The Concept of God in Hinduism and Islam

Do You Know?

The much awaited dialogue by Dr. Zakir Naik and Sri Sri Ravi
Shankar on the topic.

The Concept of God in Hinduism and Islam

In The Light Of Sacred Scriptures

Took place in Bangalore in front of a jam packed crowd of about

50000, at the Palace Grounds on 21st Jan 2006.

Date : January 21, 2006.

IN BRIEF

Dr Zakir Naik : I started my talk by quoting a Verse from the

glorious Quran from Surah Al-Imraan Chapter #3 Verse
#64 which says : Qul ya ahla alkitabi (say oh people of the
Book) taAAalawila kalimatin sawa-in baynana
wabaynakum (come to common terms as in us and you) which is
the first term? allanaAAbuda illa Allaha (that you worship none
but Allah, Almighty God)wala nushrika bihishay-an (that we
associate no partners with him) wala yattakhitha
baAAdunabaAAdan arbaban min dooni Allahi (that we erect not
among ourselves Lords and Patrons other than
Allah)faintawallaw (if they turn back)faqooloo ishhadoo (say you
bear witness) bi-anna muslimoona (that we are Muslims bowing
our will to Allah Almighty God).

This Verse of the glorious Quran though it particularly speaks to

the ahle kithaab, the Jews and Christians, it is meant for all
different types of people, it saystaAAalawila kalimatin sawa-in
baynana wabaynakum.(come to common terms as with us and
you) which is the first term? allanaAAbuda illa Allaha (that you
worship none but God Almighty) wala nushrika bihishay-an(that
we associate no partners with him).

It is not appropriate to try and understand a religion or to try

and understand the concept of God in a religion,by observing the
followers of that religion; because many a times the followers of
that religion, they themselves may not be aware about the
religion or the concept of God in the religion; neither it is
appropriate to observe or look at the traditions or the cultures of
the followers of the religion because many of the cultures and
traditions may not be part of the religion.

The best and the most authentic way to understand any religion
or the concept of God in a religion is to try and understand what
the sacred scriptures have to speak about that religion or the
concept of God in that religion.

Let us understand what is the meaning of the words Hinduism

and Islam.

The word Hindu has geographical significance and was used to

describe the people living beyond the river Sindhu or people
living in the land watered by river Indus. Most of the historians,
they say, that this word Hindu was first used by the Arabs. Some
historians say it was used by the Persians when they came to
India through the north western passes of Himalaya.According
to encyclopedia of religion and ethics, Volume #6, Reference
#699, it says that the word Hindu was not found in any of the
Indian literature before the advent of the Muslims to
India. According to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, he writes in his
Book the discovery of India on page #74 and #75 that the word
Hindu can be earliest traced to a source a tantrik in 8th century
and it was used initially to describe the people, it was never used
to describe religion. Its connection with religion is of late
occurrence according to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The word
Hinduism is derived from the word Hindu. The word Hinduism
was first used by the English writers in the 19th century to
describe the multiplicity of faiths of the people of
India. According to new Encyclopedia Britannica, Volume #20,
Reference #581, it says the word Hinduism was first used by the
British writers in the year 1830 to describe the multiplicity of the
faiths of the people of India excluding the converted Christians.
That is the reason today, majority of the Hindu scholars they say
that the word Hinduism is a misnomer. The correct word should
be Sanatan Dharm, the eternal religion or the Vedic Dharm, the
religion of the Vedas. According to Swami Vivekananda, he says
the word Hindu is a misnomer; the correct word should
be a Vendantist, a person who follows the Vedas.

The word Islam comes from the root Arabic word salam, which
means peace. It is also derived from the Arabic word silm, which
means to submit your will to Almighty God. In short, Islam
means peace acquired by submitting your will to Almighty God
and this word Islam occurs in several places in the Quran and
the Sahih Hadith including in the Quran in Surah Al-Imraan,
Chapter #3 Verse #19 and Surah Al- Imraan Chapter #3 Verse
#85. Any person who acquires peace by submitting his will to
Almighty God, to Allah, he is called as a Muslim and this word
Muslim also occurs in several places in the Quran and the Sahih
Hadith including in the Quran in Surah Al-Imraan Chapter #3
Verse #64 and Surah Fussilat Chapter #41 and Verse #33.

Many people have misconception that Islam is a new religion,

which came into existence 1400 years ago and Prophet
Muhammad (peace be upon him) was the founder of this
religion. In fact, Islam is there since time immemorial. Since
man set foot on the earth, and Prophet Muhammad (peace be
upon him) is not the founder of this religion but he is the last and
final messenger sent by Almighty God, the last and final Prophet.

If we ask the common Hindu that how many Gods does he

believe in? Some may say 3, some may say 100, some may say
1000, while others may say 33 crores, 330 millions. But if you
ask a learned Hindu who is well Versed with his Hindu
scriptures, he will tell you that in Hinduism you should believe
and worship only one God.But the common Hindu, he believes in
a philosophy known as pantheism, everything is God. The
common Hindu believes that the tree is God, the sun is God, the
moon is God, the human being is God, the snake is God.What we
Muslims believe is everything is Gods, everything belongs to
Gods, G O D with an apostrophe s; the tree belongs to God,
the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the human
being belongs to God, the snake belongs to God. So the major
difference between the common Hindu and the common Muslim
is that the common Hindu says everything are Gods, we Muslim
say everything is Gods.

Let us try and understand what would the sacred scriptures of

Hinduism have to speak about Almighty God.

It is mentioned in the Chandogya Upanishad Chapter #6, Section

#2, Verse #1; ekam evaditiyam God is only one without a
second. It is a Sanskrit quotation. I know that I am speaking in
front of a great scholar of Vedas Sri Sri Ravi Shankar I am just a
student. So if my Sanskrit pronunciation is a bit poor, I would
like to apologize. He is a great scholar of the Veda, I am just a
student of Islamic comparative religion as well a student of the
Hindu scriptures and the Vedas.

It is mentioned in Swethaswethara Upanishad, Chapter #6,

Verse #9, Na casya kasuj janita na cadhipah, which means of him
of Almighty God, there are no parents they have got no lord.
Almighty God has no true father, he has no true mother, he has
no true superior.

It is mentioned in the Swethaswethara Upanishad; Chapter #4,

Verse #19 Na Tasya Pratima Asti of that God there is no
Prathima, there is no likeness, there is no image, there is no
picture, there is no photograph, there is no sculpture, there is no
statue.

It is mentioned in Swethaswethara Upanishad; Chapter #4,

Verse #20; no one can see the Almighty God and it is further
mentioned in Bhagwat Gita Chapter #7, Verse #20; all those
whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they
worship many Gods. Some of the translation says that all those
whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires, they
worship idols and this quotation is also mentioned by Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar in his Book Hinduism and Islam the common
thread in the section of not worshiping other Gods on page
#3. He gives the quotation but does not give the reference. The
reference is Bhagwat Gita Chapter #7 Verse #20.

It is further mentioned in Bhagwat Gita Chapter #10 Verse

#3, that they know me as the unborn not begotten, the supreme
lord of the world. Amongst all the Hindu scriptures, the most
sacred are the Vedas.

It is mentioned in Yajur-Ved Chapter #32, Verse #3 Na Tasya

Pratima Asti of that God there is no Prathima. Prathima as I
said, means likeness, image, picture, photo, sculpture, statue.

It is further mentioned in Yajur-Ved Chapter #40 Verse

#8 Almighty God is imageless and pure.

It is further mentioned in Yajur-Ved Chapter #40 Verse

#9 Andhatma pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste.Andhatma
means darkness,pravishanti means entering, and Asambhuti
means the natural things like fire, water, air. They are entering
darkness those who worship the natural things like fire, water,
air, etc and the Verse continues, they are entering more in
darkness those who worship the Sambhuti. The Sambhuti are
the created things like tables, chairs, etc; who says that? Yajur-
Ved Chapter #40 Verse #9.

It is further mentioned in Atharva-Ved Book #20 Hymn #58

Manthra #3 Dev maha osi verily great is Almighty God; and
amongst the Vedas, the most sacred is the Rig-Ved.

It is mentioned in the Rig-Ved Book #1, Hymn #164, Manthra

#46, ekkam sat vipra bhuda vidyante Truth is one, God is one,
sages call him by various names. God is one but the saintly
people call him by many names and there are no less than 33
names given to Almighty God in Rig-Ved Book #2 Hymn #1
alone. One of them is Brahma. The Brahma is called as the
creator. If you translate creator into Arabic, it means
khaaliq. We Muslims have got no objection if someone says that
Almighty God is khaaliq or Creator, but if someone says this
Almighty God has got 4 heads and on each head is a crown, you
are giving an image to Almighty God. We Muslims take strong
exception to it. More over, you are going against Swethaswethara
Upanishad Chapter #4 Verse #19 which says Na Tasya Pratima
Asti, of that God there are no images.

The other name given to Almighty God in Rig-Ved, Book #2,

Hymn #1, Verse #3 is Vishnu. Vishnu is called as the God who is
the sustainer. If you translate Sustainer into Arabic, it is
somewhat similar to Rabb. We Muslims have got no objection if
someone calls Almighty God as Rabb or Sustainer, but if
someone says he is Almighty God who has got 4 hands and giving
an image to Almighty God, in one hand is the lotus, the second
hand is the conch, traveling on the sea on the bed of snakes, we
Muslims take strong objection to it. Moreover you are going
against the Yajur-Ved, Chapter #32, Verse #3 which says :

Na Tasya Pratima Asti of that God there is no prathima. There is

no likeness, there is no image, there is no picture, there is no
statue, no sculpture. It is further mentioned in Rig-Ved Book #8,
Hymn #1, Manthra #1 Ma chitanidi sansad worship him alone,
one God, praise him alone. It is mentioned in Rig-Ved, Book #6,
Hymn #45 Manthra #16, praise him alone, worship that one God
and the Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is dvitiya naste neh na naste
kinchan Bhagwan ek hi hai doosra nahi hai, nahi hai, nahi hai,
zara bhi nahi hai. There is only one God not a second one, not at
all, not at all, not in the least bit. So, if you read the Hindu
scriptures, you shall understand the concept of God in Hinduism
in the light of the sacred scriptures.

Let us understand the concept of God in Islam.

The best reply anyone can give you from the scriptures is quote
to you Surah Ikhlaas, Chapter #112 Verse # 1 to 4which says Qul
Hu-wallaahu Ahad (say he is Allah one and only) Allaahus-
Samad (Allah the absolute and eternal) Lam yalid, wa lam
yuulad (he begets not nor is he begotten) walum yakul-la-Huu
kufu-wan ahad (there is nothing like him). This is a 4-line
definition of Allah subhaanawa thaala, of Almighty God given in
the Quran. If any person says so and so candidate is God, if that
candidate fits in this 4- line definition, we Muslims have got no
objection in accepting that candidate as God. The first is Qul
Huwallaahu Ahad (say he is Allah one and only) God is only one
without a second. ekam evaditiyam Chandogya Upanishad
Chapter #6, section #2, Verse #1. The second is Allaahus-
Samad (Allah the absolute and eternal) same as Bhagwat Gita
Chapter #10 Verse #3, they know me as unborn not begotten
without a beginning, supreme Lord of the world. The third test is
Lam yalid, wa lam yuulad (he begets not nor is he begotten) same
as Swethaswethara Upanishad Chapter #6 Verse #9 Na casya
kasuj janita na cadhipah of him there are no parents, no lords.
Almighty God has got no mother, has got no father, he has got no
superior. The fourth test is walum yakul-la-Huu kufu-wan
ahad (there is nothing like him). Swethaswethara Upanishad
Chapter #4, Verse #19, Yajur-Ved Chapter #32 Verse #3 Na
Tasya Pratima Asti of that God there is no prathima, there is no
likeness, there is no image, there is no picture, there is no
statue. If any person says so and so candidate is God, if that
candidate fits in these 4-line definition which we discussed of the
Quran and the Hindu sacred scriptures, I have got no objection
accepting that candidate as God.

We Muslims, we prefer calling Allah with the Arabic word Allah

instead of the English word God because a person can play
mischief with the English word God. But when any Muslim is
speaking to the non Muslim, who may not understand the
meaning of Allah and uses the English word God like what I am
doing today, I have got no objection but I would like to mention
that God is not the appropriate translation of the Arabic word
Allah and this word Allah is mentioned in the scriptures of all
the major world religions including Hinduism.

It is mentioned in Rig-Ved Book #2, Hymn #1, Verse #11, one of

the names of God is given as Allah. Allah is also mentioned in
Rig-Ved, Book #3, Hymn #30 Manthra #10 and also in Rig-Ved
Book #9, Hymn #67, Manthra #30, there is a separate Upanishad
by the name of AllOpanishad which is also mentioned in one of
the books of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar a separate Upanishad, that is
AllOpanishad.
This was in brief regarding the concept of God in Islam
according to the sacred scriptures of Islam.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ACCEPTS MISTAKES in his

BOOK Hinduism and Islam The Common Thread

I know there are mistakes in that book. I have told before also;
this book was printed in an emergency, in urgency, when there
was riots in Gujarat. I wanted this book to immediately go. I did
not go to big scholars because I do not know much about
Quran. I MYSELF NOT A BIG SCHOLAR.