Islam and Hinduism: Don’t let extremists exploit religion, Islam and Pluralism, NewAgeIslam.com

Islam and Pluralism

Islam and Hinduism: Don’t let extremists exploit religion

By Dr Khalid Hameed

When extremists inflict violence on society, it is often the innocent who are their main victims. They invoke religion as a justification for their violence. This must be resisted by the community at large. Voices must be raised in protest. We must withhold the robe of sanctity when it is sought as a cloak for violence and bloodshed, even if the perpetrators are from our own faith. These misguided people thrive on divisive appeals to our basic instincts of "Us" and "Them", which amounts to being comfortable with familiarity and resistant to others of different demeanours.

Most societies have been suspicious and aggressive towards strangers. Strangers are non-kin, they come from beyond the tribe. And therefore can I, as a Muslim, recognise God’s image in a stranger who is not a fellow Muslim? That is, can I see God’s image in a Hindu, in a Sikh, or in a Christian, or a Jew? Islam tackles this confusion by saying to the Muslims in the Quran to respect all of God’s creations, regardless of their religion or method of worship. In Surah Kafirun, verse 109, the Quran says: "Tell the disbelievers I do not worship what you worship nor do you worship what I worship. I will not worship what you worship, nor will you worship what I worship. To you: your religion, and to me: mine".

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