There Is A Need To Reclaim The Lost Common Legacy Of Indian Prophets
By S.
Arshad, New Age Islam
17 February
2024
The Graves
Of Nine Prophets Of India Is In Bras Of Punjab
Main
Points:
1. The
Saptarishi of the Vedas were prophets.
2. Vedas are
the divine books revealed to prophets.
3. Adam the
first man descended in Sri Lanka.
4. The grave of
Hadhrat Adam's son Sheeth a.s.is believed to be in Ayodhya.
5. Prophet Nuh
and Manu seem to be the same person.
------
The Indian
sub-continent has been the seat of the oldest civilisation. Many communities
have inhabited this land since the pre-historic age. They have different
culture and beliefs. The trade and cultural relations of India's inhabitants
with other regions of the world exist since the old ages. This cultural
exchange promoted harmony and brotherhood among various communities of Indian
region and created the syncretic culture of India.
The
prophets have played an important role in the development of human
civilisation. They were raised in every age, every community and in every
region. Prophets were also raised in India. The Quran says:
"For
every nation, there is a prophet." (Yunus:47)
"And
We certainly raised a messenger among every people with the message, worship
Allah and stay away from the rebel."(Al Nahl:36)
A verse in
the Quran even hints that prophets were raised in every linguistic community.
"We
have not sent a messenger except in the language of his people to clarify the
message to them.""(Ibrahim:4)
Therefore,
according to the Quran, prophets were also raised in Indian region. Sanskrit,
Pali and Siddham were the popular languages of this region. So the prophets of
this region must have spoken Sanskrit and Pali and the divine scriptures
revealed to the Indian poets must have been in Sanskrit or Pali.
Since the
Quran does not mention the names of all the prophets, we do not k ow the names
of Indian prophets but we do get hints of Indian prophets from different
historical and religious sources
The sacred
text of Hindus in India are the four Vedas and 108 Upanishads. Not only Hindus
but also a section of Islamic scholars also believe that the Vedas in their
original form were divine books revealed to prophets. In the Vedas, the
prophets are called rishis. In the Vedas, the term Saptarishi is mentioned.
Saptarishi means seven Vedic sages. They are Bharadwaj, Vashisth, Atri,
Vishwamitra, Agastya, Gautam and Jamadagni. Gautam Buddha testifies to the
prophethood of Jamadagni. In Vinay Pitak, he says that the Vedas in their true
form were revealed to the Vedic rishis including Jamadagni. There are two or
three other rishis to whom some parts of Vedas are attributed. For example,
Atharva Veda is attributed to rishi Atharva. Kashyap and Angira are also mentioned
in Vedas as Rishis. In Digha Nikay, Gautam Buddha mentions ten Vedic rishis.
Therefore,
nine or ten rishis or prophets are mentioned by name in Vedas, Upanishads and
Buddhist scriptures. Based on the style, diction and monotheistic ideas of the
Vedas, some Islamic scholars have formed the opinion that the Vedas are divine
scriptures. Since divine scriptures are revealed to prophets, the rishis to
whom the Vedas were revealed were prophets.
We do not
have the physical proof of the existence of the Vedic rishis or prophets but
some tradition point to the existence of prophets in southern India and
northern India i.e. Ayodhya and Punjab.
In Ayodhya,
the grave of the prophet Sheeth a.s.is believed to be situated on a hilltop.
Hadhrat Sheeth a.s. was the son of Hadhrat Adam a.s., the first man on earth.
Prophet Nuh a.s. was one of the descendants of Sheeth a.s. During the life of
Prophet Nuh a.s., the Great Deluge occurred which drowned the whole earth and
prophet Nuh a.s. constructed a gigantic ark to carry his followers to safety.
The Hindus also believe in the Great Deluge. They call it Jal Parlayawan. They
also believe that Manu was the first man on earth. The basis of this belief is
that the human race was exterminated by the Deluge and it flourished anew after
Manu. Therefore, Prophet Nuh and Manu seem to be the same person.
Other
evidence of Prophet Nuh's association with India is the phrase 'Farat
Tannur' in the Quran. The Quran says that the Great Deluge (Toofan-e-Nuh)
originated at Tannur.
"And when our command came and the 'Tannur'
burst with water, We, said to Noah, 'Take into Ark a pair from very species---except
those against whom the decree to drown has already been passed -- and those who
believe. But none believed except for a few. "(Hud:40)
Exegetes
have translated Tannur as an oven but some exegetes say Tannur also means a
raised place. Tannur is a coastal town in the southern state of India, Kerala.
A town in
Haryana in north India is called Nuh. All these evidences strengthen the belief
that Prophet Nuh a.s. was the Manu of the Hindus and lived in India.
The belief
of some Islamic scholars that prophets were also raised in India is
strengthened by the revelation of the graves of nine prophets in the town Bras
in the northern state of India by the Islamic scholar Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi in
the sixteenth century by intuition. The Shaikh's Mazar is situated in Sirhind,
some 18 kilometres from Bras. Upon his revelation the area was cleared and nine
graves were reinstituted. Today, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs visit the nine
graves and seek the blessings of the nine prophets. Here the number nine is
important. The Vedas mention nine or ten rishis (prophets) and the graves of
the prophets are also nine. It can be inferred that the graves may be the
graves of nine Vedic rishis whom Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi mentioned as prophets.
Therefore,
we find that from Hadhrat Adam a.s. to Hadhrat Nuh a.s.( Manu), all the initial
prophets and their descendants lived in India. Hadhrat Adam a.s, the first man
on earth, descended in Sri Lanka, a part of ancient India. Then the human
civilisation shifted to Turkey during the great Deluge in Prophet Nuh's life
and from then onwards, prophets were raised in the Middle East from where the
Aryans travelled back to the land of their ancestors because human beings have
an emotional bonding with the land of their ancestors.
Hence, the
Indian people have a common religious legacy which has been lost. The prophets
of Abrahamic religions and the Vedic rishis have one thing in common: they
preached monotheism. The Bible, the Torah and the Psalms of David a.s. have
similarity in style, diction, ideas and belief with the Quran. Since the
language of the prophets and divine scriptures are different, the followers of
the prophets and divine scriptures think that they belong to different
religious communities. They have not strived to find their common roots though
the Quran clearly says that prophets speak the language of their community.
Therefore,
the Hindus and Muslims of India need to reclaim the lost common legacy of
Indian prophets to strengthen the cultural bond and live in harmony.
-----
S.
Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/common-legacy-indian-prophets/d/131737
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