Dissimilarities Between Hinduism and Islam

I. Muslims believe in none but Allah, the one Supreme God and follow only Qu'ran. Hindus worship one God, but in many forms, aspects, incarnations and emanations. They are not particular about the name or the method of worship. They also worship the various gods and goddesses either as the highest God Himself or as an aspect of Him or even as a separate entity. They follow not only several scriptures but also the sayings of several saints and seers.

2. A person converts to Islam by proclaiming faith in the supremacy of Allah and accepting Muhammad as His messenger. Technically, a firm declaration of faith in Allah and the prophet is sufficient to convert to Islam. In contrast, a person becomes a Hindu either by birth or by personal choice, but without the need to confirm his faith in any particular God, scripture or messenger. A Hindu may be a theist or an atheist, a believer in absolute God or a local deity. Whatever path he may choose, he needs to be a seeker of Truth and upholder of Hindu Dharma.

3. Islam does not recognize any intermediary between man and God. A worshipper can reach out to Him directly through his prayers. In Hinduism there is a choice. A person can worship God directly or seek the intervention of a priest or a Guru for assistance.

4. Hinduism believes in the law of karma. Islam acknowledges that God rewards people for their good deeds and punishes them for their evil actions. However Islam does not recognize any law other than the law of God which is declared in the Qu'ran. Unlike Christianity, Islam does not proclaim that men are born in sin. Men are born pure, free of sin, by the grace of Allah and shall remain so as long as they have abiding faith in Him, follow His law and worship Him, practicing virtue and avoiding evil. Hence no need to seek forgiveness through a priest.

5. Islam does not recognize any hierarchy of priests, bishops, monks and Popes. In Hinduism there is no central authority like that of a Pope. But it has priests, Shankaracharyas, guru sampradayas (traditions of gurus), ascetic traditions and sectarian organizations that regulate the religious affairs of the individuals, who follow them or seek their help. The Muslim Imams are but religious scholars with no particular divine authority and pious servants of God, serving the faithful as His true followers.

6. Islam does not believe in rebirth, but only resurrection and the Last Judgment Day. In contrast to Islam, Hinduism considers life in heaven and hell as temporary. A soul regains freedom forever only through self-realization.

7. Hinduism does not have a concept of prophets and messengers, but incarnations, seers, sages, gurus and divinities who pass on the revelations of God to the mankind.

8. Sharia, the Muslim law, is imposed through Muslim clerics, well versed in Qu'ran and Hadith, to punish those who disobey the commands of Allah as declared by Him in the Qu'ran. Hindu religious law is presently not imposed through an independent religious authority, but, portions of it, through the government judiciary, according to Hindu civil code.

9. Islam considers God and his creation to be two distinct things. God exists everywhere in His creation. But in a theological sense He is not His creation. So is the case with creatures and the people He creates. He is closer to them and ever watchful and heedful, but He is separate from them and never unites with them. He may reward them for their faith and good deeds by ensuring them a place in heaven, but there is no such concept as liberation through self-realization. Many schools of Hinduism, however, consider God and His creation to be the same. There is either no distinction or very little. God is both the material and instrumental cause of His creation. He exists as the Supreme Lord of the entire creation and also as the individual self (atman) in all beings and objects. The individual self is the same in essence as the Highest Self and when it regains its true consciousness it has the same consciousness as that of God.

10. Hindus consider the world in which we live to be illusory and unreal. It exists in relation to the senses and to the extent they can grasp it and make sense out of it. It is unreal in the sense that it is ever changing, destructible, impermanent, created and relative. We are not sure whether what we see is the reality or the truth, because the senses are such imperfect and unreliable instruments of truth. The best means to arrive at truth are direct experience, the experience of others, the inferences based on the things that exist or do not exist or may exist and may not exist, and scriptural authority. The concept of maya or illusion, the existence of Prakriti or nature, either as a dependent or independent aspect of God, and the role of senses in the delusion of the individual beings are alien to Islam. According to Islam the word here is as real as the heaven or hell. They are God's creation and rest in Him.

11. Hinduism do not see much distinction between man and the rest of the beings. Man is but one stage in the liberation of soul from the bondage to the cycle of births and deaths. In Islam there is a clear demarcation between humans and animals. Only man can be a true believer and follower of God. The rest of the creatures in the world are created by God for the benefit of man.

12. Like Christianity, Islam believes in a Devil known as Iblis. But unlike in Christianity, he is not considered a fallen angel, but a Jinn. In Hinduism there are Asuras who are fallen gods and who are forever in conflict with gods. There are also demonic beings called Rakshasas who are cruel and mischievous and defy the authority of God at the slightest pretext, although they chose to worship Him for selfish and egoistic reasons and try to misuse their power for doing evil deeds and causing unrest. In the highest sense, in Hinduism as in Islam, God is the ruler of all the worlds and evil is but an instrument of God to punish the wicked and if possible reform them. However, unlike in Islam, the Hindu hell is ruled by a pious god known as Lord Yama, who is considered to be an epitome of justice and virtue.

13. The Islamic cosmology essentially consists of the heaven, the hell and the earth. The Hindu cosmology is more complicated. Hinduism recognizes innumerable worlds and planes of existence. God is all these and also beyond them. No one can truly fathom His worlds or the extent of His manifestation.

14. In Islam there is no concept of Trinity. God is one and indivisible. Hinduism recognizes three highest functional aspects of God in the form of Brahma, Vishnu and Siva, who are called the Three Deities (Trimurthis), depicted either as one or separate deities, who carry out the three primary functions of God's manifestation, namely creation, preservation and destruction. Each of these three are also recognized as God Himself by their followers.