Hindu–Islamic relations

Interactions between the followers of Hinduism and Islam began after the advent of the latter in the Arabian Peninsula, in the 7th century, mainly through trade across and around the Indian Ocean. Historically, these interactions formed contrasting patterns in northern and southern India. In the north of India, there is a history of conquest and a legacy of Hindus living under the domination of Muslim rulers stretching back to the Delhi Sultanate of the 13th century. The relations between Hindus and Muslims have historically been largely peaceful in Kerala and Tamil Nadu(except during Mappilla rebellion, Coimbatore bomb blasts and Marad riots).

Hinduism and Islam share some ritual practices such as fasting and pilgrimage but are different in their views on various aspects. Their historical interaction since the British colonial rule in India has witnessed periods of cooperation and syncretism, as well as periods of religious discrimination, intolerance, and violence. As a religious minority in India, Muslims are part of the Indian culture and have lived with Hindus for over a period of 13 centuries. The boundaries between Islam and Hinduism remained flexible to some extent until the period of British colonial rule.

The religions

Hinduism is an Indian religion and a way of life of the Hindu people, primarily practiced in the Indian subcontinent and other regions which have experienced Hindu influence since ancient and medieval times. Hinduism mostly shares common terms with the Dhārmic religions that it influenced, including Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism. The scriptures of Hinduism are the ''Śruti'' (the four ''Vedas'', which comprise the original Vedic Hymns, or ''Samhita'', '' Āraṇyakas'', and ''Upanishads''); these are considered authentic knowledge and wisdom of the past, collated, compiled and codified into written form, for future generations. Furthermore, Hinduism is also based on the ''Smṛti'' literature, which includes the ''Rāmāyana'', ''Mahābhārata'', ''Bhagavad Gītā'', and ''Purānas'', also considered to be sacred Hindu texts.

Islam is a monotheistic religion that originated in the Arabian peninsula, in which God is Allah, the final Islamic prophet being Muhammad, who Muslims believe delivered the central Islamic scripture, the '' Qurān''. Islam shares common terms with the Abrahamic religions which pre-date it─those religions claiming descent from Abraham. It influenced many faiths such as Sikhism, the Baháʼí Faith, and others. The Quran and the ''Ḥadīth'' literature are the primary Islamic scriptures, while the ''sunnah'' consists of the Islamic traditional customs and practices which all Muslims are expected to follow.

Comparison between Islam and Hinduism

Theology and concept of God

Hinduism is a system of thought in which the concept of God varies according to its diverse traditions.MK Gandhi
The Essence of Hinduism
Editor: VB Kher, Navajivan Publishing, see page 3; According to Gandhi, "a man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu." Hinduism spans a wide range of beliefs such as henotheism, monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, pandeism, monism, atheism and nontheism. One popular theological interpretation is the Advaita Vedanta tradition, which relies mainly on the ''Upanishads'' and declares absolute monism, exemplified in the concept of ''Brahman'' (the ultimate reality). When a person is devoid of ignorance ('' Avidyā''), he/she finds the truth by realizing that his/her true nature, pure soul, or inner Self ('' Ātman'') is identical to ''Brahman''. Until then, he/she is usually ignorant of the ultimate reality and therefore believes that the material world around him/her is real and indulges in it, when it's actually not and is an illusion (''Māyā''). The ''Brahman'', which is absolute and pure, and the ''Ātman'', which is also absolute and pure, are the same in this school of Hindu thought, which exemplifies the Hindu concept of God.

Islam is a system of thought that believes in the concept of the unity and uniqueness of God (''Tawḥīd''), which declares exclusive monotheism, is considered to be the defining doctrine of the Islamic religion. God in Islam is conceived as the absolute one, the all-powerful and all-knowing ruler of the universe, and the creator of everything in existence. According to Islam, God is transcendent, therefore Muslims do not attribute human forms to God. God is described and referred to by several names or attributes. Muslims are required to affirm daily (in five canonical daily prayers each include a recitation of the Shahada), as one of the five pillars of Islam, the ''Shahada'', declaring that "There is no other god but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah."

Scriptures and messengers

The sacred scriptures of Islam are the '' Qurān'' and the '' Ḥadīths'' i.e. reports about what Muhammad said and did. ''Ḥadīths'' are varied and have many versions. According to the Islamic doctrine, Jesus Christ was also one of the messengers from God.Neal Robinson (2013), Islam: A Concise Introduction, Routledge, , Chapter 7 Muslims believe that Muhammad was the last messenger and the ''Qurān'' was the last revelation from God, delivered to him through the angel Jibrīl. The ''Ḥadīths'' contain the ''sunnah'', or the reports of Muhammad's life, sayings, actions, and examples he set. The ''Qurān'' and the reliable ''Ḥadīths'' are considered in Islam as the sources of Islamic law, or ''Sharīʿah''.

Unlike Islam, Hinduism doesn't have centralized religious authorities, governing bodies. It has some defining historical and religious texts, the sacred Hindu scriptures, traditional ecclesiastical order, incarnations, and the legal code '' Manusmṛti''. Spiritual knowledge of Hinduism is contained in texts called ''Śruti'' ("what is heard") and ''Smṛti'' ("what is remembered"). These sacred texts discuss diverse topics, including theology, cosmology, mythology, philosophy, rituals and rites of passage, and many others. Major scriptures in Hinduism include the ''Vedas'' and ''Upanishads'' (both ''Śruti''), the Epics (''Rāmāyana'' and ''Mahābhārata''), '' Purāṇas'', ''Dharmaśāstras'', '' Āgamas'', and the ''Bhagavad Gītā'' (all ''Smṛti'').

Ziaur Rahman Azmi says about the theology of Hinduism,

Similarities

According to Islam, one after death either enters Paradise (Jannah) or Hell (Jahannam), depending on their deeds. Unlike Muslims, Hindus believe in cycle of reincarnation. However, the concept of higher and lower realms of existence can be found in Hinduism, though the realms are temporary places.

Both know demons (Shaitan/Asura), who are constantly war against human's desires and the Divine. Asuras are part of Hindu mythology along with Devas, Yakshas and Rakshasas. Asuras feature in one of many cosmological theories in Hinduism. Asuras are sometimes considered nature spirits. They battle constantly with the devas.

Similarities can still be found at the concept of the Divine and the world. Both belief in the existence of an entirety supreme power, either called Brahman or Allah. ''Brahman'' is a metaphysical concept which is the single binding unity behind diversity in all that exists in the universe, while ''Allah'' is the Arabic word for God in Abrahamic religions. Assimilated in local lore, the Islamic concept of God became comparable to the notion of the ultimate reality expressing itself through different names as the creator, the maintainer and the destroyer. Some Islamic scholars belief that the worlds created by God will perish and created anew resembling the Hindu notion of an endless process of generation and decay. Clinton Bennett, Charles M. Ramsey ''South Asian Sufis: Devotion, Deviation, and Destiny'' A&C Black page 23

Pilgrimage is found in both religions, Hajj to Mecca in Islam, while Kumbh Mela and Tirtha Yatra in Hinduism.
Muslims performs 7 rounds around Kaaba during Hajj which is called Tawaf. Hindus also perform one or more rounds around the center ( Garbhagriya) of a temple (one to twenty-one), which is called as Parikrama (known in Sanskrit as ''pradakśiṇā''). Both of them are commonly called circumambulation.

By some members of the Ahmadiya Muslim Community, Islamic Prophet Muhammad is believed to be the Hindu Avatar Kalki; some of the Muslim scholars and a few of the Hindu scholars including also argued that Kalki is mentioned indicating Muhammad in some Hindu scriptures. Ved Prakash Upaddhayya, a Hindu scholar, claimed Muhammad as Kalki in his book Kalki Avatar Aur Muhammad Saheb, which argument was both welcomed and criticised by both Hindu and Muslim scholars.

Sufism

The 10th-century Persian polymath Al-Biruni in his book ''Tahaqeeq Ma Lilhind Min Makulat Makulat Fi Aliaqbal Am Marzula'' (Critical Study of Indian Speech: Rationally Acceptable or Rejected) discusses the similarity of some Sufism concepts with aspects of Hinduism, such as: Atman with ruh, tanasukh with reincarnation, Moksha with Fanaa, Ittihad with Nirvana: union between Paramatman in Jivatma, Avatar or Incarnation with Hulul, Vedanta with Wahdat al-Wujud, Mujahadah with Sadhana.

Other scholars have likewise compared the Sufi concept of Waḥdat al-Wujūd with Advaita Vedanta, Fanaa to Samadhi, Muraqaba to Dhyana and tariqa to the Noble Eightfold Path.

Sufi theologian Martin Lings says,

Al-Biruni observed in his history of India that the fundamental ideas behind metempsychosis or reincarnation in Hinduism are not so very different from the sense of the immanence of God in all things and the idea of a universal soul in some Sufi doctrines, and that for Sufis who believe in such things, "the course of metempsychosis is of no consequence".

The Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi wrote verse that played on such themes:

The 9th-century Iranian mystic Bayazid Bostami is alleged to have imported certain concepts from Hindusim into his version of Sufism under the conceptual umbrella of baqaa, meaning perfection. Ibn al-Arabi and Mansur al-Hallaj both referred to Muhammad as having attained perfection and titled him as ''Al-Insān al-Kāmil''. The Sufism concept of ''hulul'' has similarly been compared with the idea of Ishvaratva, that God dwells in some creatures in Hinduism and Buddhism, and godhood of Jesus in Christianity.

Ziaur Rahman Azmi says that the reason behind Hindus' negative perception of Islam is mostly the spread of Sufism in India,

Differences

Apostasy

Apostasy, defined in Islam as the conscious act by a Muslim of leaving Islam or blaspheming against it, is according to some Islamic schools of law, a religious crime.

Hinduism does not have a "unified system of belief encoded in a declaration of faith or a creed. Hinduism is more tolerant to apostasy. Some Hindu sects believe that ethical conversion, without force or reward is completely acceptable. Although the Vashistha Dharmasastra, the Apastamba Dharmasutra and Yajnavalkya state that a son of an apostate is also considered an apostate. Smr̥ticandrikā lists apostates as one group of people upon touching whom, one should take a bath. Nāradasmṛti and Parasara-samhita states that a wife can remarry if her husband becomes an apostate. The saint Parashara commented that religious rites are disturbed if an apostate witnesses them. He also comments that those who forgo the Rig Veda, Samaveda and Yajurveda are "nagna" (naked) or an apostate.

Both religions state that there should be no compulsion in religion, although Islamic scholars may call for punishments against Muslims who have blasphemed.

Blasphemy

Blasphemy against God and against Muhammad is a religious crime in Islam. The Quran in verse and many Hadiths of Islam discuss blasphemy and its punishment. A variety of actions, speeches or behavior can constitute blasphemy in Islam. Some examples include insulting or cursing Allah or Prophets.

Drawing offensive cartoons, tearing or burning holy literature of Islam, creating or using music or painting or video or novels to mock or criticise prophet Muhammad are some examples of blasphemous acts. Punishment can range from imprisonment, flogging to execution.

Open discussion and criticism of spiritual thoughts, ideas and deities is allowed in Hinduism. The concept of "divine blasphemy" or "heresy" does not exist in Hinduism, and ancient Hindu texts make no provisions for blasphemy.

Caste and creed

Hindu texts such as the Manusmriti segregate people through social stratification and class i.e. Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Shudras. Islamic texts do not segregate Muslims. Hadīth, however mention the prophecy of the Muslim Ummah being separated into 73 sects on the basis of practices of Islam, not on class. There are differences in their traditional practices as the tradition differ according to geography but spiritually all Muslims are equal.

While Hinduism texts do not list thousands of castes, in practice, the Hindu caste system has been described variously as four Varnas or as thousands of endogamous hereditary groups called jātis.

Circumcision

Khitan, the religious rite of circumcision, is seen as obligatory or recommendable for male followers. The Qur'an itself does not mention circumcision explicitly in any verse, but it is mentioned in the Hadiths of Islam. Circumcision is not compulsory in Islam but it is an important ritual aimed at improving cleanliness. It is strongly encouraged but not enforced.

Circumcision is not a religious requirement in Hinduism. Hinduism discourages non-medical circumcision, as according to them, the body is made by the almighty God, and nobody has right to alter it without the concern of the person who is going for it.

Consanguineous marriage

Consanguineous marriage are those where the bride and groom share a grandparent or near ancestor. Islam prohibit marriage due to consanguinity with ancestors, descendants, siblings, siblings of ancestors and descendants of siblings. However marriage with first-cousins (3rd degree consanguinity) and farther consanguineous relatives is allowed. Hinduism forbids consanguineous marriage of parallel cousins, and strongly recommends seven degrees of biological separation between bride and groom. However, for many communities in South India, especially in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, it is common for Hindu cross cousins to marry, with matrilateral cross cousin (mother's brother's daughter) marriages being especially favored. In the region, " uncle-niece and first-cousin unions are preferential and jointly account for some 30% of marriages." These practices are particularly followed in landed communities such as the Vellalars, who wish to keep wealth within the family. Also unlike North India, this practice is also common in Brahmins in the region.

Arranged endogamous consanguineous marriages are very common among Muslims, particularly first cousin marriages, followed by second cousin marriages. About 25 to 40% of all marriages in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and UAE are first cousin marriages; while overall consanguineous arranged marriages exceed 65 to 80% in various regions of the Islamic Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia.

Jizya

Islamic scriptures, in its history compelled the payment of a special tax called Jizya from dhimmi who are not liable to pay Zaka'at, the non-Muslims who live in a Muslim state.Anver M. Emon, Religious Pluralism and Islamic Law: Dhimmis and Others in the Empire of Law, Oxford University Press, , pp. 99–109 Jizya was a tool of social stratification and treasury's revenue from non-Muslims. Jizya was a reminder of subordination of a non-Muslim under Muslims, and created a financial and political incentive to convert to Islam.

There is no such concept of "Jizya" in Hindu texts.

Slavery

Muslim and Hindus societies have practiced slavery many times in history

The practice of slavery in early and late Vedic era of Hinduism is documented. However, some Hindu texts use the term dasa. Some scholars translate this as slave, while other scholars have translated it as servant and religious devotee. Arthashastra text of Hinduism dedicates a chapter to ''dasa'' where a financially bankrupt individual may and become a servant of another. Arthashastra grants a ''dasa'' legal rights, and declares abusing, hurting and raping a ''dasa'' as a crime.Shamasastry
Arthashastra of Chanakya
pp. 260–264

Islam's approach to slavery added the idea that freedom was the natural state of affairs for human beings and in line with this it limited the opportunities to enslave people, commended the freeing of slaves and regulated the way slaves were treated:

* Islam greatly limited those who could be enslaved and under what circumstances (although these restrictions were often evaded)
* Islam treated slaves as human beings as well as property
* Islam banned the mistreatment of slaves – indeed the tradition repeatedly stresses the importance of treating slaves with kindness and compassion
* Islam allowed slaves to achieve their freedom and made freeing slaves a virtuous act
* Islam barred Muslims from enslaving other Muslims

The Quran and the Hadiths strongly discourage the institution of slaves. Islam, in many cases, encouraged a slave's manumission. Islam only allows slavery through certain means and many Islamic scholars claim Islam blocked many ways through which people used to own slaves.

Food-related issues

Islam has restrictions on food, such as how the meat is prepared.Qurʾan 2:173 Halal meat is prepared by ritual slaughter that involves cutting the jugular veins of the animal with a sharp knife. This leads to death via bleeding. Meat from animals that die of natural causes or accident is not allowed.

In Hinduism food habits are left as a choice for Hindus and both meat and alcohol consumption is accepted. However, some Hindu communities prefer vegetarianism or lacto-vegetarianism due to their beliefs in ahimsa or non-violence. There are varied opinions regarding the permissibility of eating meat in Hinduism, depending upon the interpretation of the Hindu scriptures. Some Hindu sects emphasize vegetarianism. Some Hindus avoid eating cow-based beef, but they may eat water buffalo-based beef or pork as an alternative.

Slaughter of a cow is considered to be a religious taboo all Hindus, who consider cow as sacred.

In popular culture

Music

There have been instances of syncretic cooperation on music on Islamic and Hindu theme. The national poet of Bangladesh Kazi Nazrul Islam, for example, wrote a lot of Islamic devotional songs for the mainstream of Bengali folk music. He also explored Hindu devotional music by composing ''Shama Sangeet'', ''bhajans'' and ''kirtans'', often merging Islamic and Hindu values. Nazrul's poetry and songs explored the philosophy of Islam and Hinduism.Kamrunnessa Azad. 2001. Dharmiya Chetonay Nazrul. Nazrul Institute, Dhaka. 1999. pp. 19–20

See also

* Brahmo Samaj
* Cattle slaughter in India
* Criticism of Hinduism
* Criticism of Islam
* Divisions of the world in Islam
* Hindu–Muslim unity
* Hinduism and other religions
* Islam and other religions
* Islam in South Asia
* Persecution of Hindus by Muslims
* Sufism in India
* Violence against Muslims in India

References

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