Hindus – Questions Answered
In Hinduism, we do not believe in violence to animals but in Islam you are asked to sacrifice animals at different times to “please your God”. Why does your God require you to kill animals? How does He benefit from that?
The first point we need to stress is that any act of worship is not done to benefit Allah. Allah is The Self-Sufficient and Free from All Need. Allah is our Creator, and as our Creator He knows His creation better than we do. Any act prescribed for us to fulfill or commanded of us to avoid is not for His benefit, but for ours. There is something in either doing an act or refraining from it that will benefit the worshipper.
Islam is a way of life. It is not just a system of worship that we adopt when going to the masjid. It is an economic system, trade system, legal system, governmental system, etc. Islam regulates man’s dealings with: Allah, himself, other people, society as a whole and the earth we live on. Therefore, part of our obligations as worshippers has to do with our responsibilities to other people. When Muslims sacrifice an animal as expiation for something or during the Hajj, for example, the meat is used to feed the people in that area. During the Hajj, on the day of Eid Al-Adha when Muslims slaughter sheep in celebration of the festival of feasting, we are commanded to: 1. eat ⅓ 2. gift ⅓ 3. give ⅓ in charity. Therefore the social benefits are obvious that on the day of the celebration of Eid all people will receive something with which to have a celebration meal and not have to sit hungry while others are enjoying their meals. This is just a small example, but generally any act we are commanded to do is to the benefit of the person himself, to other people or society in general.
What is “pleasing to God” is that the faithful servant is carrying out His commands in awe of Him, adoration of Him and with the love of being subservient to none other than his Creator.
Why does Islam not have a “caste system”?
The concept of “samsara” and the passing of souls from one living being to another does not exist in Islam. The concept of “continual rebirth” and coming back in another form as reward or punishment for the previous life’s outcome is refuted by revelation.
In Islam, a person is born once, is given one soul during the intrauterine stage of life, and then passes through one death. A person’s station in life is from Allah. A person is wealthy and of high status because Allah provided that life for that person along with its responsibilities to society and other human beings. A person is needy and of a lower status because this is the provision that Allah wrote for that person to deal with in this earthly life along with the responsibilities to society and other human beings that go with that status. One is tested through his wealth, the ability to be generous. The other is tested through his poverty to be patient and accept what Allah wrote for him. A needy but pious person is better to Allah than a wealthy yet non-pious person. Allah does not judge a person by the standards that were not within that person’s control, e.g.: status, family, nationality, color, social class. All of these are given by Allah. Allah looks to a person’s heart and his deeds and his consciousness of Allah and whether he lives a righteous life or not. A person can be mindful of Allah, worship Him and seek His pleasure whether he or she is wealthy or poor.
Why don’t Muslims believe in kundali (horoscope) nor use them for determining their affairs?
Allah is The All-Knowing, The Well-Acquainted. It is Allah who determines the decree of every living thing and every aspect of His creation. Stars, constellations (and their happenstance organization in the sky as determined by man), planets, etc. cannot even alter their own affairs. They are not intelligent nor sentient. Therefore they have absolutely no bearing on the lives and affairs of people. To use them for determining affairs is, in effect, depending on the horoscope and not depending on Allah. This is something that will remove a person from Islam and cause a person to have to renew his faith in Allah.
Hindus believe in Brahma (The Creator), Vishnu (The Preserver) and Shiva (The Destroyer). Why do Muslims object to this when Allah is claimed to be The Creator, The Preserver of the Universe and Able to Destroy or Allow to Exist whatever He wishes?
These Hindu gods are THREE separate entities. They are anthropomorphic and share characteristics with human beings.
Allah is The Creator, Sustainer/Preserver of the universe, and “Al-Qaadir”–capable of doing whatever He will to and with His creation. However, these are all attributes of the SAME GOD. And Allah’s attributes are extreme Perfection and far removed from any defect or deficiency. There is absolutely no comparison to human attributes whatsoever. Allah says in the Quran: “…And there is none like unto Him…” [Surah 112, V. 4] Nothing in His creation resembles Allah.
A person can be a kind father, loving husband, fair employer, and a strict judge, etc. He is one person with many characteristics. Of course, there is no comparison to Allah, but just so a person can understand how ONE GOD has many attributes, it is illustrated in terms we understand.
Allah is One. He has described Himself to us in revelation so we know who He is and what attributes He possesses. While He describes Himself as merciful and people also possess the capacity to show mercy, there is NO comparison of man’s capacity to show mercy to Allah’s Divine Mercy. Allah’s attributes befit Him in the most perfect attribution with no similarity to anything in creation.