Examining Hinduism from an Islamic Perspective

The Eastern religious have similarities among them in terms of their beliefs and practices. They also have common features with Judaism, Christianity and even Islam. Of these common features is the concept of accountability and the concept of the importance of religions in the life of people. They also have differences which separate the religious traditions of the east from Abrahamic religions. One such concept is polytheism. In Eastern religions we find a god for almost every aspect of their lives. Another concept is belief in the reincarnation of the soul where it returns and lives again in the body of some other creature depending of the destiny of the person whose soul is lost. Through this process the soul experiences enjoyment or punishment. Islam was accepted by a large part of the Eastern world because they were convinced of its truth. So it flourished in India, China and other areas.. The Quran says:

“There is no one single nation but it has received a Warner”

We do not know if the origin of Eastern religions is in the from of messengers that were sent to them or whether it was innovated by the people.. Regardless, we believe that these religions are false and we do not treat these people like we treat the People of the Book.

Hinduism is a major Eastern religion found in India. It evolved through a long period of history from 15^th century BC. It contains spiritual and behavior instructions. for its followers The Hindus believe in a variety of gods. It is not known how Hinduism started. The authors of its holy texts are not well known. It was reformed and rewritten several centuries before Christ. It has very many books. A book the have is called Veda which is a Sanskrit word mean which means wisdom and knowledge. The Veda shows the levels of how to develop a sophisticated mental ability. It contains supplications which lead to the belief of mixing between the Creator and the created. It also contains supplications for the priests. There is also Samarveda which are hymns that are sung during the prayers. There is the TharwaVeda which is used to repel sorcery and satanic elements. There is the Laws of Manu which was written in third century before Christ.  There are many other books like the Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc.

Although they are polytheists, to them monotheism means that when they worship a particular god, they totally devote themselves to it. They believe that every matter that has a beneficial aspect or harmful aspect, has a god for the benefit and a god for the harm. Thus, they have a multitude of gods. In the 9^th century before Christ, their leaders and priests combined all gods into one god through which they claimed that the entire world came out from. They call him Bhrama. They also believe in Vishnu who guards and protects as well as Shiva who destroys. They believe that whoever worships one of these gods, it is as if he had worshiped all three and thus worshiped the one god. This is a form of trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva that they believe in.

They treat the cow, monkey, elephant and snake as holy, although the cow is more holy than other animals. They are not allowed to harm or slaughter it. When the cow dies it is buried in a religious ceremony. 

They believe that their god came and inhabited a human called Krishna. They believe in Krishna in a similar way that Christians believe in Christ. Some Muslim scholars think that the concept of trinity in Christianity may be taken from Hinduism.

Hinduism implements an ancient class system in Hindu society. The divide people into four categories:

• The Brahmin, they believe, were created by god from his own mouth. In society they are the teachers, judges and priests. They are most superior..
• The Kashatrya, they believe, that god created them from his arms. In society that are the warriors.
• The Vish , they believe, were created from god’s thigh. They are farmers and traders and financially support religious institutions.
• The Shuder are the lowest class which they believe were created from god’s feet. Their duty is to serve the other classes.

Hindus agree to submit to the class system due to religious motivation. A man from a class other than the lowest class can marry from a higher class or a lower class but not the lowest class. A man in the lowest class can only marry within his own class. A Brahmin is considered to be the best. They have the right to take as much wealth as they please from people from other classes specially those of the lowest class. They are not supposed to pay taxes. They are not supposed to be killed even if they kill. The most severe punishment for them if they kill is to have their head shaved. Even a 10 year old Brahmin is more valued in society than a 100 year old Shuder. There are very severe punishments for the Shuder. If they teach a Brhamin the Shuder will be forced to drink boiling oil. Many people from Shuder found their dignity in Islam and accepted it.

The Hindus believe in karma i.e. that this world is based on justice and there will be justice in this life or the hereafter. They take this life as a period of trial as well as a place for recompense. They also believe in reincarnation. They believe that when a person dies, only the body gets decomposed. The soul comes out and goes to get into another body. The determination of the type of the second body is based on how the person in the first body lived. They believe in the unity of the universe in that the Creator is confused and mixed with his creation. They believe that the entire universe is a manifestation of god.

The burn the corpses because they believe this allows the soul to escape and rise from the body to reach the highest level in the shortest period of time. According to them burning gives freedom to the soul from the frame of the body. They believe that the soul either rises to the highest place that of the angels or goes to people or to be reincarnated or goes to the hellfire. There is a hellfire for each sin. 

When the husband dies, his wife is not allowed to be married again. She lives in misery, is tortured and humiliation. Many wives choose to burn with their husband's corpse. They used to allow child marriages even when the children are crawling. If the boy dies, the girl was not allowed to marry again. In modern Indian law child marriages are forbidden.

The Hindus control the government institutions in India. Muslims live as minorities. There is a lot of differences between Hindus and Muslims which has led to a lot of animosity between them. This led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947 for the Muslims. Muslim minority still live with Hindus in India.