The terms Hindu or Hinduism are usually associated with individuals who follow a mixture of beliefs originating from the Indian Subcontinent. Religious practises include the worship of God via mediums such as idols, parents or saints through various complicated rituals approved by priests otherwise known as brahmins.
Although, claims have been made connecting Hinduism with books such as the Bhagavat Gita or Vedas, little can be said about their authenticity given the fact that there are no legitimate chains of narration affirming the purity of these texts. Differences in religious practises between Tamil Hindu’s and Gujarati Hindu’s, for example, help to illustrate this fact.
Re-incarnation: injustice?
Re-incarnation is paramount to Hinduism, asserting the fact that disabled individuals are products of evil deeds performed in previous lives and consequently looked down upon, while healthier and more able individuals are assumed to be closer to the path of liberation (moksha) and deemed more reputable. Glen Hoddle’s (former England football manager) famous comments on this topic are a good example to refer to.
Nationalism: proud to be Indian?
Nationalism is neither despised nor dispraised but rather encouraged and viewed as something good. The preservation of India or Bharat generally remains an important issue among Hindu’s fuelling racism as well as restricting the religion to an ethnicity; the caste system although disapproved by the government openly flourishes, condemning dark-skinned individuals, with particular surnames, to a life of hard labour and ridicule, albeit at the expense of their supposed ‘evil deeds’.
Free-Mixing: non-existent
Segregation between genders is generally overlooked, especially between distant relatives, and tends to fluctuate given the trend of the society as well as compromise heavily in areas such as education i.e. schools, colleges and universities, for example. The beauty of the Hindu woman is often exposed in terms of her arms, hair and stomach and the Hindu man commonly reveals his private body parts in religious practises such as the Kumbh Mela.
Secular: no system of life
Hinduism, by its nature is a secular religion, providing no system of life for mankind to live under. Integration with democracy and man-made law are part and parcel of its composition and thus it is subject to manipulation and dilution.
A call to embrace Islam
Oh reader! Islam came to liberate mankind from the worship and obedience of the creation to the exclusive worship and obedience of the Creator (without intermediaries), it is a divine belief from which emanates a complete system of life (shari’ah), containing answers for everything you could possibly think of from tying your shoe laces to conquering the world!
In addition to that, it is not enough for you to simply affirm the existence of God, or His right of worship, rather you must declare and accept His final messenger Muhammad (saw) and the Deen of Al-Islam which abrogates all other religions that have passed or are to follow:
Allah (swt) says in the Qur’an, “The only Deen accepted by Allah is Al-Islam.” [EMQ 3:85]
Oh reader! Muhammad ibn Qasim (ra) brought Islam to the Indian Subcontinent in the year 715 C.E. and indeed many responded to his call...isn’t it time you responded?
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