Mark N. Orzech PHIL 3620 Dr. George James 11/21/2016
The Encounter Between Hinduism and Islam through the Eyes of Mystics In the popular consciousness of the West there are perhaps no religious traditions seen to be more antithetical to one another than Islam and Hinduism. Islam, viewed by many in its orthodo form as a system of rigidly iconoclastic legalism bereft of any transformative spirituality, spirituality, certainly stri!es a sharp contrast with the ascetic asce tic meditation and myriad artistic personifications of the "eity that comprise popular Hinduism. Hinduism. This dichotomy however, between the spiritual East and the eoteric West, is a false one, and #ust as $Hinduism% is not a term descriptive of one unified religious tradition, the supposed homogeneity of Islam is in fact a !aleidoscope of sects, schools of thought, and holy orders. Both rigid ritual legality and esoteric spiritual ecumenism have played their parts in the Indian and Islamic traditions, and their histories have long been entwined in &outh 'sia. The The ()th*(+th centuries witnessed the spread of Muslim political rule in the Indian subcontinent and ultimately the establishment of the Mughal dynasty, dynasty, under whom many of the great philosophical writings of Hindu civiliation were translated into -ersian and disseminated throughout the Islamic world. Even a thousand years ago, Muslim scholars had been fascinated by Indian religion, most notably 'l*Biruni d. (/0/1, the -ersian polymath who learned &ans!rit and was the first to translate Hindu tets into 'rabic.( 2nder Muslim rule, Hindu3s were accorded, along with the 4ews, 5hristians, and other religious communities, the title $-eople of the Boo!%, in recognition of the foundations of Hindu thought in the 6edic 6edic literature, which served to legitimie Hinduism as an authentic religion. Beyond this simple social toleration of the other however, the last millennium is replete with individuals from both traditions who sought a deeper and more divinely*ordained religious pluralism. 5ontrasting 5ontrasting
1 Muhammad Dara h!kuh" Majma’-Ul-Bahrain or The Mingling of the Two Oceans #$a%cu&a' (he )s!a*c oc!e+," 1--" 1.
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with the Muslim clerical establishment and that of the Hindu priests who were often hostile to each other, we find mystics from both traditions who, by truly respecting, understanding, an d engaging with the other, aimed for both social brotherhood and religious ecumenism. This paper will discuss a number of such sages but will focus on four that har!en specifically from the Indian subcontinent, two Muslim and two Hindu, in whose writings a number of uni7ue perspectives are represented, ranging from the academic sophistication of a Mughal prince to the simple devotion of illiterate holy men and even modern political8social leaders. The nuanced views of each towards the religious other address both theological and social implications of Muslim and Hindu unity and have, I believe, the power to profoundly affect the manner in which we view the goals and methods of inter*religious dialogue. Hinduism by its very nature has the uni7ue capacity to appreciate the divine as it manifests uni7uely in different and often eternally contradictory forms. This religious perspective is fertile ground for the development of a deep soteriological ecumenism rooted in the premise that Truth is 9ne, and there are necessarily many different paths to the top of the mountain of liberation. This view is held by both Mah atma :andhi and ;ama!rishna -aramahamsa, though the two men had significantly different focuses and goals in their affirmation of the divine Truth of Islam in particular. The critical importance of the :oddess to many strains of Hindu thought has long stood out to Westerners as a mystical feminist ideal utterly irreconcilable with the apparent misogyny of the 'brahamic traditions. This is not necessarily the case however, as both the sages of Hinduism and the great &ufi masters have teachings that emphasie the divine feminine, finding in this devotion specifically the grounds for affirming the religious truths of other faiths.
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(I learned to ma!e the call to prayer and perform ?amaa, the graceful cycles of prostration and praise offered by the Muslims five times every day. My practice of Islam was crowned with a vision of the noble -rophet Muhammad* a robed, dignified, bearded figure of supreme sanctity* who merged intimately with my being>%@ Most significantly, ;ama!rishna continues, $It was precisely the same &amadhi attained along the paths of the 6eda and Tantra. Muslims call it Afanaa3.% This remar!able first*person account demonstrates how through devotion to the :oddess, ;ama!rishna3s heart was opened to the truth of Islam as a path to realiation. Through his great reverence for the -rophet, whom the great &ufi saints report similar visions of, he 2 achar, Mark!+h" One God, Many Prophets: The Uniersal !isdom of "slam #a a4ae%' o5h!a Pere!s Press" 2013" 113 I!d." 127.
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epresses his opinion that Islam is a divine tradition not only because :od pervades all things, but because of the ma#esty of the figure of the -rophet, the truth of whose mystical eperience is affirmed. Moreover, he affirms the later Islamic tradition of his contemporaries, u pholding the need for initiation into the mysteries by a master, and showing familiarity with &ufi doctrines such as $fanaa% lit. $annihilation%1 and the parallels between these and Hindu trance states. It is even said that ;ama!rishna authored a partial commentary on the ur3an, though it is not clear whether it was preserved or not.C ;ama!rishna3s path to realiing the oneness ;eality and the unity of the world3s faiths through devotion to the Mother goddess bears remar!able parallels to the religious #ourney of the ()th century 'ndalusian sage Muhaiyadeen Ibn 'rabi, popularly !nown by &ufis as $the :reatest &hay!h% for his unparalleled and prodigious writings on poetry, mysticism, and systematic metaphysics. Ibn 'rabi3s most celebrated contribution to the Islamic tradition is his formal articulation of the doctrine, based on earlier &ufi concepts, of $Wahidat al*Wu#ood% lit. $the 9neness of Being%1, which would ultimately become the most widespread metaphysical vision among the mystics of Islam. This doctrine, much li!e 6edanta, views reality in terms of a radical oneness wherein the phenomenal world, rather than being separate from :od, is in fact the creative self*manifestation of :od3s infinite attributes or $names%, which can be seen as roughly e7uivalent to the 6edantic view of the Hindu devas. 4ust as ;ama!rishna3s transformation was initiated upon his seeing the :oddess manifest in his youn g bride, Ibn 'rabi recounts in his magnum opus $The Meccan 9penings% the profoundly transformative vision that overtoo! him upon meeting ?iam, the young -ersian daughter of a prominent religious scholar from Isfahan. In ?iam, #ust as was the case for ;ama!rishna, Ibn 'rabi witnessed a theophany of the "ivine
8 N!kh!%aada" #ri $ama%rishna, The &ace of #ilence #9oods+ock' k,%!gh+ Pa+hs 5u%!sh!g" 2007" 7:.
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Essence itself, for she was to him the embodiment of the :oddess in all of her functions.0 ' 7uote from the wor!s of (@th century mystic ?a#m al*"in =ubra sheds light on this when he says, $The Essence is the mother of the attributes%+. This mirrors ;ama!rishna3s assertion that $Brahman alone is addressed as the mother% indicating that, rather than simply another attribute of :od, the feminine aspect represents the very essence of the divine nature. It was the ecstasy of this realiation of mystical love and devotion that prompted some of the &hay!h3s most famous poetry, in which divisions between religious paths are burned away in the blissful fire of love. 9ne of his most famous poems reads, $My heart is receptive to every formD for gaelles a pasture, for mon!s a monastery, tables of Torah and script of ur3an. My religion is the religion of love wherever turn her camels, that my religion is, my faith.% This clearly reflects the divine inclusivism necessitated by 6edantic or $'!barian% belonging to the school of Ibn 'rabi1 metaphysics. In another passage, Ibn 'rabi more clearly articulates this, advising, $"o not attach yourself to any particular creed eclusively such that you disbelieve in the restD otherwise, you will lose much good, and will fail to realie the real truth of the matter. :od, the omnipresent and omnipotent, is not limited by any one creed, for He says, AWheresoever ye turn, there is the fact of 'llah3 7uoting ur3an )(/<1. 'nother well*!nown Hindu thin!er who would very li!ely agree with ;ama!rishna3s assessment of Islam is Mahatma :andhi, though the latter3s studies of the faith, rather than being inspired by personal mystical eperience and speculative metaphysics, were driven by social concerns and the unification of a new nation. 's a ma#or part of the Indian independence movement of the (
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:andhi often found himself facing 7uestions from his coreligionists about the place of the Muslim minority in a ma#ority Hindu nation. It is in this contet of Islam3s contribution to India and her people that :andhi3s emphasis on the ethical and social teachings of Islam is most clearly articulated. In a (<)< interview with Foung India, :andhi stated, $Islam3s distinctive contribution to India3s national culture is its unadulterated belief in the oneness of :od and a practical application of the truth of the brotherhood of man for those who are nominally within its fold. I call these two distinctive contributions. or in Hinduism the spirit of brotherhood has become too much philosophied. &imilarly though philosophical Hinduism has no other god but :od, it cannot be denied that practical Hinduism is not so emphatically uncompromising as Islam.%G This 7uote has great significance, for in it :handi affirms that the uncompromising emphasis of Islam on the oneness of :od is a boon to the philosophical Hinduism which he, as a Hindu and devout reader of the Baghavad :ita, believed to be true, and is thus in a way more oriented towards the wholeness of :od than common adherents of $practical Hinduism%. He also states that while philosophical Hinduism affirms this oneness of :od and Man, it has overly complicated these matters and become bogged down in philosophical #argon and speculation. 9ne of Islam3s great contributions to India, in :andhi3s view, is thus its simplicity concerning :od3s oneness and the brotherhood of man. This emphasis on practicality etends to his profound respect for the -rophet Muhammad, about whom he writes, $I became more than ever convinced that it was not the sword that won a place for Islam> it was the rigid simplicity, the utter self*effacement of the -rophet, the scrupulous regard for pledges, his intense devotion to his friends and followers, his intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in :od and his own mission.% It is clear that in the -rophet of Islam :andhi saw a model of ethics, character, and : ;ichard 4ohnson, Gandhi!s "#periments $ith Truth: "ssential %ritins by and about Mahatma Gandhi 9ford Jeington Boo!s, )//+1, ((+. I!d.
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practical action in the world. His concerns were not, however, only pragmatic or practical. When commenting on the flaws he saw in the Hindu system of life, particularly concerning the caste system and division between sects, he writes, $What was the meaning of saying that the 6edas were the inspired Word of :odK If they were inspired, why not also the Bible and the =oranK%<, and on another occasion rebu!es the negative words of a Hindu 7uestioner saying, $Is the :od of the Mahomedan different from the :od of the HinduK ;eligions are different roads converging at the same point.%(/ These ecerpts demonstrate that, li!e ;ama!rishna, :andhi was o pen to the idea that religions are not only fuctional and useful for bringing the nation together, but share the same divine source and goals. Ji!e Hinduism, Islam uni7uely contains within its foundational structure an openness to accommodate with eceptions and conditions1 the truth claims of other religions, a fact not often epounded upon in popular discourse but long the sub#ect of study and debate among Muslims, particularly the mystics, for whom such possibilities opened doors to realiing the one Truth behind the multiplicity of form. While the ecumenism of Hinduism is primarily metaphysical, being based around the different ways of !nowing ;eality or :od as the case ma y be1 and the relationship between the spiritual nature of eistence and the physical world, Islam3s basic support for the plurality of paths is in the plurality of messengers and prophets, each with their own religious law shari3ah1 and doctrinal emphasis. While this topic, as the sub#ect of hundreds of boo!s in English alone, is too etensive to delve deeply into in such a brief paper, its importance cannot be overstated. ' famous Hadith saying of the -rophet Muhammad1 states that :od sent over ()C,/// prophets to all people, and over @// different scriptures, including the Torah, :ospel, -salms, ur3an, etc. This list has been etended by many Muslim scholars and - I!d." 62. 10 I!d." 7.
saints to accommodate the 6edas and the 2panishads as well as the :athas of Loroastrianism and other scriptures1, in light of their focus on the doctrine of unity, which is of paramount importance in Islam.(( Most orthodo #urists circumvent the potentially heretical implications of this type of speculation with the doctrine of $Tahrif%, or the corruption of these earlier scriptures such that, despite a divine origin, they are no longer ideal tools for realiing the truth and do not have salvific efficacy. Many &ufis and philosophers throughout the last millennium however, realiing the innate nature of Truth wherever it is found, long viewed these tets as wisdom of the ancient nations that should be studied and preserved. $Truth%, as the -rophet Muhammad said, $Is li!e the lost camel of the believer* it is his right wherever it is found. % 'mong those Muslims of the &ubcontinent that studied the 6edic literature was prince Muhammad "ara &hi!oh, eldest son and heir of the fifth Mughal emperor &hah 4ahan who ascended to the throne in (+)G1. The prince is primarily !nown in Indian popular culture for the bitter war over succession to the throne fought between himself and his brother 'urangeb, who ultimately ordered his eecution.() &hi!oh was not only a great prince of the Mughal dynasty, but was also a mystic well versed in the ur 3an and Hadith literature, as well as the classics of -ersian and 'rabic mysticism and the more common wor!s of Hindu philosophy such as the 2panishads Which he translated into -ersian1, all of which he draws upon heavily in his eplanations of Hinduism. 9ne of his most famous wor!s, $The Mingling of the Two &eas%, named for a ur3anic episode that became very important in mystical ur3anic eegesis, is concerned entirely with defending Hinduism as an authentic :od*given religious path and eplaining the apparent discontinuity between it and Islam from the perspective of &ufism. His wor! is uni7ue in that it is a systematic treatise on the sub#ect, divided into discourses on 11 Mark!+h" One God, Many Prophets" 3;8. 12 Dara h!kuh" Ma%;?ahra!" 8.
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everything from the five elements and the senses of the human body to the three gunas of &amh!ya philosophy, presenting teachings of both the Muslim mystics and the $Indian monotheists% in support of his claims.(@ 'mong the most critical topics discussed are the Hindu doctrines of the soul*body dichotomy, mo!sha, meditative trances, and the distinction between Brahman ?irguna and Brahman &aguna, all of which have clear analogues in Islam which the author is !een to demonstrate. While the traditional Islamic view of salvation is concerned primarily with eschatology and the apocalyptic sorting of humanity into the deniens of the garden and the fire, &hi!oh is concerned with demonstrating the importance of see!ing ecstatic realiation of truth while still in this life, and divorcing the self of attachment to the phenomenal world. In the process, he discusses the nature of the supernal soul arbc. $ruh%1 all men, and how it is in fact identical with the transcendent &elf of :od, an obvious parallel with the central teaching of the 5handogya 2panishad. ;ooted in Ibn 'rabi3s metaphysics, he writes of the &ufi doctrine of $fanaa% lit. $annihiliation%1, often called $Istighra7% $drowning%1 but the &ufis, wherein one3s self*hood is drowned in the sea of undifferentiated unity. "ara &hi!oh spea!s of this reality in a poem saying, $We have not seen a single particle of dust separate from the sun, and every drop of water is the sea in itself. With what name should I call the TruthK Whatever name there is, it is one of the names of :od.% In addition to epressing sentiments very similar to those of 6edanta, the imagery of the mote of dust in the ray of sun evo!es the imagery used by the 6aishishi!a school of philosophy to eplain its atomistic particularism. Ji!e the specification of Brahman ?irguna and Brahman &aguna, ;eality without and with attributes respectively, &hi!oh emphasies that both :od3s transcendence tanih1 and imminence8resemblance tashbih1 are critical in understanding the divine ;eality that p ermeates eistence.(C Most remar!able in
13 I!d." 88. 18 I!d." 77
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"ara &hi!oh3s wor! is his affirmation of the infinite cosmic cycles of the universe3s creation and destruction, which directly brings to mind the cycles mentioned in both &am!hya and 6aishishi!a philosophy. Epressing deeply 6edantic sentiments, he 7uotes the great &ufi poet Hafi as saying, $There is no end to my story, or to that of the Beloved, for whatever hath no beginning can have no end%. He comments on this saying, $'fter the termination of this cycle, the world of 'dam, the father of men, will re*appear in eactly the same manner, and as such it will be endless. He cites in support of this the ur 3anic verse, $'s He brought you forth in the beginning so shall you return G)<1%, and a cryptic tradition concerning the -rophet3s ascent to heaven. $It is said that our prophet, may peace be upon him, saw a line of camels, proceeding in succession without any brea!, and on each of which two bags were laden, in each of which there was a world #ust li!e that of our and in each such world there was a Muhammad #ust li!e him. 9ur -rophet as!ed :abriel, Awhat is thisK3 A9h -rophet of :od, since my creation I have been witnessing this line of camels preceding with bags but I am also unaware of their meaning.3 This,% "ara &hi!oh says, $is a reference to the infinity of the cycles.%(0 M. ;. Bawa Muhaiyadeen is a figure of mythic proportions among &ufi Muslim communities in &ri Jan!a and Western converts to &ufism ali!e. Illiterate and spea!ing only the ancient language of Tamil, :uru Bawa as he was called in the West1 lived and taught in a religious milieu comprising Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, 5hristians, and even western 4ews who travelled to &ri Jan!a to benefit from his wisdom. -reaching a message of unity and love, Bawa3s teachings were deeply rooted in the doctrines of the adiri &ufi order of which he was an initiate. Jiving in a dominantly Hindu area, however, and preaching to mostly Hindus and Buddhists, his lectures, recorded by followers and later translated into English, are co uched in the symbolic language of the &ubcontinent. ;ather than $"unya%, the word used by Muslims to 17 I!d." :7.
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refer to the $lower world% of human perception and eperience, Bawa spea!s of $Maya% and $&amsara% as the apparent reality of the world the veils the eye from the 9neness of creation. &cattered throughout the @/ or so boo!s of his teachings translated and published by Bawa3s followers in 'merica are myriad references to the deities and mythologies of the subcontinent, eplained allegorically as the aspects of :od and the trials of the soul on its #ourney to union with :od. or eample, in 4une of (
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we must do our duty and help all those who have this body of man. He spo!e of charity, surrender, and helping other lives. But Buddha did not spea! about :od. WhyK Buddha was the only one at that time who was in communion with :od> He had escaped the confinement of his body> But his meditation was meant only for a true man who had managed to escape from the things that !ept him confined. 9nly such a man can meditate on :od.%(G -erhaps most uni7ue in Bawa3s teachings is the repeated references to the transmigration of the soul and rebirth in new bodies, shoc!ing language considering Islam3s emphatic re#ection of the doctrine of reincarnation that is so ch aracteristic of Hinduism. 5ommonly in Bawa3s dictated writings one finds statements such as, $Whatever he surrenders to, and whatever 7ualities he ta!es into himself will be the form of his rebirth. In the end he will be sub#ect to one hundred and five million rebirths.%( These are often made in passing and without eplanation, yet their intended meaning is elucidated elsewhere. 's he spo!e to a dominantly Hindu audience, it is not surprising that the symbolic language he used would be one intelligible to his listeners in accordance with the prophetic dictum $spea! to people in accordance with their understanding%1, however in other places he eplains, $It is while you are living in this world, in this very birth, that you undergo all these rebirths >Every new 7uality is indeed a rebirth . . .The heart and the face reveal the personOs state, whether it be happiness, sorrow, anger, vengeance, and all the other states that a person eperiences. Each of these is a form that a person has ta!en at a particular time. In this way, without his even being aware of it.%(< Thus, using the Hindu language of transmigration, Bawa is in fact teaching the orthodo Muslim doctrine of $temporal atomism%, !nown by &ufis as $Ta#did al*=hal7i bil*'nfaas% lit. $The renewal of creation in each
1: ?aa Muha!,addee" The !isdom of Man #Ph!%ade%5h!a' @e%%osh!5 Press" 1-3" 137. 1 I!d." 6:. 1- M.. ?aa Muha!,addee , To 'ie Before 'eath: The #)* !ay of (ife #Ph!%ede%5h!a' @e%%osh!5 Press" 1--:" 117.
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breath%1, wherein eistence is destroyed and recreated by :od every instant.)/ &een holistically, Bawa3s writings display a !nowledge of orthodo Muslim history and creed that are surprising considering his illiteracy and the outwardly heterodo style of his teaching. inally, Bawa Muhaiyaddeen emphasies the importance of dedication to a guru to achieve enlightenment. This idea, while of critical importance to most schools of Hinduism, is also very important for &ufis, who ritually swear oaths of allegiance and spiritual apprenticeship to cer tain shay!hs to benefit from their mystical blessings and teachings. It can be seen from the perspectives presented that, beneath the apparent polar opposition between Islam and Hinduism is fertile ground for social brotherhood and even the development of an ecumenical and inclusive theology, ground tilled by the spiritual masters of both traditions, in whose writings one finds a uni7ue openness to affirming the divine truth manifest in the other. This is especially important in today3s world, when stereotypes and generaliations dominate the many people view religion. ;eferences
;ichard 4ohnson. :andhiOs Eperiments with Truth Essential Writings by and about
Mahatma :andhi. 9ford, 2= Jeington Boo!s, )//+. Mar!with, Lachary. 9ne :od, Many -rophets The 2niversal Wisdom of Islam. &an
;afael, 5' &ophia -erenis -ress, )/(@. Muhaiyaddeen, M. ;. Bawa. The "ivine Juminous Wisdom That "ispels the "ar!ness.
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-' ellowship -ress, (<@. ?i!hilananda, 'diswarananda, and "han :opal Mu!er#i. &ri ;ama!rishna, the ace of
&ilence. Woodstoc!, 6T &!yJight -aths -ub., )//0. "ara &hi!uh, Muhammad. Ma#maO*2l*Bahrain or The Mingling of the Two 9ceans. Translated by M. Mahfu*2l*Ha7. 5alcutta, India 'siatic &ociety, (<<.
20 Mura+a" The Tao of "slam " 11.
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Muhaiyaddeen, M. ;. Bawa. To "ie Before "eath The &ufi Way of Jife. -hiladelphia,
-' ellowship -ress, (<
