Riyadh — Saudi Arabia’s religious scholar Assim Al-Hakeem said that Allah and OM similitude is “baseless and fabricated”, and advised not to learn religious knowledge from such people who say that.
Jeddah-based Al-Hakeem was asked, “A famous Muslim scholar in India said that Allah and the Hindu sacred mantra and invocation OM is one and the same? He said that Manu was actually Prophet Adam who worshipped OM which is Allah”.
“Another scholar said that Islam was first born in India with the advent of Manu/Adam. How far this is true? And is it permissible in Islam to promote such concepts?”, the question continued.
In response to the question posed by Firas Ahmed from Jeddah, Al-Hakeem replied, “This is absolutely baseless and fabricated! You must not take any knowledge from such people!”
What’s the Controversy?
Earlier this week, India’s veteran Deobandi cleric Arshad Madani sparked a controversy during a public gathering after he said “OM and Allah are the same”.
He claimed that ‘Om’ and ‘Allah’ were the same God worshipped by ‘Manu’, first man on earth according to Hinduism. He claimed that Manu was in reality Adam.
“When there was no one (no Gods), the question is who did Manu worship?… Very few people know that when there was nothing in the world, Manu would worship OM. I asked, ‘Who is OM’. Some said OM has no colour, no shape. Like the air, it is everywhere. It made the skies and the earth. I said this is what we call Allah. You call the same thing Ishwar”, Madani said.
Later, his nephew Mahmood Madani claimed that Islam was born in India, not in Arabia.
Their statements drew objections from other religious leaders.
The Jain monk Lokesh Muni strongly criticized Madanis’ claims through the same stage, by terming their claims “non-sense”. Muni told media that all religious leaders gathered under Jamiat-e-Ulema banner for a national cause, rather than to talk about who came first and who came next.
According to Hinduism, God initially created sound and then everything sprang from it. It can also be seen as a highly holy symbol. OM is supposedly God in the form of sound, according to the Upanishads. Hindus believe that OM does not have a shape or physical appearance, and God exists in every single atom in the universe. They believe that God Himself takes incarnations to guide people.
Whereas, Islam’s concept of God is in full contrast. Muslims believe that Allah is alone, Who does not beget nor was He begotten. Moreover, there’s “None like unto Him”. Islamic texts state that Allah is not present everywhere, whereas His throne (Arsh) is above the seven heavens. He is present everywhere with His knowledge, but not physically. He does have a shape and form including His Face and Hands, which traditional scholars believe that the knowledge is hidden and shall be disclosed on the day of judgement.
The Hindu and Jain religious leaders did not approve Arshad Madani’s views of calling OM and Allah as same.
