When Raksha Bandhan Was Celebrated as Beautiful Tradition to Strengthen Hindu-Muslim Ties!
By
Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
31 August
2023
The [true] believers are brothers [and sisters]
among them. So, make peace between your brothers [and sisters] and remain
mindful of God, so that you may receive mercy.
(The Holy Qur'an 49:10)
The bond
between a brother and a sister is unique. It is full of love, unconditional
support, camaraderie, fights and friendship. The beautiful Indian festival of Raksha Bandhan beautifully seeks to strengthen the bond between brothers and
sisters.
Raksha
Bandhan is
celebrated on the full moon day of Shravan — the fifth month of the luni-solar
calendar. It has great significance for the entire Indian subcontinent, as it
is connected to the arrival of the South-West monsoons. Shravan is also
considered a month of Upvaas or fasting.
Etymologically,
Raksha means “protection” and Bandhan connotes the strong brother-sister
“bond”. Thus, this occasion beautifully signifies the enhanced ties between
brothers and sisters reinforcing mutual protection, vital support and amicable
understanding. On Raksha Bandhan,
sisters tie the thread called Rakhi on her brother’s wrist. This beautiful
thread is believed to protect her brother from all jinxes and hexes in life. In
return, brothers take an oath that they will stand by their sisters, both in joy
and grief, sorrow and celebration.
This is
something which is similar to the Islamic concept of Sila Rahmi (strengthening
the ties of kinship). Prophet Mohammad laid great emphasis on evolving
relationship with all family members, particularly between the brothers and
sisters. One of his traditions is: “Charity (Sadaqah) given to the poor
is virtuous, but an ordinary act. However, by giving charity to a relative
(particularly brother and sister), one achieves two noble objectives: Sadaqah
and Silah Rahmi (upholding the family bond).”
However,
Prophet Mohammad cautioned about the sibling rivalry or envy which sometimes
turns into an unfavourable form of Qat’a al-Rahm (severing family ties)
leading to a disastrous result. As a matter of fact, sibling rivalry is an
inbuilt human emotion that turns into ethical flaw, when it involves vying for
parental compassion, attention or primacy or preference over the other siblings.
Such kind of envy (Rashk) is an inherent and indispensable trait that
can be overlooked until it takes an ugly form of jealousy (Hasad) which
is not healthy or positive in any way. In his word of caution, the Prophet
stated: “beware of jealousy; for jealousy eats good deeds just as the fire eats
wood”.
But at the
same time, the Prophet is reported to have exhorted the parents to accord equal
rights and compassion to their children — sons and daughters. Clearly, most
sibling rivalry results from the perceived loss of equal amount of attention,
compassion, love and care from the parents. It is unsettling for daughters or
sons if they feel they are getting unequal amounts of attention from their
parents and the other siblings are given greater care and respect than
themselves. Often, too much expectation for good behaviour from the elder
sibling is also a cause of rivalry, as Kyla Boyse, an eminent psychologist has
noted.
Conversely
to the sibling rivalry, on Raksha Bandhan, brothers express their love
and care for their sisters by wearing Rakhi all day long and sometimes for a
week. They gave gifts in form of cash, clothes, perfumes etc. Exchanging gifts
with siblings is an amazing way to strengthen ties and reduce rivalry between
siblings. Prophet said: “Exchange gifts with one another, you will create love
and goodwill amongst yourselves.”
The
beautiful festival of Raksha Bandhan has been celebrated with great
enthusiasm and brotherly-sisterly love in our country for centuries. Many
stories of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood related to this festival are also popular.
These stories give us a refreshing account of the communal harmony and unity of
the two different communities in modern India, and seek to reimagine and
strengthen brotherhood and goodwill between them. At a time when the cordial
relations between the majority and minority communities are adversely affected
due to the polarization and political situation, there are many
stories
related to Raksha Bandhan festival which ignite the flame of mutual
respect and understanding. One of them is as follows:
In 1905,
when Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India announced the partition of Bengal, this
decision tore apart the country. It was taken after discussions in a meeting
between Lord Curzon and some Muslim leaders who supported the two-nation
theory. In the meeting, the importance of the need for a separate country for
Muslims to identify them was explained. Curzon believed that due to the large
Muslim population in Assam, it should be separated from the Hindu-majority
areas of West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Thus, the order was passed in August
1905. It came into force from 16 October 1905.
The freedom
fighter and poet-philosopher of India Rabindranath Tagore realized the 'divide
and rule' intention of the British government and strongly opposed it. He
resorted to the Rakhi tradition as a beautiful blend to strengthen the
Hindu-Muslim ties. On his initiative, they encouraged each other to tie Rakhi
in the spirit of national integration and communal harmony and brotherhood.
Every Hindu was tying Rakhi to every fellow Muslim and Muslims tied Rakhis
to their Hindu brothers. This historical scene, indeed, would have been quite
fascinating.
As brothers
and sisters, we Indian Muslims and Hindus should help each other in these
trying times and never hurt our brothers and sisters on religious and communal
grounds. As siblings share their pain and problems and together, they make
their life easier, we can also set an example of stronger and healthy
Hindu-Muslim brotherhood. Siblings can always make mistakes but still they
learn from them and rectify them. We must forgive each other, on this occasion
of Rakhi Purnima which symbolises unconditional love and trust between brothers
and sisters and improving their relationships of they deteriorate.
------
A Regular Columnist with Newageislam.com, Ghulam Rasool Dehlvi is an
Indo-Islamic scholar and English-Arabic-Urdu writer. He has graduated from a
leading Sufi Islamic seminary in India, and acquired Diploma in Qur'anic
sciences and a Certificate in Uloom ul Hadith from Al-Azhar Institute of
Islamic Studies. He has also participated in the 3-year “Madrasa Discourses”
program initiated by the University of Notre Dame, USA.
URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/raksha-bandhan-beautiful-tradition-hindu-muslim/d/130573
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