Some people might be surprised by the title, Similarities between Hinduism and Islam, Especially if you are a Muslim and a Hindu.
The Muslim would say HINDUISM AND ISLAM…SIMILAR??? IMPOSSIBLE!!!
The HINDU WOULD SAY THE SAME…
Then if you add some added MASALA, that there are many things similar including THE CONCEPT OF GOD, The Muslim would shout out, “IMPOSSBLE MAN… HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND??? THEY WORSHIP IDOLS!!! WE DON’T!!!”
The HINDU would say, “IMPOSSIBLE, WE WORSHIP IDOLS, THEY WORSHIP ALLAH… HOW CAN WE HAVE THE SAME CONCEPT OF GOD???”
Now… let’s have a comparative study of the scriptures from both of these religions.
But first, let’s have a proper intro of the two religions.
ISLAM…
The Second largest religion in terms of population in the world after Christianity and the largest religion in the world in terms of people practicing a religion (Oh YES!!! We beat the Christians by MILES).
The Word ISLAM comes from the root word Salam which means Peace. It also means submitting your will to ONE GOD. So, Islam means PEACE ACQUIRED THROUGH SUBMITTING YOUR WILL TO ONE GOD.
The word MUSLIM means someone who submits his will to ONE GOD.
Let’s clear another Word… ALLAH… Basically ALLAH is the proper noun for GOD in ARABIC. For people who are not good with grammatical terms, the word ALLAH is the standard word for "God" in Arabic used not only by Muslims, but also by Bahá'ís, Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and Sikhs.
The Holy Scripture of the Muslim is THE HOLY QURAN, which is considered to be the word of God by the Muslims and the Muslims also follow the authentic teachings/sayings of the Prophet (Pbuh) known as the SAHEEH HADITH.
HINDUISM…
The third largest religion in the world in terms of population.
The word Hindu is derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, the historic local appellation for the Indus River in the north-western part of the Indian subcontinent.
The word Hindu was first used by Arab invaders and then went further west by the Arabic term al-Hind referring to the land of the people who live across river Indus. and the Persian term Hindū referring to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustān emerged as a popular alternative name of India, meaning the "land of Hindus".
The sacred books of Hinduism are divided into two categories, SHRUTI – meaning REVEALED and SMRITI – Meaning REMEMBERED.
The shruti’s are believed to be the word of God and the smriti’s are believed to be written by humans.
Among the sacred scriptures of the Hindu’s the Vedas are the foremost in authority, importance and antiquity. Basically there are four Vedas – RIGVEDA, YAJURVEDA, SAMVEDA, and ATHARVAVEDA.
Next in authority are the UPANISHADS.
Then followed by PURANAS and the EPICS - MAHABHARATA and RAMAYANA. The Bhagavad Gītā, a syncretistic treatise from the Mahabharata is of special importance and is the most read book among the Hindu scriptures.
THE COMPARATIVE STUDY…
I would like to clarify a couple of things first. Many Muslims and Hindus might be offended by this comparative study. I apologise in advance.
Whatever I will quote will be according to the scriptures and I will give proper references as well (Don’t think i am only copy-pasting them from Zakir Naik’s lecture, I have actually verified these references myself, meaning - THEY EXIST!!!).
But what should we compare first???
As a muslim I would like to follow what the Quran says…
Surah Al-Imraan; Chapter # 3, Verse # 64
“Come to common terms as between Us and You”
The first term…
“We worship none but Allah” – ALLAH as I said before means, ONE-GOD.
Second term…
“We associate no partners with him”
Third term…
“We erect not among ourselves, Lords other than Allah”
Simple three terms... In short… COMPARE the CONCEPT of GOD first.
Concept of God in Islam
The best answer any muslim can give about the concept of God in Islam is to quote Surah Al-Ikhlas, Chapter 112.
Verse 1 – “Say, Allah is ONE and ONLY) – Meaning GOD is ONE, without a second.
Verse 2 – “Allah, the absolute and eternal”
Verse 3 – “He begets not, Nor is he begotten” – In simple word, he doesn’t have a Father/Creator, neither does he have a physical son.
Verse 4 – “There is NOTHING LIKE HIM” – Meaning, He is not what we can see or imagine. Whatever we see or imagine about is NOT GOD.
I’M ASKING YOU, COULD ANYONE BE MORE EXPLICIT, MORE EMPHATIC, MORE DOGMATIC OTHER THAN GOD HIMSELF? The answer would be NO!!!
Concept of God in Hinduism
Hinduism is believed by many to be a POLYTHEISTIC religion. Meaning they believe in MORE THAN ONE GOD. But a more popular belief among the Hindus is PANTHEISM. Meaning ANYTHING IS GOD.
Let me elaborate… when you ask a common Hindu, How many Gods are there, some might say 3, some 13, others 330 Million… They believe that the SUN is god. The Cow is god. The snake is god. The fire is god, The human being is god etc. In biblical terms, they consider the WORD/CREATION of god to be GOD HIMSELF. What the muslim believes is that everything is CREATED BY GOD but those created things are NOT god. Let’s use an example with I pinch of common sense –
Suppose, I utter some words, some very beautiful words, those WORDS will always remain as my WORDS. BUT My words are not ME!!! Simple common sense…
Now, lets look at what the Hindu scriptures have to say…
IT IS AT THIS STAGE I WOULD LIKE TO WARN BOTH THE MUSLIMS AND THE HINDUS…
PREPARE FOR THE SHOCK!!! I REPEAT, PREPARE FOR THE SHOCK!!!
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED! IF YOU GO FURTHER AND THEN GET OFFENDED BY ANYTHING THEN UNFORTUNATELY YOU WOULD BE OFFENDED BY YOUR OWN SCRIPTURE.
I will start with the UPANISHADS!
It is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad Chapter 6 Section 2 verse 1
“Ekam Evadvitiyam”
“He (GOD) is one only without a second.”
(Also in The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan pg. 447 & 448
And the Sacred Books of the East Volume 1, the Upanishads Part I Page 93)
Shwetashvatara Upanishad Chapter 6 verse 9
“Nacasya kascij janita na cadhipah”
“Of Him there are neither parents nor Lord.”
Does it sound similar guys???
(Also in The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan pg. 745
And in Sacred books of the East volume 15, the Upanishads Part II Page 263)
Shwetashvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19
“Na tasya pratima asti”
“There is no likeness of Him” – In other words, There is nothing like him.
(Also in The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan pg 736 & 737
And in Sacred books of the East Volume 15, the Upanishads part II, Page no. 253)
Shwetashvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 20
“na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam”.
“His form cannot be seen, no one sees Him with the eye”.
(The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan pg. 737
And in Sacred books of the East Volume 15, the Upanishad part II, Page no. 253)
BHAGVAT GITA Ch. 7 Verse 20
“Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires worship demigods” that is “Those who are materialistic, they worship demigods” DEMIGODS mean – IDOLS, FAKE GODS, PICTURES etc.
Bhagwad Geeta Ch. 10 V. 3
“He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginning-less, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds...”
LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT THE VEDAS NOW.
Yajurveda Chapter 32, Verse 3 (same as Shwetashvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19)
“na tasya pratima asti”
“There is no image of Him”
It further says, “as He is unborn, He deserves our worship”.
(Also in The Yajurveda by Devi Chand M.A. pg. 377)
Yajurveda Chapter 40 Verse 8
“He is bodiless and pure”.
(Also in Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph I. H. Griffith pg. 538)
Yajurved Chapter 40 Verse 9
“Andhatma pravishanti ye assambhuti mupaste”
“They enter darkness, those who worship natural things.”
E.g. worship of natural elements air, water, fire, etc.
It further continues and says
“They sink deeper in darkness those who worship sambhuti i.e. created things”
E.g. created things such as table, chair, idols, etc.
(Also in Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith pg. 538)
Well… Let’s match the above mentioned Verses with the verses of the Quran (Surah al-ikhlas). Let’s MATCH THE SIMILARITIES!
Verse 1 – “Say, Allah is ONE and ONLY”
Same in the Chandogya Upanishad Chapter 6 Section 2 verse 1 which says
“He (GOD) is one only without a second.”
Verse 3 – “He begets not, Nor is he begotten”
“Of Him there are neither parents nor Lord.”
(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 6:9)
“He who knows Me as the unborn, as the beginning-less, as the Supreme Lord of all the worlds...” (Bhagwad Geeta 10:3)
Verse 2 & 4 – “Allah, the absolute and eternal” “There is NOTHING LIKE HIM”
“There is no likeness of Him”.
(Shwetashvatara Upanishad 4:19)
WOW!!! HINDUISM ACTUALLY SPEAKS ABOUT WORSHIPING ONLY ONE GOD, WHO HAS NO IMAGE, NO IDOLS, NO PICTURE, WITHOUT A PARENT OR A SON, ABSOLUTELY ETERNAL!!!!
WAIT BUT WE STILL HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT THE RIGVEDA, THE HIGHEST IN AUTHORITY AMONG THE HINDU BOOKS!!!
It is mentioned in Rigveda Book 8 hymn 1 verse 1
“Ma Chidanyadvi Shansata”
“Do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One, Praise Him alone”
(Also in Rigveda Samhiti Vol. 9, pg. 1 & 2 by Swami Satyaprakash Sarasvati & Satyakam Vidhya Lankar)
Rigveda Book 5 Hymn 81 verse 1
“Verily great is the glory of the Divine Creator”
(Also in Rigveda Samhiti Vol. 6, pg 1802 & 1803 by Swami Satyaprakash Sarasvati & Satyakam Vidhya Lanka)
Rigveda Book no. VI, Hymn 45, verse 16
“Ya Eka Ittamushtuhi”
“Praise Him who is the matchless & alone”
(Also in Hymns of Rigveda by Ralph T. H. Griffith pg. 648)
So, now, What should a Hindu do???
His SCRIPTURES hold the answer
It is mentioned in Rigveda Book no. 1, hymn No. 164 verse 46
“Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti”
“Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names”. – meaning Truth is one, God is one, sages call it by various names.
A similar message is given in Rigveda, Book 10, hymn 114, verse 5.
Rigveda gives no less than 33 different attributes to Almighty God. Several of these attributes are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1
Amongst the various attributes given in Rigveda , one of the beautiful attributes for Almighty God is ‘Brahma’. ‘Brahma’ means ‘the Creator’. If you translate into Arabic it means ‘Khaliq’. Islam does not object to anyone calling Almighty God as ‘Khaliq’ or ‘Creator’ or ‘Brahma’, but if someone says that ‘Brahma’ i.e. Almighty God has got four heads and on each head is a crown and this Brahma has got four hands, Islam takes strong exception to it because such descriptions give an image to Almighty God. Such descriptions are also against what is propounded in Yajurveda Chapter 32, verse 3 which says:
“Na tasya pratima asti”
“There is no image of Him”.
Another beautiful attribute mentioned in the Rigveda Book 2, Hymn 1, Verse 3 is Vishnu. ‘Vishnu’ means ‘the Sustainer’. If you translate this word into Arabic it means ‘Rabb’. Islam has no objection if anyone calls Almighty God as ‘Rabb’ or ‘Sustainer’ or ‘Vishnu’, but if someone says that Vishnu is Almighty God and this Vishnu has four arms, one of the right arms holds the ‘chakra’ i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holds a ‘conch shell’ and Vishnu rides on a bird or reclines on a snake couch, then Islam takes strong exception to this, because such descriptions of Vishnu give an image to Almighty God. Such descriptions are also against what is taught in Yajurveda Chapter 40 verse 8 and also other parts of the Hindu scriptures.
The Brahma Sutra of Hindu Vedanta is:
‘Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan”
In the style of DR ZAKIR NAIK - “Bhagwan ek hi hai dusara nahi hai, nahi hai,nahi hai, zara bhi nahi hai”.
“There is only one God, not a second, not at all, not at all, not in the least bit”.
All the above quoted verses and passages from Hindu Scriptures clearly amplify the Oneness and Uniqueness of Almighty God, the Creator of all. Furthermore, they negate the existence of any other deity besides the One True God. These verses essentially propound monotheism, which is nothing but Islam.
Therefore only if one carefully studies the Hindu Scriptures, will one understand and realize the correct concept of God in Hinduism.
similarities between THE teachings of islam and hinduism
Prohibition of Alcohol & Gambling
It is mentioned in the Qur’an in Surah Al Maidah, Ch 5, V90:
O Ye who believe!
Intoxicants and gambling
(Dedication of) stones,
And (divination by) arrows,
Are an abomination
Of Satan’s handiwork;
Eschew such (abomination),
That ye may prosper.
Same in Manu Smriti Chapter 9, verse 235:
“A priest-killer, a liquor drinker, a thief and a violator of his guru’s marriage bed - all of these, and each separately, should be known as men who committed major crime.”
Further after two verses it is mentioned in:
“These miserable men - whom no one should eat with, no one should sacrifice for, no one should read to, and no one should marry - must wander the earth excommunicated from all religions”.
(Manu Smriti 9:238)
A similar message is repeated in: Manu Smriti Chapter 11 verse 55:
“Killing a priest, drinking liquor, stealing, violating a/the guru’s marriage bed, and associating with those (who commit these acts) are called the major crimes”.
Manu Smriti Chapter 11 verse 94
“For liquor is the defiling dirt excreted from rice, and dirt is said to be evil; therefore a priest, ruler, or commoner should not drink liquor.”
Intoxicants / Intoxicating drinks are prohibited in several other verses of Hindu Scriptures including
i. Manu Smriti Chapter 11 verse 151
ii. Manu Smriti Chapter 7 verses 47-50
iii. Manu Smriti Chapter 9 verse 225
iv. Manu Smriti Chapter 12 verse 45
v. Manu Smriti Chapter 3 verse 159
vi. Rigved Book 8 hymn 2 verse 12
vii. Rigved Book 8 hymn 21 verse 14
Gambling is also prohibited in the Hindu Scriptures in
Rigveda Book 10 Hymn 34 Verse 3:
“A Gamester / gambler says, ‘My wife holds me aloof, my mother hates me’. The wretched man finds none to comfort him."
It is further advised in Rigveda Book 10 Hymn 34 Verse 13:
“Play not with dice: No, cultivate thy corn land. Enjoy the gain and deem that wealth sufficient”.
Gambling is also prohibited in several verses
i. Manu Smriti Chapter 7 Verse 47
ii. Manu Smriti Chapter 9 Verses 221-228
iii. Manu Smriti Chapter 9 Verse 258
Other similarities include - prohibition of: fortune-telling (Horoscopes), giving bribes and consumption of pork, Stealing, Fasting, Pilgrimage, Zakat (Charity), concept of destiny, Judgement day, hell, heaven, Concept of prophet hood, Hijab etc.
So the concept of god according to the Hindu scriptures is nothing but ISLAM which means submitting your will to ONE GOD.
The only thing remains is the belief in Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) and the divine origin of the Quran. According to me if anyone believes in prophet Mohammad (PBUH) to be the last and final messenger then the problem of him believing in the divine origin of the Quran will automatically follow.
Let me finish with another SHOCK for both Hindus and Muslims. A FINAL SHOCK!!!
PROPHET MOHAMMAD IS ALSO MENTIONED IN THE HINDU SCRIPTURES. OH YES! HE IS!!! EVEN BY NAME!!!
My message for the MUSLIMS, Respect the common Hindu. He hasn’t done a proper study of his books, Your Job is to SPREAD THE MESSAGE. Guide the common Hindu.
For the Hindus, Please Study your books and realise that God is only one and Idol worship is strictly forbidden according to your own books and it is absolutely wrong. THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, NOT 3 or 33 CRORE!!!
