In Search of Oneness (The Bhagavad Gita and the Quran through Sufi Eyes)

The Gita and The Quran- A comparative Study

This free-flowing narrative illuminates the journey of the author, a devout Muslim, through sacred books and holy men of all religions-starting with his own-in search of a personal god and faith, and his coming upon the Bhagavad Gita. Examining commentaries on this text, from Sankara to Abdur Rahman Chishti, alongside some renderings of the Quran here, Moosa Raza finds many common threads: summoning God through sadhana or dhikr; reaching God through daan or giving and the service of the destitute; and seeking ecstasy through self-mastery, detachment and surrender.

These original observations are complemented by his encounters with people practicing these values, like his ailing school teacher who felt God was always beside him or his friend, a senior civil servant, who, trusting in Allah’s providence, kept an open home for the poor and the homeless. Through these experiences and his own striving, Raza celebrates the oneness and power of faith and spirituality, showing a path for other seekers.

Moosa Raza retired from the IAS, is a polyglot and a respected scholar of Islam. He has been principas secretary of the chief minister of Gujrat, chief secretary in Jammu and Kashmir an adviser to the Governor of Uttar Pradesh and secretary to the Government of India in the Cabinet Secretariat and in the ministry of Stel. Currently, he is the chairman of the South India Educational Trust, which runs Six educational institutions, and of the Executive Committee of Coastal Engergen Pvt. Ltd. In 2010, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan. He lives with his wife in chennai.

In the aftermath of the destruction of the twin towers in New York in 2001, there was a wave of anti-Muslim feelings all over the world. Its momentum has not abated yet. The pogroms in Gujarat in February-March 2002, subsequent to the earlier event, led to anti-Muslim and anti-Islamic feelings in some sections of the Indian society. There were even discussions about finding a final solution to the ‘Muslim problem’. Sometime during 2002, I was approached by Ms Sudhamahi Regunathan, the then vice chancellor of the Jain Vishva Bharati University of Rajasthan, in a rather perturbed state of mind. As a believer in the Jaina concept of Anekantvad, she felt that the misunderstandings that existed between various religions, especially among the elite of India, require to be actively addressed. She wondered if I would be willing to address a group of senior executives of various corporate houses in Delhi and professors from other universities and talk to them about Islam. I gave a series of three lectures on Islam in the auditorium of the National Museum in Delhi. Since the audience consisted almost entirely of non-Muslims, mostly Hindus, my lectures necessarily placed Islam and its founder in the context of India, Hinduism, the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the great epics of India. I also touched briefly on the Sufi interpretation of Islam and the role the Sufis played in the religious life of Islam. Sudhamahiji, I am told, later produced a CD based on these lectures.

Since I had quoted profusely from the Bhagavad Gita and the Sufi texts to explain the basic beliefs, the philosophy and mysticism of Islam, she later wondered whether I would be willing to give a lecture on the Bhagavad Gita to another set of people. I was quite reluctant to do so as I believed, and continue to believe, that my knowledge of the Gita is not of a level worth exposing to the scholarly and the erudite. However, she somehow persuaded me and I gave a lecture on the Gita with the title ‘The Bhagavad Gita and I’. I chose this title to make it clear that I was planning to speak on the Gita on the basis of my personal encounter with that song and with some of the people who had integrated its teachings in their personal lives. The title helped me escape any criticism of my lack of in-depth knowledge of the great book.

Many friends who heard the lecture later wanted me to expand it, giving more details of the encounters which could not be covered in a one-hour lecture. That was how this book was conceived.

It is very unfortunate that though the Hindus and the Muslims in India have been living together for more than a thousand years, knowledge about each other’s religious books is often absent and, if present, it is generally superficial. After Al Beruni’s book on India, the Kitab-al-Hind, and the fourteen chapters he devoted to the Indian religions, hardly any Muslim writer has studied Sanskrit and read the Hindu texts in the original. Similarly, I am yet to come across a Hindu writer who is capable of writing authoritatively on Islam and the Islamic texts-the Quran and the Hadith in particular. European scholars have devoted considerable attention to Islam and its religious text as well as to Hinduism and its texts. They have produced well-researched and erudite works for at least over a hundred years. Sometimes, of course, their gaze is orientalist, in the sense that Edward Said meant it. Even so, of late, I have noticed this attitude changing. My effort here is to clear the misunderstandings around the two great books of Indian religions-the Bhagavad Gita and the Quran. My deep study of these books and related literature has shown me that instead of typifying Samuel Huntington’s classic clash of civilizations, they are so close to each other, both in spirit and in language, that they promote a sense of unity rather than of separation.

The famous Dr Hans Kung, professor of ecumenical theology and president of the Global Ethic Foundation, writes:

No peace among nations Without peace among the religions.
No peace among the religions
Without dialogue between the religions.
No dialogue between the religions Without investigation of the foundations of the religions.

The establishment of global peace demands an understanding and a civilized dialogue among religions, especially among the great religions of the world.

This book is a small attempt to understand the foundations of these two great religions-their followers constitute one-third of the world’s population-which have been investigated by the savants of both. It would be too much to claim that there are no differences between the religions. Islam is distinct from the other religions, with its own beliefs, rituals and customs and so are Hinduism and Christianity. For that matter, so are Confucianism, Taoism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism and the other religions of world. However, a civilized and rational approach to all these religions throws up the fact that they all have a common denominator. It therefore behoves us to recognize the dignity of difference, as Jonathan Sachs would have it, and move towards that underlying denominator.

The word ‘tolerance’ has been much abused in the last few decades. Everybody preaches that we must tolerate Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism and so on. The word ‘tolerance’ implies that there is something unpleasant which requires to be tolerated, with forbearance and patience. In the present context, when tensions mark the relationship between various religions, this word has become outmoded. What is required is not tolerance but respect for each other, born out of understanding and appreciation. This is a much higher level of understanding than mere tolerance. Hindus and Muslims of India especially must recognize, understand, appreciate and respect the religious texts of each other.

One is reminded of what Ghalib said in one of his Persian verses, more than a century and a half ago.

Sar az hijab-e-tayyun agar berun aayad
Cheh jalwaha keh b’har kish mitawan kardan.
If man were to come out of the self-limiting veil that covers his eyes, what glorious revelations he will see in every faith.

This book therefore seeks to inculcate that feeling of respect for each other’s belief and thoughts which the sages, rishis and Sufis have tried to over centuries.

The Bhagavad Gita, one of the significant religious texts of the Indian subcontinent, has been read, paraphrased, expounded on and translated many times by Islamic scholars, beginning with Al Beruni, whose paraphrases of the Gita sound almost like a commentary on the Quran, to Abdur Rahman Chishti’s commentary on the Gita. Chishti claims the text to be Krishna explaining to Arjuna, by analogy, the secrets of tawhid-the oneness of God. ‘To God belongs the East and the West. To whichever direction you turn, you face the countenance of God. For God is All Embracing and All Knowing,’ says the Quran. ‘Call “Allah” or call “ar-Rahman”, whatever the name you call, to Him belong the most beautiful names.’ Much earlier, the Rig Veda had said ‘ekam sat, vipra bahuda vadanti’-truth is one and the wise call it by many names.

There have been many translations of the Gita in Urdu, mostly in prose. I have even read a paraphrased version of the book in Arabic. However, my coming across Dil Mohammad’s translation in verse was an altogether different experience. It was obvious that he had translated the Gita into Urdu verse not because he was trying to convey a message. It was not a tour de force. Dil Mohammad was obviously deeply impressed by the message of the Gita and touched by the lessons taught to Arjuna by Krishna. The simple words-a mixture of Urdu and Hindi-used by Dil Mohammad and a rhythmic flow he maintained in the rhyming verses impressed me no end. I read out passages from his translation to a number of my friends who were equally impressed and subsequently bought copies of their own to read.

So, apart from citing Sanskrit and English passages, I shall be using Dil’s Urdu translation extensively, for it is a translation done with the heart, not with the mind. Perhaps some of my readers who know Urdu would be encouraged to read the Gita, if the passages cited in this long essay touch their hearts.

Once in my early childhood I happened to listen to a discussion on a great bloodshed of Hindus and Muslims in a communal riot. On my remark, "Why did Hindus' Bhagavan and Muslims' Allah not stop them from beings perished through fighting each other?" A Maulana explained to me in detail that Allah is only One, Who created all human beings including Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Chris-tians and others and also clarified that He has different names in different religions and languages. Then I started questioning innocently: 'While Hindus and Muslims are created by the same God, why do they fight or kill each other? Are they not real brothers as there is no doubt about their creator, who is the father of all in the real sense? Who created various religions and which one is the best? While only Islam is the best religion why God created bad religions also, as you say Allah never creates an irrelevant thing?' The Maulana could not satisfy me with his answers instead he doubted my sincerity. Even he got irritated on my asking, "Had God given you birth in a Hindu-home could you deny it?"

According to the Gita and the Qur'an God Himself chooses religions for all human beings, therefore all should stick to their respective religions. However if a person wants to improve his religion, he should do so as all religions are badly in need of being improved. All things of the creation without .exception are bound to change under the natural pressure of time, place and circumstances. Therefore, those who oppose' even a suitable change in their religious faiths are sure to face downfall. For instance, radio, television, telephone, banking establishments involving usury and very many more scientific and technological inventions of the modern era were prohibited yesterday, while a nation cannot prosper without them today, hence they are permitted silencing the religious trouble-makers. Nothing can stop the speed of change under compulsion of time. Whosoever will try to do so will be crushed under its weight? The change emanates from God.

Similarly placing women behind the curse of veil (Pardah) or permitting polygamy or frequent divorces is not only harmful, but also suicidal today. What a pity, almost half a population of a nation was made handicapped in the prisons of Pardah! After all why should women hide their faces? Are they nose cleft or ugly or doers of shameful acts? Why should lions ask their lionesses to behave like stupid creatures by covering their faces even before the jackals? They should be taught to face an evil attempt of a rowdy with bold-ness and to extract an eye with a lustful gaze. Let a loose character die a natural death on seeing an excellent beauty. Why should women protect him by covering their faces? Let him restrain his own evil desires or shut up his own eyes. Women are no other than men's mothers, sisters, grand-mothers, wives and even beloveds. Let all men fight for women's emancipation. Is there female population four-fold to male's in any country? If not, why four wives to anyone depriving others of having even a single wife? The psychological and the humanitarian considerations are also ignored in practising polygamy. For example, an affectionate father brought up his darling daughter with a loving care and gave her in marriage to a deserving boy with high hopes for her decent settlement in life. But after a few years he married another woman, then third and fourth. Think impartially with the God-given intellect how can a woman live in peace in an atmosphere of many wives of her husband? Such a home is certainly a hell for her. The sooner this wrongful practice is dome away, the better.

Inspite of my pondering on the injunctions of various scriptures, I sometimes find myself without a solution and hence wandering. Should I believe in what I see with my own eyes or what is written in the scriptures? For example, a helpless woman was weeping in tears on her husband's marrying two or three more women. Should I believe that she IA as laughing in joy for her husband's doing something within the framework of Shariat? Elsewhere, another woman was crying with folded hands while being dragged for being burnt at her dead husband's burning pyre. Should I believe that she was singing for being sati for the sake of her Dharma? One should utilize one's God-given intellect for solving a problem of conflict of duties with the firm faith that the essence of religion rests in the service of humanity rather than that of God, Who is not at all in such a necessity. God loves those who serve His created beings. A good intellect with a foresight is certainly a divine revelation and a supreme scripture!

With these reformatory ideas fluttering in my mind in search of reality, I read the Gita and the Quran extensively and came to the conclusion that human race, religion and relation is only one all over the surface of the earth-the visible difference is on account of the time, place and circumstances. Fighting or killing on the basis of religion is an act of madness on the part of human beings and hence a great sin. With a view to strengthen the thread of national integration and universal brotherhood for a deeper understanding, I had decided to bring out a comparative study of the Gita and the. Qur'an-the two major scriptures of the two major com-munities in a book form.

At the time of this publication I. shall be failing in my duty if I do not remember with indebtedness my revered teachers Dr. R.S. Tripathi, Professor and Head of the Dept., Dr. G.L. Shastri, Prof. P.S. Gupta, Dr. G.N. Shukla, Dr. P. Anand, Dr. S.S. Sharma Rakesh as well as Prof. Saefd Ahmed Akbarabadi, Prof. A. Aleem, Prof. Nazir Ahmad, Prof. K.A. Nizami and Prof. S. Nurul Hasan of the Departments of Sanskrit, Theology and Comparative Religion, Islamic Studies, Arabic, Persian and History of the A.M.U. Aligarh, who always offered their earnest advice concerning my plans for working on the lines of national integration.

MN best gratitude is due to the Govt. Of India, which sanctioned an adequate grant for the publication of this book. My sincere thanks are also due to M/s Nag Publishers, who took keen interest and pains in bringing out this work into light with-in a short span of time.

I express my sincere thanks to the learned scholar and philosopher Dr. Lajpat Rai, who took pains in making corrections at the time of its printing.

Besides, my best thanks are due to Prof. Dr. R.V. Joshi and Prof. Dr. Satyavrata Shastri of Delhi University as well as. Dr. R.N. Dandekar of the Bhandarkar Research Institute of Poona for their sincerity and fair-mindedness towards me.

Lastly I would like to recognise with loving thanks the painstaking help rendered to me by my only daughter Sara Durrany and both the sons - Dara Durrany and Agha Durrany in going through the proofs. Inspite of the best attention paid to the task of proof-reading a few errors are left unnoticed. Patient readers may kindly bear with me for this and convey to me their views and suggestions for the improvement and enrichment of this book.

In this volume an attempt has been made to present a picture of a comparative study of the human duties with their classifications according to the Gita and the Qur'an. These two scriptures preached originally in India and Arabia respectively play an important role in the field of religion, philosophy, ethics, culture and civilization, politics and the social advancement of the whole world. These are, in fact, by virtue of their cosmopolitan views, representatives of the divine messages came to mankind occasionally under the compulsion of time, place and circumstances. Neither the Gita is preached only for the Hindus nor the Qur'an for the Muslims, yet they are misunderstood to be the scriptures of the Hindus and the Muslims respectively. This misunderstanding is on account of the non-conveyance of the messages of both these scriptures to the public at large. The Gita and the Quran both are very widely accepted to be the sacred volumes of the world and hence intensively studied and variously commented, yet there remains so much work to be done in connection with them. It is quite improper that the Hindus prefer only to strive for reading and understanding the Gita and the Muslims, in the same way, like only to read and understand the message of the Qur'an neglecting the former, while God repeatedly declares in the Qur'an to believe in all the sacred books preached before to be true.' The Gita also, likewise, maintains the same spirit by proclaiming, ‘whenever, there is decline of bodies Himself forth for the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of the evil doers and for establishing Dharma on a firm footing.'1

It should be borne in mind that by this divine statement depicted in the Gita, 'I body Myself forth for establishing Dharma,' as reflected in 7th and 8th verses of the 4th Chapter of the Gita, is not meant that God Himself takes birth in the human form, while He is Unborn, Eternal and Indestructible, according to the Gita and the Qur'an both.2 But in the times of distress to the virtuous, He sends His apostles, specially endowed with his reformatory calibre as His representatives to act on His behalf. God is absolutely devoid of taking birth and dying, but His messengers or representatives are put to the cycle of birth and death as Lord srikrishna Himself admits that He has passed through many births.3The reader is requested to see my commentary on this point in the 8th Chapter of this work.

A great majority of the people can be available in the world which may be well versed in either the Quran or the Gita or the Bible or any other scripture of the world. But there can be found a very few persons who may be specialized in the comparative studies of the two or more scriptures. God Himself passes laws and regulations for every community for judging mankind according to their respective codes. Had God willed, He could turn all mankind into one community. But He does not do so knowingly, so that He may judge prejudiced or non-prejudiced views of mankind towards their various communities set forth by Himself.4 The Gita also enjoins the same thing in this respect by pronouncing, 'Even those devotees, who endowed with faith, worship other gods, they too worship God alot, though not in accordance with divine rules.' God further declares in the Gita that I am equally present in all beings, there is none hateful or dear to Me, they, however, who devoutly worship Me, abide in Me, and 1 also stand revealed in them. Even if the vilest sinner worships Me with exclusive devotion, he should be considered a saint, as he has rightly resolved.1 Women folk, Vaigyas, Sildras and even those who are horn of the womb of sin, such as the pariah, taking refuge in Me, they too reach the Supreme Abode.2' This statement is intended by the Divine Lord for instigating mankind to be aloof from communal feelings towards each other. The Qur'an also appears to be very keen on this point in its preaching, 'Those who believe in that which is revealed to the prophet Muhammad or those who are Jews or Christians. or Sabaeans and believe in Allah and the Last Day and do meritorious deeds, their reward is certain with their Lord and there shall be no fear to come upon them neither shall they grieve.3

Though all the sacred books of the world, by virtue of their being preached through some divine agency, are basically similar as to their divine imports, but I am, at present, directly concerned only with the Gita and the Qur'an in connection with the human duties depicted in them, therefore, I concern myself wholly to deal with them.

The religious role of a country depends upon the followers of a particular scripture. As regards the religious life in India, the followers of the Gita, that is Hindus and those of the Qur'an say Muslims are in majority and they, due to their lack of comparative knowledge of both these scriptures, con-sider themselves to be a different folk and taking the grounds of divergence in their religions mistakenly stand hostile to each other. Thus, the hostility between the Hindus and the Muslims is basically caused by lacking knowledge of the Gita and the Qur'an at the same time. It is, undoubtedly admit table that the prejudiced views of the generality of the Hindus and Muslims should come to an end after minutely, going through a comparative study of the human duties as enjoined in the Gita and the Quran. This is the sole purpose in devoting myself for bringing out the chief perspectives of 'the Gita and the Qur'an in the light of their comparative study of the human duties in a book-form.

For facilitating understanding of this volume, it is divided into two broad divisions containing eight chapters. The first Tour chapters of part one are devoted to the preliminary discourse on the Gita and the Qur'an along with their back-grounds and the next four chapters of part two to the main theme thereof as systematised hereunder:

In the first and second chapters the pre-GITAIC and the pre-Quranic ages are reflected in the light of historical, social, political, cultural and religious backgrounds. A few glimpses of the religious system of the Arabs prevailing during the time of ignorance before the revelation of the Qur'an are even traceable in the Qur'an itself, bearing the confirmatory seal of the prophet of Islam. Most of the pre-GITAIC systems of religious performances are corroborated by the Blessed Lord in the Gild also. A summary of the biographies of Lord Krishna and Prophet Muhammad have also been affixed respectively at the end of these two chapters.

**Contents and Sample Pages**