Editing Hindu–Islamic relations (section)

==== God ====
[[Hinduism]] is a system of thought in which the concept of God varies according to its diverse [[Hindu culture|traditions]].<ref name="BEH2">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Narayanan |author-first=Vasudha |author-link=Vasudha Narayanan |year=2018 |origyear=2009 |title=Gods, Goddesses, and Divine Powers (overview article) |editor1-last=Basu |editor1-first=Helene |editor2-last=Jacobsen |editor2-first=Knut A. |editor2-link=Knut A. Jacobsen |editor3-last=Malinar |editor3-first=Angelika |editor4-last=Narayanan |editor4-first=Vasudha |encyclopedia=Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=1 |doi=10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_103 |isbn=978-90-04-17641-6 |issn=2212-5019}}</ref><ref name="Lipner 2010">{{cite book |last=Lipner |first=Julius J. |author-link=Julius J. Lipner |year=2010 |origyear=1998 |title=Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oH1FIareczEC |location=[[London]] and [[New York City|New York]] |publisher=[[Routledge]] |edition=Second |page=8 |isbn=978-0-415-45677-7 |oclc=698586925 |quote=[...] one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu.}}</ref><ref>Lester Kurtz (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, {{ISBN|978-0123695031}}, Academic Press, 2008</ref><ref name="MK Gandhi">MK Gandhi, [http://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/essence_of_hinduism.pdf The Essence of Hinduism], Editor: VB Kher, Navajivan Publishing, see page 3; According to Gandhi, "a man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu."</ref> Hinduism spans a wide range of beliefs such as [[henotheism]], [[monotheism]], [[polytheism]], [[panentheism]], [[pantheism]], [[pandeism]], [[monism]], [[atheism]] and [[nontheism]].<ref name="BEH2"/><ref name="Lipner 2010"/><ref name="Chakravarti 1991">{{cite book |last=Chakravarti |first=Sitansu S. |year=1991 |title=Hinduism, a Way of Life |chapter=The Hindu Perspective |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J_-rASTgw8wC&pg=PA70 |location=[[Delhi]] |publisher=[[Motilal Banarsidass]] |pages=70–71 |isbn=978-81-208-0899-7 |oclc=925707936 |quote=According to Hinduism, different religions are but alternate ways toward the same spiritual goal. Thus, although spirituality is a necessary quest for human beings, the religion one follows does not have to be the same for everyone. [...] The first Hindu scripture, the ''[[Rigveda]]'', dating back to at least 4.000 years, says: "Truth is one, though the wise call it by different names." The ''[[Mahabharata]]'', which includes the ''[[Gita]]'', is replete with sayings meaning that religious streams, though separate, head toward the same ocean of divinity.}}</ref><ref name="EBpolytheism">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smart |first=Ninian |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |title=Polytheism |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism |date=10 November 2020 |origyear=26 July 1999 |publisher=[[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.]] |location=[[Edinburgh]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111205729/https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism |archive-date=11 November 2020 |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> One popular theological interpretation is the [[Advaita Vedanta]] tradition, which relies mainly on the ''[[Upanishads]]'' and declares [[Absolute (philosophy)|absolute]] [[monism]], exemplified in the concept of ''[[Brahman]]'' (the ultimate reality).<ref name="Leeming 2014">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Leeming |first=David A. |author-link=David Adams Leeming |year=2014 |title=Brahman |editor-last=Leeming |editor-first=David A. |editor-link=David Adams Leeming |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion |page=197 |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |location=[[Boston]] |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_9052 |isbn=978-1-4614-6087-9 |quote=For Hindus, especially those in the [[Advaita Vedanta]] tradition, Brahman is the undifferentiated reality underlying all existence. [[Brahman]] is the eternal first cause present everywhere and nowhere, beyond time and space, the indefinable [[Absolute (philosophy)|Absolute]]. The gods are incarnations of Brahman. It can be said that everything that is Brahman. And it can be argued that Brahman is a [[Monotheism|monotheistic concept]] or at least a [[Monism|monistic]] one, since all gods – presumably of any tradition – are manifestations of Brahman, real only because Brahman exists.}}</ref><ref name="BEH3">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Ram-Prasad |author-first=Chakravarthi |author-link=Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad |year=2018 |origyear=2010 |title=Brahman |editor1-last=Basu |editor1-first=Helene |editor2-last=Jacobsen |editor2-first=Knut A. |editor2-link=Knut A. Jacobsen |editor3-last=Malinar |editor3-first=Angelika |editor4-last=Narayanan |editor4-first=Vasudha |editor4-link=Vasudha Narayanan |encyclopedia=Brill's Encyclopedia of Hinduism |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |volume=2 |doi=10.1163/2212-5019_BEH_COM_2050070 |isbn=978-90-04-17893-9 |issn=2212-5019}}</ref> When a person is devoid of ignorance (''[[Avidyā (Hinduism)|Avidyā]]''), they find the truth by realizing that their true nature, pure soul, or inner Self (''[[Ātman (Hinduism)|Ātman]]'') is identical to ''Brahman''.<ref name="Halligan 2014">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Halligan |first=Fredrica R. |year=2014 |title=Atman |editor-last=Leeming |editor-first=David A. |editor-link=David Adams Leeming |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion |pages=134–135 |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |location=[[Boston]] |doi=10.1007/978-1-4614-6086-2_54 |isbn=978-1-4614-6087-9}}</ref> Until then, they are usually ignorant of the ultimate reality and therefore believe that the material world around them is real and indulges in it, when the world is actually an illusion (''[[Maya (illusion)|Māyā]]'').<ref name="Halligan 2014"/> The ''Brahman'', which is absolute and pure, and the ''Ātman'', which is also absolute and pure, are the same in this [[Hindu philosophy|school of Hindu thought]], which exemplifies the Hindu concept of God.<ref name="Leeming 2014"/><ref name="Halligan 2014"/>

[[Islam]] is a system of thought that believes in the concept of the [[Tawhid|unity and uniqueness of God]] (''[[Tawhid|Tawḥīd]]''), which declares [[monotheism]], and is considered to be the defining doctrine of the Islamic religion.<ref>{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |url=http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2356 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Islam: "Tawhid" |date=6 May 2008 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |website=Oxfordislamicstudies.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624094916/http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e2356 |archive-date=24 June 2013 |access-date=25 April 2021}}</ref> God in Islam is conceived as the absolute one, the [[Omnipotence|all-powerful]] and [[Omniscience|all-knowing]] ruler of the [[universe]], and the creator of everything in existence.<ref name="EncyclopediaofIslam"/><ref name="EoQ-Böwering">{{cite encyclopedia |author-last=Böwering |author-first=Gerhard |author-link=Gerhard Böwering |year=2006 |title=God and his Attributes |editor-last=McAuliffe |editor-first=Jane Dammen |editor-link=Jane Dammen McAuliffe |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān]] |volume=II |location=[[Leiden]] |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |doi=10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00075 |isbn=90-04-14743-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Esposito |first=John L. |author-link=John Esposito |year=2016 |orig-year=1988 |title=[[Islam: The Straight Path]] |edition=Updated 5th |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |page=22 |isbn=9780190632151 |s2cid=153364691}}</ref> According to Islam, God is transcendent and is not part of the universe (i.e. there is no incarnation of God, no "Son of God", etc.) but a power behind all aspects of the universe.<ref>David Leeming The Oxford Companion to World Mythology Oxford University Press 2005 ISBN 978-0-195-15669-0 page 209</ref> Thus, Muslims do not attribute human forms to God. God is described and referred to by several [[Names of God in Islam|names or attributes]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Ali|first1=Kecia|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/123136939|title=Islam: the key concepts|last2=Leaman|first2=Oliver|date=2008|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-39638-7|location=London; New York|language=English|oclc=123136939}}</ref> One of the [[five pillars of Islam]] is that Muslims affirm the ''[[Shahada]]'' in the [[Salah|five canonical daily prayers]], which declares that "[[God in Islam|There is no other god but Allah]], and [[Muhammad]] is the messenger of Allah."<ref>N Mohammad sahab (1985), The doctrine of jihad: An introduction, Journal of Law and Religion, 3(2): 381–397</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Malise|last=Ruthven|title=Historical Atlas of Islam|date=January 2004|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-01385-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/historicalatlaso00mali/page/14 14]|url=https://archive.org/details/historicalatlaso00mali/page/14}}</ref>

Despite the obvious discrepancy between Islamic monotheism and Hindu polytheism, some Muslim authors showed approval of the Hindu religion, especially the due to the concept of Brahman. Sometimes, Brahmans were even excepted from the ''[[Jizya]]'' (taxes for non-Muslims).<ref name="Narain, Harsh 1990">Narain, Harsh. Jizyah and the Spread of Islam. Voice of India, 1990.</ref><ref name=firoz374383>[https://archive.org/stream/cu31924073036737#page/n389/mode/2up Futuhat-i Firoz Shahi] Autobiography of Firoz Shah Tughlaq, Translated y Elliot and Dawson, Volume 3 - The History of India, Cornell University, pp 374–83</ref> [[Gardizi]] identifies the God of the Brahmans with Allah.<ref name="Friedmann, Yohanan 1975">Friedmann, Yohanan. "Medieval Muslim views of Indian religions." Journal of the American Oriental Society (1975): 214-221.</ref>

[[Ibn al-Jawzi]] (1116 – 1201) criticizes in his ''Talbīs Iblīs'' (the deception of Satan) that the Brahmans are led astray by means of denying the prophets and their performance of self-harming rituals to get closer to God, but not by their lack of "monotheism".<ref>The Devil's Deception (Talbis Iblis) By Imam Ibn Al-Jawzi Dar as-Sunnah Publishers</ref>

[[Al-Biruni]] famously recorded the beliefs of Hindus in a descriptive manner. He notes that although the common people would worship [[Idolatry|idols]], the educated people would be "entirely free from worshipping anything but God alone and would never dream of worshipping an image manufactured to represent him." He does not blame idolatry on Hinduism, but to a lack of proper education. The difference between monotheistic religions and Hinduism would not be that strong, since all uneducated people, even among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, would need concrete objects to worship.<ref name="Friedmann, Yohanan 1975"/>

[[Amir Khusrau]] (1253 – 1325) writes that Hindus have gone astray, but so have other religions and Hinduism would still consist of beliefs shared by [[Criticism of Islam|Muslims]]: They would believe in the oneness and eternity of God as creator and sustainer. For that reason, he favors Hinduism before materialists (''[[Dahiya doctrine|dahriyya]]''), dualists (''[[thanawiyya]]''), [[Christianity and Islam|Christianity]] who attribute to God spirit and progeny, and the [[Paganism|star-worshippers]] (''akhtariyyan'') who acknowledge seven deities. The Hindu (precisely Brahmanist) would worship animals, stones, and the sun, but the Brahmanist accepts that they do not really bear likeness to God and are God's creation, they are only worshipped due to tradition.<ref name="Friedmann, Yohanan 1975"/>

Although there are a number of diverse conceptions of God and deities within Hinduism, most ''[[Faqīh|fuqaha]]'' (Muslim jurists), such as Muslim heresiographer [[al-Shahrastani]], consider all of them to be polytheistic and blasphemous. Opposition towards Brahmanism stems from the polytheistic teachings within Hindu-culture. The Brahmans would have taught to the people not that the idols are symbols of God, but deities themselves.<ref>Bahuguna, Rameshwar Prasad. "The Ideological–Political Role Of Brahmans In Later Medieval India." Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. Vol. 72. Indian History Congress, 2011.</ref> Nonetheless, most scholars agree that Hindus should be considered ''[[dhimmi]]''.<ref name="Friedmann, Yohanan 1975"/>