by Swami B.V. Parivrajak Co-ordinator of the World Vaisnava Association

Inter-religious debates have a deep value for all those who hanker to see the establishment of Vaishnavism as the world religion for all mankind. Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and so many other beliefs have all their relative importance in the development of theism. This can be loosely compared to the relative function of many rooms in a house. That house, or Vaishnava dharma, is beyond the reach of all those who neglect the eternal, original function of the soul.

Saints and prophets reveal the knowledge of Krishna according to time, place and circumstances. In the age of Kali, however, the sacrifice of the saints is more intense due to the high degree of moral corruption and forgetfulness of God. In this short essay we are going to examine briefly the nature of the Islamic faith and its link with the Vaishnava dharma. The article draws heavily from "The Hidden Treasure of Al-Qu'ran", the authoritative research-work of Dr. Akif Manaf Jabir to whom I extend here my heartfelt gratitude. References to the Holy Koran, Sri Caitanya-caritamrita and Jaiva Dharma are also interspersed in the presentation.

Idolatry

The mission of the holy prophet Mohammed was to reestablish the worship of the only true God and stop idolatry, or unauthorized demigod worship. Although Mohammed factually accepted and respected all the sacred images as a genuine method to honor Allah, he could not reveal this confidential information because the people of his times were in a condition of great moral degradation. To have more than a wife was the rule and incestuous relations between mothers and sons were common.

The ancient Arabs believed in Allah, the only God, but actually they did not worship Him. They thought that Allah had entrusted the management of the various functions of the universe to different demigods. The faithful addressed these gods to invoke their blessings. They prayed to them to get the favor of Allah. The Arabs of the Syrian desert considered Al-Manat, the goddess of fortune, wife of Allah and mother of all the gods. Some deities as Al- lat, the goddess of heaven, and Al-Uzza, the goddess of Venus, were considered the daughters of Allah. The tribes of Yemen worshiped the sun. Others were worshiping the moon and still others the stars. Most of them worshiped idols. Traditions and rites were exclusively aimed to fulfill material desires. The degradation of the moral and religious principles had reached such a level where a messenger of God was necessary. Hazrat Muhammad (Mohammed) appeared in order to realize this plan of the Lord. Mohammed

Mohammed took birth at Mecca around 570 AD. His father died before his birth and his mother shortly after. It was his grandfather, the respectable Abdul Muttalib who took care of him. The Kaba was under the custody of his grandfather. This temple, built by Adam of Biblical reminiscence and rebuilt by others for the worship of the only one God, was called the House of Allah. However, the main objects of worship were 360 idols. Those who did not approve of this situation which prevailed since centuries were known as Hunafas. They practiced ascetic life and meditation. They often withdrew from social life and went to live in solitary places. Mohammed grew in the beginning as a devotee of the goddess Al-Uzza, but gradually he came to realize the anomalies in the religious practices of his people. He naturally came closer to the life style of the Hunafas. For one month in a year he withdrew from family life and lived in a cave in the desert. His place of meditation, Hira, was a desertic hill not far from Mecca.

It was there that one night he received the first revelation of God through the angel Gabriel. During the rest of his life, Mohammed continued to receive revelations during which he was experiencing an ecstatic trance characterized by tremor and profuse perspiration. This trance induced him to shout and faint several times. The Koran (Al-Qur' an), the compilation of the revelations of Allah, was edited only after the demise of the prophet. Mohammed had to refound the religious consciousness of Islam. His task was to uproot the problem of idolatry which was like a spreading disease. In order to achieve this aim, he apparently acted in an extremely radical way. Once, anyhow, Mohammed accepted a sacred image. This happened during the conquest of Mecca. On that occasion he entered the Kaba and ordered the destruction of all the idols. There were paintings on the walls among which an image of the Holy Mary with baby Jesus. According to the tradition, Mohammed did not allow this image to be destroyed.