Many Hindus like to say – All religions are same. In particular when they are in company of Non-Hindus, and the discussion revolves around respective religions, a Hindu normally avoids conflict and escapes by making this statement.
In fact, some Hindus also believe that this is indeed true. The important point to note is that we will never find a Muslim or Christian saying this.
In this article we try to explain that all religions are NOT same. We would like to ask well-meaning Hindus, whether before using this sentence, they have studied other religions? So our point is that by making this statement, a Hindu gains nothing and loses respect. It only showcases that they have no idea of the belief systems of other religions.
For example, if a Hindu says that Ram and Mohammad are same – this statement would never be liked by a Muslim? Such a statement is infact an insult to Islam because Ram is an avatar in Hinduism but in Islam there is no concept of avatar. In Islam, Allah does not take birth in the form of human being. So calling Mohammad as God or God’s Avatar is blasphemy (kufr) in Islam.
So by being obsequious and saying that everything is same, a Hindu can feel-good but actually he/she is insulting other faiths.
First a Hindu has to understand the outlook and conceptual frameworks of other religions. One cannot worship Mohammad in Islam. It would be idol worship – blasphemy. No Muslim will ever tell you that Mohammad should be worshipped, they believe that only Allah is to be worshipped. That is why many Muslim oppose the use of the word Mohammadan and prefer the term Muslims.
You can ask Muslims whether they believe Mohammad was a son of God? They will reply that there was never such a son. Of course Christians believe that Jesus Christ was son of God. So there can be some similarity with the Avatar concept. However please note that Christians clearly believe that God had only one son – Jesus. They are very clear that Ram and Krishna cannot be son of God.
Our next write-up will explain the reason, why Christians believe that only Jesus can be son of God.
(This article is based on a speech by Rajiv Malhotra)
