Muslims have always opposed (not only in India but also in other Islamic countries) deification of a nation.According to them it is idolatry.Calling rain as rain-god, monkey as monkey-god, or a nation as Goddess Durga (Bharat Mata) might come easy and sound completely innocuous to Hindus, but it is considered un-Islamic by most Muslims. The very foundation of Islam was made on breaking away from such pagan worships- wherein all forms of anthropomorphism are discarded.To ask or request Muslims to sing a song or practice a ritual that deifies nation (as human) is tantamount to worshipping idols which goes against basic tenets of Islam.Muslims have no problem respecting the Nature and the Nation, but they will not pray to it.Is that so hard to accept? While Hindus can pray to almost anything- including a rock, animal, natural event, or human, Muslims do not. While Muslims can eat beef, some high caste and chaste Hindus do not.The failure to understand such belief systems and practices will result in false expectations and hence disappointment.It is nothing to do with patriotism.
RE:Test for Patriotism!!
by mohit gupta on Jan 03, 2008 10:43 AM Permalink
No one expect muslims to worship hindu gods. as far as vande matram is concerned muslims can sing it as saluting their mother india. not worshiping. the present song does not have any reference to worshiping.
RE:RE:Test for Patriotism!!
by asadullah usmani on Jan 03, 2008 05:07 PM Permalink
Dear Mohit, Vandana means 'worship' and not salut, replace 'vande' with something like 'Jaya' and it will be O.K.
i think singing a song should not be mandatory to anyone. first ppl should explain muslims that vande-matram doesnot have any reference to the idol worship and just shows the respect for the mother india. i dont think then it should be a problem for anyone. there were some paragraphs in song vande-matram that were refering to worshiping mother india but those were deleted and not present in today's version of vande-matram. vande-matram was the slogan used by our freedom fighters across all religions and it should not become a point of fight between hindu-muslims.
regarding the sardar patel story you have told, i dont think that this is true. this must be born out from imagination.
