Common Ground in Islam and Hinduism

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer contends that Islam and Hinduism are not as irreconcilable as they seem. The writer first considers the apparent contrasts, and to this end provides a detailed analysis of scripture and cosmology. The writer then tries to penetrate through the contrasts and arrive at fundamentals and essences, and in the process uncovers the similarities. The fundamentals are identified and the underlying affinities unveiled. Specifically, the paper takes two characteristics into consideration: sacred scripture and cosmology. Each investigation begins with the manifest and accepted contrasts, and then tries to uncover the hidden fundamental convergence. Literary criticism and sociology are used to judge the sacred scriptures and an analytical approach is taken towards cosmology.

From the Paper:

"The learned Hindu acknowledged the disparity and offers the excuse that the ordinary devout require a tangible focus for their devotion, for the unrepresented is hard to picture, and without a picture their devotion fails to concentrate. He must cross over to a higher plane of spiritual development before he can learn to discard his idols and worship God as the transcendental unity. This is tantamount to conceding that the majority part of Hindu religion is nothing other than a corruption of Vedic religion. And once the fundamentals are re-established then the Hindu scriptures will be seen to be prophetic in nature, just as the Koran is, and being the revealed message of the one God. It is also easy to picture how the various manifestation of the one God crystallized, though the passage of time, into pictorially representative gods, the pantheon of which consists of 33."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Ali, Abdullah Yusuf. The Meaning of the Holy Quran. Beltville, MD: Amana Publications, 1995.
• Farah, Caesar E. Islam: Beliefs and Observances. Hauppauge, NY: Barron's Educational Series, 2003.
• Fowler, Jeaneane D. Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices. Eastbourne, UK: Sussex Academic Press, 1997.
• Hughes, Thomas Patrick & Hughes, Patrick. A Dictionary of Islam. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services, 1995.
• Naik, Zakir. Concept of God in Major Religions. Mumbai: Islamic Research Foundation.

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