Maulana Arshad Madani during the Conference of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind at the Ramlila ground in Delhi said “Om and Allah are same”
Staff Reporter / New Delhi
In a bid to reject the RSS narrative that ancestors of all Indians were Hindus, Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, the president of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Arshad faction) on Sunday declared that “Om and Allah are same” and explained the whole thing about mankind. However, this explanation did not go down well with Jain religious leader Jain Muni Acharya Lokesh Muni, who raked up the matter after Arshad Madani concluded his speech and created a row cover his remarks.
Maulana Syed Arshad Madani was speaking at the 34th general session of Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind.
“I asked dharma guru when there was no one, neither Shri Ram, nor Brahma, then whom did they worship to? Some people told me that they used to worship Om. Then I told them that this means that there is only one Om or Allah, and both are the same, and it is the only thing Manu used to worship. There was no Shiv, no Brahma, but only one Om and Allah that was worshipped Om is called Allah by us, Ishwar by you (Hindus), Khuda by Farsi-speaking people (Persian) and God by English-speaking people,” said Arshad Madani.
“Hindus and Muslims have been living in the country like brothers for around 1400 years, and we have never forcibly converted anyone into Islam.”
“It is only under the BJP government that we heard that 20 crore Muslims should be sent home. By sending them home, they meant converting them to Hindus. These people don’t know anything about India’s history,” Arshad Madani said.
After the address of Arshad Madani, Jain Muni Acharya Lokesh Muni, who was present on the stage, expressed his displeasure over the statement and said, “We only agree with living in harmony, but all the story regarding, Om, Allah, and Manu is all rubbish. He (Madani) completely spoiled the atmosphere of the session.”
“The stories he said, I can narrate even bigger stories than that. I would even request him (Madani) to come for a discussion with me, or even I can come to meet him in Saharanpur,” Jain said.
He added that it should be remembered that the first Jain Tirthankar was Rishabh, and his sons were Bharata and Bahubali, on whose name this country ‘Bharat’ was named. “You can’t erase this. We don’t agree with those statements,” a seemingly angry Jain said.
Jain and several other religious leaders then walked off the stage.
some Hindu, Buddhists, Christian and Sikh leaders did not leave and spoke to the gathering. Even on the sidelines of the conference, a religious leader from Rishikesh supported Arshad Madani’s views and he did not leave the stage.
In his key address, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction) president Maulana Mahmood Madani also said on the same lines. He said that India is the “birthplace of Islam” and asserted that the country belongs to him as much as it does to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Mahmood Madani said it is wrong to suggest that Islam came from outside, while claiming that the “first Prophet of Islam Adam descended here”.
The Jamiat chief appealed to the RSS to urge its affiliates to shun “hate and enmity” and jointly work for making the country the most developed in the world. He also urged both Hindus and Muslims of the country to defy extremism and live with each other in peace.
Mahmood Madani’s remarks came during his two speeches – one Friday evening and the other Saturday afternoon – during the annual general session of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (Mahmood Madani faction).
“The distinction of this land is that the first Prophet of Islam Adam descended here. This land is the birthplace of Islam and the first homeland of Muslims. Therefore, to say that Islam is a religion that came from outside is completely wrong and historically baseless,” he said on Friday.
“This is our country. As much as this country belongs to Narendra Modi and Mohan Bhagwat, it belongs to Mahmood. Neither Mahmood is one inch ahead of them nor are they one inch ahead of Mahmood,” he said.
The plenary session of the event took place on Sunday. According to a release issued by Jamiat on Saturday, the prominent Muslim organisation also passed a 17-point resolution.
The statement said in view of the 2024 election the UCC issue was raked up and Jamiat opposed any efforts to impose Uniform Civil Code on the country saying the UCC is against the spirit of democracy and the constitutional protections provided in Articles 25 to 29 of the Constitution. It also warned that such an act will directly affect the country’s unity and diversity.