Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind President Maulana Mahmood Madani on Tuesday strongly slammed RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale for his statement in which he suggested Muslims worship the sun, rivers and trees. Maulana Madani said that Hindus and Muslims have lived together in this country for centuries and the Muslim belief in monotheism and their method of worship is not hidden from any intelligent person. Despite this, it is extremely unfortunate that till date, those holding top positions in the RSS, including an educated person like Hosabale, have not made any serious effort to understand Islam and Muslims.
Madani says concrete steps should be taken to protect constitutional values
Madani stressed that for the nation's progress, development, and for making India a developed nation, it is essential to strengthen national unity and communal harmony. For this, serious dialogue, mutual respect, and effective and concrete steps towards protecting constitutional values are necessary.
However, Madani clarified that Tawheed (belief in one God and worship of Him alone) and the belief in Risalah (Rishabh) are the fundamental pillars of Islam. A person cannot remain a Muslim if they deviate even slightly from these principles.
He said “loving and protecting the soil and nature of this country” and “worshipping it” are two completely different things. Inviting Indian Muslims who believe in Tawheed to worship trees, the earth, the sun, the sea, or rivers in addition to God is proof that the RSS has failed to understand and explain the fundamental difference between “loved” and “worshiped.”
Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind makes efforts for goodwill, mutual respect
Madani said that Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has always made continuous efforts for goodwill, dialogue, and mutual respect. We have proactively tried to remove the misconceptions about Islam and Muslims prevalent in the minds of the Sangh and other Hindutva elements.
“In this regard, there have been dialogues with former RSS chief KS Sudarshan and other responsible individuals in the past, and these efforts continue even today. Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind is ready for dialogue. However, it is with great regret that we have to say that instead of responding positively to this goodwill initiative, some office-bearers of the Sangh are continuously adopting an increasingly aggressive and provocative attitude. They are even trying to impose their religious practices on followers of other religions, which is unacceptable in any form,” he said.
Madani unequivocally stated that Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind's clear and principled view is that the foundation of the nation in India is the 'homeland' (Vatan) and all citizens living in this country—regardless of their religion or ideology—constitute one nation.
“In our view, nationhood is related to the land, while the Sangh wants to base the concept of nation on the Hindu community and a particular cultural ideology,” he said.
Madani quotes Ambedkar: Multiple cultures exist in India
Madani, quoting Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, said that Ambedkar himself acknowledged the fact that multiple cultures exist in India, not just one Hindu culture. Therefore, neither a single culture nor a single community can be the basis of nationalism. The only common foundation of the nation is the homeland and all its citizens.
Also Read:
Whole country must unite and fight against hate speech, crimes: Maulana Mahmood Madani
