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W. Bengal, A. C. Bhaktivedanta c>wamiPrabhupada
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First Printing, 1997: 1,000 copies


AKIF MANAF J., Ph.D.
Second Printing. 1998: 2.000 copies

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A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

Introduction
Contents

Religion is meant for peace, not war


Introduction 5

1. Islam is also Vaishnavism 7


2. Islam means submission 9
13 world to re-establish religious principles. Different messengers
3. God sends His messengers
17
C/Jfjgain
have and
revealed
againdifferent
God hasscriptures
sent Hisinmessengers
different languages accord-
to this material
4. Parampara - Disciplic succession ing to time, place, circumstances and the intellectual capacity of the people. In
20
5. The Que'an this way the Vedas, Avesta, Torah, Bible and Qur'an were made available for
23 the benefit of mankind, to bring them closer to God. Despite the different lan-
6. The Que'an is also shastra
25
7. The knowledge must be scientific guagesand different ages in which these scriptures were presented, the knowl-
27 edge and guidance is essentially the same. That is:
8. The Muslim religion is based on a conception of God
9. The Muslim religion is also bhakti-yoga
28 1. God is one
31 2. Everyone is a servant of God
10. Guru - Spiritual master
11. Hazrat Muhammad is shaktyavesha-avatara 32 3. Everyone has an eternal relationship with God
33 4. The primary duty of everyone is service to God
12. Hazrat Muhammad is an acharya
34 5. The goal of bum an life is to develop love of God.
13. Hazrat Muhammad is an authority
35 As far as the process of each scripture is concerned, some details and rituals
14. Hazrat Muhammad is a devotee of God differ, but in essence it is all the same. Every messenger of God came to this
15. Hazrat Muhammad is a servant of God 36
mortal world to remind us that we should always remember God, serve God
16. Hazrat Muhammad is the perfect holy man 37 and love God. Therefore, religious principles are meant for peace and prosper-
17. Hazrat Muhammad preached God-consciousness 38
ity,not war.Vaishnavism,Hinduism,Buddhism,Zoroastrianism,Judaism, Chris-
18. Hazrat Muhammad teaches according to the class of men 39 tianity and Islam are all meant for uniting people, not dividing them.
19. Hazrat Muhammad could hear God 40 "In the vase there is a variety of flowers, and that variety helps us better
42 appreciate the idea of flowers. That is called unity in diversity," said Srila
20. The Muslims are also Vaishnavas
43 Prabhupada. But because of misunderstanding, misinterpretation and deviation
21. A planet where pious Muslims go
45 from the revealed scriptures, hundreds and hundreds of sects have already ap-
22. Animal slaughter
61 peared, even within the same religious communities, what to speak of other
23. God is a person communities. People quarrel, fight and kill each other under the name of reli-
24. God is not formless 63
65 gion. So much degradation. There is no peace and prosperity on this earth. How
25. God can be seen can we gain the peace and prosperity that everyone is searching for? In this dark
26. God is not material 67
age of quarrel and hypocrisy, God has sent us His most merciful servant, A. C.
27. Allah is a name of God 68 Bhaktivedanta Swami Srlla Prabhupada, to re-establish true religious principles
72 and unite all the religions under the non-sectarian, nonmaterial, transcendental
28. The ultimate goal is to love God
flag of love of God.
5
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

As a humble saint, A. C. Bhaktivooanta Swami Prabhupada never 1. Islam is also Vaishnavism


criticised any religion or any bona fide representative of any religion. Some
people say Srila Prabhupada was a genius, some say a great religious teacher,
some say a friend like no other, but Srila Prabhupada said: "I am simply a ser-
Srila Prabhupada: Islam is also Vaishnavism.
vant of a servant of a servant of God." By re-establishing the Absolute Truth as
Dr. Patel: Mohammedanism is not Vaishnavism.
it was, as it is, and as it always should be without adding or subtracting anything
Srila Prabhupada: No, no. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu talked with the Pathanas
from the way it was presented to him, he began an international movement that
(Muslims). He proved that "Your religion is Vaishnavism."
has already united people of all religions, nations, ages, etc .. Th~ to his com-
(Morning walk. Bombay, 17/02174)
passion and struggle, souls from all walks of life: scientists, businessmen, phi-
losophers, laborers, housewives and students are all marching under the united
nations transcendental flag of love of God. Srila Prabhupada: Then Islam is Vaishnavadhamuz (religion) in a crude form
like Christianity.
In this work we present statements by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03n5)
Prabhupada on Isl~ taken from his books, lectures .and conversations. We
sincerely hope it will help people develop a proper understanding of interreli-
gious connections, ''unity in diversity."

lamic religion is also teaching how to become a servant of


~ only onetwo
n these God and surrender
statements, to Him with explains
Srila Prabhupada love andthat
devotion.
the Is-
One can cultivate the same knowledge in the Vai~ava religion but with
more detailed information. In Vaishnavism, one can learn how to de-
velop his eternal loving relationships with the Supreme Lord. Although
Dr. Patel could not accept that Islam is also Vaishnavism, Srila Prabhupada
explained that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, in his .conversation with the
Pathana Muslims, proved by quoting from the Holy Qur' an that Islam is
also Vaishnavism. At the end of his conversation all the Pathana Mus-
lims, including the great Muslim scholar and prince Vijuli Khan, accepted
the fact that Vaishavism is a true religion teaching complete surrender to
the will and desire of God, which is the meaning of Islam. Later on in
1975, in Tehran, Srila Prabhupada explained that Islam is a simplified
form of the Vaishnava religion. Why? Because the Holy Prophet
Muhammad taught his people according to time, place, circumstances
and their intellectual level. He himself clearly said, "I received two kinds
of knowledge: one of these I taught - but if I had taught them the other,
it would have broken their necks." (Nadarbeg K. Mizra, Reincarnation
and Islam, Madras, 1927, p. 4)
According to the Muslim tradition, a part of the "Heavenly Book"
which is kept under the Throne of Allah was revealed to the Holy Prophet
Muhammad in the Arabic language. More than this, the Holy Prophet
Muhammad once hadmiraj, or the experience of "ascending" to heaven.

6 7
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam 2. Islam means submission

And after penetrating the 7th layer of heaven, he visited the Throne of
~Iah and received divine knowledge from Him. This divine knowledge
Yoga student: In fact Muslims object to their religion being called
given by Allah to the Holy Prophet Muhammad was in three parts: Mohammedanism because it implies that they worship Muhammad, whereas
1) The knowledge that Allah ordered the Holy Prophet Muhammad in fact they feel that they go straight to God, to Allah, and that Muhammad
simply was a messenger.
II to conceal from others and keep for himself
Srila Prabhupada: That's good.
. !
2) The knowledge that Allah allowed him to choose whether or not
to conceal or reveal to others Yoga student: And they call their religion Islam, which means submission.
3) The knowledge that Allah ordered the Apostle to communicate to Srila Prabhupada: That's very good.
all members of his ummah (community). (Geo Widengren. Muhammad. Yoga student: The Muslim is he who submits.
the Apostle a/God, and His Ascension. Uppsala, 1955, p. 108) (Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03nS)
In this way, the Holy Prophet Muhammad got part of the unlimited
spiritual knowledge and at the same time was ordered by Allah to con- Srila Prabhupada: Religion means to surrender to God. It doesn't matter what
ceal some parts of this knowledge. religion you profess. It doesn't matter. But you must learn how to obey the
Thus from statements of the Holy Prophet and from his life, we can Supreme Lord. That is religion. Religion does not mean that you stamp some
understand that he withheld some confidential knowledge about the stereotype religion, "I am Christian," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim," "I am Bud-
dhist," and then fight. That is not religion. That is fanaticism. Religion means
Su~reme ~ord. Therefore, Srila Prabhupada said that Islam is simplified
VatshnaVlsm. By these words Sma Prabhupada had no intention to dis- how one has become devoted to God. That is religion.
credit the Islamic religion. He actually had all respect for Islam as we will You claim to be religious, or you claim to be Hindu or Christian or Buddhist.
see later on. That is why he said that Islam is also Vaishnavism. But what That's all right. aut do you know what is God? Oh, everyone is silent. He does
not know what is God. And what is his religion? If you do not know what is
Srila Prabhupada meant is that not all aspects of Vaishnava philosophy
II were revealed by the Holy Prophet Muhammad, as he himself states. God, a vague idea, that is not religion. You must know what is God. Just like to
become an American citizen, it requires you to know something of the history
of America So ask an American citizen, "What are you?"
kl "Now, I'm American."
"Who is your president?"
~I "I do not know."
What is this nonsense American? Would you like to hear from him, "I do
\\1
·.i·1
not know who is my president." Similarly, a human being professing some cer-
tain type of religion, but if you ask him, "What is God?"
Religion must be in relationship with God; any religion. But ask him, "What
is God?" No answer. But religion means yato bhaktir adhoksaje - by practis-
ing it, one becomes a devotee of the Lord. That is religion, fIrst-class religion.
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam. 9/0In4)

Srila Prabhupada: Religion means obedience to God. Religion does not mean
anything else. You can manufacture so many formulas and theses. But the real
meaning is obedience to God. That is religion. Simple definition. If a man is

8
A. C. Bbaktivedanta Swami Prabbupada on Islam [2 ) Islam means submission

obedient to God, it doesn't matter to which religion he belongs. He may be But if they cease, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Christian, he may be Hindu, he may be MussaIman. It doesn't matter. Religion And fight them on until there is no more persecution and the religion
means obedience to God.
becomes Allah's." .
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam. 12/12/73) Prominent Muslim scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments:
"War is permissible in self-defence, and under well-defmed limits.
When undertaken, it must be pushed with vigour, but not relentlessly,
but only to restore peace and freedom for the worship of Allah. In any
religion means surrender to or obedience to God. Islam case, strict limits must not be transgressed: women, children, old and
~ere Srila Prabhupada
also means full surrenderagain andwill
to the again emphasised
of God. that
Many times infirm men should not be molested, nor trees and crops cut down, nor
the Holy Prophet Ml''w;>.mad explained that everyone is a banda, or peace withheld when the enemy comes to terms." (Abdullah Yusuf Ali,
slave of Allah and !Dustobey His order. We should understand our origi- The Holy Qur-an, Al-Madinah, 1411 H, p. 79)
nal, constitutional poswoo as servants of God and by following His in- This is the actual meaning of Jihad, or Holy War. If an enemy is
structions we will develop our etemalloving relationship with the Su- attacking one with deadly weapons, with the intention to destroy or im-
premeLord.
pede one's religious activities, one can fight and kill for the protection of
People should not just put a rubber stamp on themselves, "I am Chris- religious principles. However, nowadays, many leaders are advocating
tian," "I am Hindu," "I am Muslim" and then fight. This is not a religious war under the name of jihad. They are using religious terms to promote
activity but fanaticism born from ignorance. Another meaning of Islam political ambitions. They dress themselves as religionists, but actually
is ·'peace." Islam must bring peace, not war. If someone under the name they are atheists. People should be very careful not to be victimised by
of Islam advocates war, this means he has misunderstood or misinter- such dishonest and misguided leaders.
preted Islam. We should not be bewildered by such unscrupulous inter- So, in Medina, the Muslims were attacked many times by Meccans
preters, rather we should follow true, eternal Islam, which will bring uni- and despite having smaller numbers, they always emerged victorious.
versal peace to the world. In the beginning of his preaching, the Holy During these wars, the Holy Prophet Muhammad gave special orders
Prophet Muhammad and his followers were severely persecuted by that Muslims should not kill monks, children, women, old and helpless
Meccan leaders. The Holy Prophet tolerated and taught his followers to people. Once after battle, the Holy Prophet saw dead women on the
be tolerant and forgiving towards their persecutors. Later on when Meccan battlefield. He became. very upset and chastised his followers.
leaders decided to kill the Holy Prophet Muhammad, he escaped to Finally, despite severe persecutions and wars, the Holy Prophet
Medina. There the number of Muslims rapidly increased, and the Meccans Muhammad conquered Mecca and entered the city with a huge army
decided to march upon Medina and kill all the Muslims. This time the without shedding any blood or taking revenge upon his persecutors; in-
Holy Prophet got a revelation from God that sanctioned fighting and stead he forgave them. This is how the Holy Prophet acted.
killing for the purpose of protecting religious principles. Thus it is stated In conclusion, the Holy Prophet Muhammad said: "The most excel-
in the sura "Al-Baqarah," or "The Cow" of the Holy Qur'an (2.190- lent Jihad is the uttering of truth in the presence of an unjust ruler."
193): , .
(Mishkat, 17)
"Fight in the cause of Allah those who fight you, but do not trans- Muslims should learn from his example and follow his instructions
gress limits; for Allah loves not transgressors. . without deviation. Thus by following the orders of God revealed in the
And slay them wherever you catch them, and turn them out from scriptures and surrendering unto Him, everyone will become obedient
where they have turned you out; for persecution is worse than slaughter; servants of God and develop their loving relationship with Him.
but fight them not at the Sacred Mosque, unless they (fIrst) fight you Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad shed light on another aspect of
there; but if they fight you, slay them. Such is the reward of those who Jihad. He said:
reject faith.
"The most excellent Jihad (Holy War) is that for conquest of self."

10 11
A. C. Bbaktivedanta Swami Prabbupada on Islam
3. God sends His messengers
(Abdullah AI-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy, The sayings o/Muhammad, Lon-
don, 1905,p.27)
Srila Prabhupada: When our constitutional position or dharma has de.terio-
Here is a good description of Jihad. The Holy Prophet Muhammad rated due to the contaminations of matter, the Lord Himself comes as an mcar-
himself explained that Jihad means fighting and conquering the impuri- nation or sends some of His confidential servitors. Lord Jesus Christ c~l~
ties of consciousness. It is not that one should fight with the enemy on himself the "son of God," and so he is a representatiye of the Supreme. Smu-
the outside. No. Actually, one should fight with the enemies that is in-
larly, Muhammad identified himself as a servant of ~e S.upreme ~~rd.
side. Who are these internal enemies? They are lust, greed and anger. Thus whenever there is a discrepancy in our consUtutlOnal poSition, the Su-
These are three gates leading to hell. One should fight and conquer these preme Lord either comes Himself or sends His representative to inform us of
enemies. Jihad may require fighting in Allah's cause, as a form of self- the real position of the living entity.
sacrifice. But its essence consists in:
(On the Way to Krishna, Ch. 2)
1) true and sincere faith, which so fixes its attention on Allah, that all
selfish or worldly motives seem insignificant and fade away, and
2) enthusiastic and incessant activities, involving the sacrifice of one's
life, or wealth, in the service of Allah. Mere brutal fighting is opposed to
Supreme
due theLord.
toSrila Whenever
influence ther~ligious
of explains
Illusory princi~les energy,
deteriorated
the whole spirit ofJihad, while the sincere scholar's pen or the preacher's ~ere Prabhupada the matenal
universal law ofGod the
voice or the wealthy man's contributions may be the most valuable forms sent some of His confidential servants like Jesus Christ or Hazrat
of Jihad. This is the inner, esoteric meaning of the term Jihad, Holy Muhammad to inform people of their real position as eternal servitors of
War.
God. In this way, Moses and Jesus were sent to Jews and Hazrat
Muhammad to Arabs to re-establish the eternal religious principles that
everyone is a servant of God and should serve ~im with love ~d devo-
tion. Each messenger of God accepts the authonty of the prevIous mes-
sengers and scriptures. ....
The Holy Qur'an (2.285) expresses this pnnclple m the followmg
w~: . .
"The Messenger believes in what has been revealed to hlffi from h~s
Lord as do the men of faith. Each one (of them) believes in Allah, HIS
anoe~,
o His books and .His messengers.'" 'We make no distinction (they
say) between any of HIS messengers.
The prominent Muslim scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments:
"It is not for us to make any distinction between one and another of
Allah's Messengers: we must honour them all equally, though we know
that Allah in His wisdom sent them with different kinds of missions and
gave them different degrees of rank." (Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy
Qur-an, AI-Madinah, 1411 H, p. 132)
Thus the Holy Qur'an accepts all previous scriptures and messen-
gers. It is explained here that the messengers of God ~ccept ~e Supreme
Lord, His angels (who are administrating material affarrs), scnptures (sent
13

12
[3] God sends His messengers
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

and Jesus, and that given to (all) the Prophets from their Lord: we make
by God through His different representatives) and wI of God's other
no difference between one and another of them: and we submit to Al-
messengers. They never discriminate between any of His messengers,
lah. '"
which means that they never say, "This messenger is better than an-
Here we have the creed of Islam - to believe in:
other," or "We accept this messenger but do not care about that one."
1) the one universal God
Thus we should understand that God sends His messengers or represen-
2) the message that has come to us through the Holy Prophet
tatives to different nations to preach the Absolute Truth according to
Muhammad and the signs (ayats) interpreted by him
time, place and circumstances ..
3) the messages delivered by other prophets in the past. These are
The Holy Qur' an (12.2) explains this point in the following verse of
mentioned in three groups:
sura "Yusuf," or "Joseph":
(1) Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, and the Tribes; of these Abraham
. "We (Allah) have revealed it, a Lecture (Qur' an) in Arabic, that you
(Muhammad) may understand." apparently had a scripture
(2) Moses and Jesus, who each left a scripture
Allah explained here that He revealed the Qur'an in Arabic so that
(3) other scriptures, prophets, or messengers of God, not specifically
the Holy Prophet Muhammad may understand it ~d convey it to other
mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. Their message in essence was one, and
Arabs. Allah, time after time, reveals His eternal message to different
that is the basis of Islam.
prophets in the appropriate language. Although the linguistic expres-
In the Tarikhe Hamdan, Chapter Babul Kaf, the Holy Prophet
sions and terms are different, the essential knowledge is the same:
Muhammad mentioned one divine personality who descended in India.
1) God is one
He described his colour and gave his name. These are the words of the
2) Everyone is the s~rvant of God
3) We must serve and love God Holy Prophet Muhammad:
"In India one black colourednabi advented and his name was Kahan."
4) And to do so, we must chant His holy name.
This is the universal message of God contained in all scriptures. In the opinion of the prominent Muslim scholar Alhaz Ahmad Tofic,
Furthermore it is stated in the sura "Al-Baqarah," or "The Cow" of the person mentioned by the Holy Prophet Muhammad in the Tarikhe
Hamdan is Krishna, who appeared in India 5,000 years ago, whose colour
the Holy Qur'an (2.253):
was blackish and who delivered to mankind the message of God, fa-
"Those Messengers we endowed with gifts, some above others: to
mously known as the Bhagavad-gita.
some of them Allah spoke; others He raised to degrees (of honour)."
Another interesting piece of evidence was given by one of the close
Thus, different gifts and different modes of procedure were given to
associates of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, namely Ab'uhurairah. Ac-
Allah's messengers through the different ages, and perhaps their degrees
are also different. According to the supreme plan of the Lord, different cording to Ab'uhurairah, the Holy Prophet of Islam said:
"Certainly God will send to my sect at the end of every hundred
personalities appear in different parts of the world to deliver the eternal
message of God to the nations. years, a person who will renew my religion." (Mishcat-ul-Masabih,
Calcutta, 1809, p. 62)
In the Tafsire Kassaf(Jild 3, Chapter 60) 4th Khalif oflslam, son-in-
One example of such renewal is recorded in a very exciting conver-
law of the Holy Prophet Muhammad, Hazrat Ali said:
sation about the Holy Qur'an between Chaitanya Mahaprabhu and
"Allah-TaaIa sent one black coloured nabi (one who delivers the
Abdullah Pathana about 500 years ago. In this conversation the Hidden
message of God) whose name is not mentioned in the Qur'an." (Tafsire
Treasure of AI-Qur'an was again revealed to mankind. (Anyone inter-
Madarek, Juj 2, Egypt, p. 65)
ested can read The Hidden Treasure of Al-Qur' an by Dr. Akif Manaf J.)
In the sura "Al-Baqarah," or "The Cow" of the Holy Qur'an (2.136),
Another incident involving Chaitanya Mahaprabhu took place when
we fmd the following verse:
the Muslim King of Bengal, Ala' uddin SaiyadHussain Shah (1498-1511),
"Say you: 'We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, to
heard of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu' s influence in attracting innumerable
Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, to the Tribes. and that given to Moses

15
14
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

people. He said: "Such a person, who is followed by so many people


without giving them charity, must be a prophet. 1 can surely understand 4. Parampara - Disciplic succession
this fact."
Then Hussain Shah ordered the magistrate: "Do not disturb this
prophet out of jealousy. Let him do as he wills wherever he likes." Srila Prabhupada: If Muhammad is the servant of God and Jesus Christ is the
Later, in private, the King inquired from his minister, Dabir Khas, SOil of God, then where is the break of the disciplic succession. After all the
about this personality, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. Dabir Khas replied: "This disciplic succession is beginning from God, so how do you find that there is no
prophet always desires your good fortune. By his grace, all your busi-
disciplic succession? If the original tree has branches, twigs and leaves and they
ness is successful. By his blessings, you will attain victory everywhere. are in touch with the original tree, it is all right. The test is whether the line is in
Why are you questioning me? Better that you question your own mind. touch with the Supreme - that is all.
Because you are the King of the people, you are the representative of the
Although Muhammad and Jesus Christ appeared in the Kali Yuga (the present
Supreme. Therefore you can understand this better than me."
age of quarrel and hypocrisy) their instruction is as it is because the persons to
The King said: "I consider Chaitanya Mahaprabhu to be a divine
whom they had to speak could not understand any more and they find it diffi-
personality. There is no doubt about it." (Chaitanya-charitamrita, cult to understand even that much.
Madhya-Lila, Chapter I, Texts 168-180) (Letter 19/07nO)

ception of parampara from the Vedic literatures.


~ere Parampara
Srila Prabhupada explains
means disciplic the very orimportant
succession, con-
chain of self-
realised souls who convey spiritual knowledge without adulteration. The
absolute knowledge descends through generations of spiritual masters
• and disciples. The topmost disciples become preceptors and pass on the
teachings to their disciples. Parampara, or disciplic succession begins
from God. The Holy Prophet Muhammad received knowledge of God
through the archangel Gabriel; therefore he is in the line of disciplic suc-
cession.
According to tradition, it was the practice of the Holy Prophet
Muhammad to retire from his family to a desert cave for meditation for
one month every year. His place of retreat was Hira. a desert hill not far
from Mecca, and his chosen month was Ramazan (December), the month
of heat. It was there, one night towards the end of his stay, that the first
revelation came to him when he was forty years old. This happened on
the seventeenth day of Ramazan month (22nd of December, 610). That
date is since named A/-Gadir, "Night of Power".
Hazrat Muhammad was asleep when he heard a voice calling him.
When he opened his eyes, he saw a bright dazzling light and fell uncon-
scious. When he regained consciousness, he saw an angel in the likeness
of a man, carrying a written document enveloped in precious silk. The

16
17
[4] Parampara - Disciplic successio~
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

they even found it difficult to understand parts of that truth, he had to


angel said, "Read!" He replied, "I cannot react" Indeed he was illiterate. speak according to the level of their intellectual capacities.
The angel placed the document on his chest. Hazrat Muhainmad felt Therefore once, the Holy Prophet Muhammad said, "Speak to people
as if a mountain had fallen upon him and thought that he would die of according to the level of their intellectual capacities. For if you speak all
suffocation. Then the angel lifted the document and repeated, "Read!" things to all men, some cannot understand you, and so fall into errors."
He replied, "I cannot read" but again the angel pressed him even stron- (Abdullah al-Mamun al-Suhrawardy. The Sayings a/Muhammad, Lon-
ger than before. A third time the angel commanded in a more terrible don,I905,p.31)
voice, "Read!" In this connection, the prominent Muslim scholar Abdullah Yusuf
"What have I to read?" Ali writes:
The angel said: "While the basic principles of Allah's Law remain the same; its form,
"Read: In the name of your Lord Who created, expression and application have varied from time to time, e. g., from
Cr~ted man from a clot. Moses to Jesus, and from Jesus to Muhammad." (The Holy Qur-an. The
Read: Your Lord is Most Bountiful, Presidency of Islamic Researchers, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah, 1410
Who taught by the pen, H.,p.1939)
Taught man that which he knew not. ••·
(The Qur'an 96.1-5)
Hazrat Muhammad submissively repeated the words, and they re- Nava-yauvana: In Islam they say that God cannot come to this earth.
mained "as if inscribed in his heart." He went out of the cave, onto the Atreya Rishi: God would not come to this earth.
hillside, and heard the same awe-inspiring voice say, "0 Muhammad! Srila Prabhupada: God cannot speak? God cannot come. A very big man, he
You are Allah's messenger, and I am Gabriel." Then he raised his eyes can come, but He (God) cannot speak?
and saw the angel standing in the sky above the horizon and again the Atreya Rishi: They agree. He can speak and He can send representatives.
dreadful voice said, "0 Muhammad! You are Allah's messenger, and I Srila Prabhupada: Because He has spoken to Muhammad, and Muhammad
am Gabriel." Hazrat Muhammad stood still. Due to the brightness of the
has come, h~ is spe~ng the same thing. There is no need of God's coming. If
light, he turned his face away, but in whichever direction he would turn Muhammad 1S speaking on behalf of God, then that is all right. There is no need
his face, the angel always stood there confronting him. He remained of God's coming. This is parampara.
standing there for a long time until the angel vanished. Thus the Holy (Morning walk. Tehran, 12108/76)
Prophet Muhammad received the first revelation of the Holy Qur' an
and was appointed as a messenger of God. (Marmaduke Pickthall. The
Holy Qur' an. New Delhi, 1990, p. 5)
Srila Prabhupada gave the example of the tree: is given that if the Tehran that because God has spoken to Hazrat
branches, twigs and leaves are in touch with the original tree, then nour- cA-gain
.
Srila Prabhupada mentions in his morning walk in
Muhammad, and the Holy Prophet Muhammad is simply
ishment is there. The test is whether the line is in touch with the Su- repeatrng the same message on behalf of God, this is parampara, disciplic
preme Lord. That is all. In this way, because the Holy Prophet Muhammad succession, or chain of teachers.
is in touch with God tlIlPugh the archangel Gabriel, he is a bona fide
spiritual master.
The next point Srila Prabhupada made is that although Hazrat
Muhammad appeared in the modern age called Kali Yuga (Iron Age), or
age of quarrel and hypocrisy, his instruction is as it is. Because the per-
sons to whom he had to speak could not understand the whole truth and

19
18
[5] The Qur'an
A. C. Bhaktivedanla Swami Prabhupada on Islam
Muslims support their stand with quotations from the Qur' an, their arguments
are also authorised.
5. The Qur'an
(Chaitanya-charitamrita. Adi-lila, 7.155p)

Srila Prabhupada: The revealed scripture of the Muslims is the Qur' an. S~ila ~rabhupada: If you purchase the Bhagavad-gita, if YDU purchase the
BIble, If you purchase the Qur'an, or ... There are so many literatures. They are
(Chaitanya-charitamrita. Madhya-lila, 18.190) also authorised. .
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, 16/12/66)
Srila Prabhupada: Just like in your country there is the Bible or any other
scripture. We have got the Vedas. The Muslims, they have got the Qur' an. These
Srila Prabhupada: So in the Qur'an there is God-consciousness, in the Bible
scriptures can help also because they are also authority. But you will find that
there is God-consciousness, in the Vedas there is God-consciousness.
one scripture is differing from other scriptures in some details. Of course, on
(Lecture on Chaitanya-charitamrita, 24/02nl)
average there is no difference. (Lecture, 25/04/69)

Srila Prabhupada: Vedas means the books of transcendental knowledge. Not


Srila Prabhupada: The Muslims accept the Qur'an. What is the purpose for
only the Bhagavad-gita, even the Bible or the Qur'an, they are also (books of
all these books of knowledge? They are to train us to understand our position as
transcendental knowledge).
pure soul. Their purpose is to restrict bodily activities by certain rules and regu-
(Lecture, 29/07/68)
lations, and these rules and regulations are known as codes of morality.
(Beyond Birth and Death. Ch. 1)
Srila Prab~upada: If you find that by following some religious principles you
are developmg your love of God, then it is perfect. It doesn't matter whether it
Srila Prabhupada: According to the climate, according to the population, ac-
is the Bible or the Qur'an or the Bhagavad-gita; it doesn't matter.
cording to the country, there are different books of knowledge. Just like in India
(Lecture, 18/10/68)
the books of knowledge are accepted as the Vedas, Vedic knowledge. In your
European, American countries the accepted books of knowledge are the Old
Testament and the New Testament. Similarly, the book of knowledge amongst
the Muslims, (which) they have accepted is the Qur'an. Actually, they are all
that the Holy Qur' an is a revealed scripture or a book of tran-
books of knowledge; undoubtedly. There is no doubt about it. But what are
these books of knowledge? Religious scriptures! Religious scriptures are meant
for training you to (understand) the conception of life that you are a pure soul,
g1 scendental knowledge. Then Srila Prabhupada explains that
n the
acco ing to the above
climate,statements,
population,Srila
and Prabhupada,
country there first of all, stresses
are different
of knowledge, like the Vedas, the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur'an. Al-
books

nothing more. They restrict your bodily activities under certain conditions. That
though one scripture is differing from other scriptures in some details,
is called morality.
on the whole the essence is the same. Throughout the world all the bona
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, 25/03/66)
fide script~res explain the same Absolute Truth in different languages
and from dIfferent angles of view. The purpose of all these scriptures or
Srila Prabhupada: This message (of God) may also be found in the Bhagavad-
books of knowledge is to give us understanding about our position as a
gita and other Vedic literatures, in the Bible and the Qur' an - in any bona fide
pure soul. Their purpose is to restrict the bodily activities by certain rules
scripture - or it may be heard from a realised soul.
and regulations, and these rules and regulations are known as codes of
(On the Way to Krishna, Ch. 3)
morality. In all these books, the message of God may be found. All of
them are teaching God-consciousness, awareness of God.
Srila Prabhupada: According to the Vedic scriptures, if one can support his
stand by quoting from the Vedas, his argument is perfect. Similarly, when the
21
20
6. The Qur'an is also shastra
A. C. Bbaktivedanta Swami Prabbupada on Islam

Finally, Srila Prabhupada said that if one fmds that by following that Srila Prabbupada: Now, Krishna says personally man-mana: "Always think.
particular religious process he is developing love of God, then it is per- of Me." Not only that, anyone who is thinking of Krishna always, twenty-four
fect. It doesn't matter where this religious process is described, whether hours, Krishna gives him the certificate - the topmost yogi. Yoginam api
in the Bible or in the Qur' an or in the Bhagavad-gita. This means that the sarvesam mad-gatenantarutmana, sraddtzavan bhajate yo mam sa me
main goal of human life is to develop love of God, not just blindly fol- yuktatamo matah. So Krishna says. This is called theism, believing in the shastra
lowing some religious princil'les or scripture and fanatically advertising (scripture). Any shastra .. " All shastras; according to time, circumstances, and
them without being conscious (aware) of the goal. The goal is love of people there are differentshastras. The Bible is alsoshastra. The Qur'an is also
God, not just following religious principles or scriptures and forgetting shastra. They are spoken according to the time, according to the circumstances.
the goal. Everyone must understand this essential knowledge. (Lecture on Bhagavpd-gita, 03/02nS)

Srila Prabbupada: No, no. If one wants to follow the Qur' an, let him follow it
strictly. No halfway mixing.
Yoga student: Then preaching in Iran should be essentially to those people
who have fallen away from their traditional path.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Everyone is fallen. They are simply amending and
concocting. That is not good. Why should they amend?
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03nS)

Srila Prabbupada: I know among the Muslims it is a system that small chil-
dren are taught the Qur'an. That is a very good system.
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, S/04n4)

Srila Prabhupada: I have seen in Delhi, near Jama Masjid (Mosque) the small
Muslim boys, they are reading the Qur' an. That is very good: From childhood
they should learn, learn about God.
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, 10/Un3)

shastras, or scriptures. If we say, "Krishna says" or "God


~ere says" Srila
or" Allah says" that
Prabhupada is theism,
explains thator we
belief in the
have s(Orip-
different
ture. According to the time, place, circumstances and p:;ople, mank.ind
received appropriate scriptures, like the Bible or the Qur'an. They are
spoken according to time, place and circumstances.

23

22
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

Then Srila Prabhupada said that those who follow Islam they should 7. The knowledge must be scientific
strictly follow the rules and regulations given in the Holy Qur'an; tlley
should not amend and concoct. Actually it is very dangerous to amend
religious principles given in scriptures and concoct new "religious" rules. Srila Prabhupada: If you want to study something, and suppose you are from
Such concoctions will inevitably lead to degradation of religion. Factu- India, you can study the same subject in a foreign country for further enlighten-
ally, during his preaching the Holy Prophet Muhammad warned his fol- ment; to study a subject matter more and more it is not necessary to remain in
lowers many times of the danger of such deviations. For example, Zi' ad- the same jurisdiction. If I am actually anxious to know more and more, it doesn't
ibn-Lab'id said, "The Prophet repeated something about quarrel and said: matter whether I get the knowledge from a Muslim, Hindu or Christian; it doesn't
"It will appear at the time when knowledge leaves the world." I said, "O! malter. Knowledge is knowledge. When a student goes from one country to
Prophet, how will knowledge leave the world, since we read the Qur'an another to get further enlightenment on a subject matter, he does not think that
and teach it to our children, and our children to theirs, and so on till the "I'll have to learn it from here, from my university." For knowledge, progress of
day of resurrection?" Then the Prophet said, "0 Zi'ad! I supposed you knowledge, you can go to any university. Because knowledge must be scien-
to be the most learned man of Medina. Do the Jews and Christians who
tific. It is not restricted within the jurisdiction of a particular university. So, we
read the Bible and Evangelists act on them?" (Mishcat-ul-Masabih, are seeing the sun. Everyone is getting heat and light, but if anyone is interested
Calcutta, 1809, p. 68) (to) know how the heat is coming, how the light is coming, what is the situation
Also Ab'u Masu'ub said: "The Prophet said to me, "Learn knowl- of the sun globe, whether there are living entities or not - these are subject
edge and teach mankind, learn the Qur'an and teach it, learn the knowl- matters too. So if we can get enlightenment about the sun, we should not re-
edge of religion and teach it to mankind; for truly, I am a man who will strict ourselves to studying within the jurisdiction of our university, or our coun-
quickly depart this life, and it is also near that knowledge will be taken try, or our society. If the knowledge is there, we should be prepared to go for-
too, and contentions will appear to such a pitch that two persons will ward. (Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03n5)
disagree respecting a divine commandment, and nobody will be found
who can separate the true from the false." (Mishcat-ul-Masabih, Calcutta,
1809,p.69)
Another time the Holy Prophet Muhammad said: "The time is near for knowledge, it does not matter in which country or at
in which nothing will remain of Islam but its name, and of the Qur'an which university he studies. It also
~ere Srila Prabhupada explains that does
whennot
onematter from
is looking
but its mere appearance, and the mosques of Muslims will be destitute which teacher he learns - Hindu, Christian, or Muslim. When someone
of knowledge and worship; and the learned men will be the worst people approaches a physician, he never asks who is the physician - Muslim,
under the heavens; and conflict and quarrel will come from them, and it Hindu or Christian. He explains his problem and receives the remedy.
will return upon themselves." (Abdullah aI-Ma...'IlunaI-Suhrawardy. The Likewise, when somebody is searching for knowledge he can obtain it
Sayings of Muhammad, London, 1905, p. 49) from any university or any book. If someone wants to know about the
To conclude, the Holy Prophet Muhammad said: "Truly, the Israel- sun plariet, he needs to study astronomical books. It does not matter
ites have divided into 72 sects but my people will be divided into 73 whether the author is Christian, Hindu or Muslim. Similarly, if one wants
sects. All of them will go to the hell fife except a few." (Selected Sayings to know abOut God he can study the different religious books like the
of the Holy Prophet of Islam, Islamabad, 1991, p. 24) Vedas, the Bible or the Qur'an. He can learn from all these books and
deepen his ~owledge. He should not hamper his progress in under-
Finally Srila Prabhupada appreciated that Muslims teach their small standing God by restricting himself to studying only one particular book.
children the Qur'an. "That is a very good system," Prabhupada said. The Holy Prophet Muhammad in his preaching activity paid great
From childhood people should leam about God. attention to the process of acquiring knowledge. Once he said, "Go on a
quest for knowledge even to China."

24 25
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

Another time he said, "Excessive knowledge is better than excessive 8. The Muslim religion is based on a conception of God
praying, and the support of religion is abstinence. It is better to teach
knowledge one hour in the night, than to pray the whole night." (Abdullah
AI-Mamun AI-Suhrawardy, The Sayings ofMuhamnuul, London, 1905, Srila Prabhupada: So, Aryan culture was practically allover the world. Aryan
p.29,49) culture is based on God-consciousness. So amongst the Aryans there is some
So, Hazrat Muhammad again and again stressed the importance of conception of religion; either Christian religion, Muslim religion, Buddhist reli-
acquiring knowledge. gion, or Vedic religion, is based on the conception of God. So according to time
Thus we must understand that God revealed Himself through differ- and country, the ways of understanding may be a little different, but the aim is
ent scriptures to mankind. As the supreme Absolute Truth, God has un- God-consciousness. That is Aryan civilisation. So God is one; God cannot be
limited attributes. His attributes are revealed in different scriptures in two. So the features of God or angles of vision of God may differ.
different ways. Therefore we should carefully scrutinise different reli- (Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03n5)
gious books in order to perfect our knowledge of Him.

Aryan culture was allover the world. The whole popula-


~ere . tion Srila
of our planet followed
Prabhupada explains one
thatmonotheistic religion.
there was a time when
Similarly it is stated in the sura "Al-Baqarah," or "The Cow" of the
Holy Qur' an (2.213):
"Mankind was one single nation."
Also stated in the sura "Yunus," or "Jonah" (10.19):
"Mankind was but one nation, but differed (later)."
The prominent Muslim scholar Abdullah Yusuf Ali comments:
"All mankind was created one, and Allah's Message to mankind is in
essence one, a Message of Unity and Truth. But as selfishness and ego-
tism got hold of man, certain differences sprang up between individuals,
races, and nations, and in His infinite Mercy He sent them messengers
and messages to suit their varying mentality, to test them by His gifts, .
and stir them up to emulation in virtue and piety." (The Holy Qur-an.
The Presidency of Islamic Researchers, Al-Madinah AI-Munawarah, 1410
H.,p.552)
Furthermore, Srila Prabhupada explains that the Aryan civilisation
was based on God-consciousness. This means that the Aryans always
followed some religion. Similarly, Christianity, Islam and Hinduism are
also based on the conception of God. According to time, place, circum-
stances and people, the ways of understanding are different but the aim
is God-consciousness. So God is one, but the angles of vision of God
differ. "Aryan" does not refer to nationality, it refers to any person who
is following a bona fide religious process by which he is developing his
. God-consciousness. That is Aryan.

26 27
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam
[9] The MusDm religion is also bhakti-yoga
9. The Muslim religion is also bhakti-yoga

God is the target contains an element of bhakti, devotion.


Srila Prabhupada: Even the Muslim religion. That is also bhakti-yoga (devo- ~ere Therefore
Srila Islam is also explaiQs
Prabhupada bhakti-yoga. The religion
that any Muslims where
offer
tional service). Any religion where God is the target, that is applied in blzakti obeisances and prayers. They want to please God. That is blzakti, or
(devotion). devotional service.
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, 21/02/69) To further strengthen the relationship between Qur'anic teachings
and Vedic teachings, we will look into the process of worshipping God,
Srila Prabhupada: Bhakti-yoga also exists among the Muslims, because God or as it is otherwise known, the processes of devotional service to Allah.
is the target in the Muslim religion. According to the Vedic scriptures, there are nine limbs or aspects of pure
(Path of Perfection) devotional service to the Lord:
I. Hearing the holy name, qualities and glories of the Lord
Srila Prabhupada: There are many prayers in the Vedic scriptures and also in 2. Chanting the holy name and glories of the Lord
the Bible and the Qur' an. Although the Christians and Muslims do not worship 3. Remembering the Lord
the Deity, they offer prayers to the Lord, that is also bhakti. 4. Serving the Lord
(Teachings of Lord Chaitanya, Ch. 15) 5. Worshipping the Lord
6. Praying to the Lord
SriIa Prabhupada: The Christians and the Muslims, they offer vandanam 7. Obeying the orders of the Lord
(prayers). Although they do not worship the Deity, but they offer prayers to the 8. Maintaining friendship with the Lord
Lord. That is also good. That is also bhakti. 9. Surrendering everything unto Him.
(Lecture on Sril1UJ1iBhagavatam, 04/12n4) We will be surprised when we compare these Vedic descriptions of
the nine processes of spiritual life with the process given in the Holy
Srila Prabhupada: Muslims actually have singing kirtana (chanting) publicly. Qur'an. Because we will see that both are talking about the same pro-
This I have seen in India; they were holding kirtana with drum accompani- cess of spiritual activities. So the Holy Qur'an states:
ment.
(Letter, 04/06nO) 1. Heariru:
"When My servants question you concerning Me, then surely I am
Srila Prabhupada: They accept God. They are also our brothers because they near. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he cries unto Me. So let
accept God. They are not atheist. Atheists don't accept God. "There is no God," them hear My call and let them trust in Me, in order that they may be led
says the atheist. But here they are theists. They accept God. They want to please aright." (2.186)
God. They go to the church, go to the mosque, offer prayers. Prayer is also
bhakti, devotional service. The Christian way or the Muslim way is to offer 2. Chantine
prayer. The Muslims offer obeisances and offer prayer. So that is also blzakti "So chant the name of your Tremendous Lord." (69.52)
(devotion). The Christians also do that, so that is also blzakti. And they accept "Call upon Allah (Almighty), or call upon Rahman (Compassion-
God; we accept God. So there is no difference. But the only point is who is that ate), by whatever name you call upon Him (it is well). For to Him belong
God. the most beautiful names." (17.110)
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03n5)
3. Rememberine
"Those who believe and whose hearts find rest in the remembrance
of Allah: truly in the remembrance of Allah do hearts find rest!" (13.28)
28
29
• A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

"Therefore remember Me, I (Allah) will remember you. Give thanks , 10. Guru - Spiritual master
to Me and reject not Me." (2.152)

4. Servine . . Srila Prabhupada: Even within the Muslim religion there is such sentiment;
"Behold! Allah is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Hm. That 1S the Muhammad and his dynasty, Hussain, they are treated very respectfully. So
right path." (19.36) considering all the points, respect to the guru (spiritual master) must be main-
tained. This is the sum and substance of the instruction.
5. Worshippim: (Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, 05110/76)
"0 mankind! Worship your Lord, Who has created you and those
before you so that you may ward off (evil)." (2.21) Srila Prabhupada: Even if we say "Muhammad," why not? Anyone who has
preached Krishna consciousness, maybe a little differently according to time
6. Prayim: and circumstances, but anyone who has tried to preach God-consciousness, he
"Seek help in patience and prayers. Truly, it is hard except for the is guru (spiritual master). This is Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's version. Anyone
humble-minded." (2.45) who preaches about the Supreme Lord, he is guru. Maybe in a different way,
according to time and circumstances. Muhammad also said Allah Akbar.
Dr. Patel: The only difference is that Muslims are trying to worship niranjana,
7.0beyim: " '132)
"Obey Allah and the messenger, that you may fmd mercy. (3. nirakara (formless), and we ...
Srila Prabhupada: No, no, not nirakara. That is not...
8. Maintainim: friendship , . . ' Dr. Patel: Even Christianity considers His akara (form). God has form.
"Those who take Allah, His messenger and the believers for fnends, Srila Prabhupada: No, Muhammad also has got... Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ar-
behold! The party of Allah are victorious." (5.56) gued from the Qur'an and proved there is krishna-bOOkti (love of God). He
proved this with the Pathans. Yes.
9. Surrenderim: . " (Morning walk:. Bombay, 30/09/75)
"Behold! Religion for Allah is surrender (to His will and gUldance).
(3.19)

From the above quotations, we can see that the process of the .deV(~- about the Supreme Lord is a guru (spiritual master). The
tional service to the Lord or bhakti-yoga mentioned in the Vedas 1S also ~ere HolySrila
Prophet Muhammad
Prabhupada is the
explains thatspiritual
anyone master for the
who preaches
mentioned in the Holy Qur'an. Muslims. Obeying the order of the spiritual master is very important in
spiritual life. Nobody can progress in God-consciousness without fol-
lowing the instructions of the spiritual master.

30 31
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam
12. Hazrat Muhammad is anacharya
11. Hazrat Muhammad isshaktyavesha-avatara

Sril~ Prabhupada: The Muslims, they follow the acharya (one who teaches
Srila Prabhupada: Buddha is shaktyavesha-avatara. We accept Lord Jesus by Ius own example), Muhammad. That is good.
Christ also asshaktyavesha-avatara. Muhammad is alsoshaktyavesluJ-avatara. (Room conversation. Melbourne, 20/05/75)
Shaktyavesha-avatara means a living entity especially empowered and he
preaches the philosophy on behalf (of God). That is called sluJktyavesha- Srila Prabhupada: Similarly, the Muslims, if they follow the ideal life of
avatara. Muhammad, Hazrat Muhammad, they (will) get the result.
(Room conversation. Geneva. 4/06/74) (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, 07/03/66)

Srila Prabhupada: Christ is also an empowered incarnation, shaktyavesha


avatara. Muhammad is also shaktyavesha avatara. Anyone who is preaching
about God is an empowered incarnation. Muhammad IS an acharya, or one who teaches by his own
(Morning walk. London, 11/03/75) ~ere Srila IfP~bhupada
example. explainsthethat
Muslims follow the life
ideal Holyof Prophet
Hazrat
Muhammad, they will attain perfection.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Because he said it, it must be correct. Muhammad is
also shaktyavesha-avatara. Shaktyavesha-avatara means a living entity who
is especially empowered to preach the glories of the Lord. Buddha is also
shaktyavesha-avatara. They are not ordinary human beings. They are espe-
cially empowered personalities."
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, 17/12/70)

Srila Prabhupada: We accept, according to this avesha, avesha-avatara in-


carnation, authorised incarnation, we accept, my Guru Maharaja accepted Lord
Jesus Christ and Hazrat Muhammad; this avesha incarnation (has) almost the
same power.
(Lecture on Chaitanya-charitamrita, 13/12/66)

Muhammad is a living entity especially empowered to


~ere preach the Prabhupada
Srila glories of theexplains
Lord. Hethat
is not
theanHoly
ordinary hu-
Prophet
man being. He is an especially empowered personality.

33
32
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

13. Dazrat Muhammad is an authority 14. Dazrat Muhammad is a devotee of God

SrUa PrabhQpada: We accept Muhammad's authority. That's a fact. He is au- Srila Prabhupada: And even Muhammad, he's also a devotee. It is not that we
thority. are devotees and they are not devotees. Don't think like that. Anyone who is
preaching the glories of God, he is a devotee. (Lecture, 20/1 0/68)
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03nS)

Srila Prabhupada: So why are they disobeying the orders of ~uhammad? Srila Prabhupada: Jesus Christ and Hazrat Muhammad, tw!l powerful devo-
tees of the Lord (who) have done tremendous service on behalf of the Lord on
Yoga student: Yes. They follow. It's essentially the same practice ~ the ...
Prabhupada: No, you cannot amend the words of Muhammad if you are a the surface of the globe.
true MusaIman. (Room conversation. Vrindavan, 02/11n7)
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03nS)
Srila Prabhupada: Jesus Christ and Muhammad, two powerful devotees of
the Lord, have done tremendous service on l>ehalf of the Lord on the surface of
the globe.
Muhammad is a spiritual"authonty. Mushms should (Srimad Bhagavatam, 2.4.18p)
~ere strictly
Srila Prabhupada explains th~t theamend
follow his order. Nobody should H~ly ~eProphet
words
of Hazrat Muhammad. Otherwise one will deviate from th.estraight path
given by him.
Muhammad is a powerful devotee of the Supreme Lord.
~ere He has done
Srila tremendousexplains
Prabhupada service that
on behalf of the
the Holy Lord
Prophet
on the surface of this globe. Hazrat Muhammad was born in August 29,
S70 (VI century) in Mecca, Arabia. It was the time when the population
of the Arab peninsula was divided into many tribes. These tribes con-
stantly fought with each other. The general mass of people worshipped
all kinds of angels, goddesses, planets, spirits and concocted gods. Deg-
radation had reached such a degree that people were having sex with
their own mothers, sisters and daughters. To rectify the situation, to up~
lift the people from this animalistic way of life, and to re-establish true
religious principles God sent his messenger, the Holy Prophet
Muhammad. Muhammad means "praise," or ''praiseworthy.'' People also
called him Amin, or the Truthful. By his preaching, the Holy Prophet
Muhammad united the Arabian tribes, gave them scriptures, rules and
regulations, and began preparing them for becoming pure devotees of
the Supreme Lord.

34 35
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

16. Hazrat Muhammad is the perfect holy man


15. Hazrat Muhammad is a servant of God

Srila Prabhupada: That you have to find out, but here it is already there. Why
Srila Prabhupada: Muhammad, the inaugurator of the Islamic religion, I ac- should you go to some trouble to find out another holy man? The holy man
cept him as an empowered servant of God hecause he preached God conscious- never says, Muhammad never said that "You chant my name." We have to test
ness in those parts of the world and indu(.;u them to accept the authority of whether he is a holy man or not. Here is the perfect holy man. He never said that
God. He is accepted as the servant of God and we have all respect for him.
:'You chant my name." He said "Chant Allah's name." That is a holy man. That
(Letter, 02/04/76)
IS the test of a holy man. He does not become God, he serves God. That is a
holy man.
Srila Prabhupada: Lord Jesus Christ appeared as the son of Godhead, (Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03/75)
Muhammad introduced himself as the servant of Godhead, and Chaitanya pre-
sented Himself as the devotee of Godhead. But whatever may be their identity,
all such messiahs were of the same opinion about one thing. They preached
unanimously that there is no peace and prosperity in this mortal world. the perfect holy man. The Holy Prophet Muhammad never
(Message of Godhead. Ch. 1) ~ said,Srila
"Chant my name,explains
Prabhupada praise me." He requested,
that Hazrat "Chantis
Muhammad
Allah's name, praise God." That is the test of a holy man. He always
Srila Prabhupada: Muslim, servant of God, is to render service to the Lord. serves God and invites others to serve God. The Holy Prophet
Oh, we are engaged twenty-four hours in the service of the Lord. Muhammad, despite being the spiritual and state leader of the Arab em-
(Lecture on Bhagavad-gita. 16/12/68)
p~e, lived ~ ve~ simple life. He requested his followers to never praise
hlDl, worship him, bow down before him, or worship his tomb after his
dep~e from worldly life. He inspired people to give all praises, all
worship and all adoration to God.
an empowered servant of God because he preached God-
~ere consciousness and induced
Srila Prabhupada explainsthethat
Arabs to Muhammad
Hazrat accept the au-
is
thority of God. The Holy Prophet Muhammad said that everyone is
banda, slave of GOd. He induced people to worship only the Supreme
Lord and give up their material attachments.

37
36
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam 18. Hazrat Muhammad taught according to'the class of men

17. Hazrat Muhammad preached God-consciousness Srila Prabhupada: Muhammad also said, "From this day, there is no sex with
your mother." So just see, what class of men. So according to class of men,
there should be a teaching.
Srila Prabhupada: So Jesus Christ, he also preached God-consciousness. And (Room conversation. Geneva, 04/06n4)
Muhammad, Hazrat Muhammad, he also preached God-consciousness. Simi-
larly, in India, there were several acharyas, e.g. Ramanujacharya, Madhvacharya. Srila Prabhupada: Just like in the Qur' an it is said by Muhammad, "From this
They preached God-consciousness. day you should not have sexual intercourse with your mother." Just find out
(Lecture, 24/07/68) the condition of the society. So we have to take account of the time, circum-
stances and society, and then preach. So, to a society like that, it is not possible
Srila Prabhupada: Christian religion teaches God-consciousness. Jesus Christ to understand the higher philosophical things as presented in the Bhagavad-
preached God-consciousness. He represented himself as a son of God. So we gita.
agree to this principle. There is no controversy. Yes. Anyone who teaches God- (Lecture, 02110/68)
consciousness, we agree with the principle. Muhammad also, he preached God-
consciousness. So we welcome. There may be some difference in the process.
That does not matter. But we test a religion by the result, how people are be-
coming God-conscious. That's all. According to Srimad Bhagavatam, it is said,
sa vaipumsam parD dharmo yato bhaktir adhoksaje. ahaituky apratihata
yayatma suprasidati. It is said: "That is first-class religious principle which
c!/(;ere taug.ht
be gIvenaccordin~ totothe
Srila according
Prabhupada the
c~s of men. capacity
mtellectual
explains
Teachings
of .shOUld
the au-
that Hazrat Muhammad
dience. At the time of his preaching, the Holy Prophet Muhammad took
teaches devotion to the Supreme Lord without any motive or without being account of the time, place, circumstances and society. The condition of
hampered by any material condition." God-consciousness is not such a thing society was so degraded that HazratMuhammad got the revelation which
that if a man is materially poor he cannot advance. Everyone can advance. Noth- prohibited sexual intercourse with mothers, daughters and sisters.
ing material can check God-consciousness. And any religion which teaches this Thus, it is stated in the sura "An-Nisa," or "The Women" of the
principle, that is flfSt-class. Holy Qur'an (4.23):
(Lecture, 26/06nl) "Prohibited to you (for marriage) are: your mothers, daughters and
sisters."
Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad said: "I was ordered to talk to
the people with consideration to their level of intelligence." (Mahammad

ffP: preached God-consciousness. Sometimes scholars express


rila Prabhupada
doubts clearly says
about the preaching that of
mission Hazrat Muhammad
the Holy Prophet
Muhammad. But here we have a clear statement from a great religionist
p.71)
0
Peygambar: Hayati va Kalamlari, Gudratov, N. Gudratov, Bald, 1990,

of this age that Hazrat Muhammad preached God-consciousness.

39

38
[ 19] Hazrat Muhammad could hear God
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

about?" I said, "I do not know." Then I saw my God put the palm of his
19. Dazrat Muhammad could hear God
hand between my two shoulders till I felt my chest turn cold; then ev-
erything in the world appeared clear before me, and I knew the whole.
Again He asked about disputations of the angels. I replied. "They dis.-
Prithu-putra: From a story of the Qur'an, they say Muhammad once asked to
pute about deeds which cover sin." (Mishcat-1I1-Masabih. Calcutta, 1809.
see God. and God's answer was, "You're not able to see Me."
p.155)
Srila Prabhupada: That's all right. At least he could hear Him. So that is pos-
Thus. the Holy Prophet Muhammad not only heard God but also
sible. It's not necessary that one has to see Him. but one can hear Him. Now. saw God.
you have said that Muhammad heard Him. so God can speak. So you can hear.
So where is the objection?
Prithu-putra: No objection.
Srila Prabhupada: If somebody can hear Him. somebody can see Him also.
You cannot deny this because they're all senses. To hear God means with my
senses I can appreciate Him. Similarly. eyes are also one of the senses. Now if
somebody sees Him. where is the objection? If somebody can hear Him then
where is the objection if somebody can see Him. Reasonably, there is no objec-
tion. In this way ... So God is omnipotent If some of His prophet devotees want
to hear Him, they can do that, if they want to see Him. they can do that.
(Room conversation. Bhuvaneshwar. 30/01n7)

plains that if Hazrat Muhammad can hear God then he


~ere can also
Srila see God.
Prabhupada, by using transcendental logic, ex-
According to Abu Hurairah. when the Holy Prophet Muhammad
ascended to the abode of Allah. he penetrated countless numbers of veils
and stood at a distance of two bows from God and saw Him with his
own eyes. That time God instructed him by 99,000 words and promised
to fulfil whatever Muhammad would ask of Him.
One close associate of the Holy Prophet, Muadh-bin-Jabal, said: "The
Prophet on one occasion hindered our saying the morning prayers till
we were near seeing the sun. then he hastened out of his house. and the
Tacbir was called aloud, then the Prophet said prayers in haste. and when
he had repeated the Salam. he said, "Sit in your places. and I will inform
you the cause of my being so late this morning. I got up early. and per-
formed the Wadu, and said prayers, agreeably to the wishes of Allah.
and I felt drowsy in my prayers, after which I awoke. and all of a sudden
I saw mv Creator in a most lovely form, and he said, "O! Muhammad!"
I said, "What do you command?" He said, "What do the angels argue

40 41
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

20. The Muslims are also Vaishnavas 21. A planet where pious Muslims go

Srila Prabhupada: Christians and Muslims are also Vaishnavas, devotees, be- Hari-sauri: I think you mentioned last year when we were in Mayapur that you
cause they offer prayers to the Lord. "0 God," they say, "give us our daily dreamt once about a planet where pious Muslims go. You were telling Tamala
bread." Those who offer this prayer may not know very much and may be at a Krishna and myself.
lower stage, but this is a beginning, because they have approached God. Going Srila Prabhupada: Yes. Yes. From Bhagavata there is. (Here Srila Prabhupada
to a church or mosque is also pious. Therefore, those who begin in this way will seems to refer to the Bhagavata Purana's description of planets)
one day become pure Vaishnavas. (Room conversation. Bhuvaneshwar, 30/01n7)
(Teachings of Queen Kunti, Ch. 18)

Srila Prabhupada: Theref'lY'eI say that the Christians, they're also Vaishnavas;
the Muslims, they're also Vaishnavas. Because they're offering prayer - yad- where pious Muslims go:
vandanam. They offer prayer: "Oh God, give us our daily bread." They do not ~he Holy asQur'
"Gardens an gives homes
hospitable the following
(32.19); description
to dwell inofbeautiful
a planet
know very much, but the beginning is there. Beginning is there because they mansions in eternal gardens (9.72); lofty mansions one above another
have approached (God). That going to the church or going to the mosque, that have been built (39.20). Among gardens under which a river always flows
is also pious activity. One day they'll come out pure Vaishnava. But that begin- (3.15) are an abundance of fruits from which you shall eat (43.73). Fruits
ning is good. of every kind will be easy to reach (55.54), like dates, pomegranates
(Lecture on Srimad Bhagavatam, 15/10n4) (55.68); you shall eat with honour and dignity (37.42) in shades cool and
ever -deepening (4.57) reclining on carpets whose inner linings are of rich
Srila Prabhupada: Chaitanya Mahaprabhu proved devotional service from the brocade (55.54). You will sit on couches encrusted with gold and pre-
Qur.'an. Yes. So, it requires a devotee who can explain God from any godly cious stones (56.15). Amid gardens and fountains of clear, flowing wa-
literature. ter, in peace and security (15.45) rivers of milk, of which the taste never
(Morning walk. Geneva, 6/06/74) changes, rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink, rivers of honey, pure
and clear are flowing (47.15). Among them are talh trees with flowers
piled one above another (56.29), late trees that have no thorns (56.28).
Cushions set in rows (88.15). Wit.'l no excessive heat or cold (76.13).
devotees of the Supreme Lord. They follow, the order of Brothers will joyfully face each other on raised couches, beside them
~ere God Srila
which descendedexplains
Prabhupada to them through are
that Muslims Hazrat
also companions of equal age (38.92). With no sense of fatigue and never
Muhammad, to pray five times a day. This process of offering prayers to asked to leave (15.48). Free from headiness suffering and intoxication
God is devotional service. Those who are sincerely praying to God will (37.47) they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls (22.23),
one day become pure devotees. and they will wear green garments of fine silk and heavy brocade, reclin-
Actually Chaitanya Mahaprabhu in the conversation with Abdullah ing on raised thrones (18.31). The righteous will receive entertainment
Pathan proved that the nine-fold process of devotional service is described from Allah because from Allah comes bliss (3.198). Served by youths of
in the Holy Qur'an. As a result of hearing these explanations from perpetual freshness (56.17), round will be passed to them dishes and
Mahaprabhu, the Turkish soldiers, the Muslim scholar Abdullah Pathan goblets of gold (43.71) to drink from clear-flowing fountains (37.45) crys-
and the prince Vijuli Khan were inspired 1> surrender their lives to the tal white nectar of a delicious taste (37.46). Reclining on green cushions
Lord. Therefore, it requires a devotee who can explain God from any and rich carpets of beauty (55.76) beside them will be chaste women,
scripture.

42 43
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam
22. Animal slaughter

restraining their glances with big eyes of wonder and bcauty (37.48). Srila Prabhupada: Just like in Islam also, they have got some principles for
Gardens ~herein delight,> endure (9.21). among them fair maidens good animal slaughtering. You know, those who have read the Qur'an, the Muslim
and beauUful (55.20) whom no man or jinn (the evil spirit) has ever
religion allows animal slaughter once in a year. It is called qurban. And they can
touched (55.74). We made them virgin pure, full of love for their mates
slaughter animals near the mosque. Similarly, in the Vedic religion also, the ani-
of equal age (56.36-37). Brothers would question one another; one will mals are allowed to be slaughtered in some sacrifice. But no religion, either
say: hI h~ an intimate companion on earth who used to say, 'Do you Islam or Hinduism, allows animal slaughter in the slaughterhouses. There are
really beheve when we die and become dust and bones, shall we indeed some particular rules and regulations.
receive rewards and punishment?'" He said: "Would you like to look (Lecture on Bhagavad-gita, 20/07/66)
down?" He looked down and saw his friend in the midst of the hell fIre
(37.50-55)." Srila Prabhupada: In Buddhism there is no animal killing. Although they are
Once Hazrat Muhammad said: "If you desire me to be your leader in
now killing animals, but originally the Buddhist religion means non-violence.
the Behisht (Highest Heaven) then you should avoid six activities." Christ also said, "Thou shalt not kill." And Krishna says, ahimsa (non-vio-
(Mahammad Ali. Mahammad Peygambarin Rayati, Baki, 1993, p. 155) lence). So in no religion is the unnecessary killing of animals allowed. Even in
Thus we can understand that pious Muslims will attain the heavenly Islam, they also have qurban. Qurban means they can kill animals once in a
p~e~ w~ere Haz~t Muhammad is now residing, and after the complete year near the mosque. So everywhere animal killing is restricted.
annihilauon of this material universe he will take them to the spiritual
(Room conversation. Gennany, 19/06/74)
world.
Tamala Krishna: Srila Prabhupada, one time you were explaining that
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, when He was speaking with the Kazi, He convinced
him that the Qur'an does not actually advocate meat-eating.
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. That's a fact. Because the Muslims, they also cannot
eat meat unless it is sacrifIced near the mosque. There is no recommendation
that you purchase (meat) from the market or the animals be slaughtered in the
slaughterhouses.
(Morning walk. Mayapur, 22/01/76)

Srila Prabhupada: So Chand Kazi also replied that "Cow killing is also not
generally recommended in the Qur'an." Actually, beef-eating or flesh-eating is
not of the higher stage. But those who are inclined to take flesh, for them it is
recommended that instead of killing many small animals, one big animal should
be killed. So actually in Mecca, Medina, they kill camels. That is also done near
the mosque. So the substance of his speech was that flesh-eating ultimately is
not recommended.
(Conversation. San-Francisco, 5/04/67)

45

44
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam [22 ) Animal slaughter

the tongue. It is very sinful and brings a degradation to the whole human
some principles for animal slaughtering. The Muslim reli- society.
~ere gion allows animal slaughter
Srila Prabhupada explains as qurban,
only that in Islamor there
sacrifice.
are For the general masses of people who are still unable to control their
Such a sacrifice must be performed near the mosque. But Islam does not senses (tongue) provision for eating meat has been granted but it is not
allow animal slaughter in slaughterhouses. There are particular rules and recommended. So rules and regulations exist to slowly help one give up
regulations which must be followed by those who banker for meat. such bad habit. But for those who desire the highest perfection of life,
In the Holy Qur'an, very clear instructions are given about what is love of God, meat eating is forbidden.
intended as human food: For example, we can fmd the following ayats in the Holy Qur' an
"And We (Allah) said: 0 Adam! Dwell, you and your wife in the (5.3):
garden, and eat freely of the fruits thereof where you will." (2.35) "Forbidden to you (for food) are meat of dead animals, blood, the
"And give glad tidings (0 Muhammad) unto those who believe and flesh of swine, and that on which has been invoked the name of other
do good works, that theirs are gardens underneath which rivers flow; as than Allah; and the dead through beating; that which has been killed by
often as they are regaled with food of the fruit thereof." (2.25) strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by being gored
"Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth, and caused the to death; that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild animal; unless ye
water to descend from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you." are able to slaughter it (in due form); that which is sacrificed on stone
(14.32) (altars); (forbidden) also is the division (of meat) by raffling with arrows:
From these three ayats of the Qur' an, it is obvious that when Allah that is impiety."
created Adam and Eve, He gave them the fruits for food. And when the Thus we can understand from this verse of the Holy Qur' an that not
pious go to paradise, they will have fruits as their food. Then, when Al- any kind of meat is permitted for eating. Only the meat of an animal
lah created the earth He "produced fruits as food for mankind." Also, which has been explicitly killed for food with the Takbir, or the solemn
from the very life of the Prophet of Islam, we can see that His daily food mode of slaughter (zabh) in the name of Allah duly pronounced on it.
was bread, milk and palm-dates. Hazrat Muhammad often mentioned This means that killing animals for food is a personal affair. It does not
that Islam means to treat every living entity as equal to oneself. One of suggest opening slaughterhouses and killing hundreds of thousands of
the frrst statements Hazrat Muhammad made on regaining Mecca was: animals in an organized way, everyday. Those who want to eat meat,
"No one shall mistreat another. No one shall kill any animal; not even should do it the proper way which means killing only for one's own self,
the cutting of a tree shall be allowed in Mecca." because everyone needs to take responsibility for his own actions. On
For those who are really attached to eating meat, Allah allowed the the Day of Judgment, all dead creatures will come to life and will take
sacrifice of animals such as sheep, goats and camels. Such less impor- vengeance on those who had either teased them or killed them. This
tant animals could be sacrificed at the proper place, by proper persons concession is given by Allah to those who cannot restrain from meat
and in the proper way. Then the body of the animal should be divided eating. By eating halal, lawful meat they will gradually subdue their pas-
into seven parts, and six parts distributed to the poor people and remain- sion and give up meat -eating. This will help to develop fine spiritual sen-
der could be eaten for oneself. Only then can it be classed as halal, or timents, namely love for Allah.
lawful meat; otherwise, it is haram, or unlawful. So less important ani- Besides this, it is mentioned in sura "AI-Ma' ida" that within the lim-
mals can be sacrificed and eaten in the authorised way. The result of its of Mecca, most holy place, slaughtering of animals is prohibited:
"Animals of the chase are forbidden while you are in the Sacred Pre-
following this procedure is that lusty desires for flesh eating will dimin-
ish and a person will then start eating only pure foodstuff like fruits, cincts or in the state of pilgrimage." (The Qur'an 5.1)
grains and vegetables which are actually intended for human beings by This means that hunting of game is forbidden "while you are
God. Allah allowed sacrificial meat but not the opening of slaughter- hurumun," i.e .• while you are
houses where thousands of innocent animals are killed just to satisfy (1) in the Sacred Precillcts, Mecca or.

47
[22 ] Animal slaughter
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

(2) in the special pilgrimage garb (ihram). They also had deities in tlleir temples, which probably represented heav-
enly bodies and celestial winged creatures. He was still a youth when he
It is also explained in the sura "Al-Ma'ilia" that: .' broke the false deities. After this, he was marked down as a rebel and
"0 you who believe! Kill not game while in the Sacred Prec10cts or
persecuted. He was thrown into the fIre. But the fIre became cool by the
in the state of pilgrimage. If any Of you does so intentionally,. the ~om-
pensation is an offering, brought to the Ka'ba, of a domesUc anunal order of Allah and Ibrahim was saved. Then he left his ancestral lands,
and avoiding the Syrian desert, came to the fertile lands of Aram or Syria.
equivalent to the one he killed. As adjudged by two just men amo~g
you; or by way of atonement, the feeding of the poor persons; or Its This was the Hijrat (Flight) of Ibrahim. He left his people and his land,
because the Truth was dearer to him than the ancestral falsehoods of his
equivalent in fast,,: that he may taste of the pen~lty o~ his .deed. Allah
forgives what has past; but forrepetition Allah wIll pUOlshhIm for Allah people. He trusted himself to Allah, and under Allah's guidance he laid
the foundations for great people.
is Exalted, and Lord of Retribution." (The Qllr'an 5.95) ..
This means that if someone kills an animal inadvertently wlth10 the This was in the fertile land of Syria and Palestine when a boy was
limits of Mecca, one should then leave one of his pet animals there. In born, the fIrst-born son of Ibrahim, namely Ismail. The name itself is
case one ha" no pet animals, one should give in charity food equivalent from the root Sami' a, to hear, because Allah had heard Ibrahim's prayer
in value to the price of the killed animal. Otherwise the offender must (The Qur'an. 37.100). Ibrahim's age when Ismail was born from his
maidservant Hajar was 86 (Gen. 16.16). The boy's character was to be
fast as many days as the number of the poor who would have been fed
under the second alternative. Thus killing animals is a sin and therefore, Halim, "forbearing". This title is also applied to Ibrahim (The Qur'an.
9.114; 11.75). It refers to the patient way in which both father and son
it is prohibited in a holy plr.::e like Mecca.' .
In sura "As-Saffat" of the Holy Qur'an (37.99-109) there IS the fol- cheerfully offered to suffer any self-sacrifice in order to obey the com-
mand of Allah.
lowing narration: .' Once, after Ismail had grown up to the age of discretion, Ibrahim had
"He (Ibrahim) said: 'I will go to my Lord! He will surely gUIde me! 0
a dream that he now had to offer his only son in sacrifice. The command
my Lord! Grant me a right~ous (son)!' . was conveyed to him via a dream. It was a test of the devotion for both
So We gave him the good news of forbeanng son:. .
father and son. Ibrahim consulted his son. The son readily consented,
Then, when (his son) was old enough to work WIth hun, ~Ibrahlm)
said: '0 my dear son, I have seen in a dream that I must sacnfice you. and offered to stand true to his promise if his self-sacrifice was really
required. Actually, the trial and sacrifice was demanded of both Ibrahim
Now see what is your view!' (The son) said: '? my father! Do as you:rre and Ismail. Ibrahim had to sacrifice his only dearmost son and Ismail
commanded. You will find me, if Allah so wills one of the steadfast.
So when they both submitted (to Allah), and he had laid him pros- had to sacrifice his dear life. Finally this sacrifIce was about to take place
trate on his forehead (for sacrifice), in the valley of Mina, six miles north of Mecca Ibrahim was ready to
We called out to him, '0 Ibrahim! sacrifice his son but his hand did not act. Then he covered his eyes with
You have already fulfilled the dream!' Thus indeed do We reward cloth took a knife in his hand, and tried to kill Ismail. But at that moment
those who do right. Allah replaced Ismail with a fine sheep or ram. So there was a ram in-
For this was a clear test. stead of his son. Thus the son was saved and the ram was sacrificed
Then we ransomed him with a tremendous victim. (some scholars say that the ram was also saved).
And We left for him among generations (to come) in later times: Since that day, the 'ld Day or Day of Sacrifice came into practice.
'Peace and salutation to Ibrahim!'" On this day in the valley of Mina, six miles north of Mecca, a com-
Thus Ibrahim (Abraham) was 120m in Ur of the Chaldees, a place on memoration sacrifIce is annually celebrated as a rite of the H~ on the
the lower reaches of the Euphrates, not a hundred miles from the Per- tenth of Zul-Hijjah in Memory of this Sacrifice of Ibrahim and Ismail.
This festival is also celebrated by all Muslims around the world. Hun-
sian Gulf. Where the worship of the sun, moon and stars was ~e ~re-
vailing form of religion. Ibrahim revolted against this quite early 10lIfe. dreds of thousands of animals are annually slaughtered on this day. But

48 49
[22 ] Animal slaughter
A. C. Bbaktivedanta Swami Prabbupada on Islam

let us carefully consider what was the main object of Allah's teaching on to rem?ve the.baser ~ualities of the animal. The recitation of the power-
ful 17urd Kallmah will not only purify the animal slaughtered for con-
that occasion. Did Allah ask for Ibrahim's dearmost thing or did He ask
sumption, but also all those involved with the sacrifice, so that they will
for a ram? If Allah- Taala had liked a ram, He would have asked the ram
no longer want to slaughter animals. This will only work, however, if the
itself. But merely to examine the devotion of Ibrahim and Ismail, He had
prayer is said with pure devotion.
ordered this sacrifice to test them both, and to save the son of Ibrahim,
In Islam, sacrificial animal slaughter is a detailed process. Factually,
He had replaced a ram for Ismail. Now, just think. earefull~, in ~~e~ to
the whole procedure is meant to minimize the killing of animals. Thus,
please Allah- Taala, instead of dedicating one's dearmost object, ISItJUS- Bawa Muhaiyaddeen explains:
tillable to slaughter innocent animal?
"While you recite the Kalimah, you must complete the severing in
This whole event is symbolical. As it is proclaimed in the Holy Qur' an
three strokes of the knife, one for each recitation. The knife has to be
(22.37): .. swept around three times, and it must not touch the bone. It must be
"It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah; It IS your
extremely sharp, and the length is prescribed according to each animal-
piety that reaches Him." .
Thus Allah does not require the flesh and blood of anlIDals, much so .much for a fowl, so much for a goat, so much for a cow. .." Also, the
animal must not regurgitate any food, and it must not make any noise"
less of human beings. No one should suppose that meat or blood is ac- otherwise, it becomes haram. '
ceptable to God. It was a Pagan fancy that Allah could be pleased by The person who holds the animal and the person who cuts it must
blood sacrifice. But Allah does accept the offering of our hearts. Allah
always observe the five times prayer. Therefore, it must be the Imam and
does not delight in flesh and blood. But He does desire the giving of our
the mu' azzin who perform the qurban, because very often they are the
whole being to Allah, the practical symbol of which is ~at we shoul~
only ones who regularly observe the five times prayer. This also means
give up something which is very dear to us, if duty requrres that sacn- that the qurban must take place near a mosque where two such people
fice. It was indeed a great occasion, when two men, the father and the
can always be found. Before beginning the slaughter, they must frrst
son, showed the example of self-sacrifice in the service of Allah which i.s perform their ablutions, and then they must recite thekalimah three times
needed to qualify one for the supreme goal oflife. This example made It and feed water to the animal which is to be sacrificed. The neck of the
clear that the only sacrifice which God requires from man is the Surren-
animal must be turned in the direction of the Qiblah [Mecca], so that the
der of his will and purpose- i.e. Al-Islam.
eyes of the sacrificial animal look into the eyes of the person who is
Actually qurban, the animal slaughtering process ordained for Mus-
doing the sacrifice. The person must look into the eyes of the animal and
lims have an esoteric and exoteric meaning. While qurban externally then, saying the kalimah, he must cut the neck. And he must continue to
refe~ only to Muslim dietary laws, inwardly qurban requires tha~ we
look into the eyes of the animal until its soul departs, repeating the Zikr
sacrifice our life to the devotion and service of God, and that we sacnfice
all the while. Then after the soul has departed, he must say the kalimah
our beastly qualities instead of the life of an animal. "Qurban is n?t slaugh- once again and wash the knife. Only then can he move on to the next
tering chickens and cows and goats," explains Bawa M~ll1yaddeen. animal. He has to look into the animal's eyes, he has to watch the tears
"There are four hundred trillion, ten thousand beasts here m the heart
of the animal, and he has to watch the animal's eyes until it dies -
which must be slaughtered. They must be slaughtered in the qalb [the
hopefully, his heart will change." (M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Asma'
inner heart]. After these things have been slaughtered, what is eaten can
ul-Husna: The 99 Beautiful Names of Allah, 1979, p. 182)
then be distinguished as either halal [permissible] or haram [forbid~n]."
Once, Allah told the Holy Prophet Muhammad, "With this qurban
Ultimately, the greatustad [preceptor] concludes, "everything that ISseen
the killing will be greatly reduced, for where they used to kill 1,000 or
in the world is haram. What is seen in Allah [God] alone is halal. Please
eat that." (M. R. Bawa Muhaiyaddeen, Asma' ul-Husna: The 99 Beauti- 2,~ in one day, they will now be able to slaughter only ten or fifteen
~s.1f they started after morning prayers, it would be ten 0' clock by
ful Names of Allah, 1979, p. 181) . . . the time they are ready to begin, and they could slaughter only until
In the traditional qurban, the prayer known as the Kallmah ISreCited

50 51
-"I
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam
[22 ] Animal slaughter
eleven 0' clock when they must prepare for the next prayer. In addition,
it takes about fifteen or twenty minutes for each animal, because he has creates for the human beings:
to wait until the soul has departed." This is how Allah instructed the "Therewith He causes com to grow for you, and the olive and date-
Holy Prophet. palm and grapes and all kinds of fruit. Verily in this a sign for people who
reflect." (16.11)
Then the people complained, "How can we do this? We can kill only
so few! Our enjoyments and our festivals are being curtailed." "A sign for them is the dead earth. We revive it and We bring forth
But Allah said, "Each one of you does not need to sacrifice one ani- from it grain so that they eat thereof.
mal; you do not need to sacrifice one animal" for each family. In place of And We produce therein gardens of the date-palm and grapes, and
We have caused springs of water to gush forth therein.
forty fowls, kill one goat. In place of forty goats: kill ten cows. And in
That they may eat of the fruit thereof, and their hands made it not
place of forty cows, kill ten camels. Sacrifice ten camels and then shax:e
Will they not, then, give thanks?" (36.33-35) .
the meat among the different families." So in place of four hundred am-
mals only forty might be killed. Th~ killing was reduced by that much. "It is God Who sends down water out of the sky, and with it quick-
Thus, Allah passed down the commands to the Holy Prophet to reduce ens the earth after it is dead. Surely, in that is a sign for people who have
the taking of lives. ears to hear. In cattle, too, there is a lesson for you: We give you to drink
So, the conclusion is that if one understands the qurban with wis- of what is in their bellies, between filth and blood - pure milk, sweet to
dom, its purpose is to reduce killing the poor animals. But if one looks at ~ose who drink. And we give you the fruits of the date-palms and the
it superficially, its purpose is to satisfy one's base desire for meat -eating. vmes from which you derive sweet-tasting liquid and fair provision. In-
Thus, the esoteric imperative behind Islamic dietary laws is that Mus- deed, this is a sign for men of understanding. And your Lord inspires the
bees, saying, 'Build your homes in the mountains, in the trees and in the
lims aspire after compassion and mercy, first by minimizing the amount
of animals one is able to kill (by following all the regulations), and then, thatch of roots; then feed on every kind of fruit and follow the ways of
your Lord, so easy to go upon.' Then there comes forth out of their
it is to be hoped, by giving it up altogether.
It is mentioned in sura "Ai-An' am," or "Cattle" that: bellies a liquid of various colors wherein is healing for men. Truly, in this
"There is not an animal on the earth, nor a flying creature flying on a sign for people who reflect." (16.65-69)
two wings, but they are people like unto you." (6.38) .From. these ayats it is obvious that Allah creates milk, honey, com,
Thus "animals living on the earth" include those living in the water gram, ohve, dates, grapes and all kinds of fruit as food for mankind.
_ fishes, reptiles, crustaceans, insects, as well as four-footed beasts. Verily it is a sign for people who have an understanding. We should be
Life on the wing separately mentioned. "Tair," which is ordinarily trans- thankful to Allah for His mercy and not ungratefully shed blood of inno-
lated as "bird," is anything that flies, including mammals like bats. In cent helpless animals simply to please the uncontrolled tongue.
The Holy Qur'an (5.1) offers concessions as intermediary stages to-
our pride we may exclude animals from our purview, but they all live a
ward a pure and spiritual diet:
life, social arid individual, like ourselves, and all life is subject to the Plan
and Will of Allah. We have no right to destroy or kill these creatures, "0 you who believe! Eat of the good things with which we have
even flies and insects what to speak of birds and beasts. We cannot cre- su~plied: you, ~d give God thanks if you are His worshippers. Only that
ate, so how can we destroy? The Holy Qur'an said that they are people WhICh dies of Itself, blood, and swine's flesh, and that over which any
others name than that of God's has been invoked, has God forbidden
like you. They are also citizens of this planet and different countries.
you."
They are also under the protection of God and Governments. It is the
Here the Qur'an clearly states that pork is impure and that animal
duty of government to protect its subjects, which includes the innocent
blood is not fit for human consumption. The Muslims, then, run into a
helpless animals, and punish those who torture and kill them.
It is clearly mentioned in the Holy Qur'an what kind of food Allah dietary contradiction: blood is forbidden - it is impossible to completely
separate blood from animal flesh - so if one eats meat, blood is being
consumed as well. In the words of the Holy Qur' an, this, indeed, is a
52
53
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam [22 ] Animal slaughter

"portent for people who think." forbidden." (0, Gudratov, N. Gudratov, Muhammad Peygambarin:
Ultimately, the Holy Qur'an encourages Muslims to eat wholesome, Hayati va Kalamlari, Baki, 1990, p. 114, 147)
healthful foods. In describing lawful aQd unlawful foods, the Holy Qur'an "If the beasts will know about their inevitable death, as humans do,
(7.157) emphasizes that "He [the Holy Prophet] makes lawful to them they will not eat flesh." (Mahammad Ali, Muhammad Peygambarin
the good things of life and he forbids them the bad things." Hayati, Baki, 1993, p. 150)
Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad orders Hazrat All: "Don't make Biographies of the Holy Prophet Muhammad include narrations that
your stomach a grave yard of innocent birds and animals." From that clearly depict his love for animals. For instance, Margoliouth, one of the
day Hazrat Ali had faithfully followed this instruction. Holy Prophet Muhammad's chief biographers, writes, "His humanity
Another time the Holy Prophet Muhammad said: extended itself to the lower creation. He forbade the employment of tow-
"Whoever is kind to the lesser creatures is kind to himself." ing birds as targets for marksmen and remonstrated with those who ill-
It is explained in the Hadith (traditions): . treated their camels. When some of his followers had set rlfe to an ant-
Once the Prophet passed by certain people who were shooting ar- hill, he compelled thenl to extinguish it. ... Acts of cruelty were swept
rows at a ram, and hated that, saying, "Maim not the brute beasts." away by him." (V. A. Holmes-Gore, These We Have Not Loved, Lon-
Another time, 'the Prophet, seen wiping the face of his horse with his don, 1946, pp.6-7.)
wrapper, and being questioned in regard to it, said, "At night I received a Other biographers, such as Dr. M. Hafiz Syed, point out that the Holy
repr'"1aDd from God in regard to my horse." Prophet Muhammad instructed those who eat meat to wash out their
A man once robbed some eggs from the nest of a bird, whereupon mouth before going to pray. While it is certainly a Muslim custom to
the Prophet had them restored to the nest. "Fear God in these dumb clean one's mouth before going to prayer, many biographers say that
animals," said the Prophet, "and ride them when they are fit to be ridden only meat is emphasized in this connection and not any other food. (M.
and get off them when they are tired." Hafiz Syed, Thus Spake Muhammed, Madras, 1962, p. 6)
Verily, are there rewards for our doing good to quadrupeds and giv- The Holy Prophet Muhammad always showed the greatest compas-
ing them water to drink?" asked the followers. And the Prophet answered, sion - "universal compassion" - and he exhorted his followers to do
"There are rewards for benefiting every animal having a moist liver." (M. the same. A touching example from his life shows how far his empathy
Haftz Syed, Thus Speak Muhammed, Madras, 1962, p. 6.) extended. Awaking from a nap one afternoon, he found a small, sick cat
The Holy Prophet Muhammad always stressed the importance to fast asleep on the edge of his cloak. The Holy Prophet cut off his gar-
show mercy to the lesser creatures. We should deal with them as if they ment so that the cat could sleep undisturbed. Is this a man who would
are our younger brothers. If younger brother is less intelligent, it does advocate the unnecessary slaughter of harmless beasts? "Show sympa-
not mean that we have right to kill him but more so we have a duty to thy to others," the Holy Prophet Muhammad taught, "especially to those
protect him. The father will never be happy if his elder, more intelligent who are weaker than you." (Bilkiz Alladin, The Story of Mohammed
son will kill the youngest son because he is less intelligent and more The Prophet, Delhi, 1979, pp. 12-13)
weak. Similarly, Allah is never happy when He observes humanskilling In one popular Hadith (tradition), the Holy Prophet Muhammad is
and giving pain, and suffering to His lesser creatures. depicted as having rebuked his followers for not showing universal com-
According to the Hadith, the Holy Prophet Muhammad said: passion. "But we do show compassion," they insisted, "to our wives,
"One who kills unnecessarily, even a sparrow, will be questioned by chiIdr~n and relatives." The Holy Prophet Muhammad responded, "It is
Allah on the day of Judgment." not thIS to which I refer. I am speaking of universal mercy."
"One who takes pity on cutting the head even of a sparrow, and feels The Holy Prophet Muhammad's earliest biographers indicate that he
compassion towards the sparrow, Allah will similarly show mercy to- preferred vegetarian foods, saying that he liked milk diluted with water
wards him on the day of Judgment." yogurt with butter or nuts, and cucumbers with dates. His favorite fruits:
"Killing any living beings besides those who are inflicting pain is which he was known to subsist on for weeks at a time, were pomegran-

54 55
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam [22 ] Animal slaughter

ates, grapes and figs, and he liked a morning drink of soaked, crushed was pious living, centered on self-restraint, love and affection for all and
dates. He was particularly fond of honey, often eating it mixed with vin- vegetarian eating. They said:
egar, and he is quoted as saying that in a house where there is v~egar "Ta bayabin dar bahishte aden ja, shafkate banllmaye ba khalke
and honey, there will certainly be the blessings of the Lord. He also liked Khuda" -
a preparation called lzees, made from butter, dates and yogurt. Accord- "If you want to live in heaven for all time to come, then behave in a
ing to extensive biographical accounts, furthermore, the Holy Prophet spirit of compassion and sympathy with the entire creation of God."
Muhammad has been quoted as saying, "Where there is an abundance The famous Muslim saint, Mir Dad, said that anyone who eats the
of vegetables, hosts of angels will descend on that place." flesh of any living being shall have to repay it with his own flesh. He
The Holy Prophet Muhammad's death emphasizes the harmfulness who breaks another living being's bone shall have his own bones bro-
of meat-eating. The story goes that a non-Muslim woman invited the ken. Every drop of blood shed, will have to be accounted for by one's
Holy Prophet and some of his companions to a meal and served them own. Because that is the eternal law.
poisoned meat. The Holy Prophet Muhammad knew by spiritual insight The great Muslim saint Sarmad condemned meat-eating by saying
that the meat was poisoned, for he spat out piece of meat which he that the light of life is asleep in metals, is dreaming in plants, is awake in
chewed, but one of his companions died on the spot Although it was animals and is completely alert in hun:um beings. Kabir, addressing Mus-
not his cu~tom to eat any food prepared by non-Muslim, on this occa- lims, makes it clear that even fasting (Roza) is in vain if its practitioner
sion, mysteriously, he did. The poisoned meat put him in a sickbed for lets his tongue dictate the killing of living beings for the sake of its taste.
about two years, and finally, in A.D. 632, he died. According to some Allah will not be pleased this way.
scholars, the Holy Prophet Muhammad ate the poisoned meat just to During Sillah also no meat is taken, because it is said, that meat is a
show the stubborn masses the harmfulness of meat-eating. bad food which disturbs the prayers. Everyone knows that meat7eating
Those Muslims who g(')for Haj (pilgrimage) to Mecca, wear a simple increases passion. It is very difficult to pray and concentrate the mind on
garment of un stitched cloth in two pieces which is called ilzram. The Allah in a passionate condition. Therefore it is recommended by great
putting on of the pilgrim garb (ihram) is symbolical of his renouncing saints of all ages that vegetarian food is much more appropriate for spiri-
the vanities of the world. From the time he put on this religious dress, tual practices. If one wants to increase peace of mind and concentration
absolutely no killing is allowed: not mosquitoes, bugs, grasshoppers, or on Allah, he should decrease or, better, stop meat-eating. It is practical
any other living creatures. If a pilgrim sees an insect on the ground, he advice from which everyone will immensely benefit
will gesture to stop his comrades from inadvertently stepping on it Mter Summarizing the above-mentioned statements, we can easily and
this and until the end of the pilgrimage he must not wear other clothes, naturally conclude that meat-eating is a great impediment on the path of
or ornaments, anoint his hair, use perfumes, hunt, or do other prohibited self-realization. Those who are sincerely trying for spiritual progress
acts. If any louse appears on that ihram it is not thrown on the ground should restrain from meat-eating. On the path of decreasing material at-
but allowed to remain where it is. If the throwing away of an insignifi- tachments and increasing spiritual attachment to Allah, restraining meat-
cant living being like louse is forbidden in Islam, just think how much eating is compulsory.
inauspicious is killing of animals. In the Qur'an not one single verse allows killing cows or bulls. But
It is said in Aine-Akbari that on several occasions such as from Fri- very clear instruction is given about what is intended for human as food:
day to Sunday and eclipse days, Akbar abstained from taking meat. "And We (Allah) said: 0 Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the
Saints of Islam have laid great stress on leading a noble life, a life of Garden, and eat you freely of the fruits thereof where you will." (2.35)
renunciation and compassion, eating simple food and abstaining from "And give glad tidings (0 Muhammad) to those who believe and do
meat. They themselves avoided any meat-eating. Sheikh Ismail, Khwaja good works, that theirs are Gardens beneath which rivers flow; every
Moinuddin Chisti, Hazrat Nizammuddin Aulia, Bu Ali Qalandas, Shah time they are fed with fruits therefrom." (2.25)
Inayat, Mir Dad, Shah Abdul Karim etc., were Muslim saints whose path "Allah is He Who created the heavens and the earth, and causes wa-

56 57
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam [22 ] Animal slaughter

ter to descend from the sky, thereby producing fruits as food for you." which they could have answered themselves if they had listened to
(14.32) Moses's directions. Their questions were carping criticisms rather than
"Who has appointed the earth a resting place for you, and the sky a the result of a desire for information. It was a mere thin pretence that
canopy; and causes water to pour down from the sky, thereby produc- they were genuinely seeking for guidance. When at last they were driven
ing fruits as food for you." (2.22) into a corner, they made the sacrifice, but if they did this willingly then
From these four ayats of the Qur'an, it is obvious that when Allah the sacrifice would have been more efficacious for their purification from
created Adam and Eve, He gave them in food, the fruits. And when the sin. The cow's body was to be burnt and the ashes were to be kept for
pious will go to paradise, they will have their food in the form of fruits. the purification of the congregation from sin.
Then when Allah created earth, He "produced fruits as food for" man- We can see and learn from this narration that the killing of a cow was
kind. Also from the very life of the Hazrat Muhammad, we can see his very dangerous and not part of the teachings. So much so that the people
daily food was bread, milk and palm-dates. Sometimes in his life he sac- were very hesitant to commit such an act even when the order came
rificed sheep or camels, but never cows or bulls. from the high authorities, Prophet Moses. So this particular sacrifice was
There is only one story in the Holy Qur'an (2.67-71) which describes not carried whimsically but with due consideration. We should under-
the sacrifice of a cow:
stand also, the cow was not simply killed for the sake of eating but the
"When Moses said to his people: 'Allah commands you that you body of the cow was burnt and the ashes were to be used for the higher
sacrifice a cow.'
purpose of purifying the people from their sins. It is very important to
They said: 'Do you make game of us?' mention that in the present age also, cow sacrifice is forbidden, because
He answered: 'Allah forbid that I should be among the foolish!' no qualified persons are available to conduct such a sacrifices.
They said: 'Pray for us unto your Lord that He make clear to us what Thus by reading the Holy Qur' an, we can conclude that cow killing
(cow) she is.' is not sanctioned in the Holy Qur'an and the only cow sacrifice which
(Moses) answered: 'He says, that the cow should be neither too old has been described was not meant for meat-eating but for purification
nor too young, but of middling age; now do wh~t you are commanded!' from the sins.
They said: 'Pray for us unto your Lord that He make clear to us of The Iranian scholar AI-Ghazzali (1058-1111 AD) was one of the most
what color she is.'
brilliant philosophers of Islam. He has stated that besides pieces of bread
(Moses) answered: 'He says, that she is a yellow cow. Bright is her whatever we eat is simply to satisfy our urges. At the age of 28, he headed
color; gladdening beholders.' the institute of Islam at Baghdad. His main book, Ihya Ulum ul-Din -
They said: 'Pray for us unto your Lord that He make clear to us what The Revival of Religious Sciences is highly respected. In this book (part
(cow) she is. To us are all cows alike; if Allah wills, we may led aright.' 2, page 23, lines 17-19), the detrimental effects of beef, and the virtues of
(Moses) answered: 'He says, that she is a cow not trained to till the ghee and milk from a cow are stated as follows:
soil or water the fields; whole and without a mark.' "The meat of cow is marz (disease), its milk is safa (health) and its
They said: 'Now has you brought the truth.' Then they sacrificed ghee is dava (medicine)."
her; though they scarcely did it." Is it not more intelligent to protect cows and use their milk and ghee
This story was accepted in Jewish traditions, which are themselves for our benefit? The cow is considered a mother of mankind because she
based on certain sacrificial directions in the Old Testunent. The cow story gives us a valuable product such as milk. As a mother feeds her child
of Jewish tradition is based on Num. 19.1-10, in which Moses and Aaron with her breast milk, similarly the cow feeds mankind With her milk. It
ordered the Israelites to sacrifice a red cow without a spot. Thus Moses has been scientifically proven that if one regularly drinks cow milk, his
announced the sacrifice to the Israelites, and they treated it. as a jest. fine brain tissues develop. As a result of this, one's memory capacity
When Moses continued solemnly to ask for the sacrifice, they put him increases, thus favoring remembrance of Allah. Therefore the cow and
off on one pretext followed by another, asking a number of questions its milk is very important for proper development of human society and

58 59
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam
23. God is a person
killing the cow is the greatest sin. Those who are eager to eat meat, they
can eat less important animals like sheep and goats, but cows should be
protected. Srila Prabhupada: The concept is there as you told me: "God made the hu-
An Imam of the Shah Jehan Mosque in London, England, AI-Hafiz man being in His own image." Then we can get the idea that God is a person like
B. A. Masri says that the Qur'an itself is very specific about prevention a human being. He has got two hands, two legs, one head, because in His image
of cruelty to animals. Muslims, who form one-third of the world's total we have been (created). Now, if we study ourselves and increase that quality.
population, need to begin a movement for the prevention of cruelty to Just like me. I can eat. I can eat a certain amount of foodstuff, but God can also
animals ba'ied on Islamic tenets. It was time to ensure that all precepts eat, but He can eat the whole universe. So eating is there. But the difference of
laid down in the Qur' an against cruelty to animals were followed strictly eating is there also. I can create one airplane, but God has created very, very big
everywhere in the world. Therefore, he wants to start a unit of the Soci- airplanes like these planets, and they are floating in the sky without any power
ety for Protection of Cruelty to Animals in the Islamic world. Animal crisis. That is God's creation. Here we are floating airplanes or running cars with
welfare worker AI-Hafiz Masri would love to see the world embmce veg- power, petrol, given by God. You cannot manufacture. petrol. Just like in your
etarianism. country, there is enough stock of petrol. But you have not created it. So, who
In his book Islamic Concern for Animals, AI-Hafiz Masri has ex- has created? Your creative power is to drill and get the stock. So, you have got
pressed sorrow about the excessive killing of animals in the name of this much creative power. But you cannot create petrol. Otherwise, the Ameri-
religion. Quoting from the Holy Qur' an Majeed and the teachings of the cans would not have come here to beg for petrol. That is the difference. You can
Holy Prophet Muhammad, he described all acts of torturing of animals, create something by the ingredients given by God. You can create this table
and even keeping birds in cages as sinful. According to him, even the because wood is given by God, the instrument is given by God, the intelligence
cutting of trees is prohibited in Islam. On page 18, the Imam Saheb has is given by God, and the hand is given by God; so in this way, you can create
repeated the saying of the Holy Prophet Muhammad as under: the table. Then whose property will it be, your property or God's property?
"There is no one who kills even a sparrow or anything smaller, with- Whose property? If I give you wood, the instrument and salary, then you create
out its deserving it, but God will question him about it." something, and ultimately the thing is created, to whom should it belong? To
"He who takes pity even on a sparrow and spares its life, Allah will you or to me?
be merciful on him on the day of Judgment." (Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03nS)
The Imam Masri is himself a vegetarian and advises everyone to adopt
vegetarianism.

cAllah, qudrat
being asbut being who
revealed
(power), hasHoly
in the
iradah haiyat
(will) and(life),
whoisUm
Qur'an, (knowledge),
isnot antoabstract
able kalam
(speak), basar(see) andsamaa (hear). He has life which is eternal, knowl-
edge which embraces everything, power which is insuperable, will which
determines everything and He is able to speak with the entire universe,
to see and hear everything with no effort. These attributes clearly indi-
cate that Allah is not a person in the ordinary material sense, but is the
supreme transcendental person beyond our imagination and the percep-
tion of our mundane limited senses.

61
60
A. C. Bhaktived~ta Swami Prabbupada on Islam

It is recorded in a tradition from Bukhari and Muslim, that once the 24. God is not fonnless
Prophet of Islam said, "Allah-Taala (God Most High) created Adam in
His own sura (form, image)." (Mir Valiuddin,Love o/God. Delhi, 1968,
p.74) Yoga student: The Sufis [md love in these figures ... For example, the Sufi ibn
Once the Holy Prophet Muhammad said: "He who knows his own Araby, through the face of a beautiful woman.
self, knows God." (Abdullah AI-Mamun Al-Suhrawardy, The Sayings Srila Prabhupada: Through the face of a beautiful woman?
o/Muhammad. London, 1905, p. 52) Yoga student: Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: So, there the materialists also find.
Yoga student: That is the material aspect, absolutely.
Srila Prabhupada: Therefore in the Islamic religion, the form is rejected be-
cause it will come to that. As soon as they think of form, they think of this
material form, beautiful face of woman. That is degradation. Therefore, we are
strict not to conceive material form. That is Vedic conception. Apa.li-padlill
javano grahita: "He has no legs and no hands." This means denying the form.
And next the Vedas say, javano grahita: "He can accept whatever you offer to
Him." That means God has no material form, but He has form; otherwise, how
can He accept? How can He understand my love? So, therefore, in original
Islam the form is not accepted. So that is Vedic description, form and formless.
Formless means no material form, and form means spiritual form, simulta-
neously.
Just like I and you. I am within the body, but I am not this body. This form
is not I. But where has the form of the body come into existence? (It exists)
because I have got form. The sweater has got a hand because I have got a hand.
The sweater is the covering. If I haven't got a form, then how can the sweater
have a hand, the pants have got legs? So the pants practically are not the legs.
Th~ real legs are within the pants. Similarly, this (body) is not my form; this is
like the pants, the legs of the pants or the hands of the coat. The real form is
within. That is not the material form.
If I could see the real form and you could see, then there would be no con-
troversy about the spirit. But they cannot see. Therefore, they say "formless." If
it is formless, then how has the outer form come to be? How can it be? The
tailor makes the coat because the man has got a form. As the coat has got hands,
so it is concluded that the man for whom the coat is made, has also got form.
How can you say without form? The difficulty is that we can see the form of the
coat, but we cannot see the form of the man. That is the defect with these eyes,
not that God is formless. God is not formless.
Yoga student: God is seen in the form of the saints.
Srila Prabhupada: That is another (thing). That is secondary. But God has got
form. That is the conclusion. But we cannot see with our present eyes. Just like

62 63
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

I see you. What do I see you as? Your body. You see me - my body. And when 25. God can be seen
the body is there and the soul is not there, then it is a lump of matter. You can
kick it and nobody will protest. If you smash a dead body with your legs and
boots, nobody will say: "Why you are doing this?" But so long as the soul is Srila Prabhupada: Now, suppose Muhammad has heard God. He is a prophet.
there, if the body is smashed like that, immediately there will be a protest, "Why So whatever he is saying about his experience, you are accepting. Similarly, if
you are doing this?" So, the people have no knowledge about the real form. somebody has seen Him, if he says that "God is like this," why should you not
Therefore, they say formless. accept? In this way you can say. God can be seen, as God can be heard. You
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03n5) cannot say that God cannot be seen.
Prithu-putra: No, what they say is that He Himself doesn't come down here.
He can be seen, but He doesn't come down. That is their point.
SrUa Prabhupada: He doesn't come down. He's already there. He does not
come down. Just like the sun. The sun does not come down before me, but you
l%0bodY ears, mouth, face and hands because these bodily limbs of
can deny the
Allah are explicitly fact thatinAllah
mentioned has spiritual
the Holy Qur'an. eyes,
(See can see it. In this way give them enlightenment. The sun doesn't require to
Ch. 10, p. 75 of The Hidden Treasure of AI-Qur'an by Dr. Akif Manaf come down, but the sun is so bright and so prominent that you can see it. Simi-
Jabir). More than this, the Holy Qur'an mentions the sublime image of larly, God doesn't require to come down. He's already present. Simply we have
Allah, His realm and His throne on which He sits. If Allah has spiritual to make our eyes (able) to see Him. When one is competent enough by devel-
eyes, ears, mouth, face and hands, how can we deny that He has spiri- oping his love for God, he can always see Him. God is visible everywhere. He's
tual form? First of all, how can His limbs exist separately and, secpndly, everywhere. So there is no difficulty to see Him; But simply one has to possess
if Allah is the source of everything and if all things belong to Him, how such purified eyes to see Him. Otherwise. He can be seen anywhere. He can
is it possible that He does not have form? If He has all things, this means even be seen within the atom. That is God. He is present everywhere, but we
He has form also. Otherwise, He would not be complete - something must have the purified eyes to see Him, we must have the pwified ears to hear
would be missing. Of course, He does not have a form which consists of Him. Otherwise, God is everywhere.
material elements and deteriorates, like the body we presently have. He (Room conversation. Bhuvaneshwar, 30/01n7)
has spiritual form which consists of pure spirit. His form is not ordinary,
but supreme, eternal, blissful, transcendental and beyond our imagina- SrUa Prabhupada: No. When there is talk, then you can talk reasonably, that
tion and description. "If God can be heard, God can be seen also, God can be touched also, by differ-
ent prophets."
(Room conversation. Bhuvaneshwar, 30/01n7)

"Some faces that day, will beam (in brightness and beauty),
c§T;he Holy Qur'an
Looking towards (75.22-23)
their Lord."states,
The meaning of these ayats is that when righteous people come to
Allah, they will be able to see their Lord and their faces will beam bright
and be full of beauty at the bliss of seeing their Lord. Thus Allah is not
an abstract power or energy, but the supreme living being who has His
supreme form. FOl'righteous people will be able to see Him on the Day
of Judgment.

64 65
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada or. Islam 26. God is not material

The author ofJowhara (p.l07-112) says: "It is possible to see Allah


in this world as well as in the next. In this world it has been granted to Srila Prabhupada: That is in Islam. That means God is not material. That is the
Muhammad only. In the future world however all believers will see Him; idea. Because here the idea is when I make something, an image or picture, that
some say only His eyes, others say His whole face, others say every part is material. So there is a prohibition of accepting God as material. But if you go
of His body." (Klein F. A., The Religion of Islam. Delhi, 1987, p. 55) to a higher stage, then you'll understand that if God is everything, then nothing
Once Hazrat Ali was asked: "Did you see the Lord?" . is material. That is Vaishnava philosophy. If God is everything, then where is
Hazrat Ali replied: "I would not worship Allah if I have not seen matter? He is spiritual. Material means when you cannot understand God. That
Him!" (Qur'ana dair 101 sual, Baki, 1992, p. q) is material. Everything is sky. When it is covered by clouds, we call it cloudy.
Once the Holy Prophet Muhanunad said: "You should worship God Similarly, clouds have no existence. They only come to cover for a while, but
as if you see Him. Because if you don't see Him, He surely sees you." the sky is eternal. Similarly, God is eternal. When you are covered by some
(Ibid, 2.37) maya (illusion), you cannot see, you cannot understand God, that is material.
"If one wants to see Allah, then Allah also wants to see him." So, any philosophy which does not help in the understanding of God is mate-
(Mahammad Peygambar. Kalamlar, Baki, 1990, p. 34) rial. That is material. Otherwise, there is no material. Where is material if God is
In conclusion, Abuhurairah said: "The Prophet said, 'When the an- everything? Do you see?
gels go to the court of God, God asks them, (while knowing better than
they) 'What do my servants say and doT Then the angels said, 'They All spirit. All the sky. Everywhere is sky, but when it's covered, it is
remember You with purity, greatness, praise, and respect.' AndGod said, called cloudy. Similarly, when God is covered by some nonsense ideas, then it
'Have they seen Me?' The angels replied, 'No, they have not seen You.' is material. Otherwise, there is no material. Therefore, for those who are too
Then God said, 'What would their condition be if they had seen Me?' . much absorbed in materialistic ways, there is a restriction. So, don't attempt.
The angels replied, 'If they had seen You, they would be more strenuous Because he will think that God's name is just like his son's name and his
in worshipping You, and in holding You mighty and glorious; and they daughter's name. Therefore, there is a restriction.
would be more excessive in repeating Your immaculate attributes." (Room conversation. Columbus, 12/05/69)
(Mislzcat-ul-Masabin, Calcutta, 1809, p. 535)

spiritual. Only when the soul is covered by illusion is this same


~ energy considered
t is explained herematerial.
that GodWhen energy
and His is usedareforeternally
energies the ser-
vice of God it remains spiritual, but as soon as the same energy is used
for satisfying selfish desires, it becomes material.
Once The Holy Prophet Muhamrnad exclaimed: }'God says, '0 man,
only follow My laws, and you shall become like unto Myself. •••(A. M.
Allapichai, Just a Peep into the Muslim Mind. Madras, 1946, p. 47)

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A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam [27 ] Allah is a name of God

27. Allah is a name of God Srila Prabhupada: So I pleaded to the Muslim audience, "You can chant the
name of Allah also. It's not necessary to have to chant the Krishna name, but
any name indicating the Supreme Lord can be chanted."
SrUa Prabhupada: So what is this, Hare Krishna? Hare means the energy of (Lecture,20/03nS)
the Lord, and Krishna means the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So, it is a
prayer. There are three words only: Hare, Krishna and Ranta. They have been Srila Prabhupada: That's all right. Then our request is that you chant the name
arranged in sixteen words: of God. So if Allah is the name of God, you chant Allah, don't chant Krishna.
We say this.
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna (Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03nS)
Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama Srila Prabhupada: Just like Allah. If this name indicates God, then it is this
Rama Rama Hare Hare word "Allah" which is as good as God. There is no difference. The Allah, the
conception of Allah means the Great, is it not? So God is Great. So by chanting
So our movement is that we request you to take up these sixteen words - Allah, I am meaning God, the Supreme Person. So it is as good (as God). And
not sixteen words, three words, Hare, Krishna and Rama. But these are arranged actually in the Mosque, they chant Allah-u-Akbar, like that, so far as I've heard.
in such a way that there are sixteen words. So, anyone can take them by heart, So, that prayer, if it is not God's name, then what is the use of this prayer? That
these three words, and chant them. It is universal. And if you think that "Oh, is God's name. Similarly, the Hindus may chant Hare Krishna, they're indicat-
Krishna is the name of a Hindu god," if you have got any objection, then you ing to the same personality. It may be in a different language but it is as good as
may not chant Krishna, but you must have a name for God. God because God is absolute. This name is authorised because Muhammad
Just like the Muslims call Him Allah, the Jews call Him Jehovah, or some- said, "You chant Allah." So it is aulhorised, because he is God's representative.
body calls Him something else. That doesn't matter. If you think that "Why Therefore my request is, or our request is that you chant the name of Allah. We
should I chant the Indian name Krishna, Sanskrit name Krishna?" So, Chaitanya don't say that you have to chant Krishna. You chant the Holy name of God. If
Mahaprabhu says that there are millions and billions of names of God. If you Allah is an approved name of God then you chant it. That is our request. We
think that this Krishna name is not very suitable, you can accept any name. That don't force you to chant the name of Krishna. No, we don't say that. If some-
doesn't matter. Our proposition is you chant God's name. That is our proposal. body says, "Jehovah is the name of God," that's all right, then you chant Jeho-
Therefore, it is universal. If you like, you can chant Jehovah or you can chant vah. "Allah is the name of God," that's all right, you chant it We simply request
Allah! but we request you that you chant God's name. Is it very difficult? It is that you chant the holy name of God. 'Tb,at's all. If you have got it, we don't
not at all difficult. Chai tanya Mabaprabhu said that there are innumerable names force you to chant the name of Krishna. That is not our way. We accept, if Allah
of God according to different languages, different countries, different societies. is God's name then it is as good as the name "Krishna." We are not so sophis-
And each and every one of them has the potency of God Himself. If there is a ticated that you have to chant this Krishna's name. No, we say: "Harer nama,"
God, He must be Absolute. Therefore, there is no "difference between His name That is the shastra (scripture). Harer nama means the name of the Lord. So,
and He Himself. Just like in the material world, in the world of duality, there is a there are many thousands of names; that's a fact. So, we request you actually
difference between the name "water" and the substance water. The name "wa- chant the name of God. Pick from millions of God's names. Whatever you like,
ter" is different from the substance water. If you are thirsty and you simply " you pick and chant. That is our propagation.
chant, "Water, water, water, water," your thirst will. not be quenched. You re- In this age of quarrel and disagreement, God realisation is very difficult. But
quire the substance water. That is material, but spiritually, the name Krishna or if you chant the Holy name of God, then you'11 gradually realise Him. This is
the name Allab or"the name Jehovah is as good as the Supreme Personality of our program. So, we don't force you to chant this name "Krishna." No. Shastra
Godhead. (Lecture, 15106168) (scripture) says, harer nama - chant the holy name of God. 1bat is our pro-
gram.

68 69
[27 ] Allah is a name of God
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhopada on Islam

Lady: Before your asked about something else. I want to ask, how could you
meet the Supreme being by chanting ...?
Srila Prabhupada: Yes. By chanting.
Lady: ...by chanting of a worldly name, tuned into a prayer ...
(j(Jhen most excellent Iman (faith), he answered: "To love him
the Holy
who loves God, Prophet
and hateMuhammad wasGod,
him who hates askedandabout
your tongue employed in repeating the name of Allah." (Abdullah al-
the
to keep
Srila Prabhupada: This is not a worldly name. Why do you make that mis-
Mamun al-Suhrawardy, The Sayings of Muhammad. London, 1905, p.
take? God's name is not worldly.
24)
Lady: Because if you really know the tuning of God ...
Once the Holy Prophet said: "Pray to God moriling and evening,
Srila Prabhupada: Do you think Allah is a worldly name?
Lady: We recognize it is before Krishna ... and employ the day in your avocations." (Abdullah al-Mamun al-
Subrawardy, The Sayings of Muhammad. London, 1905, p. 2)
Srila Prabhupada: That's all right, you recognize it. Allah is not a worldly
In the opinion of Islamic theologians, Allah has 100 names but only
name. It is given by the authority, Muhammad. So you have to chant it, if you
know God. 99 of them are revealed in different verses of the Holy Qur'an. The l00th
Lady: But he didn't really mean Allah is the name of God. J name of Allah is hidden. Those who come to know this name can per-
form miracles. (0 Gudratov, N. Gudratov, Mahammad Peygambar:
Srila Prabhupada: Why do you say that he didn't mean?
Hayati va Kalamlari. Baki, 1990, p. 18)
Lady: Because... .
Srila Prabhupada: That is your say. Muhammad did not say, "What I say, I
did not mean."
Lady: No, the name of God. He didn't mean Allah.
Srila Prabhupada: You say. Who cares for your word? Muhammad said this is
the name of God. We have to accept, that's all.
Lady: So why ...?
Srila Prabhupada: You cannot say, "He didn't mean." You are not a private
secretary of Muhammad. (laughter)
Lady: So then how do they say that the name of God rests in God ...
Srila Prabhupada: No, these things are not accepted.
Lady: Was before God ...
Srila Prabhupada: Don't talk childish.
Lady: Was God.
Srila Prabhupada: (Whatever) Muhammad said that is authority. That we ac-
cept. We accept Muhammad as the representative of God. Whatever he says,
we accept; that's all. What you mean, that is your business. But he is the au-
thority; he said, "This is the name of God. You chant, you pray." Allah or God.
That's all. That is authority.
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03n5)

70 71
A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada on Islam

28. The ultimate goal is to love God

Srila Prabhupada: The test of any scripture is how one is developing love of
God. If you find that by following some religious principles you are developing
your love of God, then it is perfect. It doesn't matter whether it is the Bible or
the Qur'an or the Bhagavad-gita; it doesn't matter. We have to see what is the
fruit. If the fruit is that people are developing love of Godhead, then it is perfect.
Don't try to understand whether "this is good, this is good, and this is bad." No.
Try to understand by. the res'I1t. If you see the fruit, then it is first class. So, it
doesn't matter whether it is the Bible or the Gita, if you can develop love of " )

Godhead by reading the Blbie, it is first class. And if you can develop love of
Godhead by (reading) the Bhagavad-gita, it is first class. And if you do not, then
neither the Bible, the Qur'an or the Bhagavad-gita will have an effect on you.
(Lecture, 18110/68)

Srila Prabhupada: Then God is the greatest, and we are fmite, limited. We are
not the greatest. And our business is to serve Him. What is that?
Yoga student: Our business is to serve Him. Precisely as was said last night,
our business is to satisfy Him.
Srila Prabhupada: That's it.
Yoga student: There is a tradition, and there's a body of forty traditions, t.'hich
are called the sacred traditions, one of which says that these are the words of
God as enunciated through Muhammad. One of them says, "The more you
strive towards Me, the more you love Me, the closer I come to you."
Srila Prabhupada: Oh, that's it. Then the ultimate goal is how to love God.
Yoga student: Yes.
Srila Prabhupada: That is very good. That is our philosophy. This is the high-
est goal of life, how one has developed his love for God. And Bhagavatam says,
"That is first-class religion which trains the followers how to love God and serve
Him." That is first -class religion.
(Room conversation. Tehran, 14/03n5)

((l thelove of You; grant me that I love those that love You; grant
nee that
me the IHoly
may Prophet Muhammad
do the deeds that win said:
Your "0
love;Lord,
makegrant
dearer to me than my soul, family and wealth." (Abdullah AI-Mamun
Yourtolove
me

Al-Suhrawardy, The Sayings o/Muhammad. London, 1905, p. 128)

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