SPIRIT OF ISLAM AUGUST 2O13

5 Spirit of Islam Issue 8 August 2013 Jawaharlal Nehru, in his famous work, The Discovery of India observed that when the Arabs came to India, they brought with them a brilliant culture. History testifies to this statement. The Arabs came to India in the 7th and 8th centuries. At that time India was dominated by superstition. Most Indians worshipped nature. It was their belief that everything, from stars to planets, rivers and trees, was divine in nature. According to Islamic belief, God is the creator and the whole of nature is His creation. This ideology was revolutionary at the time. It brought about a change in the Indian mind-set, introducing scientific thinking into Indian society. After the introduction of this ideology, the Indian people tried to explore nature, instead of worshipping it and treating it as divine. The second impact of the advent of Islam in India was to introduce the concept of universal brotherhood. At the time, Indian society was dominated by the caste system. The Islamic concept of equality changed this system to a great extent. A more detailed understanding of this Islamic contribution can be gotten from Dr. Tara Chand’s 1946 book, The Influence of Islam on Indian Culture . We can see from these examples the positive influence and the healthy effect of Islam on Indian society. Now let us take an example of the contribution of Hinduism to the Muslims of India. Not allowing oneself to be provoked in spite of provocation is a forgotten teaching of Islam. I have found a beautiful illustration of this teaching in the life of Swami Vivekananda, a great soul of India. One of his friends wanted to put him to the test. So he invited the Swamiji to his home. When the Swamiji reached there he was asked to sit in a room, beside a table on which the sacred books of different religions had been placed, one on top of the other. The Bhagavad Gita, the sacred book of Hinduism, was placed at the bottom. Other religious books were placed above it. The Swamiji’s friend asked him what he had to say about it. This was obviously meant to be humiliating for the Swamiji but instead of being provoked, he simply smiled and said, “The foundation is really