Hinduism: Ask your Questions

[EddyM]

the reason i am asking these question is because why do you worship something that cannot protect itself from anything. i will tell you about the time of prophet Ibrahim (as). before he was chosen as a prophet from Allah the people he used to live amongst used to worship idols. so after being chosen by Allah he wanted to show to his people that they were worshiping non other than just helpless figures of stone. so what he did was he entered the temple of worship one day all allone and broke all the idols in it except for one of them. when the people came in they said to him who did this and he replyed "the idol infront of you broke them" and they said " thats impossible because that idol is made of rock it cannot move" then he said if the idol cannot move then why do you worship that which cannot defend itself or that cannot move"
i will be very interested in your reply

What you did there was a typical presentation of Muslim "understanding". Which according to Hindus and Buddhists stems from a foolish mentality and misunderstanding. How the Semites worshiped idols is none of Hindus business nor does it reflect Hindu views on the worship of their icons/images. The usage of the term "idolatry" is derogatory to begin with... What I am interested is why didn't your Allah smash the idol itself... you would think that if Allah gets all worked up over idol worship why didn't it show that it has power ove idols? It seems to me that your God is weak to mere idols.

 

[EddyM]

[/b][/u][/i]I slightly disagree with you. I think you do worship the Quran as well. To keep something covered and high up, to go through extensive rituals to read it, to savour every word of something is tantamount to worship. If somebody harms the Quran, you will be angered. Why? Because you worship it.

You might argue that you don't worship Quran, you worship its claimed author, Allah. The Quran is just symbolic of that. Well therein lies the explanation for why Hindus can replace an idol, the idol in and of itself is not a god, it represents god. It is a representation which is recognised by Hindus. When we see an image of Shiva, we know immediately that it represents god and offers our worship and respect to it.

Otherwise, why would I bow before a statue or image of Shiva I've never seen before? Because I recognise what it represents.

:clap

Damn you idolater ! You are not supposed to be smarter than Muslims ! Shirk is the practice of those in Jahiliyya/ignorant people of places prior to the predominance of Al-Islam.

Allah warned us about you idol worshipers in the Holy Quran and how you lead us astray.

"And whoever worships along with Allaah any other object of worship , have NO PROOFS for that. His judgment will be with his Lord. Indeed the disbelievers will never succeed." (Qur'an 23:117)

 

[EddyM]

I'm not sure that I follow...
It is generally considered that the term 'Hindu' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Sindu' and refers to a geographical population. It is also generally considered that the term was coined by foreigners, not the Indian population itself. Do you disagree? What info do you have?

The word "Hindu" finds itself being mentioned in several ancient Sanskrit texts I believe. Muslims recently have been saying the word "Hindu" has been given to Hindus as an insult or something by Persians. Go figure.

The word "Hindu" has its roots from Ind-Sind-Hind referring to the Ind-us Valley Civilization people. Hindus should take pride in that word because it shows that Hinduism finds its origin in the earliest civilizations of humanity which was exceedingly sophisticated for its times.

Of course Pakistanis being Muslims get very upset. They want to destroy and deny anything positive that might have any relation to Hinduism in their history.

 

[EddyM]

if you really want to know wether the Kur'an is just an imagination of Allahs word then i sugest you take the time to read it. im not proposing anything such as a convertion or anything but please read it and then we will talk again. this probably has nothing to do with christianity and i don't know wether you do too, but unlike the bible the Kur'an was revealed only once to the prophet Muhammed (saws) and we do not change even e single word in it because every time you read it is up tu date with everything, unlike the bible where everytime a new pope is chosen they print out a knew bible saying that this one is more accurate that the one before and the same thing will happen when another pope will be chosen ( no offence to any christians)

- Did you witness the revelation first hand? Can you testify with solid evidence or personal experience that indeed the Quran is from a Supreme Being?

- What if Muhammad was resurrected or comes down from Heaven and tells you that everything was a set-up? Afterall the Quran according to Muslim tradition state that the Quran was revealed to man through the utterance coming from Muhammad's lips.

- Did Allah come down from its throne and write the Quran with its own hands?

What makes you think that by merely reading it anyone will be convinced of the claims it makes? Is there anything special about it?

I'm interested if our fellow Muslim friends here can respond to this.

 

[EddyM]

to zanzero
Allah doesn't have a career because he is the creator

Is that what Muslims believe? Is that what is mentioned in the Quran? Do you have an explanation for this statement?

tell me this zanzero why would you deserve to be chosen as a prophet. to tell you the truth i as a muslim do not deserve because i can never compare my self to a prophet because my heart can never be as pure as a prophets. i wish it was but thats life. only Allah knows what is in our hearts for He is The All Knowing you too do not know what is in your heart. Allah is for everyone but it is those who understand His power and who fear Him that are able to understand why everything is created and are able to see the light and path which they are soposed to follow...

Muslims believe that there is a reason / or are reasons to "why" everything is created?

 

[Madhuri]

Eddy I might save you some time and let you know that Eselam does not frequent this forum any more.

Hey, do you have any online sources that can give a history about the term 'Hindu'? I'd be interested in knowing what you seem to know. I want to have accurate information. My view thus far is simply what everyone else seems to think and therefore what I've heard.

 

[EddyM]

...

if your god is just as powerfull as you claimed and is equal to Allah Subhannallahu Teala then tell him/her to make the sun go the other way around, to make it rise on the west and set on the east. i can give you three days if you want to and then reply to me. but do not say that it is a lame or stupid example because if your claims are true then your god should be able to do that, for my claims are true and thats my proof that "there is no god but Allah and Muhammed is his messenger"

How about according to Hinduism "Allah" doesn't exist? And that Hindus don't care about what you have to say about it? Including this hypothesis?

The attributes of "Allah" that you have described have already been mentioned in Hindu scriptures which are thousands of years older than your Quran. So technically Muslims are the new kids on the block who think they own the place and are better than everyone else. When you talk about "Allah" you think you have something special in your hands than no else knows about and you feel good about it. Sorry but the matter of fact is that theology is older than some guy called Muhammad who just came around one and a half thousand ago and decided he was solely anointed and meant for everyone.

And thats the only reason why unfortunately we are having this conversation in the first place. Speaking from the perspective of religion and human history(religious persecution), if God made it that all Muslims suddenly disappeared there would be no loss to humanity and perhaps that might even be a blessing. (Mind you I am not advocating or suggestion discrimination or violence towards Muslims as humans. But what Islam/Muslims offers in terms of religion.)

You barge into this thread, bombard the Hindu members, disrespect their religion and speak rudely when they never said anything about your religion in the first place...

As far as Hinduism is concerned and we looking at India historically. As Hinduism predicted and dictates Muslims are (asuras i.e) people who are a source of annoyance and degeneration.

All I see day-in and day-out is that Muslims soaking in literature of infidels, benefiting from it yet having the audacity to claim there was some "golden age" which Islam had that benefited all of humanity. I doubt there would have been much "Islamic philosophy" even, had Muslims not been exposed to Greek and pre-Islamic Iranian philosophy.

Also...

"If there were, in the heavens
And the earth, other gods
Besides Allah, there would
Have been confusion in both!
But glory to Allah,
The Lord of the Throne:
(High is He) above
What they attribute to Him!"

[Qur’an 21:22]

"No son did Allah beget,
Nor is there any god
Along with Him: (if there were
Many gods), behold, each god
Would have taken away
What he had created,
And some would have
Lorded it over others!
Glory to Allah! (He is free)
From the (sort of) things
They attribute to Him!"
[Al-Qur’an 23:91]


Your questions are motivated by these verses. You ask not curiously but to incite responses that you know won't be according to what you agree to. So that you can come in and proclaim the flawless supremacy of the Quran by denouncing those responses as absurd. You see how you taunt us?

You are under the impression that Hindus are stupid and lost. When its just that Hindus don't go around being so full of themselves. Hindu scriptures tend to be kept under the wraps because they are intellectually superior. I mean your Quran has got nothing important and useful to say about the Self, Existence and how things in the world affect living the same way the Bhagavad Gita does.

And yet Hindus have to endure insults upon insults from Abrahmics and since the past millenia ceaseless attempts to corrupt and destroy Hindu religion by Abrahamics. Should Hindus be loud-mouthed and braggy the same way Muslims do "oh wow look the Quran is leik just sooo amazing, ohmygosh wow weee... marshmellowah these tafseers are so leik mind blowin and mentally stimulatin... hehehe we are the best, so glad to be a Muslim, so sad for the stupid kuffars they got nuthin goin on fer them"

What's worse is that you think you are entitled to make a judgement of Hindu beliefs, practices and scriptures. Like as though we require your approval.

 

[Surya Deva]

EddyM,

This is not a topic to discuss Islam. There is a topic "Islam: Ask your questions" modelled after this one, to discuss Islam. Please take your questions and comments there regarding Islam. This topic is only for Hinduism.

The word Hindu does indeed come from Sindu. Also from Sindh comes Indus, from which comes India. This is common knowledge and it is not debtatable.

 

[EddyM]

I wasn't discussing about Islam.

Instead of asking any questions out of genuine curiosity or in order to clarify. All I see mainly is Muslim posters being deliberately incendiary, patronizing and inciting. If Muslims want to take advantage of every instance to proselytize their own religion as being the only truth. Then I have to express what Hinduism's stance on Islam is and how Hindus feel, so that hopefully they quit polluting this thread. The OP started the thread to offer information about Hinduism. And instead of that, he's being forced to be on the defense due to incessant pretentious denigration of the Hindu religion by the followers of Islam.

Also this thread has been a fiasco from the start as the OP is offering his own individual version of Hinduism rather than reiterating any already existent classical scholarly schools of thought.

 

[Surya Deva]

There are many versions of Hinduism. Some take a relativist viewpoint and some take a particular viewpoint. Nobody is going to learn about Hinduism from a thread, if they are keen they will follow up the answers given here by members with further research or discussion in the DIR forums.

 

[shankara_kalady]

Says who? Your fellow Muslims?

Check this out Madhuri, this Genius says "Hindu" isnt Sanskrit and from outsiders. Yet his username says "shankara_kalady".

You obviously have some sort of an issue with Muslims, which I don't blame as monotheists have this habit of saying they have the right and true religion. I don't have any "fellow Muslims". But that story about the Persians is the most commonly spread story.
But research by Murlidhar H. Pahoja, Ph.D has shown that indeed the word "Hindu" is of Vedic origin.

 

[Rainbow Mage]

Do Hindus have a stance on homosexuality? (I'm sure there probably isn't just one stance )

 

[Madhuri]

Do Hindus have a stance on homosexuality? (I'm sure there probably isn't just one stance )

True, there isn't just one stance. Probably because homosexuality isn't mentioned much in scripture. There seem to be some books (or one) that require men to be fined (some small amount) for homosexual intercourse but there are numerous stories of gods and goddesses participating in same sex affairs and giving 'birth' to gods and sages from these same sex relations. So yeh, I don't think it's seen as a big deal

I assume that homophobia in India today has a lot to do with outside influences rather than Hinduism itself.

 

[Onkara]

I learnt from you answer Madhuri, thanks
For what it is worth, I have done a fair amount of reading Hindu scriptures and the like, and have not come across any homophobia or prejudice in that respect.

 

[Surya Deva]

This is true, homosexuality is not considered wrong in Hinduism. Nor is it considered right. Hinduism is quite silent on it. However, here and there you will find homoerotic mythology and artistic descriptions, in fact there is a Hindu temple in South India which depicts explicit sexual acts on the temple wells, including homosexual acts. In the Kamasutra, the homosexuals are not left out and it describes instructions for homosexual sex as well.

I believe in tanta there are some left hand sects which engange in homosexual acts as a part of ritual. However, this is not much of an endorsement, because these sects also engage in many elicit activities(animal sacrifice, incest, self-mutilation) Most Hindus consider these tantrick practices to be dark and evil.

In general, however, homosexuality is not seen as bad in Hinduism historically. There are some famous gay historical characters as well in India, such as Sikhandi in the Mahabharata epic who was said to be a reincarnation of princess Amba in his previous life. He was instrument in bringing down the commander in chief of Hastinapur Bhishma. Sikhandi was deployed as a human shield for Arjuna who would not fire on Sikhandi because he was gay(and because he knew he was a reincarnation of Princess Amba who Bhishma had wronged earlier)

Although Hindus have historically been tolerant of homosexuality, some modern Hindus who have had Islamic and Christian influences, consider homosexuality to be wrong. More learned Hindus are very tolerant though. Modern India's attitude to homosexuality is maturing though, and gay people are considered more and more acceptable in Indian society and media. There have been many gay films made recently in India as well, and popular Indian cinema also have gay characters. Gay characters also appear on Indian television and reality shows.