Are The Vedic Scriptures Not Wahi’ (Revealed By Allah)?
By
Ram-iz-Rasool Dehlvi, New Age Islam
18
September 2021
Why Aren’t
The Vedic Scriptures, Revered As Wahi’ (Revealed By Allah) Among Indian Muslims
Today?
Main
Points:
1. Why the
Vedic Scriptures, especially the Texts known as Shruti or Śruti—the central
canon of Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads—cannot be revered as Wahy’
(revealed by Allah)?
2. Legacy of
Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan (1699–1780) should be recalled because he propounded
an inclusivity between the Qur’an and the Vedas.
3. India’s
Hindus and those known as Sanatanis should be acceptable to Muslims as
Ahl-e-Kitab.
4. Letters
written by Mirzā Mazhar contain an interesting discussion on the ancient Indian
faith traditions and the Hindu Dharma in particular from an Islamic
perspective.
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If God sent Prophets and Apostles (Rasools) to
the land of India like in all other historic territories across the world, then
why the indigenous people of the subcontinent—from the Dravidians to
Indo-Aryans—were not Ahl-e-Kitab (People of the Book)? And why their
descendants and progenies today—call them ‘Hindus’ or more accurately Sanatan
Dharmis—are no longer regarded ‘believers’? More fundamental question is:
Why the Vedic Scriptures, especially the Texts known as Shruti or Śruti—the
central canon of Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas, and Upanishads—cannot be revered
as Wahi’ (revealed by Allah)?
These are
some of the key questions that this essay seeks to grapple with in light of the
Letters (Maktūbāt) written by Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan—India’s
prominent Muslim Mystic, 18th century established Islamic scholar and Urdu and
Persian poet-philosopher.
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Also Read: Proofs That Hindus Are People Of The Books
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Mirzā
Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan was a noted saint-scholar of the Naqshbandi Sufi Order,
which was imitated in India by Khwaja Baqi Billah (d. 1603)—Delhi’s prominent
saint-scholar and pioneer of the Order in the Indian sub-continent. The
Naqshbandi Sufi Silsila (Order) came to India from Central Asia and
believed in the divinity of love, and focused on a deeper personal relationship
between Man and the Divine. But it also emphasised a healthy relation between
people and the State and their constructive cooperation with the ruling authorities
of respective countries. In the Mughal period, Naqshbandi Sufi masters
continued in their endeavour to reinstate their place in the Indian
subcontinent.
In today’s
India, the legacy of Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan (1699–1780) should be recalled
not just because he was a prominent Sufi mystic of Naqshbandiyya and
Urdu-Persian poet, but more because he propounded an inclusivity between the
Qur’an and the Vedas. He found out that there is a beautiful spiritual synergy
between the essential creeds and universal values of Islam and Sanatan Dharma
and its variant faith traditions. Jaan-e-Janan was the proponent of the belief
that the Indian Scriptures, especially the Vedic Texts were Wah’y
(revealed by God). Therefore, India’s Hindus and those known as Sanatanis should
be acceptable to Muslims as Ahl-e-Kitab—a term in the Qur’an which means
“People of the Book” and is accorded reverence in the broader Qur’anic notion
of ‘Believers’.
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Also Read: Quran’s Stand on the People of the Book
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Shah Ghulam
Ali Dehlvi—the 19th century Sufi master of the Naqshbandi tradition in Delhi—relays
as to how he became the major disciple (Mureed) and successor to his Murshid,
Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan:
He
[Jaan-e-Janan] was staying at Sirhind (a city in Punjab popularly known as
Fatehgarh Sahib). I sought and obtained the permission to visit the master. My
heart was instantaneously enticed and ensnared by the charismatic saint. He
tied the game of his heart to the saddle straps of my spiritual courser. I was
particularly attracted to the teachings of his Exalted Presence [Jaan-e-Jana], that
the Vedas were Holy Scriptures revealed by Allah, and that Shri Krishna and
Shri Rama were Prophets; thus Jaan-e-Janan privileged the Hindus as the ‘People
of the Book’. (As quoted in “The Mirror of Beauty”, By Shamsur Rahman Faruqi,
2014).
Not only
that Jaan-e-Janan considered the ancient Indic religions and the Vedas as
divinely inspired but some of his Maktūbāt [letters and treatises] also
speak so well of the Vedic texts in detail. Such Letters written by Mirzā
Mazhar have been compiled by none other than his closest disciple Shah Ghulam
Ali Dehlvi under the title “Maqamat-e-Mazhari” originally written in Farsi and
later explained and further expanded in Urdu by Shah Abu Al Hassan Zaid Farooqi
and Maulana Akhlaq Hussain Dehlvi. These letters contain an interesting
discussion on the ancient Indian faith traditions and the Hindu Dharma in
particular from an Islamic perspective. According to Mirzā Saheb, the Hindus
and non-Muslims of the Indian subcontinent cannot be clubbed together with the Arab
pagans of the Prophet's time, who were called ‘Kafirs’ (disbelievers) and
‘Mushrikin’ (polytheists). There is no scope of resemblance between the two
entirely different peoples in different territories and times, belonging to
diametrically different faiths. Jaan-e-Janan’s deeper reflections on this have
been detailed in Maqamat-e-Mazhari. An in-depth study requires great deal of
time and energy. Just for an instance—take a look at the following:
"The
Sajdah [prostration] of Hindus to their idols is/was essentially “Sajda-e-Tahiyyat”
(prostration in respect and reverence), not the “Sajda-e-Ubudiyyat”
(prostration in worship) i.e. Hindus pay respect to their parents, spiritual
masters and teachers by bowing down (or doing the Sajdah) in place of saying Salaam......Likewise,
the Hindu belief in the doctrine of Awagaman (cycle of rebirth) is not akin to
Kufr (disbelief).....All schools of thought in Hinduism are unanimously agreed
upon the Oneness of God, and all of them consider the world as the creation of
God. The mortality of this life (Fana), the law of Karma as the reward
or punishment for the good or evil deeds, and the resurrection and
accountability in the hereafter are common beliefs among them. They have got a
deep insight into the oral transmissions and intellectual traditions, devotion
and mediation, abstinence and austerities, enlightenments (M’arif) and
divine unveilings (Mukashfaat)” (Letter No. 14, Maqamat-e-Mazhari, Page
No. 258, Publisher: Shah Abu Al-Khair Academy, Delhi).
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In this
Urdu anthology authored by Shah Ghulam Ali Dehlvi and translated by Muhammad
Iqbal Mujaddidi, the ancient Indic religions and civilisations have been looked
at through the prism of Sufi Islamic perspective in the light of the letters
written by Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan. The Letter No. 14 examines the Hindu
philosophy of Avatara, in accordance with the Islamic concept of Nubuwwah
(prophethood). Based on the Qur’anic verses such as "There is a Messenger
for every community" (Surah al-R’ad: 07) and “There was not a Nation
without a warner” (36:06), the letter premises that Allah has created no
community in the world without a Prophet, and that belief in all Prophets, not
just one, is one of the six articles of the Islamic faith. The book then looks
at the main characteristics of the Hindu belief of Avatarvad and Prophethood
from an Islamic perspective. Other Hindu beliefs and doctrines like MahaMukt
and their goals, have also been elucidated.
In
conclusion, Jaan-e-Janan explains how Muslims in India should view the land of
India and the Hindu community from a theological viewpoint: “In the Indian
territories, Prophets and Messengers were sent by God. Their accounts are
recorded in their books and several other signs and indicators tell us that the
Hindu people had reached high culminations [in faith and spirituality]. The
Divine mercy did not forget this vast land or its people and their state of
affairs. Needless to say, before the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), every nation was
bestowed with a Prophet, and every community was entitled to follow their own
Prophet rather than anyone else” (Letter No. 14, Maqamat-e-Mazhari, Page No.
259).
Finally,
the Letter elaborates how Islam postulates the issues and applications of Nubuwwah
(Prophethood), after the advent of Prophet Muhammad, and approaches the
Shari’ah-centric view of it, with a rider: “silence is better when it comes to
the Prophets of India, as the Qur’an has not mentioned most of them. We should
neither consider their followers as ‘deviant’ or ‘disbeliever’ nor must we
declare them all as entitled to salvation. Rather, we should intend well about
them and form a fair and unbiased opinion”.
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Also Read: The Qur’an and the People of the Book: Chapter 13,
Essential Message of Islam
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Thus, the
Letters by Jaan-e-Janan have found several significant similarities between
both Islam and Hinduism and their basic postulates like Tawheed (Oneness of
God), Akhirat (Hereafter) and Awagaman (Cycle of Re-birth), etc. However, the
Hindu concept of Avataravad and the Islamic doctrine of Nubuwwah have
striking differences, though they share similarities especially in their
ultimate purposes. Avataravad is directly related to God’s divine incarnation
which does not exist in the conventional Islamic Prophetology. However, in
Indian Sufism inspired by the Bhakti tradition, the divine incarnation of
Prophet (PBUH) has often been invoked.
Famous Urdu-Awadhi poet from Ghazipur (Uttar Pradesh), 'Asi Ghazipuri
(d. 1917) popularly known for his Sufi Kalam composed in his divan (collection
of poems) these couplets:
Wohi Jo
Mustawwi-E-Arsh Hai Khuda Ho Kar
Utar
Pada Hai Madine Mein Mustafa Ho Kar
The couplet
can be loosely translated as:
“The One
and only who prevails over the Divine Throne as God, has descended in Madina as
(Muhammad) Mustafa”.
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Traditions
like this popularised the belief among a section of Muslims in some parts of
India especially in the Bengal region in pre-colonial times that while Shri
Krishn was a Prophet of God, Prophet Muhammad was Krishna’s Avatar in Arabia.
Notably, there is a hadith attributed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in which he is
reported to have said: “There was a prophet of God in India who was dark in
colour and his name was Kahan [Krishna]”, as quoted in the History of Hamadan
Dailmi (Chapter Al-Kaaf). Noted scholar on Indian history before 1800, Richard
Maxwell Eaton (professor of history at the University of Arizona) who
extensively worked on the Sufi genealogies in pre-modern India, has unravelled
this glorious and little-known aspect of Indian Islam, in his book “The Rise of
Islam and the Bengal Frontier, 1204–1760”.
The reason
why it is significant to bring Jaan-e-Janan back to the memory and
consciousness of a modern Indian Muslim is explained by Annemarie Schimmel, an
important German scholar on Sufism. She tells us in her book “The Veneration of
the Prophet in Islamic Piety” that one of the four pillars of Urdu poetry and
Muslim mysticism in India, Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan studied Hinduism in depth
and discovered Allah’s Apostles and Prophets in India and thus sanctified the
land of India.
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By
according this spiritual significance, historicity and sanctity to the ‘sacred
land’ of India, Jan-e-Janan fostered a wide embrace for one and all in this
divine scheme of love and harmony. The belief of God as the infinite source of
all love and compassion must enlighten the minds and hearts of the young
generation today even after the martyrdom of the Divine Lover many years ago on
the 10th of Muharram in 1780. Regrettably, Mirzā Mazhar Jaan-e-Janan was killed
by a gunshot, because in his poetry he composed a few verses in praise of Maula
Ali which the fanatics of his time misunderstood and took as his ‘heresy’ and
thus slayed his voice.
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Ram-iz-Rasool is a columnist with New Age Islam.
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/ram-rasool-wahi-vedic-scriptures/d/125386
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