Are Hindus Vedic People? The Claim That Any Prophets Did Not Come to India, Which Has Been a Separate Land for Centuries, Is Blasphemous
By V.A. Mohamad
Ashrof, New Age Islam
3 October
2020
The claim
that any prophets did not come to a large subcontinent like India, which has
been a separate land for centuries, is blasphemous.
Historically,
the Judeo-Christian-Sabi people and primarily Zoroastrians, Hindus, Jains,
Buddhists and Sikhs led the Muslim leadership to that position. (Hallaq, p.
327) The Vedas were honoured with the title of 'Dhimmi' in the Muslim Nation
Complex. When they paid the jizya (protection tax) they were exempted from
military service and to some extent enjoyed autonomy. These included the
Christian-Jewish-Zoroastrian-Sabi and Hindu sects. (Ghani, p. 229)
The famous
Arab historian Baladhuri (820-892) records that Muhammad ibn Qasim, the ruler
of Sindh, declared that Hindu temples should be considered just as the
Christian Church, the Jewish synagogue, and the Zoroastrian fire temple.
(Baladhuri, p. 221)
It is a
historical fact that Muhammad ibn Qasim, who conquered Sindh, treated the
Hindu-Buddhist sects as dhimmi like the Jewish-Christian-Sabi people of the
Middle East. (Shimmel, p. 107) Ibn Qasim
granted them not only their religious rights but also their previous positions
in government. (Ikram, p. 11)
Ibn Qasim's
every move was to treat the Hindus as Vedic people. (Ikram, p. 11) This set an
example for later Muslim Kingdoms (Sultanate, Mughals) as a whole. (Srivastava,
p. 43)
Al-Biruni
(973-1048)
-----
The
historian Al-Biruni (973-1048), who painted the world's clearest picture of
medieval India, translated Patanjali's Yoga Sutra into Arabic. In his Kitab ul
Hind, Al-Biruni pays homage to the Hindu scriptures. Al-Biruni argues that even
though idolatry is very common among Indians their sages are mostly
monotheists.
Shahrastani
(1086-1158 AD), a Persian historian and Islamic scholar, described the Hindus
as Sabians referred to in the Qur'an (Q. 5:69, 2:62, 22:17).
Dara Shikoh
(1615-1659), the son of Shah Jahan's elder son and Mughal crown prince,
considered the central idea of the Upanishads to be monotheistic. (Ahmad, 1964,
pp. 191-196) He has pioneered to publish the Persian translation of 50
Upanishads under the title 'Sirri Akbar', considering the Upanishads to be
brilliant revelations containing divine mysteries.
Dara
Shikoh
----
Inspired by
the Qur'anic notion that God's messengers were sent to all nations, Dara Shikoh
considered the Vedas and Upanishads to be divine. Dara Shikoh wrote Majmul
Bahrain, a fusion of Hindu Vedanta and Islamic Sufism. Dara declared: This is
the conclusion I have drawn from my research: The Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva
Vedas were the first divine revelations to reach the Hindu people through
sages. (Asiananda, p. 163)
Dara Shikoh's
attempt was to develop a common mystic language connecting Vedanta and Islamic
Sufism. That is why he published the Persian translation of 50 Upanishads in
1657. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has observed that these were translated into
Latin in 1800 and attracted Orientalists, including William Jones, the founder
of the Asiatic Society, to the Upanishads. (Zen, p. 61)
Dara Shikoh,
like Al-Biruni, considered Hindus to be Vedic because the Hindu scriptures were
divine revelations. (Ahmad, 1969, pp. 79-80)
Dara finds that the central idea of the Vedas is based on monotheism.
(Haq, p.13). Like Al-Biruni, Dara argued that the sages of the Hindus were
monotheists. (Ahmed, 1964, p. 112)
Dara Shikoh
translated the Bhagavad Gita into Persian by his court scholar. (Haq, 1982, p.
28)
Shah Abdul
Aziz Dahlavi (1746-1824), son of Shah Waliullah Dahlavi, who lived in British
India, described the Hindus as Vedic and recorded them as having prophets and
revelations. (Fatawa Assisi, Vol. 1, pp. 140-141) Shah considered Lord Krishna a saint (Aulia).
(Ahmed, 1964, p. 139)
Mirza Jane
Janan (1699–1781), a glittering Sufi poet, described the Vedas as monotheistic
revealed through the prophets. He also conceived of idolatry of Hindus as only
intended for metaphorical purpose and just for mental concentration. (Ahmad,
1964, pp. 138-139) Like Dara Shikoh, Mirza Jane Janan considered the Hindu
scriptures to be divinely inspired. (Ahmed, 1969, pp. 78-80) Jane Janan thought
that Hindus believe in an immaculate and pure God. Mirza Jane Janan pointed out
that unlike the people of Mecca; Hindu idolatry was only symbolic. (Engineer,
p. 59) Jana Janan reiterates that Hindus use idols only for mental
concentration. (Chandras, p. 151)
Syed
Sulaiman Nadvi (1884-1953), a well-known Islamic scholar and historian, records
that after the conquest of Sindh, a group of Brahmins visited Muhammad ibn
Qasim and accepted his request to retain their existing positions of power.
(Nadvi, p. 109)
Sulaiman
Nadwi also considered Hindus to be Vedic. (Uthmani, p. 71) Abul Hassan Ali
Nadwi (1914-1999), formerly the chairman of the Muslim Personal Law Board, also
points out that the Arabs of that time accepted Hindus as Vedic people.
(Usmani, p. 71)
Maulana
Ubaidullah Sindhi (1872-1944), a renowned Islamic scholar and freedom fighter,
considered the verses 62: 3 to refer to both Indians and Persians. (Sindhi, p.
166)
The great
poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal (1877-1938) considered Lord Rama to be the spirit of
life and the pride of spirituality. In his collection of poems 'Bange Dara',
Iqbal gives the title 'Imam e Hind' to Rama.
Maulana
Abul Kalam Azad (1888-1958), accepting the traditions and ideologies of
Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Khaki (1173-1235), Nizamuddin Auliya (1238-1325) and Amir
Khusrau (1253-1325), embraced a cosmic humanistic philosophy.
T. Muhammad
published ‘The Undercurrents of Indian Culture’ in 1976, a work which argues
for the revelatory nature of the Vadas and also for the Vedic status to the
Hindus. S. Abdullah Tariq (1953 - ), a native of Rampur, Uttar Pradesh,
published the conclusion of the research of late Islamic scholar Maulana Shams
Naved Usmani (died 1993) in Hindu, Urdu and English. Both consider Hindus to be
Vedic. (Usmani, 2014)
Professor
Tahir Mahmood (1941- ), former Chairman of the National Minorities Commission,
highlights the distinction between Meccan polytheists and Hindus; He sees the
Hindu scriptures as inspired by God. (Mahmoud, 2006)
A Qur’anic
Evaluation of the Vedic Nature of Hindus
The Qur'an
repeats the idea that God's messengers came to different nations with divine
moral vision (Q. 10:47, 35:24, 16:36). The Qur'an repeats that the names of all
the Prophets are not mentioned in the holy Book (Q. 40:78, 4: 164). God will
not punish any people who do not receive the prophetic message (Q. 17:15, 6:
131). The basic vision of all the prophets is an ethical life based on
Monotheism and the Hereafter (Q. 22:17, 5:69, 2:62).
It is the
duty of human beings to believe in the whole prophets and scriptures (Q. 2:
136, 3:84 - 85). The Qur'an mentions only a few scriptures: the scrolls of
Abraham (Q. 87:19), the Torah given to Moses (Q.3: 3), the Zabur to David (Q.4:
163), and the Gospel to Christ (Q.5:46).
Islam is a
concept as old as the universe. While the whole universe was submissive to God
(Q. 3:83), all the angels accepted "Divine Dedication" (Islam) as
their philosophy of life (Q. 16:36, 3:67, 10:72, 12: 101, 27:44, 10:84, 7:
126).The ancient scriptures also testify to Islam, which means an ethical life
dedicated to God (Psalm 81:15; Romans 10: 3; James 4: 7). All the prophetic
messages of the Apostles were subjected to priestly encroachment and their
essence was drained and converted (Q. 9:31, 2:79, 3:78, 4:46, 5:12-15). Only
the philosophy of life of complete submission is acceptable to God (Q. 3:19,
3:85). The righteous people who believe in the Scriptures have nothing to fear
(Qur'an 3: 113 - 114, 5:69, 7: 159, and 7:168). No one can be saved just by
carrying the icon or insignia of any particular religion (Q. 4: 123, 5:69, 2:
111-112). Hi8s is because God will not oppress anyone (Q. 10:44, 2: 279, 22:10,
4:49, 4:77, 17:71); He does not impose an unbearable burden on anyone (Q. 2:
286). Religious plurality is a divine plan (Q. 2: 148, 22:67, 30:22, 5:48,
22:67). Part of this is that each group has their work embellished (Q. 6: 108).
It is important for each nation to return to their own system of values (Q. 5:
44, 5: 46-47, 5:66. 5:68).
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V.A. Mohamad Ashrof is the Joint Secretary of
Forum for Faith and Fraternity Kerala
URL: https://newageislam.com/islamic-ideology/are-hindus-vedic-people-claim/d/123032
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