Short answer
Islam teaches the one God (﷾) the Upanishads and the Gita point to, purely and without contradiction. The Kena Upanishad says Brahman is "not this which people worship here". Krishna says those who worship the gods go to the gods, and their reward does not last. Islam asks for no new God (﷾), only that the One be worshipped alone. A Hindu law book prescribes molten tin or lac for the ears of a Shudra who listens to the Veda on purpose. The Qur'an tells Muslims to shelter even a hostile pagan so that he may hear it. Instead of endless rebirth, Islam offers one life and a clean slate to whoever turns to God (﷾). It forbids reviling other people's gods, and its scripture is one book, kept whole. Islam is a complete way of life (deen). Consider the Qur'an, and the last Prophet (ﷺ) who brought it.
Full explanation
The Hindu answer: why change at all?
Many Hindus answer that there is nothing to change. The Rig Veda says the sages give many names to what is One. In the Gita, the Hindu scripture where Krishna teaches the warrior Arjuna, Krishna says that in every way men follow in his path. At the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda, a Hindu monk, quoted a hymn he had repeated since boyhood. It says the different paths men take all lead to the Lord. Gandhi, the Indian leader of the twentieth century, honoured the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) and praised Islam's belief in one God (﷾), yet he remained a Hindu. He counted Muhammad (ﷺ) as divine as Krishna and Rama. On this view a good Hindu already has God (﷾), and has no reason to leave the faith of his family.
“They call him Indra, Mitra, Varuṇa, Agni, and he is heavenly nobly-winged Garutmân. To what is One, sages give many a title: they call it Agni, Yama, Mâtariṣvan.”
“I serve men in the way in which they approach me. In every way, O son of Prithâ! men follow in my path.”
“I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee."”
In a chapter of Gandhi's words on other faiths, his editors collect three relevant passages, all from interviews. In an interview with Dr. Crane, an American clergyman, reported in Harijan (6 March 1937), he said that Jesus was as divine as Krishna, Rama, Muhammad (ﷺ) or Zoroaster, and that he did not regard every word of the Bible, the Vedas or the Qur'an as inspired. In an interview with the American journalist Andrew Freeman, printed in Harijan (17 November 1946), he said that Muhammad (ﷺ), if he came to India today, would disown many of his so-called followers and recognise Gandhi himself as a true Muslim. In an interview with Dr. John Mott, printed in Young India (21 March 1929), he named Islam's distinctive contribution to India's culture as its pure belief in the oneness of God. He added that practical Hinduism, unlike its philosophy, is not as uncompromising on this as Islam.
Respect: a warner to every people
Islam does not ask a Hindu to despise his ancestors. The Qur'an says there never was a people without a warner, a messenger who warns people to worship God (﷾) alone. India, too, had its warners, though the Qur'an does not name them. It forbids Muslims to revile the gods others call on. It tells them to invite with wisdom and beautiful preaching, and to argue in the most gracious way. It says there is no compulsion in religion. What it asks is that a Hindu finish his ancestors' search for the One: worship Him alone. The page on whether God (﷾) sent prophets to India explains how Muslims judge what in India's scriptures may go back to a messenger's teaching.
“Verily We have sent thee in truth, as a bearer of glad tidings, and as a warner: and there never was a people, without a warner having lived among them (in the past).”
“Revile not ye those whom they call upon besides Allah, lest they out of spite revile Allah in their ignorance. Thus have We made alluring to each people its own doings. In the end will they return to their Lord, and We shall then tell them the truth of all that they did.”
“Invite (all) to the Way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious: for thy Lord knoweth best, who have strayed from His Path, and who receive guidance.”
“Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.”
Your own Upanishad: "not this which people worship here"
The Kena Upanishad speaks of the One by whom the eye sees and the mind thinks. We quote the translation of Swami Paramananda, a Hindu monk. Five times it says: know that alone to be the Brahman, the highest reality, "not this which people worship here" (nedam yad idam upasate). The Svetasvatara Upanishad says that no one is seen like him, that there is no image of him, and that his form cannot be seen. The Qur'an says the same of God (﷾): there is nothing whatever like Him, and no vision can grasp Him. So Islam worships the One no vision can grasp, and makes no image of Him. Shankara, the Vedanta teacher of about the eighth century, reads the refrain more widely still. Whatever is worshipped as other than one's own Self is not Brahman. That reading rests on his teaching that one's own Self is Brahman, which Islam does not share. Ramanuja, another great teacher of the eleventh and twelfth centuries, answers that there is no "pure Being" above the Lord. And the same Upanishad says that Brahman "is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam": by a name, not by an image. The pages on the murti (the image used in worship) and on the one God (﷾) of the Hindu scriptures set this out in full.
“That which speech does not illumine, but which illumines speech: know that alone to be the Brahman (the Supreme Being), not this which people worship here. That which cannot be thought by mind, but by which, they say, mind is able to think: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which is not seen by the eye, but by which the eye is able to see: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which cannot be heard by the ear, but by which the ear is able to hear: know that alone to be Brahman, not this which people worship here. That which none breathes with the breath, but by which breath is in-breathed: know that alone to be the Brahman, not this which people worship here.”
“There is no effect and no cause known of him, no one is seen like unto him or better; his high power is revealed as manifold, as inherent, acting as force and knowledge.”
“No one has grasped him above, or across, or in the middle. There is no image of him whose name is Great Glory. His form cannot be seen, no one perceives him with the eye. Those who through heart and mind know him thus abiding in the heart, become immortal.”
“(He is) the Creator of the heavens and the earth: He has made for you pairs from among yourselves, and pairs among cattle: by this means does He multiply you: there is nothing whatever like unto Him, and He is the One that hears and sees (all things).”
“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision: He is above all comprehension, yet is acquainted with all things.”
“Disregarding these, know the Atman itself to be the unconditioned Brahman. This is the meaning. Brahman is not what people here worship, such as Iswara, which is not the Atman, and which is conditioned and referred to as 'this'.”
“For Scripture, Smriti, Itihâsa and Purâna alike teach that there is one supreme cause, viz. Brahman—a being that is the Lord of all Lords, all-knowing, all-powerful, instantaneously realising all its purposes, free of all blemish, not limited either by place or time, enjoying supreme unsurpassable bliss. Nor can it be held that above the Lord there is 'pure Being' of which the Lord is a part only.”
“That Brahman is called Tadvanam (object of adoration). He is to be worshipped by the name Tadvanam. He who knows Brahman thus, is loved by all beings.”
Krishna's own ranking of the worship of many gods
The Gita does not call the worship of the gods equal to the worship of the Lord. Krishna says that those whose knowledge has been taken away by desires approach other divinities. Their fruit "is perishable": those who worship the divinities go to the divinities. Devotees of other gods who worship with faith worship him, but "irregularly" (avidhi-purvakam). They do not know him truly, "therefore do they fall". The worshipper he ranks highest is devoted "to one (Being) only". He promises to deliver those whose devotion is "towards none besides me". A devotional Hindu already holds that single devotion to be the ideal. In the Gita that One is Krishna himself. The page on whether God became a man as Rama or Krishna weighs that claim. Islam gives that devotion to the one God (﷾), Who is like nothing else. God (﷾) says He is close, and He hears every caller Himself. The page on the Gita and many gods quotes Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva, three great Hindu teachers, on these verses.
“Those who are deprived of knowledge by various desires approach other divinities, observing various regulations, and controlled by their own natures. Whichever form (of deity) any worshipper wishes to worship with faith, to that form I render his faith steady. Possessed of that faith, he seeks to propitiate (the deity in) that (form), and obtains from it those beneficial things which he desires, (though they are) really given by me. But the fruit thus (obtained) by them, who have little judgment, is perishable. Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me.”
“Even those, O son of Kuntî! who being devotees of other divinities worship with faith, worship me only, (but) irregularly. For I am the enjoyer as well as the lord of all sacrifices. But they know me not truly, therefore do they fall. Those who make vows to the gods go to the gods; those who make vows to the manes go to the manes; those who worship the Bhûtas go to the Bhûtas; and those likewise who worship me go to me.”
“Of these, he who is possessed of knowledge, who is always devoted, and whose worship is (addressed) to one (Being) only, is esteemed highest. For to the man of knowledge I am dear above all things, and he is dear to me.”
“As to those, however, O son of Prithâ! who, dedicating all their actions to me, and (holding) me as their highest (goal), worship me, meditating on me with a devotion towards none besides me, and whose minds are fixed on me, I, without delay, come forward as their deliverer from the ocean of this world of death.”
“When My servants ask thee concerning Me, I am indeed close (to them): I listen to the prayer of every suppliant when he calleth on Me: Let them also, with a will, Listen to My call, and believe in Me: That they may walk in the right way.”
The Veda closed, the Qur'an open
The Gautama law book says that a Shudra who listens to the Veda on purpose shall have his ears filled with molten tin or lac. A Shudra belongs to the fourth of the four classical castes, the caste of service. The Brahma Sutra is one of the three foundations of the Vedanta, the school of thought built on the Upanishads. It bars the Shudra from the knowledge of Brahman, because Smriti forbids him to hear or study the Veda. Smriti means the remembered tradition, the law books. Shankara quotes the penalties, and calls the Shudra's exclusion from the Veda "a settled point". He allows all four castes to learn the epics and Puranas, but not the Veda itself. Ramanuja, his great rival, agrees: the Shudra "is specially forbidden to hear and study the Veda". The Qur'an commands the reverse. A pagan who asks for shelter, even one at war with the Muslims, is to be given it. The reason is "so that he may hear the word of Allah". Its message is for everyone, and it calls itself easy to understand and remember. The pages on the Hindu law books and on caste by birth give these texts whole.
“Now if he listens intentionally to (a recitation of) the Veda, his ears shall be filled with (molten) tin or lac. If he recites (Vedic texts), his tongue shall be cut out. If he remembers them, his body shall be split in twain.”
“And on account of the prohibition, in Smriti, of (the Sûdras') hearing and studying (the Veda) and (knowing and performing) (Vedic) matters.”
“The prohibition of hearing the Veda is conveyed by the following passages: 'The ears of him who hears the Veda are to be filled with (molten) lead and lac,' and 'For a Sûdra is (like) a cemetery, therefore (the Veda) is not to be read in the vicinity of a Sûdra.' From this latter passage the prohibition of studying the Veda results at once; for how should he study Scripture in whose vicinity it is not even to be read? There is, moreover, an express prohibition (of the Sûdras studying the Veda). 'His tongue is to be slit if he pronounces it; his body is to be cut through if he preserves it.'”
“From those Sûdras, however, who, like Vidura and 'the religious hunter,' acquire knowledge in consequence of the after effects of former deeds, the fruit of their knowledge cannot be withheld, since knowledge in all cases brings about its fruit. Smriti, moreover, declares that all the four castes are qualified for acquiring the knowledge of the itihâsas and purânas; compare the passage, 'He is to teach the four castes' (Mahâbh.).—It remains, however, a settled point that they do not possess any such qualification with regard to the Veda.”
“The Sûdra is specially forbidden to hear and study the Veda and to perform the things enjoined in it. 'For a Sûdra is like a cemetery, therefore the Veda must not be read in the vicinity of a Sûdra;' 'Therefore the Sûdra is like a beast, unfit for sacrifices.' And he who does not hear the Veda recited cannot learn it so as to understand and perform what the Veda enjoins. The prohibition of hearing thus implies the prohibition of understanding and whatever depends on it.”
“If one amongst the Pagans ask thee for asylum, grant it to him, so that he may hear the word of Allah; and then escort him to where he can be secure. That is because they are men without knowledge.”
“And We have indeed made the Qur'an easy to understand and remember: then is there any that will receive admonition?”
The blind man
Manu, a Hindu law book, says that those born mentally disabled, mute, blind, deaf or deformed are born so because of former crimes. They are, he says, "despised by the virtuous". The Qur'an tells the story of a blind man who came to the Prophet (ﷺ) to be taught. The Prophet (ﷺ) was speaking with leaders of Quraysh, the leading tribe of Mecca, and he frowned and turned away. The Qur'an rebukes him for it, in verses Muslims have recited ever since. It says there is no fault in the blind. The Prophet (ﷺ) reported that God (﷾) promises Paradise to a servant who loses his sight and is patient. In one teaching, blindness is a sentence for crimes no one remembers. In the other, it is a trial that ends in honour. The page asking whether karma is just treats this at length. Karma is the Hindu teaching that every deed brings its own result, in this life or a later one.
“Thus in consequence of a remnant of (the guilt of former) crimes, are born idiots, dumb, blind, deaf, and deformed men, who are (all) despised by the virtuous.”
“(The Prophet) frowned and turned away, Because there came to him the blind man (interrupting). But what could tell thee but that perchance he might grow (in spiritual understanding)?- Or that he might receive admonition, and the teaching might profit him? As to one who regards Himself as self-sufficient, To him dost thou attend; Though it is no blame to thee if he grow not (in spiritual understanding). But as to him who came to thee striving earnestly, And with fear (in his heart), Of him wast thou unmindful.”
“It is no fault in the blind nor in one born lame, nor in one afflicted with illness, nor in yourselves, that ye should eat in your own houses, or those of your fathers, or your mothers, or your brothers, or your sisters, or your father's brothers or your father's sisters, or your mother's brothers, or your mother's sisters, or in houses of which the keys are in your possession, or in the house of a sincere friend of yours: there is no blame on you, whether ye eat in company or separately. But if ye enter houses, salute each other - a greeting of blessing and purity as from Allah. Thus does Allah make clear the signs to you: that ye may understand.”
Anas ibn Malik heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say that Allah said: when I try My servant through his two beloved things, meaning his eyes, and he is patient, I will give him Paradise in their place. Al-Bukhari placed it under the heading "the merit of one who has lost his sight".
A clean slate instead of endless karma
Karma, as the Vedanta teaches it, is a chain of lives with no beginning. Each birth pays for deeds done in lives no one remembers. Islam teaches one life, and one judgement in which each person reads his own record. No one carries another's burden. And Islam opens a door that karma does not have. God (﷾) says to those who have wronged their own souls: "Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins". The next verse tells them to turn to their Lord and bow to Him. When Amr ibn al-As, a Companion of the Prophet (ﷺ), came to accept Islam, he asked first to be forgiven. The Prophet (ﷺ) asked whether he did not know that Islam wipes out everything that came before it. Every child, he said, is born pure, on the fitra, the natural faith in God (﷾). No one is born carrying a debt.
“From him (i.e. the Lord, there comes) the fruit (of works); for (that only) is possible.”
“If it be objected that it (viz. the Lord's having regard to merit and demerit) is impossible on account of the non-distinction (of merit and demerit, previous to the first creation); we refute the objection on the ground of (the world) being without a beginning.”
“Every man's fate We have fastened on his own neck: On the Day of Judgment We shall bring out for him a scroll, which he will see spread open. (It will be said to him:) "Read thine (own) record: Sufficient is thy soul this day to make out an account against thee."”
“Say: "Shall I seek for (my) Cherisher other than Allah, when He is the Cherisher of all things (that exist)? Every soul draws the meed of its acts on none but itself: no bearer of burdens can bear the burden of another. Your goal in the end is towards Allah: He will tell you the truth of the things wherein ye disputed."”
“Say: "O my Servants who have transgressed against their souls! Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.”
“"Turn ye to our Lord (in repentance) and bow to His (Will), before the Penalty comes on you: after that ye shall not be helped.”
Amr ibn al-As, near death, said that before Islam no one was more hateful to him than the Prophet (ﷺ), and he had wished to kill him. He told how he came to the Prophet to accept Islam. He asked the Prophet to stretch out his right hand so he could pledge, then drew his own hand back. Asked why, he said he wanted a condition: that he be forgiven. The Prophet asked whether he did not know that Islam wipes out everything that came before it.
Abu Hurayra reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) said every child is born upon the fitra, the true faith, and it is his parents who make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magian, just as an animal gives birth to a whole young one: do you see any of them born mutilated?
Preservation: many branches then, a few now
What survives of the Veda was kept with remarkable care. The Veda has four collections: the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Veda. The priests passed the Rig Veda down word for word, and scholars call it extremely well preserved. But around 150 BC the grammarian Patanjali, a scholar of Sanskrit, counted 21 branches of the Rig Veda and 101 of the Yajur Veda. He gave the Sama Veda a thousand "paths", and the Atharva Veda 9. Michael Witzel, a modern scholar of the Vedas, judges the list unrealistic in part. Yet even without the Sama Veda's thousand, it comes to 131 branches. Many had texts of their own. About a dozen Vedic collections survive, and only one of the Rig Veda. A later text, the Muktika Upanishad, gives its own count: one Upanishad in each branch, 1,180 in all, of which it names 108. As for the Qur'an, God (﷾) says He will guard it. The angel Gabriel went over it with the Prophet (ﷺ) every year. What God (﷾) willed to remain in it is kept complete: one book of 114 chapters, the same for every Muslim, in a language still spoken. The page on whether the Vedas were preserved gives the details.
Jamison and Witzel write that the Rig Veda has come down basically in only one extremely well preserved school, that of Shakalya, whose word-by-word analysis of the text (the Padapatha) is also handed down; the Bashkala and Mandukeya collections are lost. Their table of Vedic texts lists the surviving collections: one of the Rig Veda, three of the Sama Veda, six of the Yajur Veda (one of them partial) and two of the Atharva Veda, which they say differ considerably from each other. The table marks other texts as lost, such as the Paippalada school's Brahmana, which has no surviving text.
Witzel judges Patanjali's list of schools (21 of the Rig Veda, 101 of the Yajur Veda, 1,000 of the Sama Veda, 9 of the Atharva Veda) to be clearly unrealistic in part (p. 259, n. 10). He notes that other Rig Veda versions, now lost, such as that of the Bashkala school, had more hymns and ended with a different hymn; only the Shakala Rig Veda ends with the hymn it has today (p. 265, n. 32). He compares them there with the Rig Veda's apocryphal hymns (the Khila collection), which he describes on pp. 284-285 as handed down as a separate collection only in Kashmir. He also describes early Yajur Veda texts known only from fragments, among them the now lost Caraka Samhita (p. 298).
In the introduction to his great commentary on Panini's grammar, Patanjali explains how wide the use of words is. Among the fields of their use he lists the four Vedas, with their auxiliary sciences and secret teachings, "divided in many ways": 101 branches of the Adhvaryu priests (the Yajur Veda), the Sama Veda "of a thousand paths", the Rig Veda "in 21 ways" and the Atharva Veda "in 9 ways".
Rama tells Hanuman that the Rig Veda has 21 branches, the Yajur Veda 109, the Sama Veda 1,000 and the Atharva Veda 50, and that in each branch there is one Upanishad (1,180 in all by that count). He then tells him to study the Mandukya alone for release, or else 10, or 32, or the 108 Upanishads, whose names he lists.
“We have, without doubt, sent down the Message; and We will assuredly guard it (from corruption).”
Abu Hurayra reports that Gabriel went over the Qur'an with the Prophet (ﷺ) once every year, and twice in the year he died.
The Prophet (ﷺ): sent "unto you all"
The Qur'an tells the Prophet (ﷺ) to say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah". It says he was sent "as a universal (Messenger) to men". He said that every earlier prophet was sent to his own nation only, but he was sent to all mankind. So his message is not for Arabs alone. Most Muslims today are not Arabs, and India has one of the largest Muslim populations on earth. Before he claimed anything, his own people called him al-Amin, the trustworthy. The Qur'an he brought challenges anyone to produce a chapter like it. It foretold the victory of the Romans (the Byzantines) over Persia within a few years, and it came true. Four pages set out the case. They ask whether Muhammad (ﷺ) was really a messenger of God (﷾), and what the Qur'an's challenge is. They also ask which prophecies came true, and whether Islam is only for Arabs. A Hindu who honours truthful sages is asked only to weigh this man's claim as carefully as he would weigh theirs.
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
“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.”
Jabir ibn Abdullah reports that the Prophet (ﷺ) named five things given to him that no prophet before him was given. The last of them: every earlier prophet was sent to his own nation only, but he was sent to all mankind.
A country-by-country estimate of the world's Muslims in 2009: about 1.57 billion. About one in five lived in the Middle East and North Africa, a region that includes Turkey and Iran, and more than six in ten lived in Asia. The four largest Muslim populations were in Indonesia, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.
Reports that before his mission Muhammad (ﷺ) was known among Quraysh as al-Amin, the trustworthy. When the clans quarrelled over who should set the Black Stone back in place during the rebuilding of the Ka'ba, they agreed to accept the judgement of the first man to enter, and it was he. People of Makkah left their valuables in his keeping, and at the Hijra he had Ali stay behind to return them to their owners.
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.”
“The Roman Empire has been defeated- In a land close by; but they, (even) after (this) defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious- Within a few years. With Allah is the Decision, in the past and in the Future: on that Day shall the Believers rejoice-”
Kalki and the Seal of the Prophets: a contrast
The Vishnu Purana, a Hindu sacred history, says that near the close of the Kali age a portion of the divine being will descend. The Kali age is the last of the four ages in Hindu teaching. He will be born as Kalki, in the family of an eminent Brahmin of the village of Sambhala. The Bhagavata Purana, too, names Kalki last among the Lord's descents. In these texts, then, Kalki is God descending, and he is still to come. The Qur'an speaks of Muhammad (ﷺ) in the opposite terms. He is "the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets": a man, and the last of the prophets, who has already come. He told his followers not to over-praise him as Christians had praised Jesus: "call me the servant of Allah and His Messenger". Some have claimed that Kalki is Muhammad (ﷺ); this site does not. Islam asks no one to wait for a descent of God (﷾). It asks him to test a messenger who has come.
“When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon earth: he will be born in the family of Vishńuyaśas, an eminent Brahman of Sambhala village, as Kalki, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties.”
The chapter counts the Lord's descents in order. Among the twenty-two it names are a boar that lifted the earth out of the waters, a fish that saved Manu in the flood, a tortoise that bore the mountain Mandara on its back, Mohini (a female form that charmed the demons), the man-lion Narasimha and the dwarf. It also names sages and kings, among them a god-king (Dutt: "Naradeva") who tamed the sea, whom its commentators identify as Rama, and then Balarama and Krishna, born among the Vrishnis. It foretells the Buddha and, last, Kalki.
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things.”
Umar reports that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) say: do not over-praise me as the Christians over-praised the son of Mary; I am only a servant, so call me the servant of Allah and His Messenger.
What Islam asks
Islam asks a Hindu for no new God (﷾). It asks him to give worship to the One his own highest texts describe, and to Him alone. The Qur'an teaches that One plainly: "He is Allah, the One and Only". Islam's declaration of faith, the Shahada, says: "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad (ﷺ) is the Messenger of Allah." Islam is a complete way of life (deen), and this declaration is where it begins. The Qur'an invites every reader to consider it with care, since a book from other than God (﷾) would contain much discrepancy. One verse invites the People of the Book, the Jews and Christians, to common terms. Its words hold for every reader: that we worship none but Allah (﷾), and take no lords beside Him. So the invitation is simple. Read the Qur'an, and weigh the claim of Muhammad (ﷺ), the last of the prophets.
“Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him.”
“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”
“Say: "O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah, to Whom belongeth the dominion of the heavens and the earth: there is no god but He: it is He That giveth both life and death. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, who believeth in Allah and His words: follow him that (so) ye may be guided."”
“Say: "O People of the Book! come to common terms as between us and you: That we worship none but Allah; that we associate no partners with him; that we erect not, from among ourselves, Lords and patrons other than Allah." If then they turn back, say ye: "Bear witness that we (at least) are Muslims (bowing to Allah's Will).”
“Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but (he is) the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets: and Allah has full knowledge of all things.”
The replies, answered
Swami Vivekananda, response to welcome, World's Parliament of Religions, Chicago, 11 September 1893
“I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, O Lord, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to thee."”
Cited for
All paths lead to the same God. The Rig Veda says the sages give many names to the One, and Krishna says that in every way men follow his path. Vivekananda quoted the hymn that says the paths men take, crooked or straight, all lead to the Lord. Why should anyone change his path?
The response
The Gita itself does not say every path leads to the same place. Even 4.11 begins, "I serve men in the way in which they approach me": each receives what fits his way. Krishna says: "Those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and my worshippers, too, go to me." Worshippers of other gods, he says, "fall". The Kena says of what people worship here that it is not Brahman. Religions also give opposite answers to the largest questions. One says God (﷾) is born as a man, another that He is never born. One teaches endless rebirth, another one life and then judgement. Opposite answers cannot all be true. The hymn Vivekananda quoted is a devotional poem, not the Veda. Islam agrees that God (﷾) has many names, though it does not count Indra, Agni and Yama, whom the verse names, among them. It asks that the One who bears His names be worshipped alone. The page asking whether all religions lead to the same God (﷾) answers this in full.
Where it lands — The Gita itself says different worship leads to different ends. Islam agrees God (﷾) has many names, and asks that He alone be worshipped.
Qur'an 3:85 — Surat Al Imran (The Family of Imraan), verse 85
“If anyone desires a religion other than Islam (submission to Allah), never will it be accepted of him; and in the Hereafter He will be in the ranks of those who have lost (All spiritual good).”
Cited for
Islam is exclusive. The Qur'an says any religion other than Islam will never be accepted, and calls us unbelievers. A faith that condemns everyone else cannot be the way to a God of love.
The response
Islam's claim is a claim about truth, and the Qur'an makes it without compulsion or contempt. The Qur'an says there is no compulsion in religion. It forbids Muslims to revile the gods others call on. It allows kindness and justice to all who do not fight them. It says a warner came to every people, and that God (﷾) punishes no one before a messenger has reached him. The word kafir, "unbeliever", describes what a person rejects. The Qur'an judges that rejection gravely, but the word is a verdict on belief, not a term of abuse. Its surah addressed to those who "reject Faith" ends by leaving each to his own: "To you be your Way, and to me mine". Every religion that claims truth draws a line somewhere. The Gita says the worshippers of other gods "fall". Madhva's school, as Madhava summarised it, said that the Advaitins must enter "the hell of blind darkness" for offending Vishnu. What Islam asks is worship of God (﷾) alone, the single devotion Krishna himself ranks highest.
Where it lands — Islam's exclusiveness is about truth, held without compulsion or contempt. "Unbeliever" is a verdict on belief, not a term of abuse, and the Hindu texts, too, say that other worship falls short.
Gandhi, in The Mind of Mahatma Gandhi, ch. 17
In a chapter of Gandhi's words on other faiths, his editors collect three relevant passages, all from interviews. In an interview with Dr. Crane, an American clergyman, reported in Harijan (6 March 1937), he said that Jesus was as divine as Krishna, Rama, Muhammad (ﷺ) or Zoroaster, and that he did not regard every word of the Bible, the Vedas or the Qur'an as inspired. In an interview with the American journalist Andrew Freeman, printed in Harijan (17 November 1946), he said that Muhammad (ﷺ), if he came to India today, would disown many of his so-called followers and recognise Gandhi himself as a true Muslim. In an interview with Dr. John Mott, printed in Young India (21 March 1929), he named Islam's distinctive contribution to India's culture as its pure belief in the oneness of God. He added that practical Hinduism, unlike its philosophy, is not as uncompromising on this as Islam.
Cited for
We can honour Muhammad (ﷺ) as a great teacher, as Gandhi did, and remain Hindus. Gandhi counted him as divine as Krishna and Rama. He said the Prophet (ﷺ) would own him as a true Muslim, and he never left his own faith. Nor did he regard every word of the Qur'an as inspired. A man can be sincere and still be mistaken about revelation.
The response
Muhammad (ﷺ) did teach: the Qur'an says he was sent to instruct his people "in Scripture and Wisdom". But he taught as God's (﷾) Messenger, not as a sage with views of his own. The Qur'an has him say: "I am but a man like yourselves, (but) the inspiration has come to me". He told his followers not to over-praise him: "call me the servant of Allah and His Messenger". The Qur'an names him "the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets", sent "unto you all". To honour him while rejecting that claim is to say he was wrong about the thing he said most clearly. Some answer that he was sincere but mistaken. That is a claim to be tested, not assumed, and the evidence is at hand. Gandhi himself told an American clergyman that there is more historical data about Muhammad (ﷺ) than about Jesus, the Buddha, Rama or Krishna. His own people called him al-Amin, the trustworthy, before he claimed anything. The Qur'an he recited rebukes him for frowning at a blind man, and challenges anyone to produce a chapter like it. Gandhi named Islam's gift to India as its pure belief in the oneness of God (﷾). He granted that practical Hinduism is not as uncompromising on it. Islam asks for that belief, held without compromise, and a fair hearing for the Messenger (ﷺ) who taught it. The case for his claim is on the page asking whether he was really a messenger of God (﷾).
Where it lands — The Prophet (ﷺ) claimed to be God's (﷾) Messenger and the last of the prophets. Honouring him means weighing that claim, not setting it aside.
Bhagavad Gita 3:35 — chapter 3, verse 35
“One's own duty, though defective, is better than another's duty well performed. Death in (performing) one's own duty is preferable; the (performance of the) duty of others is dangerous.”
Cited for
Krishna says one's own duty, even done imperfectly, is better than another's duty well performed, and that another's duty is dangerous. Hinduism is a living tradition, older than Islam and rooted in India. Why should a Hindu leave the faith of his ancestors and his land for a foreign religion from Arabia?
The response
The Gita gives the verse its own meaning. Krishna says it to Arjuna, a warrior who wants to leave the battle. In chapter 18 nearly the same words close the passage on the four castes' duties, whose list ends with the Shudra's service. The verse speaks of the duty of one's caste, not of which God (﷾) to worship. Nor is Islam foreign in the sense that matters. Its Prophet (ﷺ) was sent to all mankind. Most Muslims are not Arabs, and India has one of the largest Muslim populations on earth. Islam asks one who accepts it to change his worship, not his family, his people or the language he speaks at home. The Qur'an tells him to "bear them company in this life with justice (and consideration)", even parents who press him to worship others. Age does not make a teaching true, and newness does not make it false. In Islam's teaching, the oldest home of every person is the worship of the one God (﷾), and every child is born upon it. The page on whether to follow the religion one was born into answers this in full.
Where it lands — The Gita's verse speaks of the duty of one's caste, not of religion. Islam changes whom a person worships, not his family, his people or the language he speaks at home.
Bhagavad Gita 4:13 — chapter 4, verse 13
“The fourfold division of castes was created by me according to the apportionment of qualities and duties. But though I am its author, know me to be inexhaustible, and not the author.”
Cited for
Caste by birth is a distortion. Krishna says he made the four castes according to qualities and duties, not birth. Manu and Gautama are only law books, no longer followed, and India's Constitution has abolished untouchability.
The response
Every Hindu who rejects caste by birth is right to, and the Qur'an agrees with him. But the Gita's own examples are duties people are born into. It calls the qualities "born of nature". Nothing is better "for a Kshatriya than a righteous battle", and the Shudra's natural duty "consists in service". And the rule against the Shudra is not only in Manu and Gautama. The Brahma Sutra itself bars him from the knowledge of Brahman, because Smriti forbids him to hear the Veda. Shankara calls it "a settled point", and Ramanuja agrees. The Chandogya Upanishad, which is shruti, makes a low birth the punishment for evil conduct. Untouchability ended in law through the Constitution of 1950, not through the scriptures. The Qur'an needs no such correction: its own text says the most honoured with God (﷾) is the most righteous. Some South Asian Muslims do keep caste customs, and the page on caste among Muslims shows that they break their own scripture in doing so. A Muslim who keeps caste disobeys his book. A Hindu who rejects it does well, though he departs from some of his classical teachers.
Where it lands — The rule against the Shudra stands in the Vedanta's own sutra and its great teachers. The Qur'an's own text ranks people by righteousness alone.
Brahma Sutra 3.2.38 — adhyaya 3, pada 2, sutra 38
“From him (i.e. the Lord, there comes) the fruit (of works); for (that only) is possible.”
Cited for
Karma is perfect justice. The Brahma Sutra says the fruit of every deed comes from the Lord. A child born blind is reaping his own past deeds. Children are born blind among Muslims too, and Islam gives no reason; karma at least says it was deserved. A pardon given to anyone who asks lets the wicked escape what they deserve.
The response
Islam's justice is exact too: whoever has done an atom's weight of good or evil will see it, and each reads his own record. No one bears another's burden. But a just sentence needs a charge the accused can know. The child born blind remembers no crime and was shown no record. Islam does not say he is serving a sentence: no sin is laid on a newborn. As he grows, his blindness is a test, and a test looks forward to a reward, not back to a crime. The Prophet (ﷺ) said that God (﷾) gives Paradise to the servant who loses his sight and is patient. Islam's forgiveness is not an escape from justice. It is for those who turn: the verse after "Allah forgives all sins" says, turn to your Lord and bow to Him. Islam wipes out what came before for the one who enters it. Every child is born pure, and no one is born carrying a debt. The page asking whether karma is just answers the classical replies, including the chain of lives with no beginning.
Where it lands — Islam keeps exact justice and adds what karma lacks: a record one can read, a trial that is repaid, and mercy for all who turn.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4986 — Kitab Fada'il al-Qur'an (Virtues of the Qur'an), hadith 4986
Zayd ibn Thabit reports that after many who knew the Qur'an by heart were killed at Yamama, Abu Bakr asked him to gather the Qur'an into one volume, reminding him that he used to write down the revelation for the Messenger of Allah. Zayd collected it from written pieces and from the memories of men, and the finished copy passed from Abu Bakr to Umar and then to Hafsa.
Cited for
The Qur'an was not kept perfectly either. Men gathered and copied it after the Prophet (ﷺ) died, and your own hadith speak of verses no longer in the Qur'an. The Vedas are no worse off.
The response
Zayd ibn Thabit used to write down the revelation for the Prophet (ﷺ). He gathered the Qur'an for Abu Bakr from written pieces and the memories of men. Less than twenty years after the Prophet (ﷺ) died, Uthman, the third caliph, had copies of that same volume sent to every province. Ali said he acted only after consulting the Companions. Muslims everywhere have recited the same 114 chapters ever since. The pages on Uthman's copies and on how the Qur'an was preserved give the record. Verses God (﷾) withdrew in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime, as the Qur'an itself says He does, are not branches a tradition lost over centuries. The page on abrogation explains them. What God (﷾) willed to remain in the Qur'an is kept complete. By contrast, Patanjali counted 131 branches of the Veda even without the Sama Veda's thousand "paths". Many had texts of their own, and basically only one Rig Veda collection survives. What survives of the Veda was kept with remarkable care. Care over what survived does not bring back what was lost.
Where it lands — The Qur'an is one text for every Muslim. The Veda's surviving part is carefully kept, but most of its branches are lost.
Vishnu Purana 4.24 — book 4, chapter 24
“When the practices taught by the Vedas and the institutes of law shall nearly have ceased, and the close of the Kali age shall be nigh, a portion of that divine being who exists of his own spiritual nature in the character of Brahma, and who is the beginning and the end, and who comprehends all things, shall descend upon earth: he will be born in the family of Vishńuyaśas, an eminent Brahman of Sambhala village, as Kalki, endowed with the eight superhuman faculties.”
Cited for
Our scriptures already promise the one who will restore righteousness. Near the end of the Kali age, Vishnu will descend as Kalki. A Hindu can wait for Kalki and needs no prophet from Arabia.
The response
The Vishnu Purana describes Kalki as a portion of the divine being. He is to be born into a Brahmin family of Sambhala, near the close of the Kali age. He is a descent of God (﷾), and he is still to come. This site does not claim that Kalki is Muhammad (ﷺ), and the texts do not allow it. Islam's claim is of another kind. It speaks of no descent of God (﷾): nothing is like Him, and He is not begotten. It speaks of a man, "the Messenger of Allah, and the Seal of the Prophets", who called himself God's (﷾) servant. He has already come, and his claim can be tested now: by his life, by the Qur'an's challenge and by the prophecies that came true. Waiting for a future descent does not answer whether the Messenger (ﷺ) who has come spoke the truth.
Where it lands — Kalki is a future descent of God (﷾); the Qur'an presents a human messenger who has already come, and whose claim can be tested now.
Bhagavad Gita 16:23-24 — chapter 16, verses 23-24
“He who abandoning scripture ordinances, acts under the impulse of desire, does not attain perfection, nor happiness, nor the highest goal. Therefore in discriminating between what should be done and what should not be done, your authority (must be) scripture. And knowing what is declared by the ordinances of scripture, you should perform action in this world.”
Cited for
The Gita's seven hundred verses are the essence, and they are enough for me. I don't need the rest: the rules on caste, fasting, marriage and food.
The response
The Gita itself does not say so. At the close of its sixteenth chapter, Krishna speaks of the one who sets aside "scripture ordinances". Whoever "acts under the impulse of desire", he says, does not reach "the highest goal". Then he adds: "in discriminating between what should be done and what should not be done, your authority (must be) scripture". The same book gives each of the four classes its duties, "distinguished according to the qualities born of nature". Near its end, the Gita does say: forsake all duties and come to Krishna as "(your) sole refuge". Its teachers read that call in different ways. But the same chapter says, "The renunciation of prescribed action is not proper". It adds that "one should not abandon a natural duty". However the last call is read, the Gita has already made scripture the authority. So it sends its own reader back to the rules, not to its verses alone. Islam gives its guidance for daily life in one preserved book, and in one Messenger's example. The Qur'an says, "Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah a beautiful pattern (of conduct)".
Where it lands — The Gita does not stand alone: it makes scripture the authority on what to do. Islam gives that guidance in one book and one example.
Shankara, commentary on Brahma Sutra 1.1.2, on intuition — Sacred Books of the East 34, pp. 17-18
“Scriptural text, &c., are not, in the enquiry into Brahman, the only means of knowledge, as they are in the enquiry into active duty (i. e. in the Pûrva Mîmâmsâ), but scriptural texts on the one hand, and intuition, &c., on the other hand, are to be had recourse to according to the occasion: firstly, because intuition is the final result of the enquiry into Brahman; secondly, because the object of the enquiry is an existing (accomplished) substance.”
Cited for
My faith does not rest on books but on realisation: my own experience of Krishna. Even Shankara says intuition is "the final result of the enquiry into Brahman".
The response
Shankara does say that scripture is not the only means of knowing Brahman. He gives intuition a place, but as the goal the texts lead to. In the same passage, he says how that goal is reached. "The comprehension of Brahman is effected by the ascertainment, consequent on discussion, of the sense of the Vedânta-texts". For him, experience crowns the texts; it does not overrule them. The Gita says the same of action: "your authority (must be) scripture". Experience can mislead, and devotees of rival gods each feel sure. The Qur'an asks for knowledge, not feeling: "pursue not that of which thou hast no knowledge". It offers a test anyone can check in public, the book itself. "Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy." Muslims do not ask anyone to believe because of a feeling, theirs or anyone else's. They invite each reader to test the book the Prophet (ﷺ) brought.
Where it lands — Experience is real, but it cannot test itself. Shankara and the Gita point to scripture, and the Qur'an asks to be tested by its own text.
Perspectives
Many paths, one truth: remain a Hindu
The One is called by many names, and every sincere path leads to Him. Many Hindus already honour the Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ) as a great teacher, as Gandhi did. A Hindu who loves God has nothing to gain by changing his religion, and much to lose in family and culture.
Swami Vivekananda, M. K. Gandhi and much modern Hindu teaching
The Rig Veda says the sages give many names to what is One.
Rebuttal
Islam agrees that God (﷾) has many names. The verse itself names Indra, Agni and Yama among them, and Islam does not count them as names of God (﷾). It asks that the One who bears His names be worshipped alone.
Krishna says that in every way men follow in his path.
Rebuttal
The verse begins, "I serve men in the way in which they approach me": each receives what fits his way. Later Krishna says that those who worship the divinities go to the divinities, and that worshippers of other gods "fall".
Vivekananda told the Parliament of Religions in 1893 that the different paths men take all lead to the Lord.
Rebuttal
The hymn is a devotional poem, not the Veda. Religions also give opposite answers to the largest questions: God (﷾) born as a man or never born, endless rebirth or one life and then judgement. Opposite answers cannot all be true.
Gandhi honoured Muhammad (ﷺ) and praised Islam's belief in one God, and remained a Hindu.
Rebuttal
Muslims welcome the respect Gandhi showed the Prophet (ﷺ) and his praise of one God (﷾). But the Prophet (ﷺ) claimed to be God's (﷾) Messenger and the last of the prophets. To honour him means weighing that claim, not setting it aside.
Krishna says one's own duty, even done imperfectly, is better than another's duty well performed.
Rebuttal
Krishna says this to Arjuna, a warrior who wants to leave the battle. In chapter 18 nearly the same words close the passage on the duties of the four castes. The verse speaks of the duty of one's caste, not of which God (﷾) to worship.
The Islamic perspective
Islam teaches the one God (﷾) the Upanishads and the Gita point to, purely and without contradiction. It opens its scripture to every person whatever his birth. It gives one life, one just judgement and a clean slate. It honours every people's warners, and keeps its revelation whole. Its Prophet (ﷺ) was sent to all people as the last of the prophets.
The Kena Upanishad says that what people worship here is not Brahman. The Qur'an says nothing is like God (﷾) and no vision grasps Him.
The Gita calls the worship of other gods irregular and its fruit perishable, and ranks highest devotion to one alone.
The Hindu law books and the Vedanta teachers barred the Shudra from the Veda. The Qur'an tells Muslims to let even a hostile pagan hear it.
Manu says the blind are born so for former crimes. The Qur'an rebukes the Prophet (ﷺ) for frowning at a blind man.
God (﷾) forgives all sins to those who turn to Him, and Islam wipes out what came before it.
A warner was sent to every people, and Muslims are forbidden to revile others' gods.
Of the Veda's many ancient branches only a few survive, while the Qur'an is one book for every Muslim.
Muhammad (ﷺ) was sent to all people as the Messenger of Allah (﷾) and the Seal of the Prophets.