claims
to be the confirmation of the truth of all religions.
The former scriptures had become obscure, the former
prophets appeared mythical, so extravagant were the
legends which were told concerning them, so that people
doubted whether there was any truth in the old
scriptures, whether such people as the prophets had ever
really existed. Here - says the Koran - is a scripture
whereof there is no doubt: here is a prophet actually
living among you and preaching to you. If it were not
for this book and this prophet, men might be excused for
saying that Allah's guidance to mankind was all a fable.
This book and this prophet, therefore, confirm the truth
of all that was revealed before them, and those who
disbelieve in them to the point of opposing the
existence of a prophet and a revelation are really
opposed to the idea of Allah's guidance - which is the
truth of all revealed religions. The
kafirs, in the terms of the Koran, are the
conscious evildoers of any race or creed or community.
"Instead of harping upon differences, Islam
looks for a common ground for cooperation. The first
meeting point is in humanity. The Prophet said:
'Creation is the family of Allah, and the most beloved
of all creation to Allah is he who does good to His
family'. In his Farewell Pilgrimage sermon, he said,
'All men, whatever nation or tribe they may belong to,
and whatever station in life they may hold, are equal'.
Once a funeral procession passed by and the holy Prophet
(peace be upon him) stood up as a mark of respect to the
dead. Someone pointed out that it was the funeral of a
Jew. His reply was, 'Was he not a human being?' In order
to discourage prejudice that can arise from a variety of
reasons, the tribal pride being very predominant at that
time, the Prophet said, 'Certainly Allah has removed
from you haughtiness and family pride of the days of
ignorance. Now there are two types of people; believers
and pious as opposed to rebellious and sinners. You are
the progeny of Adam and Adam was made of clay. People
should give up national pride, because that is one of
the coals of Hell. If not, Allah will treat them no
better than a black beetle found on a dunghill which
pushes dirt and filth with its nose'."
The
Prophet himself presented the most outstanding, perhaps
unique example of religious tolerance when he allowed
the delegation of Christians of Najran to pray in their
own way in his mosque, which was the venue of the
meeting, and in his very presence. Thus the jihadi view
of Islam does not correspond with the teachings of Islam
as understood by the overwhelming majority of Muslims.
It appears to be closer to the view of Islam propagated
by its enemies down the ages. Islamic exclusivism that
has now resulted in jihadism, therefore, may be
considered a completely different religion, not
recognizable to the followers of Islam. Mankind has been
divided into myriad communities with different races,
cultures, habits, faiths, etc, so that in spite of these
barriers, we can ourselves reach the following
conclusion: "Mankind is but one single community" (The
Holy Koran, 2:213 and 10:19).
NEXT WEEK:
Part 3: The concept of jihad
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