Hindus & Muslims Working Together: Facts from History of India

In Rana Sanga’s battle against Babar at Khanwa, Hasan Khan Mewati helped the Rana most.

In his last message Babar advised his son, Humayun, to respect the religion of the country to which they had come, and to respect their temples and cows.

Mughals and other Muslim kings had Hindu general and soldiers, and Hindu kings had Muslim general and soldiers. Even Aurangzeb, considered by some to be a fanatic, had Hindu general fight many of his battles. Shivaji, regarded by some Hindus as a folk hero, had many Muslims in his army at crucial posts.

After being defeated by the Hindu king of Marwar, the Hindu king of Marwar was sheltered by Sher Shah Suri. Similarly, Humayun, after being defeated by Sher Shah Suri found refuge with the Hindu king of Amarkot, and his son, Akbar, was born there.

General Hakim Khan Sur died fighting with his Afghan soldiers on the side of Rana Pratap against Akbar.

Shivaji built a mosque near his palace, while Tipu Sultan built a temple near his palace.

Oudh’s Nawab Safdarjung and Dewan Asafuddaullah supported several temples with land grants.

Nawal Rai, a senior confidante of Oudh’s Nawab Safdarjung, died fighting for him.

Mohan Lal died fighting for Oudh’s Nawab Sirajudaullah, in the battle of Plassey, against the British East India Company.

When Kashmiri Pandits fled in terror, Zain-ul-Abdin, a Muslim Kashmiri ruler brought them back.

In 1857, in the areas captured by them, Muslim freedom fighters prohibited cow slaughter as a gesture of respect for the sentiments of their Hindu colleagues.

In 1857, Juhi and Moti Bai were fought with Rani of Jhansi till the end.

In 1857, the courageous gunner Kunwar Ghulam Gaus Khan died fighting to defend the fort of Rani of Jhansi.

 

Muslim Contributions to the Arts and Culture of India

Ibrahim II Adilshah of Bijapur (1580-1626) had 300 Hindu singers at his court. He composed Kitab-i-Nauras in Urdu, a book of 59 poems. The first poem in the book was an invocation to goddess Saraswati.

Muslim poet Salbeg’s compositions are still sung as prayers to Lord Jaganath.
Abdur Rahim Khankhana, one of Akbar’s Navratnas composed poems in praise of Lord Rama.

Muslim poet Raskhan wrote poems in Brajbhasha in praise of Lord Krishna.

Mughal and Rajput architecture represent an elegant admixture of intricate sculptural details of Hindus and grace, lightness and geometrical symmetry of Muslims.

In India, “fusion of Persian techniques and brilliant Hindu color gave the world a type of miniature painting which, at its best, surpassed both of its parents in beauty and lyricism,” believes Prem Shankar Jha, a well known Indian journalist.

According to Chidananda Dasgupta, eminent art critic, “ North Indian classical music is such a thorough blend of Hindu and Muslim cultures developed over 500 years, that no amount of orthodoxy in either religion can unscramble it.”

Muslim chitrakars move from one remote village to another to earn their livelihood by reciting tales from the Hindu pantheon.

At Sabarimala temple in Kerala, before offering prayers to the deity of Lord Aiyappa, pilgrims visit the shrine of the Muslim saint Vavas Sama, where a Muslim priest applies vibhuti to their foreheads.

Every year, Muslims provide a variety of services to Hindu pilgrims on their way to the holy site of Amarnath.

According to Dr. B. N. Pandey, a prominent scholar, Islam and Hinduism, which appeared at the start, so antithetical, at last intermingled, each one stirred the profoundest depth of the other and from their synthesis, grew the religion of Bhakti and Tasawwaf, the religions of love and devotion, which swept the hearts of millions following different religions and sects of India. The current of Islamic Sufism and Hindu Bhakti combined into a mighty stream which fertilized old desolate tracts and changed the face of the country. It was this spirit of India which achieved the apparently impossible task of reconciling the puritanical severity and awe-inspiring transcendence of Islam into the luxuriant fullness and abundance of form and the intuitive perception of their immanent unity with Hinduism, and created those monuments of art, literature and painting, music and poetry, and love-inspired religion which are a part of the heritage of Indian history during the middle ages.”

 

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