The soothing moonlight of true faith still seems to be awfully hidden by the dark clouds of ignorance even in the midst of the ‘age of enlightenment’. It requires only a cursory but true knowledge of religious scriptures, or going through a simple booklet like ‘Concept of God in major religions of the world’ by Dr. Zakir Naik, to conclude with certainty that motivated and vested interests take advantage of lack of information among followers of various religions and ways of life, even about their own faith.
Even atheists playing hide and seek in the jungle of so-called rational and scientific reasoning need simple soul-searching like probing if life came into being without a Creator from amoeba, a single cell organism by the process of evolution as proposed by Darwin’s theory, what is the origin of the single cell organism? Definitely Darwin never claimed to be its creator!
Man is born seeker of truth and worshipper or slave in nature just as it is in nature of ocean to have waves in some direction or the other; if a man is not worshipping the true Creator and Master he is definitely seeking a wrong path of worshipping a false-god may be like one who follows his ‘lusts’ or ‘material pursuits’.
See how Muslims and followers originally of ‘Sanaatan Vedic religion’ which is nearest to Islam, are at loggerheads! According to Swamy Laxmishankaracharya ji, who studied the Vedas and Islam, ‘The monotheistic true religion of Islam has been there from eternity or ‘Sanaatan’; it existed always in this world’, in vogue with different names in different parts of the world, for example in India, existed as Sanaatan Vedic religion as per Vedas. Some Hindu brothers, with a wrong perception think that Islam is a religion imported from Arabia, and opposes Hindus, whereas Islam is not reserved only for people born as or calling themselves Muslims, but revealed, for the benefit of entire humanity, as is water, air or sunshine, etc. In the Qur’ān Allah ordains non-compulsion in the matter of religion but mentions that the ‘Qur’ān was sent down as a guide to mankind (2:185).” Here the word used was mankind, not Muslims or Arabs.
Contrary to common belief, Islam does not oppose Hindus, because it is not in conflict with any person, community or religion. Islam only opposes evil and this opposition is just ideological, with no room for force.
As exemplified by a 12-year old Muslim girl Maryam Siddiqui, who won ‘Geeta championship’, there is an urgent need for all citizens, to gain insight into scriptures of all religions besides one’s own.
How many are aware that ‘Ekam evadwaitam’ of the Upanishads implies ‘La ilaaha illallaah’ (‘there is no god but one God’) the cornerstone of Islam; and that ‘Om’ before all Vedic mantras is same as ‘Bismillah irrahman irrahim’(‘In the name of most well-wishing God’) of the Qur’ān?