HVK Archives: Is Islamic goodwill for Hindus possible?
Is Islamic goodwill for Hindus possible? - The Organiser
David Frawley
()
14 October 1996
Title : Is Islamic goodwill for Hindus possible? (Agenda)
Author : David Frawley
Publication : The Organiser
Date : October 14, 1996
Hindus today are often asked to express goodwill for
Islam and help minority Muslims in India, who often fell
oppressed under the Hindu majority rule. However Hindus
are also minorities in various Islamic countries. There-
fore the complementary question must arise, is there any
Islamic goodwill for Hindus, particularly in Islamic
countries? To look at Hindu-Muslim relations only within
the borders of India where Hindus are a majority can be
misleading. The entire context of these relations
throughout the world and historically must be examined.
Hindus traditionally are tolerant people and have provid-
ed a refuge for many religious refugees, like the Parsis,
the Syrian Christians and the Jews. India is the only
country that never oppressed the Jews. Even today there
are a number of Islamicsects like the Ahmadiyas, the
Bohras and the Sufis, and other religious movements
originating from Islamic countries like the Bahais, which
may not be tolerated in Islamic countries including
Pakistan, and exist and flourish in India. In fact there
is a greater diversity of Islamic sects in India than in
any Islamic country today because of the religious toler-
ance traditional to Hindu-majority India. When Muslims
lived under Hindu rule in pre-Independence India they
were not obstructed frm practicing their religion, sub-
ject to forced conversion, religious taxes, or prevented
from building mosques. The same is true of Muslims in
India today. They are allowed to practice their religion
without interference from Hindus.
Muslims, on the other hand, do not have such a history of
tolerance starting with the first chaliphs of Islam who
set out organised armies to conquer the world and marched
to the very borders of India. During the period of Isla-
mic rule in India most Hindu temples in the country were
destroyed, including many that were rebuilt during that
period. Hindus had to witness the ongoing destruction of
their most holy places because of Muslim intolerance of
other religions. The number of temples destroyed runs in
thousands and it is difficult to find even a haldful of
temples in India that were not either destroyed ro de-
faced by the Muslims. Hundreds of thousands, if not
millions, of Hindus were killed in wars and genocide or
turned into slaves. this included many religious leaders
like various Sikh and Hindu Gurus whom the Muslims exe-
cuted. Hindus exdured forced conversion and a heavy
religious tax to convert them.
Yet this oppression for Hindus has not ended. Even after
the Partition of India in favour of the Muslims, the
Hindus left over in Pakistan and Bangladesh have suffered
terribly. They have no real political or economical
influence and the law seldom protects them. This problem
of Islamic intolerance of Hindus goes for beyond the
borders of the Indian subcontinent. Strictly Islamic
countries, like Saudi Arabia, do not allow any other
religions to exist within their border. No Hindu temple
can be built in such Islamic countries by the Hindus who
worl there. You will not find any Hindu temples in Mecca
or other Islamic holy cities. Hindus who have gone to
work in the Gulf countries are not allowed to practice
their religion in public, or bring any of their Hindu
holy books with them. Even in India today Muslims do not
tolerate and often attack the Hindu religious processions
that may go through or near their neighbourhood. This is
a holdover right from the Islamic period in Indian when
Hindus were prevented from publicly expressing their
religion in Muslim predominant communities.
Saudi Arabia insists that India sends only a Muslim
ambassador and the Government of India meekly complies,
not even raising protest! How would Islamic countries, in
which Hindus are a minority, respond if the Government of
India insisted that they sent only Hindu ambassadors?
Certainly it would not be tolerated. Most instance of
Muslim goodwill to Hindus occur in countries like Indone-
sia which were only recently and partially Islamized. It
is not owing to Islam, which is intolerant in its hear-
land, but owing to the prior Hindu culture of the people.
The more Islamic these countries become this tolerance is
likely to decrease.
Today with growing global communication and the awakening
of oppressed groups throughout the world, Hindu criticism
of Islam is increasing. Hindu intellectuals are question-
ing Islam not only historically but also spiritually,
particularly its actions in India relative to Indian
religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The Hindu influenced
political parties routinely complain against appeasement
of the Muslim minority in India.
That Hindus may criticize other religions may be surpris-
ing to those who know the history of tolerance in Hindu-
ism. It may cause them to think that Hindus are becoming
intolerant. However, the other side of the issue must
also be examined. That Hindus are becoming critical of
Islam may not be so surprising to those who know of the
ongoing oppression of Hindus by Muslims.
Hindus today are awakening to an understanding of the
thousand years of oppression they underwent during nearly
a thousand years of foreign rule by the Muslims and the
Europeans. Their religion and culture was constantly
under siege throughout the period. When Hindus today
criticize the British rule of India and its efforts to
Christinize India, it is generally regarded as under-
standable. However when Hindus criticize the Islamic
period which was similarly a foreign rule and far more
brutal than the British period, with a more determined
attempt at conversion, it may be labelled as Hindu into-
ferance of Islam (suggesting that there is Islamic toler-
ance of Hinduism, which has yet to be demonstrat). But if
British rule and Chritian intolerance of Hindus can be
questioned, so can, similar action done by Muslims.
Just as blacks and women are, making an issue of their
historical oppression, seeking an acknowledgment of it,
and trying to correct it, so are Hindus. This is perfect-
ly reasonable and modern, not fundamentalist and backward
for them to do so. There is probably no other religious
or political group in the world that has been slower to
protest its historical mistreatment than have the Hindus.
Hindus are the least organised socially and politically
of all religious groups. The fact is that Musli8ms have
routinely treated Hindus badly and this trend has con-
tinued. Not merely as Hindus but as human beings, Hindus
have a right to draw the line.
Long oppressed groups, like the Blacks in America, may
react with anger or even violence when they awaken to the
fact of their oppression and seek some rectification of
historical wrongs. Hindus today similarly are becoming
more aggressive. Should this become exvessive it would be
regrettable, but it is not without justification and does
not mean their basic reaction is wrong. Hindus now are no
longer willing to meekly accept domination and abuse by
Muslims in the name of communal harmoney. This is just
another human community no longer of its human rights. It
is about time that Hindus have taken this stance and it
can only help other oppressed groups gain their legiti-
mate rights as well.
The question is how will Muslims react to this trend?
Will they recognize the legitimate anger of the Hindus
against them, take some resposibility for the problem,
and seek to correct it? Or will they rect with hostility
and refuse to acknowledge the history of violence that
Muslims have without doubt peroetrated against Hindus?
Will they take the opportunity to create oeace or will
they inflame Hindus further by ignoring the mistakes done
in the name of their religion? Muslis throughout the
world are quick to condemn any oppressionof Muslims which
occurs in any part of the world. Should they be surprised
or feel that it is wrong if Hindus begin to adopt such
attitudes and start challenging the oppression of Hindus
by Muslims?
In Hindu-Muslim dialogue since the time of Mahatma Gandhi
has generally been a matter of Hindus trying to please ir
accommodate Muslims. This led to the Partition of India
in favour of the Muslims and the allowance of Muslim
personal law for Muslims in India (but not, we might add,
Hindu personal law for Hindus in Pakistan). The question
is seldom asked what are Muslims willing to concede to
Hindus in order to create peace with them? Perhaps be-
cause Muslims are a minority in India it is not consid-
ered what they should give but only what they should
receive. However there must be reciprocity for there to
be trust. And the Hindu-Muslim issue is not limityed to
India but to all lands where these two faiths meet. If
Muslims throughout the world are intolerance of Hinduism,
how can Indian Muslims expect Hindus in India not to be
suspricious of them?
Muslims sometimes complain that they are discriminated
against in India, and that they are not represented in
the government. They must also consider the plight of
Hindus in Muslim countries. How many Hindu political
leaders have there been in Pakistan and Bangladesh? I
believe the answer is zero, even though, at least in
Bangladesh the percentage of minority Hindus is on par
with that of Muslims in India. There have, however, been
Muslim President, Members of Parliament, chief ministers
of State and cabinet minister of India has increased
since Partition while the Hindu population of Pakistan
and Bangladesh has dramatically decreased.
Clearly Muslims in India are treated much better than
Hindus in Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Gulf countries.
There are no Hindu prayers or songs allowed on Pakistani
prayers and songs which can be found on Indian telebision
Pakistan history books still vaunt Islamic leaders like
Mahmud of Ghazni and Aurangzeb, who destroyed temples and
killed Hindus on a grand scale, as great and pious Mus-
lims and great Pakistanis.
The treatment of Muslims in India cannot be devorced from
the treatment of Hindus in Islamic countries. if Muslims
in India want to be treated better, they must make ef-
forts to get Hindus treated better in Islamic countries,
who are much more likely to listen to their protests than
those of Hindus. Muslims cannot rightfully expect better
treatment from Hindus if they do not consider the plight
of Hindus as will. There must be a concern for discrimi-
nation against all human beings, regardless of their
religion, not looking out for Muslims and ignoring the
plight of non-Muslims.
The further question arises, if Muslims want the goodwill
of Hindus what are they willing to offer in order to
receive it? Do Muslims think that they should have the
goodwill of Hindus without offering anythink to the
Hindus in return? Can they really think that their his-
tory merits the trust and affection of Hindus? While
Muslims may feel offended by Hindus, they should remember
that in their history they have done little to consider
the feelings of Hindus or help them out. It is they who
have historically been aggressively attacking Hindus, not
Hindus who have sent armies into their countries in order
to convert them.
Hindus do have an historical right to critize Islam,
which continues to target them and malign their religion.
Muslims routinely condemn Hindus as idol-worshippers,
which is hardly an accurate, much less a sensitiverender-
ing of Hinduism, which is a vast religion containig all
avenues of human spirituality from devotional worship of
images to yogic meditation.
Muslims in India recently had a great opportunity to
redress the wrongs of history by giving the disputed
Beburi structure back to the Hindus. It would have creat-
ed much goodwill between the communities and proved to
Hindus that Muslims in India, unlike most Muslims
throughout the world, were not anti-Hindu. After all,
Muslims had not worshipped in the Baburi monument for
over fifty years and it never was one of their main holy
sites. What did they have to lose by giving it back? It
was built on the main hill in the Hindu sacred city of
Ayodhya to humiliate the Hindus, not to peacefully wor-
ship God. However out of their pride and intolerance the
Muslims have not taken advantage of this opportunity.
They are unwilling to recognize the validity of Hindu
complaints against them, which makes their own complaints
against the Hindus lack any credibility.
Many Muslims and other have argued that Hindu temples
were not destroyed out of religious reasons but from
political motivation. Therefore the blam for this de-
struction is not with the Islamic religion, which is one
of peace, but with political leaders who are prone to
violence in order to hold power whatever their religious
background. If this is the case Muslims should be happy
to return such Hindu sacred sites as Kashi and Mathura.
Mosques on these two sites of well known Hindu temples
were built only three centuries ago by the tyrant Aurang-
zeb, who killed his own brother, imprisoned his own
father, and murdered Sufis as well as Hindu and Sikh
leaders. If Islam as a religion is not responsible for
the destruction of these Hindu temples but the arrogance
of such as Aurangzeb, Muslims should not cling to such
monuments as sacred. Otherwise Muslims are in fact saying
that the destruction of temples and their replacement
with mosques has a religions sanction, which is to equate
their religion with such tyrants.
Yet this condition is hardly hopless. there is much that
Muslims can do to gain the trust of Hindus, who are a
peaceful and tolerant people. But this issue is mainly in
the hands of the Muslims. Hindus cannot make peace with
Muslims who are unwilling to give up their oppression of
Hindus or their targeting for conversion. Muslims should
be willing to consider doing the following if they are
sincere about peace with the Hindus.
(1) Muslim leaders should make an official apology for
the massive destruction of temples and killing of Hindus
that was common under their rule in India and by their
invading armies. One can use the example of the Chris-
tians apologizing to the American Indians or the Blacks
for similar discrimination and oppression.
(2) Muslims should give back to the Hindus Ayodhya,
Kashi and Mathura mosques that were built by Babur and
Aurangazeb on Ramjanmabhoomi, the Kashi Vishwanath Shiva
tenoke and Krishnajanmabhoomi, just as they didi not try
to hold on the Somnath after Partition of India. This
could be a peace offering for all the Hindu temples
destroyed by Muslims through history.
(3) Muslims should invite Hindu swamis and religious
leaders to speak at their mosques to explain to the
Muslims masses what Hinduism really teaches. In the same
way Hindus should invite Islamic leaders to speak at
their temples. Muslim countries should allow Hindus to
preach and build temples, particularly for Hindu workers
in those countries. They should also invite Hindus to
talk and preach their religion in orther to dispel Isla-
mic misunderstandings about Hinduism.
(4) Muslims should be willing to accept Hindu names for
God like ishvara as good as Allah. Hindus should also
accpet Allah as a name of God as many of them already do.
(5) Muslims should be willing to accept the great teach-
ers of India-based religions as divinely inspired, in-
cluding those of recent centuries like Sikh Gurus or
Ramakrishna, just as Hindus honour many Sufis and Islamic
saints.
(6) Indian Muslims should complain to Muslim countries
that discriminate against Hindus. They should criticize
Pakistan and Bangladesh for the destruction of Hindu
temples that has gone on there in recent times.
Of course it is doubtful whether this will occur any-time
soon, even on one of these points. If this is the case,
Muslims should ask themselves, if they are unwilling to
make such gestures of goodwill to the Hindus why should
they expect Hindus to respect and honour them in return?
You cannot repeatedly trample on a person and his culture
and then expect him to help you when you are in need.
Muslims, who claim to follow the will of God, think
clearly on the history of Islam, and how members of your
religion have mistreated Hindus and denigrated their
religion. Think of how your religious leaders portray the
Hindu religion even today. Would you be quick to embrace
a group who treated you in the same way?
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