Islam and Hinduism are two of the top three most popular religions in the world, with the
Islamic population sitting at 1.8 billion followers, and Hinduism sitting at
1.08 billion followers. Both of these religions have reshaped the very fiber
of human existence. Here on FTD Facts, we've spoken about Islam in a lot more detail than
Hinduism. And, many of you have been asking for more videos about Hinduism as well as
Islam. So let's explore the similarities of Hinduism and Islam, as well as, what distinct
practices, beliefs, and terminology, as well as the culture, do they both have? Hey
everyone, Leroy Kenton here and welcome backto another episode of FTD Facts. Now there's
going to be a lot to explore in this video. And just to be clear, this episode is based
on the popular beliefs of each religion because, yeah, certain practices and beliefs
do vary between the different sects or smaller groups of each religion. But for the
purposes of this episode, we're going with the general consensus of what the beliefs are
within each of these religions. Now I want to start off with the meaning of each of these
religions. What does Islam mean? What does Hindu mean? Well, the word Hindu is tied to
geography. And it was originally used for the people who lived beyond the River Sindhu, or
the region that was watered by the River Indus. But although we use the term Hinduism, or
Hindus. Did you know that Hindus themselves don't call their religion, that? They actually
call it "Sanatana Dharma, " meaning, "Universal Law." The term Islam is an Arabic
word, and it means: "surrender or submission in ultimate peace." And the term Muslim, means: "a
believer in one God, Allah." When we look at the origins of both of these religions, we
see that Islam is a monotheistic Abrahamic religion, and it was founded by the Prophet
Muhammad, in Mecca, at Mount Hira, in the 7th century CE. And the term Abrahamic religion,
just means: religion that's rooted from the Prophet Abraham. According to the Islamic
scripture, all people who follow God's revealed guidance and the messengers sent
with it, submit to that guidance, and are considered to be Muslims. Hinduism, on the
other hand, is a religious tradition that originated in the Indian subcontinent during
the pre-classical era of 1,500 - 500 BCE. And nobody can actually
point to a specific founder of Hinduism. Today, you can find Hindus mainly in India,
Nepal, and Mauritius.
They also have a very large population in Fiji, Bhutan, UAE, and other areas. When it
comes to the Muslim population, 24.8% can be found in Asia-Oceania
91.2% can be found in the Middle East-North Africa, and
29.6% can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa. Around 6.0% of the
Muslim population is in Europe, and 0.6% in the Americas. So how do both
of these religions compare when it comes to their beliefs in God? And in Islam, and
Hinduism, it's completely night and day. Because in Hinduism, there are many Gods.
Over 300 million to be exact. I had no idea that it was that much. I always grew up
knowing that Hindus worship many different Gods, and God manifests in many different
ways. You know, everything is God. God is in everything and all of that, but
300 million variations!
That's a lot. When we look at the 3 main Gods in Hinduism, we see that there is
Brahma, The Creator, Vishnu, The Preserver, and Shiva, The Destroyer. Now, their female
counterparts are Saraswati, the wife of Brahma, Lakshmi, the wife of Vishnu, and
Parvati, the wife of Shiva. In Islam, they believe in one God. The one true creator.
None were before him. None will come after him. God transcends life and death. Time
doesn't apply to God. God cannot be seen. But God sees all. So of course, if you choose a
religion to follow, you'll obviously have a goal in mind, right? So what are the main
goals in Hinduism and Islam? First off, when it comes to Hinduism, Hindus aim to break the
cycle of birth, death, and reincarnation, and attain salvation. Now this makes me want to
ask a very interesting question. So if you could reincarnate as anyone, would you
choose to be the person that you are now or would you choose to be somebody different? I
don't know. I think I'd probably come back as the same person because like, you know, I
really like me. But I'll probably have done a lot of different things in my life. Like,
I've made some dumb decisions. I probably would want to relive those moments and take
it back, and just think before I acted. Now, in the Islamic religion, the general goal is to
fulfill your duty and responsibility as a human being. As you go through life, you want
to be following the Holy Quran and the Hadith, serving humanity and submitting to
the will of God. In terms of achieving salvation in Hinduism, you can achieve
salvation by reaching enlightenment, by the path of knowledge, or the path of devotion, or
the path of good deeds. Now, the means to salvation in Islam is a belief in one God.
The remembrance of that God, you also got to repent for your sins, as well as you live a
life praying and trusting in the mercy of God. This also ties into the belief of life
after death.
You know, as I mentioned in Hinduism, they believe in reincarnation. So when you die,
you come back and you just keep coming back until you break that cycle, you achieve
enlightenment and that's it. You're good. But Muslims have a much different belief, more of
a belief of like, OK, this is your one shot. Do not mess this up. According to Islamic
teachings, all beings created with the ability to reason and make intelligent
decisions, will be accountable to God on the day of judgment. They'll be rewarded with
eternal life for each of their good deeds that they did during your life, that they
lived. And they'll either be forgiven or punished if their evil deeds outweigh their
good deeds. Now, I haven't traveled to many places around the world, but from time to
time I do see these grand mosques and temples, and sometimes I'm thinking like, OK,
what is the difference?
Hindus worship in temples also called "Mandirs" and Muslims worship in Mosques or "Masjid," and
these are the most common places of worship. Muslims also worship in community centers, as
well as any other place that is considered clean by Islamic standards. Generally
speaking, there's a difference between the geographical locations of mosques versus
temples. When we look at Hindu temples, many of them are located near rivers or other
bodies of water. Of course, between regions there's different variations, but most Hindu
temples have huge walls, as well as, they have a square floorplan. The style and shape of
certain temples changes according to location, but some major Hindu temples
include the Meenakshi Temple, the Venkateswara Temple, the Brihadisvara Temple,
as well as the Somnath Temple.
But when it comes to Muslim mosques, they don't have the connection between being built
beside the body of water. There doesn't really seem to be any real significance to
the location that mosques are built. It's just OK, this area needs a mosque, so we'll
just put up a mosque here. It makes the most sense. Ok, sure. Perfect. Let's put it here.
And the architecture of mosques are really influenced by the Byzantine Roman, as well as
the Persian styles. And the similarities between mosques that you're going to notice,
you'll see a lot of domes, stone pillars, and they're relatively large compared to Hindu
temples. As well as, sometimes, they have extra facilities like gyms, recreational halls, as
well as doctor's offices. Now, one of the most noticeable differences between Islam and
Hinduism is their use of images, statues, pictures. In Hinduism,
It's very common to have images and statues of your Gods, as well as various prominent
figures of the religion. Now, Muslims are very distinct in that when they create art or
anything, they don't make it look very lifelike to symbolize God or any of their
prominent figures, any of their profits from the past. Because this could be mistaken for
idol worship. And they have a very firm belief that no image is to be used to
represent God at all. Now I want to explore some of the titles and positions that people
can hold in these religions, as well as take a look at what are their holy books or their
scriptures, as well as some of the distinct practices and customs. Let's first look at
the Hindu and Islamic clergy. Hindus don't have any official clergy or any order or
ranking of their clergy, but they do have "Gurus," who are spiritual leaders. They have
"Yogis," which is a person who's proficient in yoga. And of course, yoga has a lot of
spiritual connections to it. But yoga in itself doesn't necessarily mean that you are
a Hindu. A lot of people, especially in the West, now are practicing yoga for just the
exercise benefits of it. Hindus also have "Rishis," which is a Hindu Sage or Saint. They
have "Brahmins," who are members of the highest Hindu caste. You'll find "Pandits" and Priests,
who perform certain rituals. There's also priestesses and monks who are a member of a
religious community of men that typically live under the vow of poverty, chastity, as
well as they have nuns who are female monks. In Islam, there are "Imams," who lead the prayers at
the mosques. A "Sheikh," is an Arab leader. More specifically, the chief or the head of an
Arab tribe, family or village.
You'll also find the title "Maulana," which precedes the name of a respected Muslim
religious leader, as well as "Mullah," who's a Muslim that's learned in Islamic theology and
sacred law. And finally, "Mufti," who is a Muslim legal expert who can give rulings on
religious matters. For the scriptures in Islam, they use, of course, the Holy Quran,
as well as the traditions of the last Prophet Muhammad called "Sunnah," which can be found in
narrations or "Hadith." In Hinduism, they use the "Vedas," the "Upanishad," the "Puranas,"
and the Gita. And, "Smrti," and "Sruti," are oral scriptures that they have. So,
now what are some of the main practices. At each of these religions follow? I want to
start off with first, the Hindu practices. As I mentioned, of course, Hindus are heavily
involved in yoga and there's also meditation practices. You'll also find "Yagna," which is
communal worship and offerings done in the temples. Islam has the five pillars of Islam,
and this is how the five pillars break down. First off, you have to testify that there is
one God, Allah, and testify that you believe in his messenger, Muhammad. Muslims pray five
times daily.
They also fasts during Ramadan. They also do a lot of charity work to the poor, and they
must, in their lifetime at least once do the pilgrimage to Mecca. Finally, the last thing
I want to take a look at in how these religions compare side by side, is their Holy
days. Hindus have "Diwali, Holi, Ram Navami, Hanuman Jayanti, Ganesh Chaturthi, " etc. As well as
many other holidays in Hinduism, vary by region. Islam has "Ramadan," the month of
fasting. "Eid ul-Adha," which is a feast of the sacrifice, and, "Eid ul-Fitr," which is a
festival at the end of Ramadan. Now we've only scratched the surface of what these two
religions have to offer and the beliefs and the practices and what makes them distinct
and some of the similarities. But if you do want to find out more in-depth details about
these religions, I do have some playlists that I created. I'll have them in the cart
section of this episode, as well as link to them in the video description below, as well
as the end of this episode. Don't forget to hit that like button and subscribe, if this
is your first time here to FTD Facts, as well as hit that bell notification so you'll
be notified of more videos like this. And it's been so great exploring the religion and
spirituality of Hinduism and Islam with you in this episode, and I can't wait to see all
of you in another episode, so I'm going to get it out of here and all of you stay
educated, keep on learning. That's how we make the world a better place. Eliminate
ignorance. Learn about each other and appreciate not just our similarities, but
also our differences. Here we, so here are those playlists of Islam and
Hinduism. You can find all the videos that you're looking for right here and be sure to
tune in to FTD Facts every single week for more videos like this. Alright, everybody,
enjoy the videos and I'll see you next time.