Difference between Hinduism and Islam is the Difference between Pantheism and Monotheism - Dr Zakir

Dr Zakir Naik

Dr. Zakir explains that the fundamental difference between Hinduism and Islam is that Hindus practice pantheism (believing everything is God) while Muslims practice monotheism (believing everything belongs to God). He suggests this difference is as simple as an apostrophe - between 'God' and 'God's'.

Summary

In this brief but pointed explanation, Dr. Zakir Naik outlines what he sees as the core theological difference between Hinduism and Islam. He characterizes the common Hindu belief as pantheism, where all elements of creation - trees, celestial bodies, animals, and humans - are considered to be God itself. In contrast, he explains that Muslims believe in a clear distinction between the Creator and creation, where all things belong to God rather than being God. Dr. Zakir uses this theological distinction to make a broader point about religious unity, suggesting that if this fundamental difference in understanding divine relationship to creation could be resolved, it would lead to unity between Hindus and Muslims. His presentation reduces complex theological concepts to what he frames as a simple grammatical difference - the presence or absence of an apostrophe 's' - though this simplification represents profound differences in religious worldview and practice.

Key Insights

  • Dr. Zakir claims that common Hindus practice pantheism, believing that everything in creation - trees, sun, moon, animals, and humans - is literally God
  • He argues that Muslims maintain a clear distinction between Creator and creation, believing that everything belongs to God rather than being God itself
  • Dr. Zakir frames the major theological difference between Hinduism and Islam as fundamentally about an apostrophe - the difference between saying everything 'is God' versus everything 'is God's'
  • He suggests that if this single theological difference regarding the apostrophe could be resolved, Hindus and Muslims would be united
  • Dr. Zakir reduces complex religious worldviews to a simple grammatical distinction, presenting pantheism versus monotheism as the core difference between the two faiths

Topics

pantheismmonotheismHindu-Muslim theological differencesnature of divinityreligious unity

Transcript

[0:00] But the common Hindu, he believes in a philosophy known as pantheism. The common Hindu says everything is God. The tree is God, the sun is God, the moon is God, the monkey is God, the snake is God, the human being is God. What we Muslims they say everything is God's. G O D with an apostrophe S. We Muslims they say everything belongs to God. The tree belongs to God. The sun belongs to God. The moon belongs to God. The snake [0:32] belongs to God. The monkey belongs to God. The human belongs to God. So the major difference between the Muslims and the Hindus is the common Hindu says everything is God. We Muslims they…

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