The religious fabric of India

A cursory glance at the religious fabric of India gives an impression that it is

majorly divided into two religious groups namely, the Hindus and the Muslims,
many times hostile to each other while sometimes setting up a high standard of
universal brotherhood. However, a deeper penetration into the lives, cultures,
traditions and moral values reveal a kind of incongruity, difficult to comprehend.
One can easily come across Hindus, who are not so Hindu and Muslims who are
not so Muslim.

It has become customary nowadays to judge a person’s view through his/her

name. The logic has overpowered the truth and the direction of impact is
estimated before quoting the facts. We no longer teach our children to tell the
whole truth, we rather suggest them to focus on the useful truth and a bit of
logical lies if it can work wonders. After all, everything is fair in love and war, and
we are in love with this world and at war with this world. The result is apathy,
which in turn can easily be germinated into hatred for materialistic gains. The
final outcome is our search for ‘my angle’ in everything we read, listen, view or
experience.

Coming back to the topic of religious fabric of India, I was talking about the
incongruity which is more pronounced in case of Hinduism. To me Hinduism
appears more as a cultural heritage than a religion. With different gods and
different ways of prayer and different days of fasting and different food habits
and different cultures and different traditions, and the list can go on..., it
wouldn’t be entirely correct to classify it under the banner one religion. Similarly,
looking at the shape of Islam in India, one can easily make out that it does not fit
completely into the authenticated documented version. While some of the things
are missing others are added from the land itself.

If we look at the advent of Islam, most of the civilizations embraced it after its
introduction. To me it does not seem appropriate to attribute the spread of Islam
to the sword without providing a logical explanation as to why the entire India
didn’t embrace it even after its introduction as early as 7 th Century. The answer
to the question is simple, Hinduism was not a religion. It in fact was a collection
of various groups striving in the spiritual path. Later those groups were organized
and re-organized to form the components of the present caste system.

The spread of Islam in most parts of the globe was more a result of malpractices
in the existing culture than the use of might. When malpractices in a society
start demolishing the concepts of humanity in the name of cultural heritage
carried over generations, the intellectuals raise concerns later to be followed by
the common people. The situation becomes ripe for a change from within under
such circumstances. Humane religious practices just used to act catalyst for a
society desperate to break free from the shackles of its inhuman cultural
heritage.
As per a famous folklore, just thirteen years after the demise of Prophet
Muhammad (PBUH), the Iranian Sufi saint, Bayazid Bustami is said to have
travelled to India along with his thirteen disciples for spreading Islam. They all
settled at various parts of India preaching Islamic principles. Hazrat1 Bayazid
Bastami’s shrine both in Iran and Bangladesh is a mystery. The increased contact
among the Sufi saints and the intellectuals among the local Indian population,
namely the Hindu saints resulted in knowledge sharing and translation of
Sanskrit scriptures into Arabic and Persian. Muslim saints had developed
meaningful contacts with Nagpanthi Yogis in the 11thcentury, who in turn shared
knowledge about Yoga. These Nagpanthi Yogis were followers of Gorakhnath. Abu
Rayhan al-Biruni described as the father of Indology, is supposed to be the first
Muslim scholar to study India and Brahminical tradition. He writes:

"The educated among the Hindus abhor anthropomorphisms of this kind, but the
crowd and the members of the single sects use them most extensively."

"The Hindus believe with regard to God that he is one, eternal, without beginning
and end, acting by free-will, almighty, all-wise, living, giving life, ruling,
preserving; one who in his sovereignty is unique, beyond all likeness and
unlikeness, and that he does not resemble anything nor does anything resemble
him."

The treasure of knowledge Hindus had in form of Vedas, Upanishads and

Bhagwat Gita did not contradict Islam. Among Muslim scholars these scriptures
might have been accepted as the words of God through previous messengers. As
per the teachings of the holy Quran, a Muslim should follow the words of earlier
messengers also, unless they contradict Islam in which case it is believed to
have been changed by the followers. The absence of ideological differences
between the two philosophies eliminated the need for active liberation of people
from ignorance, a concept that proved instrumental and convincing in the spread
of Islam.

Al-Biruni translated Patanjali yoga sutra into Arabic. He also drew parallels
between Sufism and Bhagwat Gita. Basant Panchami, a festival of Hindus was
celebrated at all Sufi centres. Knowledge, food and work were shared at Chishti 2
Sufi centres. There was no religious discrimination at these centres. From 13 th
Century, Hindu mystical songs were used for Sama3 at all Sufi centres. The
interpretation and exchange of knowledge continued for centuries. Dara Shikoh,
the eldest son of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, translated 50 Upanishads from
Sanskrit into Persian in 1657. He named it Sirr-e-Akbar (The Greatest Mystery),
where he states boldly in the Introduction that the ‘Kitab al-maknun’ (hidden
book) as referred in the holy Quran is none other than the Upanishads. A new
culture was evolving. It was a liberal face of Islam deviating slightly from the
mainstream Islamic principles. An Islam in which music was allowed and dance
was not prohibited. An Islam in which contacts were maintained with the
common people irrespective of their religion and distance was maintained from
the king. Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia said: When I see the king coming from one
gate, I go out of the other. He met king in the palace just once, to defend the use
of music in religious practices.
Smooth runs the water where the brook is deep. Intellectuals among Hindus and
Muslims had no difference in opinion about the truth. They maintained distance
from the court and the material world. The political struggle was not related to
religion even though attempts were made to gain mileage in the name of
religion. Fortunately, religious scholars were not a mouthpiece of government
policies. Their distance from the court paid well in form of respect and support
they enjoyed among the masses. There were apparently two kinds of rulers.
There were rulers of the land and rulers of the hearts.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow. The concept of universal brotherhood kept
on accruing and the Islamic principles gained popularity without the tag of any
religion associated with it. Chishti Sufi saints dissuaded discrimination of any
kind among human beings. Food, knowledge and work were shared between
Hindus as well as Muslims equally, at those Sufi centres. The similar format still
exists. Love and tolerance became the central concept of the society. It was no
less than a revolution. A revolution from within, a revolution carried on through
generations. It soon evolved into multi-cultural magical piece of music where
every tone was a part of the symphony.

Still there is not much difference in opinion among the learned. A vast majority of
the population still believes in universal brotherhood. The concepts of peace,
security, liberty and justice which had to be fought for in the western world and
implemented in the legal system had been implemented long back by the rulers
of hearts through the Indian social and religious channels. Despite the diversity
in economic, social and cultural status of Indians, the tolerance and love that
exist are mystical and unparallel in the history. It cannot be compared to any
other civilization. Indians are the followers of the unwritten moral principles
derived through the ages of multicultural contacts. The religious fabric is Indian
in nature.
1Hazrat is word of respect associated with a Muslim saint. It is a honorific Arabic title used to
honour a person. The literal translation of Hazrat means ‘Great Presence’.

2Chishti order is a sufi order within the mystic branches of Islam which was founded in Chist a
small town near Herat about 930 C.E.

3Sama is a term that means hearing. It is used, as a borrowed word in Persian, to refer to some
of the ceremonies used by various Sufi orders and often involves prayer, song, dance, and
other ritualistic activities.