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Hinduism in the Balance of Its Original Teachings, Reason, and Sound Natural Disposition

Hinduism in the Balance of Its Original Teachings, Reason, and Sound Natural Disposition

Question and Answer

Dr. Haytham Tal‘at

In the name of Allah; praise be to Allah; and may Allah's peace and blessings be upon Prophet Muhammad and his family, Companions, and those who follow him. To Proceed:

Hinduism may be a religion; but to be more accurate, it is a way of life.

Followers of Hinduism account for 15% of the world population, numbering more than 1.2 billion.

Hinduism has undergone a lot of change over time.

In the post-Vedas era, Hinduism was being filled with problems related to intellectual, scientific, and natural disposition, some of which we will address in this book.

Yes!

Hinduism went far away from the original teachings of the Vedas (the original sources of Hinduism) and followed the teachings of people, monks, and Bhagavad Gita भगवद्गीता,

and Esoteric Tantras.

In this short book, I will try to judge the current Hinduism according to reason, modern science, logic, and the original Vedas teachings, which still exist among Hinduists to this day. I am certain that the remnants of the truth in the Vedas and in the fitrah (natural disposition) of Hinduists are sufficient to safely lead a Hinduist to the true religion.

The Vedas are the holiest scriptures in Hinduism ever.

Natural disposition: It is the motive that prompts one to consider the purpose of his existence and his consequence, and it directs this motive towards belief in Allah and servitude to Him based on His legislations.

The true religion: It is the message that comprises the remnants of the truth in the Vedas; and it is a call of the natural disposition, which is an inspiration of Allah to all humankind. It is the message reflecting the signs of belief in Allah's oneness in the teachings of Upanishad उपनिषद्.

I will try, in this little book, to hold a short comparison between the Hinduism at the time of the Vedas and today's Hinduism.

Indeed, Hinduism has changed immensely!

It has gone extremely far away from the remnants of the pure and untainted monotheistic teachings in the Vedas. Current Hinduism comprises the belief of pantheism (the unity of existence), as the Creator unites with the creation; thus created beings become themselves the Creator. Not only does this strange belief contradict the explicit teachings of the Vedas, but it also runs counter to intellectual axioms. How is it possible that the deity resides in everything; and then you, O Hinduist, seek to reach him through a group of certain rites and practices, while he originally exists in you?!

Is this not an obvious intellectual paradox?

Furthermore, the belief in the unity of existence entails the relativity of the truth, then all religions that worship idols or stones should be worshiping God, for God - according to this creed - is that idol or stone, as He resides in everything and He is everything.

The relativity of the truth destroys the meaning and value, as I will explain in this book.

Added to the foregoing is the fact that the Vedas explicitly call for belief in the god who is separate from his creation. These creatures are created by Allah, and His creation cannot encompass Him in order for Him to reside in them.

The Vedas, specifically the Rig Veda ऋग्वेद, says: "O Allah, both the sun and the universe cannot encompass or contain you." [1]

This is a clear proof in the Vedas for the falsity of the belief in the unity of existence, for indeed Allah is separate from His creation.

In today's Hinduism, we find the belief in soul transmigration, as the souls of people are believed to move, after death, to other beings, to reborn in other new living beings. So, every human being has a previous life in another living being, and so on. This creed generates a lot of problems. If, for example, soul transmigration were right, why does a newborn not possess the same mental faculties like adults? [2]

Moreover, the belief of soul transmigration rests upon the succession of repeated births. How could this be right, when contemporary science has proved that life has a beginning, and even earth itself has a beginning and is not timeless?

Also, if soul transmigration were right, the number of living beings would have to be fixed, as they migrate between one another. No one can adopt this view today.

More importantly, the Vedas do not recognize soul transmigration. The Hinduist scholar Shri Styakam Widyalnkar said: "The creed of soul transmigration does not exist in the Vedas. I challenge anyone who says so." [3]

The strongest proof for Widyalnkar's view is that Hindus perform old religious rituals called श्राद्ध 'Śrāddha', and they are aimed at calming the souls of the dead.

How would the souls migrate while they reside in the dead?!

Another belief of today's Hinduism is karma. According to karma, people are born as a result of their previous deeds. Whoever was evil is born into a new life belonging to a lower caste or suffering more afflictions.

Therefore, Hindus consider the affliction of any person as a result of the sins he committed in a previous life. This erroneous vague conception ruins the life in its entirety. It does not do any good to humanity; rather, it determines that the suffering of people is a normal punishment for crimes they perpetrated in their previous lives. This is a kind of reconciliation among backwardness, oppression, and social discrimination.

But the bigger problem is: Where does this karma creed exist in the Vedas?

The Vedas state that there is paradise and hell, which Allah gives to people in accordance with their deeds, and they do not speak about new births in other beings.

The Rig Veda says: "Make me eternal in the place where all kinds of enjoyment and pleasure are stored, and where you give all what the souls desire." [4]

http://[1]stholistic.com/prayer/hindu/hol_hindu-samsara-and-karma.htm[22] (The website is affiliated to a Buddhist magazine that provides informative research on Buddhism and its rituals).
[2] Cogan, Robert. (1998), Critical Thinking: Step by Step, University Press of America, pp. 202–203.
[3] Taken from the book "Inviting Hindus to Islam" (p. 99).
[4] The Rig Veda; Mandala: 9; Sukta: 113; Mantra: 9-11.