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Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism A Comparative Study


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Hinduism, Islam

and Sikhism A Comparative Study

By Dr. Abid Mushtaq Wani

PhD Comparative Religion Department of Islamic Studies

University of Kashmir

India

EDUCREATION PUBLISHING (Since 2011)

www.educreation.in


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Content List

Sr. No. Content Page

Introduction 1

1. Hinduism, Islam and

Sikhism

4

2. Concept of God in Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism

61

3. Concept of afterlife in

Hinduism, Islam and

Sikhism

126

4. Concept of Revelation in

Hinduism, Islam and

Sikhism

183

Conclusion 232


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Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism - A Comparative Study

1

Introduction __________________________________________

The study of Religion is acquiring Knowledge of

our metaphysical history and should be done for its own sake. It is also to quench our emotional

and intellectual thirst and a philosophical

endevour. A religious phenomenon is peculiar to

human species as it is because of our most sophisticated consciousness that we yearn for

more than just survival techniques. The

Comparative Study of Religion also helps us to

know each others‘ creed and rumour mongering

is discouraged. This will hopefully lead to understanding and communal harmony. As

Kashmir is the place of diverse religions,

prominent among them is Hinduism, Islam and

Sikhism, I have confined my work to the study of these three religions. I hope this will lead to a

positive understanding of each other‘s religion.

My approach in this work is descriptive in

which I have elaborated the concepts of theology especially with respect to Hinduism, Islam and

Sikhism. I have confined this thesis to only these

three religions but have briefly described other

major religions and cults. Furthermore, general concepts of religion, concept of God, life after

death, Divine revelation and religious leadership

have been discussed.

The first chapter is Hinduism, Islam and

Sikhism. It is an effort to describe thoroughly these three major religions of the world. I


Dr. Abid Mushtaq Wani

2

considered Vedas and Upanishads as the major

and primal source of Hinduism. Most of the

scholars of Hinduism have discarded the books

like Manusmriti as the source or lawbook of

Hinduism. The ethical code of Hinduism is best presented in the Yogasutra of Patanjali as Yamas

and Niyams. Islamic theology is taken from

Quran and the authentic words of prophet.

Sikhism is defined, mentioning the theories of scholars about it.

In the second chapter I have discussed the

concept of God in Hinduism. Primarily the

Upanishads are presented as a source from where the concept of God is taken but later in the

chapter Vedic pantheon of gods and goddesses

are also presented with their literal and symbolic

interpretations. Islamic concept of God has been

taken mostly from Quran. The importance of monotheism and the abhorrence of polytheism

according to Islamic theology have been stated.

In Sikhism the concept of God is thoroughly

mentioned from the Guru Granth Sahib which is the religious poetry of Gurus and saints mostly in

praise of God.

Third chapter is about the life after death. The

life after death as stated in Quran, Hadith, Vedas, Upanishads, Gita and Guru Granth Sahib has

been mentioned.

Last chapter discusses the concept of

revelation from God and the religious heads on which the revelation is bestowed from God. The

concept of revelation and its variants are

mentioned and thoroughly discussed from Hindu,

Islamic and Sikh point of view. Avatarhood, Rishi

phenomena, prophethood and gurudom also have been written.



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In conclusion I have tried to compare these

theological concepts from Hinduism, Islam and

Sikhism.

*****



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Chapter 1 Hinduism, Islam And Sikhism __________________________________________

HINDUISM

Hinduism is one of the ancient religions of the world. It is an amalgamation of many aspects of

theology and philosophy. It is a heterodox

religion combining in its fold various beliefs of

ancient people of India. The sacred texts of

Hinduism contain monotheism, monism, pantheism, polytheism and animism. India is a

country of diverse kinds of people but centralized

in a cohesive paradigm of Hindu panorama.

There is a view of the Absolute Brahman in the Upanishads at the one end and a plethora of

Vedic deities on the other. That means Hinduism

ranges from the metaphysical Monism to the

pagan animism. There have always been different interpretations of this deep religion. Hinduism

has six systems of philosophies, some of which

are without the concept or mention of a supreme

deity. It means Hinduism can take diverse range of beliefs in its fold. In this sense Hinduism is one

of the inclusive religions of the world. In this

inclusive system AdiShankaracharya can come up

with his Advaita or Non Dual philosophy about

the nature of God and universe, also Ramanujacharya brings forth the interpretation of

Dualism or separation of God and the universe.

Hence both the personalist and the impersonalist



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interpretations about the nature of Divine Being

can coexist in Hinduism.

A specific classification of Hinduism can be

done in two forms; spiritualistic and ritualistic.

Pure source of spiritualism in Hinduism is the metaphysical treatises known as Upanishads. The

philosophical message embedded in the

Upanishads is known as Vedanta. Here one can

rise beyond the confines of organized religion because its approach is not dogmatic or

theological but mystical and metaphysical. But

there are other scriptures in Hinduism as well

that are the source of much ritualistic jargon, such as caste system. Manusmriti can be brought

as an example for a ritualistic setup of Hinduism.

As we saw the coexisting of the personalism and

the impersonalism in Hindu theology so is the

coexistence of the spiritualistic and the ritualistic aspects present in the religious literature and in

its various interpretations by various prominent

scholars of the past and the present era.

Hinduism has been a mother of many other prominent religions and ideologies and has

influenced other metaphysical worldviews. We

shall further define and explore Hinduism; it has

neither a specific moment of origin nor a specific founder. Hindus believe that it has always existed

and will always exist. Hinduism is called as

Sanatana Dharma or ‗Eternal Religion‘ by Hindu

scholars and common masses. It is thus a tradition of complex nature with various sects

and sub sects with some commonality but it lacks

a unified system of dogmas and rituals. It has

numerous local and regional variations. One

approach is to see all these sects as distinct religions and other approach is to see them as

various paths sharing the same destination. At



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the heart of Hinduism is the doctrine of Samsara

or the cycle of birth and death which can be

ended by Moksha or the final liberation. One‘s

next life is determined by the actions‘ words and

thoughts of previous births. These actions are called Karma. The Law of Karma is a process of

cause and effect. Most of the Hindus believe that

the whole existence is populated by numerous

deities or gods and goddesses who interact with the humans in various apparent and mysterious

ways. A certain classification of the Hindu sects

can be done in four parts; Shaivism or the

worship of Shiva, Vaishnavism or the worship of Vishnu, Shaktism or the worship of Goddess

Shakti and Smarta or those who go beyond

dualities and adore the Absolute Brahma.

The term Hindu is a Persian form of Sindhu,

which is a river in northwest India. It was first used in the 14th century by Arabs, Persians, and

Afghans to describe the people of India. Later the

term Hinduism was adopted by British colonial

administration to describe various beliefs and practices of India. It is difficult to say with

accuracy when the religion of Hinduism began.

―Excavations by Sir John Marshall in the 1920s

revealed a pre-Aryan civilization in the Indus Valley at the two cities of Harappa and

Mohenjodaro (the Mound of the Dead), in the

North West of India. This culture dates from circa

3000 BC, and it continued to flourish until circa 2000 BC, when it began to wane‖1. Historians

mostly hold the opinion that this religion has its

origin in this Indus Valley civilization. Many

statues were found by archaeologists in this area

which can be seen as representation of old Hindu religion which predates Vedas historically. Many

statues were sitting in the Yogic postures and



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some idols resemble the deity Shiva in the form

of Pashupati. Historians generally agree that

1500 BC is the date when Vedic civilization

began. Many historians are of the opinion that a

race known as Aryans invaded India from the Central Asia and established the Vedic religion

which later mixed with the local traditions and

became a building block for the foundation of the

Hinduism. But this Aryan invasion theory is disputed by various scholars who opine that

Aryans didn‘t come from the outside but were the

natives of North India.

It is customary for the historians of the philosophy and religion of India to commence

their studies with the Rig Veda which is regarded

as the earliest sacred text of ancient Indian

culture. A study of the Vedas forms generally the

beginning of an advanced learning in the philosophical and the religious literature of India.

The Rig Veda is a book of metrical hymns and is

divided into ten parts called Mandalas. Another

division of the book is into eight sections called Ashtakas. The hymns of the Rig Veda, called

Mantras, are powerfully constructed poems, with

an amazing power of rhythm, spontaneity and

sublimity of effect, and charged with soulful inspiration, usually with the four feet of the

metre into which every poem is cast. The poem is

pregnant with great meaning and force which can

be directed, by a proper recitation of it, for or against any objective here or hereafter. The

hymn has the power to protect (trayate) the one

who contemplates (mananat) on it, and hence

the name Mantra. The mantras of the Vedas are

intended to invoke the deities to whom they are addressed, and to summon the power of the

deities for executing an ideal. They are the



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means of connection with the denizens of the

celestial world and the divinities that immanently

guard and perform different functions in the

various planes of existence. There are also

Mantras addressed in glorification of the Universal Being or the Absolute2.

The Vedas are classified into four groups,

called Rik, Sam, Yajur and Atharva. The Rig Veda

is primarily concerned with panegyrics to the gods in the heavens, and is the main book of

mantras. The Yajur Veda is classified into the

Krishna (black) and Shukla (white) parts. The

Yajur Veda contains mainly sacrificial formulae in prose and verse to be chanted at the

performance of sacrifice. The Atharva Veda

abounds mainly in spells and incantations in

verse meant for different lower purposes than the

purely spiritual. Every Veda has four divisions, called the

Samhita, Brahmana, Aranyaka and Upanishad.

The Samhita portion of the Vedas embodies the

hymns or prayers offered to deities, as already mentioned. The Brahmanas are the ritualistic

portion of the Vedas which expatiate on the

details of performing sacrifices. The most famous

and costly of these sacrifices are the Rajasuya, Ashvameda, Agnishtoma and Soma Yagya,

undertaken either for the earthly sovereignty or

for the heavenly joy3. This was all about Vedas.

The portion of the Upanishads needs thorough explanation as they are the most profound

philosophical and the spiritual foundations of

Hinduism and which has influenced many

spiritualist traditions.

The saints and sages of the spiritualist tradition could not remain satisfied with mere

rituals of the Vedas. Hence they meditated in



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lonely places to gain access to the metaphysical

reality. They are the originators or the source of

the Upanishads. Upanishads are usually in a style

of question and answer, question asked by a

spiritual seeker and answered by an enlightened sage. It‘s the reason that Bhagavad Gita is also

considered by many scholars as a sort of

Upanishad because Krishna has answered the

philosophical and spiritual questions of Arjuna. Upanishads have influenced today‘s New Age

spiritual philosophies including Theosophy. These

treatises contain the knowledge of the Absolute

Being or the Brahman, the Ultimate Godhead and also the description about the nature of soul and

enlightenment.

The Upanishads hold that the Universe is in

essence a spiritual unity. In the light of

Consciousness Absolute is all things. The Supreme Being can neither be seen, nor heard,

nor thought, nor understood, with the faculties of

the individual. He can be recognized where the

ego is abolished. Hence one should adore and contemplate on the Reality as Supreme Love and

Delight, whereby the Universe begins to

reciprocate this love to the votary of such

meditation. The Absolute is consciousness. It is the root of all existence. The Infinite alone is

bliss4. The concept of God is further explored in

the light of the Upanishads in the next chapter.

Let us classify the historical stages of Hinduism. Dr K.R. Sundarajan writes, ―In broad

outline the history of Hinduism can be divided

into five periods : the Vedic period 1500 B.C. to

600 B.C. ; the Epic period from 600 B.C. to A.D.

200 ; the Sutra period and the systematic development of the Hindu systems of philosophy

beginning from the early Christian era ; the


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