From a talk with Dr. Saifuddin Jeelany, a noted Muslim Scholar, February 1971:
Jeelany : Materialism in general and communism in particular threaten to engulf our country. Don't you think that Hindus and Muslims, as believers in God, should act as a united bulwark against these dangers?
Guruji : This is almost the very question which was put to me some time ago by a gentleman from Kashmir. I think his name is Nazir Ali. He is a good man. I met him at Aligarh, He said to me that this threat of godlessness in the guise of communism is overtaking us all and we, who believe in God, should get together and meet that threat. I said, "I perfectly agree with you but the difficulty is that we have, as it were, broken the image of God and each one has got his own piece. So what is to be done? You think of God in one particular way. The Christian thinks in another. The Buddhist says there is no God; there is only Nirvaana. The Jain will say it is Shoonya. Then so many of us will say that we worship God in the form of Rama, Krishna, Shiva etc. How do we ask all these people to believe in one common God? Have you any recipe for this?" Now this Kashmiri gentleman is a Sufi which I take to be a thinker and God-minded man. You will be surprised to know his answer. He said : "Why all of them can't embrace Islam?"
I replied, "Don't you think that some will say, why not join Christianity" I, devoted as I am to my Dharma, may say, why not all become Hindus? It comes to the same thing, and the problem will never end". He then asked me what was my suggestion.
I said, "Follow your own religion. But there is one substantial philosophy which does not belong exclusively to the Hindu or to the Muslim. Call it whatever you like. It says that there is one Single Power, one Single Existence which is Truth, which is Bliss. It is the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer. All our conceptions of God are only our own limited conceptions of that Ultimate Reality. So that bedrock of Ultimate Reality can join us all together. It does not belong to any one religion. On this account everyone can accept this as common basis. Religion is only a way of worship. This basic faith is not a mere way of worship. This is a philosophical understanding of the universe. The God of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism is thus the same and we are all His devotees. As a Sufi you should accept this as a reasonable basis". He had no answer to this. Then we parted and there the whole matter ended. That is our misfortune.
Jeelany : Materialism in general and communism in particular threaten to engulf our country. Don't you think that Hindus and Muslims, as believers in God, should act as a united bulwark against these dangers?
Guruji : This is almost the very question which was put to me some time ago by a gentleman from Kashmir. I think his name is Nazir Ali. He is a good man. I met him at Aligarh, He said to me that this threat of godlessness in the guise of communism is overtaking us all and we, who believe in God, should get together and meet that threat. I said, "I perfectly agree with you but the difficulty is that we have, as it were, broken the image of God and each one has got his own piece. So what is to be done? You think of God in one particular way. The Christian thinks in another. The Buddhist says there is no God; there is only Nirvaana. The Jain will say it is Shoonya. Then so many of us will say that we worship God in the form of Rama, Krishna, Shiva etc. How do we ask all these people to believe in one common God? Have you any recipe for this?" Now this Kashmiri gentleman is a Sufi which I take to be a thinker and God-minded man. You will be surprised to know his answer. He said : "Why all of them can't embrace Islam?"
I replied, "Don't you think that some will say, why not join Christianity" I, devoted as I am to my Dharma, may say, why not all become Hindus? It comes to the same thing, and the problem will never end". He then asked me what was my suggestion.
I said, "Follow your own religion. But there is one substantial philosophy which does not belong exclusively to the Hindu or to the Muslim. Call it whatever you like. It says that there is one Single Power, one Single Existence which is Truth, which is Bliss. It is the Creator, Sustainer and Destroyer. All our conceptions of God are only our own limited conceptions of that Ultimate Reality. So that bedrock of Ultimate Reality can join us all together. It does not belong to any one religion. On this account everyone can accept this as common basis. Religion is only a way of worship. This basic faith is not a mere way of worship. This is a philosophical understanding of the universe. The God of Islam, Christianity and Hinduism is thus the same and we are all His devotees. As a Sufi you should accept this as a reasonable basis". He had no answer to this. Then we parted and there the whole matter ended. That is our misfortune.
Namaste!
Source: [Source: golwalkarguruji.org]
Comments
Post a Comment