Through this series, we are endeavoring to reduce the hostility between Hindus and Muslims. Request you to share the article if you like the campaign. Look out for the third part tomorrow!

I believe that there was never any original religious dispute between Hindus and Muslims. Rather, communal forces, the Britishers and politicians created a deep divide between Hindus from Muslims for their greater advantage.

I, as a responsible passionate citizen of India am building up a strong campaign to diminish and wash away the waves of hatred stirring up through social media. This is my second literary work of the same campaign and I want to elucidate a new point.

The Christians and Jews are generally considered to be the closely-linked religions of Muslims because these three religions connect to the descendants of Hazrat Ibrahim and its spread from the Arabian soil, but very few people know that there is a great difference in beliefs and values between Hindus and Muslims.

The first similarity is that Sanatan Dharma (Hinduism) introduced the world to monotheism thousands of years ago and Muslims are also monotheists. The old Vedic Hindu scriptures first recorded that the creator of this world is God who is formless, infinite, omnipresent and omniscient. There is nowhere else, it has always been and always will be. These eternal truths have been fastened to the hearts of humanity since the inception of time and undoubtedly, Muslims also hold the same belief about God (Allah).

I once asked Shankaracharya Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati, “What is the belief about God in Sanatan Dharma?”He replied, “What the Muslims believe about Allah is the same as what the Hindus believe about God; the only difference is that the Hindus also believe that God Himself can descend on the earth in the form of a human whereas the Muslims believe that instead of incarnating Himself in the form of a human being, He takes His incarnation as a Prophet on earth.

A different feature of Islam is a clear instruction to Muslims not to follow other religions.
Islam instructs Muslims not to utter abusive words about incarnations and revered persons. It is said in the Qur’an, “Look, those who call upon other gods (gods) other than Allah, do not speak evil of them.” It has been further said that We (Allah / God) have created the health (mentality) of human beings like this and that each group sees its action as good, then in the end all have to return to their Lord (Sustainer).”

In the 48th verse of the 5th surah of the Holy Qur’an, it is said that “We (Allah/God) has prescribed for each of you a special Shari’ah (religious code of conduct) and way (certain) If Allah wanted, He would have made all of you into an Ummah (a religious group), but He made His own and wants to test you by the law passed to enable you to overtake and outdo each other positively in the paths of righteousness.”

It is also important to understand that all these different religions are created by the will of Allah (God) and He only wants His servants (devotees) to do virtuous deeds.
Ponder about this vital truth: Since human society has been divided by the will of God, what then is the need to fight in the name of religion?

To get an idea of how close the two religions are, here are some similarities between the Vedas and the Qur’an. The Qur’an said 1400 years ago that Allah (God) is one, and several thousand years ago, the Hindu scripture said “Ekam avadvitiyam”(“एकम् एवाद्वितियम”) meaning ‘He is only One’.

Similarly, in Surah-e-Tawheed of the Qur’an, it is said that “Say Allah is One, He is infallible, He has no son, He is no one’s son nor He has any life partner” and this is similarly highlighted in the Hindu scripture and written “He has neither parents nor children. (Svetasvatara Upanishad, Adhyay 4, Shlok 19) “Na Tasya Pratima Asti” (“न तस्य प्रतिमा अस्ति”) i.e. He cannot have any image. Asya, na kaksusa pashyati kasa kanainam” (“न सम्द्रसे तिस्थति रूपम् अस्य, न कक्सुसा पश्यति कस कनैनम”) means that no one can see Him, He cannot be seen by anyone’s eyes. (Brahma Sutra of Vedanta) “Ekam brahma, second naste, neh-naye naaste, naste kinchan” (“एकम् ब्रह्म, द्वितीय नास्ते, नेह-नये नास्ते, नास्ते किंचन”) means God is One. It is, the other is not, is not, is not, is not at all.

In the 40th verse of the second chapter of the Gita, it is said, “Leave the religious upheaval, take refuge in Me (God) alone, that is, complete devotion to the one God is the root of religion. The method of attaining that Lord is fixed.” Conduct is righteousness.”
One vital point I want to bring forth is the Muslims had come to India within a few years of the spread of Islam, but they did not come to know about the teachings of the Vedas, that is why most of the people could not understand Sanatan Dharma. Perhaps one of the reasons for that was because the Vedas were out of reach to the common people and could only be recited by the upper classes.

(This topic is ongoing and to be continued in the next series. If you are motivated by my campaign, please do forward my article to your friends’ circles).

1 First Part