DA'WAH TO ZOROASTRIANS (PARSIS) CONCEPT OF GOD IN ZOROASTRIANISM:

DA'WAH TO ZOROASTRIANS (PARSIS)

CONCEPT OF GOD IN ZOROASTRIANISM:

God in Zoroastrianism is known as ‘Ahura Mazda’. ‘Ahura’ means ‘the Lord’ or 'The Master' and ‘Mazda’ means ‘the Wise’; hence ‘Ahura Mazda’ means ‘the Wise Lord’ or ‘the Wise God’. Ahura Mazda stands for God, in a strictly monotheistic sense. Qualities of God according to the Dasatir: According to the Dasatir, Ahura Mazda has the following qualities: He is One. He is without an origin or end. He has no father or mother, wife or son. He is without a body or form. Nothing resembles Him. Neither the eye can behold Him, nor the power of thinking can conceive him. He is above all that you can imagine. He is nearer to you than your own self.

Qualities of God according to Avesta According to the Avesta, the Gathas and the Yasna give various characteristics to Ahura Mazda such as: Creator   Yasna 31:7 & 11 Yasna 44:7 Yasna 50:11 Yasna 51:7       Most Mighty   the Greatest Yasna 33:11 Yasna 45:6       Beneficent   Hudai. Yasna 33:11 Yasna 48:3       Bountiful   Spenta; Yasna 43:4,5,7,9,11,13,15 Yasna 44:2 Yasna 45:5 Yasna 46:9 Yasna 48:3 Thus, in Zoroastrianism too, we find a concept of an eternal, omnipotent God. Several verses of Yasna praise the Lord as a Bountiful Creator.

CONCEPT OF GOD Buddhism

CONCEPT OF GOD Buddhism Buddha was silent about the existence or non-existence of God. It may be that since India was drowned in idol worship and anthropomorphism that a sudden step to monotheism would have been drastic and hence Buddha may have chosen to remain silent on the issue of God. He did not deny the existence of God. Buddha was once asked by a disciple whether God exists? He refused to reply. When pressed, he said that if you are suffering from a stomach ache would you concentrate on relieving the pain or studying the prescription of the physician. "It is not my business or yours to find out whether there is God – our business is to remove the sufferings of the world". Buddhism provided Dhamma or the ‘impersonal law’ in place of God. However this could not satisfy the craving of human beings and the religion of self-help had to be converted into a religion of promise and hope. The Hinayana sect could not hold out any promise of external help to the people. The Mahayana sect taught that Buddha’s watchful and compassionate eyes are on all miserable beings, thus making a God out of Buddha. Many scholars consider the evolution of God within Buddhism as an effect of Hinduism. Many Buddhists adopted the local god and thus the religion of ‘No-God’ was transformed into the religion of ‘Many-Gods’ – big and small, strong and weak and male and female. The ‘Man-God’ appears on earth in human form and incarnates from time to time. Buddha was against the caste-system prevalent in the Hindu society.

CONCEPT OF GOD IN JUDAISM

 CONCEPT OF GOD IN JUDAISM

Judaism is one of the major Semitic religions. Its followers are known as Jews and they believe in the prophetic mission of Prophet Moses (pbuh).

(i) The following verse from Deuteronomy contains an exhortation from Moses: (pbuh)
"Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad" It is a Hebrew quotation which means
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord"
[The Bible, Deut 6:4]

(ii) Consider the following verses from the Book of Isaiah:
"I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour."
[The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]

(iii) "I am lord, and there is none else There is no God besides me."
[The Bible, Isaiah 45 : 5]

(iv) "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." 
[The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]

(v) Judaism condemns idol worship in the following verses:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor see them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God…"
[The Bible, Exodus 20:3-5]

(iv) A similar message is repeated in the book of Deutoronomy:
"Thou shalt have none other gods before me.Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water beneath the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God…"
[The Bible, Deut 5:7-9]

CONCEPT OF GOD IN SIKHISM

CONCEPT OF GOD IN SIKHISM MULMANTRA: THE FUNDAMENTAL CREED OF SIKHISM The best definition that any Sikh can give regarding the concept of God in Sikhism is to quote the Mulmantra – the fundamental creed of Sikhism, which occurs at the beginning of Sri Guru Granth Sahib. It is mentioned in Sri Guru Granth Sahib, volume 1 Japuji, the first verse: "There exists but one God, who is called The True, The Creator, Free from fear and hate, Immortal, Not begotten, Self-Existent, Great and Compassionate." Sikhism is a monotheistic Religion Sikhism enjoins its followers to practise strict monotheism. It believes in only One Supreme God who is, in the unmanifest form, called Ek Omkara. In the manifest form He is called Omkara and has several attributes such as:   Kartar – The Creator Akal – The Eternal Sattanama – The Holy Name Sahib – The Lord Parvardigar – The Cherisher Rahim – The Merciful Karim – The Benevolent He is also called Wahe Guru – the One true God. Besides Sikhism being strictly monotheistic, it also does not believe in Avataravada – the doctrine of incarnation. Almighty God does not incarnate Himself in what is known as Avatara. Sikhism is also strongly against idol worship. Guru Nanak was influenced by Sant Kabir Guru Nanak was influenced by the sayings of Sant Kabir so much that several chapters of Sri Guru Granth Sahib contain couplets of Sant Kabir. One of the famous couplets of Sant Kabir is: "Dukh mein sumirana sabh karein Sukh mein karein na koya Jo sukh mein sumirana karein To dukh kaye hoye?" "In times of trouble, God is remembered by all But none remembers Him during peace and happiness. If God is remembered in good times of happiness Why should trouble occur?" Compare this with the following verse of the Qur’an: "When some trouble toucheth man, He crieth unto his Lord, Turning to Him in repentance: But when He bestoweth A favour upon him As from Himself, (Man) doth forget what he cried And prayed for before, And he doth set up Rivals unto Allah." [Al-Qur’an 39:8] The Sikh scriptures therefore emphasise monotheism and God-consciousness.

 

CONCEPT OF GOD IN CHRISTIANITY

CONCEPT OF GOD IN CHRISTIANITY

by Dr. Zakir Naik

I) Position of Jesus (pbuh) in Islam: (i)Islam is the only non-Christian faith, which makes it an article of faith to believe in Jesus (pbuh). No Muslim is a Muslim if he does not believe in Jesus (pbuh).    (ii) We believe that he was one of the mightiest Messengers of Allah (swt).    (iii) We believe that he was born miraculously, without any male intervention, which many modern day Christians do not believe.    (iv) We believe he was the Messiah translated Christ (pbuh).    (v) We believe that he gave life to the dead with God’s permission.    (iv) We believe that he healed those born blind, and the lepers with God’s permission.

II) Concept of God in Christianity: 1. Jesus Christ (pbuh) never claimed Divinity One may ask, if both Muslims and Christians love and respect Jesus (pbuh), where exactly is the parting of ways? The major difference between Islam and Christianity is the Christians’ insistence on the supposed divinity of Christ (pbuh). A study of the Christian scriptures reveals that Jesus (pbuh) never claimed divinity. In fact there is not a single unequivocal statement in the entire Bible where Jesus (pbuh) himself says, "I am God" or where he says, "worship me". In fact the Bible contains statements attributed to Jesus (pbuh) in which he preached quite the contrary. The following statements in the Bible are attributed to Jesus Christ (pbuh): (i) "My Father is greater than I." [The Bible, John 14:28] (ii) "My Father is greater than all." [The Bible, John 10:29] (iii) "…I cast out devils by the Spirit of God…." [The Bible, Mathew 12:28] (iv) "…I with the finger of God cast out devils…." [The Bible, Luke 11:20] (v) "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgement is just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." [The Bible, John 5:30]    2. The Mission of Jesus Christ (pbuh) – to Fulfill the Law Jesus (pbuh) never claimed divinity for himself. He clearly announced the nature of his mission. Jesus (pbuh) was sent by God to confirm the previous Judaic law. This is clearly evident in the following statements attributed to Jesus (pbuh) in the Gospel of Mathew: "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." [The Bible, Mathew 5:17-20]    3. God Sent Jesus' (pbuh)    The Bible mentions the prophetic nature of Jesus (pbuh) mission in the following verses:    (i)"… and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me." [The Bible, John 14:24]    (ii)"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent." [The Bible, John 17:3]    4. Jesus Refuted even the Remotest Suggestion of his Divinity      Consider the following incident mentioned in the Bible: "And behold, one came and said unto him, ‘Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?’ And he said unto him, ‘Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.’ " [The Bible, Mathew 19:16-17] Jesus (pbuh) did not say that to have the eternal life of paradise, man should believe in him as Almighty God or worship him as God, or believe that Jesus (pbuh) would die for his sins. On the contrary he said that the path to salvation was through keeping the commandments. It is indeed striking to note the difference between the words of Jesus Christ (pbuh) and the Christian dogma of salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus (pbuh). 5. Jesus (pbuh) of Nazareth – a Man Approved of God     The following statement from the Bible supports the Islamic belief that Jesus (pbuh) was a prophet of God. "Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know." [The Bible, Acts 2:22]    6. The First Commandment is that God is One    The Bible does not support the Christian belief in trinity at all. One of the scribes once asked Jesus (pbuh) as to which was the first commandment of all, to which Jesus (pbuh) merely repeated what Moses (pbuh) had said earlier: "Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adonai Ikhad." This is a Hebrew quotation, which means: "Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord." [The Bible, Mark 12:29] It is striking that the basic teachings of the Church such as Trinity and vicarious atonement find no mention in the Bible. In fact, various verses of the Bible point to Jesus’ (pbuh) actual mission, which was to fulfill the law revealed to Prophet Moses (pbuh). Indeed Jesus (pbuh) rejected any suggestions that attributed divinity to him, and explained his miracles as the power of the One True God. Jesus (pbuh) thus reiterated the message of monotheism that was given by all earlier prophets of Almighty God. NOTE: All quotations of the Bible are taken from the King James Version. III) Concept of God in Old Testament: 1. God is One The following verse from the book of Deuteronomy contains an exhortation from Moses (pbuh): "Shama Israelu Adonai Ila Hayno Adna Ikhad". It is a Hebrew quotation which means: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" [The Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4]    2.  Unity of God in the Book of Isaiah    The following verses are from the Book of Isaiah:        (i) "I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour." [The Bible, Isaiah 43:11]        (ii) "I am Lord, and there is none else, there is no God besides me." [The Bible, Isaiah 45:5]        (iii) "I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." [The Bible, Isaiah 46:9]    3. Old Testament condemns idol worship        (i) Old Testament condemns idol worship in the following verses: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:" "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." [The Bible, Exodus 20:3-5]        (ii) A similar message is repeated in the book of Deuteronomy: "Thou shalt have none other gods before me." "Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that in the earth beneath, or that is in the water beneath the earth." "Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them; for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God." [The Bible, Deuteronomy 5:7-9]

CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM

CONCEPT OF GOD IN HINDUISM

by Dr. Zakir Naik

1.  Common Concept of God in Hinduism: Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God. The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as God. He considers the trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God! Islam, on the contrary, exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God’s i.e. the word ‘God’ with an apostrophe ‘s’. In other words the Muslims believe that everything belongs to God.
The trees belong to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the monkey belongs to God, the snake belongs to God, the human beings belong to God and everything in this universe belongs to God. Thus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is the difference of the apostrophe ‘s’. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything is God’s. 2. Concept of God according to Hindu Scriptures: We can gain a better understanding of the concept of God in Hinduism by analysing Hindu scriptures. BHAGAVAD GITA: The most popular amongst all the Hindu scriptures is the Bhagavad Gita. Consider the following verse from the Gita: "Those whose intelligence has been stolen by material desires surrender unto demigods and follow the particular rules and regulations of worship according to their own natures." [Bhagavad Gita 7:20] The Gita states that people who are materialistic worship demigods i.e. ‘gods’ besides the True God. UPANISHADS: The Upanishads are considered sacred scriptures by the Hindus. The following verses from the Upanishads refer to the Concept of God: 1.  "Ekam evadvitiyam" "He is One only without a second." [Chandogya Upanishad 6:2:1]1 2.  "Na casya kascij janita na cadhipah." "Of Him there are neither parents nor lord." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 6:9]2 3.  "Na tasya pratima asti" "There is no likeness of Him." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:19]3 4.  The following verses from the Upanishad allude to the inability of man to imagine God in a particular form: "Na samdrse tisthati rupam asya, na caksusa pasyati kas canainam." "His form is not to be seen; no one sees Him with the eye." [Svetasvatara Upanishad 4:20]4 1[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 447 and 448] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 1 ‘The Upanishads part I’ page 93] 2[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 745] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page 263.] 3[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 736 & 737] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253] 4[The Principal Upanishad by S. Radhakrishnan page 737] [Sacred Books of the East, volume 15, ‘The Upanishads part II’ page no 253] THE VEDAS Vedas are considered the most sacred of all the Hindu scriptures. There are four principal Vedas: Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda and Atharvaveda. 1. Yajurveda   The following verses from the Yajurveda echo a similar concept of God: 1. "na tasya pratima asti"     "There is no image of Him."     [Yajurveda 32:3]5 2. "shudhama poapvidham"     "He is bodyless and pure."     [Yajurveda 40:8]6 3. "Andhatama pravishanti ye asambhuti mupaste"     "They enter darkness, those who worship the natural elements" (Air, Water, Fire, etc.). "They sink     deeper in darkness, those who worship sambhuti."             [Yajurveda 40:9]7 4. Sambhuti means created things, for example table, chair, idol, etc.    The Yajurveda contains the following prayer:    "Lead us to the good path and remove the sin that makes us stray and wander."    [Yajurveda 40:16]8   5[Yajurveda by Devi Chand M.A. page 377]   6[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]   7[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Giffith page 538]   8[Yajurveda Samhita by Ralph T. H. Griffith page 541]     2. Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda praises God in Book 20, hymn 58 and verse 3: 1. "Dev maha osi" "God is verily great" [Atharvaveda 20:58:3]9     3. Rigveda 1.  The oldest of all the vedas is Rigveda. It is also the one considered most sacred by the Hindus.  The Rigveda states in Book 1, hymn 164 and verse 46:  "Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many  names." [Rigveda 1:164:46] 2. The Rigveda gives several different attributes to Almighty God. Many of these are mentioned in Rigveda Book 2 hymn 1. Among the various attributes of God, one of the beautiful attributes mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3, is Brahma. Brahma means ‘The Creator’. Translated into Arabic it means Khaaliq. Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Khaaliq or ‘Creator’ or Brahma. However if it is said that Brahma is Almighty God who has four heads with each head having a crown, Muslims take strong exception to it. Describing Almighty God in anthropomorphic terms also goes against the following verse of Yajurveda: "Na tasya Pratima asti" "There is no image of Him." [Yajurveda 32:3] Another beautiful attribute of God mentioned in the Rigveda Book II hymn 1 verse 3 is Vishnu. Vishnu means ‘The Sustainer’. Translated into Arabic it means Rabb. Again, Muslims can have no objection if Almighty God is referred to as Rabb or 'Sustainer' or Vishnu. But the popular image of 9[Atharveda Samhita vol 2 William Dwight Whitney page 910] Vishnu among Hindus, is that of a God who has four arms, with one of the right arms holding the Chakra, i.e. a discus and one of the left arms holding a ‘conch shell’, or riding a bird or reclining on a snake couch. Muslims can never accept any image of God. As mentioned earlier this also goes against Svetasvatara Upanishad Chapter 4 verse 19. "Na tasya pratima asti" "There is no likeness of Him" The following verse from the Rigveda Book 8, hymn 1, verse 1 refer to the Unity and Glory of the Supreme Being: 3.  "Ma cid anyad vi sansata sakhayo ma rishanyata" "O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone." [Rigveda 8:1:1]10  4.  "Devasya samituk parishtutih" "Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator." [Rigveda 5:1:81]11 Brahma Sutra of Hinduism: The Brahma Sutra of Hinduism is: "Ekam Brahm, dvitiya naste neh na naste kinchan" "There is only one God, not the second; not at all, not at all, not in the least bit." Thus only a dispassionate study of the Hindu scriptures can help one understand the concept of God in Hinduism. 0[Rigveda Samhita vol. 9, pages 2810 and 2811 by Swami Satya Prakash Sarasvati and Satyakam Vidyalankar] 11[Rigveda Samhita vol. 6, pages 1802 and 1803 by Swami Satya Prakash Saraswati and Satyakam Vidyalankar] as from the sun." The Prophecy confirms: 1. The name of the Prophet as Ahmed since Ahmed is an Arabic name. Many translators misunderstood it to be ‘Ahm at hi’ and translated the mantra as "I alone have acquired the real wisdom of my father". 2. Prophet was given eternal law, i.e. the Shariah. 3. The Rishi was enlightened by the Shariah of Prophet Muhammad. The Qur’an says in Surah Saba Chapter 34 verse 28 (34:28): "We have not sent thee but as a universal (Messenger) to men, giving them glad tidings and warning them (against sin), but most men understand not."

Aim for the Peak

Aim for the Peak

Some people were enjoying the scenic site near a pond. There were numerous lotus flowers in full bloom on the surface of the pond which every body appreciated. A wise man was in deep thought. He was thinking about the length of the lotus. Will it be two feet? Or four feet? How much will it be? Then suddenly it struck him.

A Lotus by itself has no length or height. The depth of Water is the height of a lotus. A smile like the full bloom of a Lotus appeared on his face. If the level of water in the pond is two feet, the lotus stands above it. If the water level increases to 20 feet, the lotus stands above it.

The concept of peak remains the same but its interpretation changes according to the field.

Whatever may be the field one should always aim for the peak. If a person has the motivation to reach the peak in his chosen field he is bound to reach it.

We know that as the water level rises, the lotus also goes up (in a water body).What can raise us? Thoughts! Only when our thoughts are raised, can we attain a higher level.

The level of water determines the level of the lotus.Similarly, in our life only the level of thoughts determines our position. A person with high, refined, good and sensible thoughts will achieve a high status in life and a person with low thoughts (cheap, evil) will never attain anything in life and will be at the lowest strata.

The height of the Lotus in a pond is determined by the depth of the water in the pond.Similarly, your ‘Thoughts’ determine your position in society. If you have high, refined thoughts, with a high degree of clarity, nothing can stop you from achieving what you want.

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With Regards

A.M.Najar

Gudoora Pulwama