Islam and Yoga 13

Before proceeding with next chapter let us have a quick recap of what we saw in the preceding 12 chapters:

Islam, Yoga misconceptions, clarifications,

 8 major and 10 (5+5) subdivisions  of yoga

5 pillars of Islam, monotheism. Definition of Allah the Almighty

Now let us go with comparison of the major divisions and sub divisions with Islam.

Here I am making one point very clear

By comparison I mean I am trying to list out the similarities between Islam and Yoga

I have no intention of tilting the balance towards Islam or Yoga by comparison

I am a Muslim by birth and brought up.

I think I am following and practicing Islam to the best of my knowledge.

After retirement from Bank service, I studied M.Sc., Yoga in Annamalai,

Islam and Yoga was the topic for my M.Sc., thesis

For this I had to go through a lot of materials- books and net.

Whatever I have learnt I have submitted as a thesis.

What I present here is a very short and simplified form of my thesis 

We have seen that the first branch of Yama ( social discipline ) has got 5 sub divisions  namely

Ahimsa          Sathya           Attaaya         Brahmachariya      Abarikraha 

Comparison of these with Islam 

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Islam and Yoga 12

“--He is Allah the One
Allah the eternally Besought of all
He begetteth not nor was begotten
And there is none comparable unto Him “
  Above four lines define and describeAllah, the  Almighty  (Quran Chapter 112 v 1-4)

Now let us continue with misconceptions about Islam and clarifications for them

(-Invariably all Muslims take non veg daily- particularly beef.)

Prophet Muhammad (sal) neither liked nor supported taking non veg daily.

Non veg is a costly affair out of which beef is the cheapest. Naturally it has become a source of protein for the not so rich people 

(- Muslims are not Indian Citizens. Their patriotism is not towards India)

Generations together Muslims are living in India,- born and brought up as Indian citizens.

Freedom struggle--- Role of Muslims cannot be forgotten or undermined.

As a part of anti British rule movement Muslims abstained from learning English. This is one of the reasons for Muslims being educationally backward 

Our National Flag was designed by  

a Muslim lady by name Suraya , a senior officer in Postal Department  

(- Above all there is one more Major terrific misunderstanding that is terrorism)+

Islam does not allow killing of innocent people  

If one kills a man who has not committed any crime, the killer shall be as he has killed all mankind says Holy Quran (Chapter 5 verse 32)

Islam had its beginning as a guiding light   to mankind for proper way of living.

In course of time it developed into a country, a monarch and a very big powerful kingdom.

 Naturally, it had to develop armed forces and ammunitions for internal and external security .This is a normal procedure and strategy in any developing nation.

Comparing Islam and Yoga

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Islam and Yoga 11

Misconceptions about Islam we saw in part 3 of this series.

Now let us see clarifications for the misconceptions one by one.
(Misconceptions) are reproduced in brackets to make reading easier 

Arab and Urdu
-(Only Urdu speaking are real or original Muslims.

-Arabic language and Urdu language are one and the same.)

Like Tamil, Arabic is an ancient and classical language. It is the mother tongue of Arabs and many of the Gulf Country people..

Holy Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (Sal) in Arabic language only 

Urdu is one of the recognized official languages in India and in many states like Jammu and Kashmir

Around 99% of Urdu verbs have their roots in Sanskrit and Prakrit.^[24]

The relation of languages to Urdu goes in the order:
Standard Urdu>Rekhta Urdu = Dehlavi Hindi> Hindustani>Khariboli>Standard Hindi>Middle Persian>Sanskrit>Arabic and Turkish
Arabic has no relation to Urdu except for loanwords and the origin of script.

No Arabian knows Urdu and all Muslims in India do not know Urdu

The only similarity between Arab and Urdu is that the alphabets look somewhat  alike   

(-Muslims worship a black stone called Kabha)

Muslims’ prayer is only towards Allah, the Invisible, Almighty and the one and only  one to be worshipped,

For uniformity and to express unity Muslims all over the world turn their faces towards Kabha during prayer

Kabha is the first holy  place constructed in the world for the worship of Allah, the only one to be worshipped.

It is a grave sin to worship picture or figure of Kabha 

(-Prophet Mohamed (Sal) is the God or one of the gods of   Muslims)

Prophet Muhammad (Sal) is only a messenger of Allah, the Almighty. He was born as a man and died as a human being. 

To worship Prophet Muhammad  or Kabha is totally an unpardonable sin. It is against the fundamental principle of Islam- Monotheism

 

Definition of Allah and clarifications for other misconceptions

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Islam and Yoga 10

Out of 5 pillars of Islam we discussed first 3 – compulsory to almost all Muslims.
Now let us see the remaining two- Zakah and Hajj Pilgrimage - which are compulsory for the affordable lot of Muslims.

Zakah 
Zakah is compulsory charity for those who are well off.
2 ½ of percent of wealth remaining after expenses and debt is to be spent every year as charity
 to those who are eligible to receive it.

Subject to various rules and regulation wealth includes cash, bank balance, gold silver, cattle, vehicles, land, building, stock in trade, agricultural products, shares, stocks etc.  
Zakah can be doled throughout the year. It is usually  given   in the Holy Month of Ramzan
Zakah prevents accumulation of wealth with a few by spreading of the same.
Thus it serves a social cause.

Hajj Pilgrimage 

 It is a bounden duty of   those who are blessed with health and wealth to perform Hajj pilgrimage. Unlike others it is enough to perform Hajj once in life time
Hajj envisages pilgrimage to Holy City of Makka, where the Muslims have to perform certain rituals,
Men performing Hajj have to wear a special dress called Ihram for certain days. It is a two piece dress without any stitching
It resembles dress with which corpse is covered.
One has to abstain from perfumes, soap and paste while in Ihram dress and he has to wear rubber footwear.

Pilgrims from India have to board international flight with this simple dress .
Ego totally vanishes in Hajj and thus it serves as a practice of controlling senses

Hajj is an expression of devotion to Almighty and not means of gaining social status 
Misconceptions about Islam and Clarifications 

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