There Is A Need To Reclaim The Lost Common Legacy Of Indian Prophets

By S. Arshad, New Age Islam 17 February 2024 The Graves Of Nine Prophets Of India Is In Bras Of Punjab Main Points: 1. The Saptarishi of the Vedas were prophets. 2. Vedas are the divine books revealed to prophets. 3. Adam the first man descended in Sri Lanka. 4. The grave of Hadhrat Adam's son Sheeth a.s.is believed to be in Ayodhya. 5. Prophet Nuh and Manu seem to be the same person. ------ The Indian sub-continent has been the seat of the oldest civilisation. Many communities have inhabited this land since the pre-historic age. They have different culture and beliefs. The trade and cultural relations of India's inhabitants with other regions of the world exist since the old ages. This cultural exchange promoted harmony and brotherhood among various communities of Indian region and created the syncretic culture of India. The prophets have played an important role in the development of human civilisation. They were raised in every age, every community and in every region. Prophets were also raised in India. The Quran says: "For every nation, there is a prophet." (Yunus:47) "And We certainly raised a messenger among every people with the message, worship Allah and stay away from the rebel."(Al Nahl:36) A verse in the Quran even hints that prophets were raised in every linguistic community. "We have not sent a messenger except in the language of his people to clarify the message to them.""(Ibrahim:4) Therefore, according to the Quran, prophets were also raised in Indian region. Sanskrit, Pali and Siddham were the popular languages of this region. So the prophets of this region must have spoken Sanskrit and Pali and the divine scriptures revealed to the Indian poets must have been in Sanskrit or Pali. Since the Quran does not mention the names of all the prophets, we do not k ow the names of Indian prophets but we do get hints of Indian prophets from different historical and religious sources The sacred text of Hindus in India are the four Vedas and 108 Upanishads. Not only Hindus but also a section of Islamic scholars also believe that the Vedas in their original form were divine books revealed to prophets. In the Vedas, the prophets are called rishis. In the Vedas, the term Saptarishi is mentioned. Saptarishi means seven Vedic sages. They are Bharadwaj, Vashisth, Atri, Vishwamitra, Agastya, Gautam and Jamadagni. Gautam Buddha testifies to the prophethood of Jamadagni. In Vinay Pitak, he says that the Vedas in their true form were revealed to the Vedic rishis including Jamadagni. There are two or three other rishis to whom some parts of Vedas are attributed. For example, Atharva Veda is attributed to rishi Atharva. Kashyap and Angira are also mentioned in Vedas as Rishis. In Digha Nikay, Gautam Buddha mentions ten Vedic rishis. Therefore, nine or ten rishis or prophets are mentioned by name in Vedas, Upanishads and Buddhist scriptures. Based on the style, diction and monotheistic ideas of the Vedas, some Islamic scholars have formed the opinion that the Vedas are divine scriptures. Since divine scriptures are revealed to prophets, the rishis to whom the Vedas were revealed were prophets. We do not have the physical proof of the existence of the Vedic rishis or prophets but some tradition point to the existence of prophets in southern India and northern India i.e. Ayodhya and Punjab. In Ayodhya, the grave of the prophet Sheeth a.s.is believed to be situated on a hilltop. Hadhrat Sheeth a.s. was the son of Hadhrat Adam a.s., the first man on earth. Prophet Nuh a.s. was one of the descendants of Sheeth a.s. During the life of Prophet Nuh a.s., the Great Deluge occurred which drowned the whole earth and prophet Nuh a.s. constructed a gigantic ark to carry his followers to safety. The Hindus also believe in the Great Deluge. They call it Jal Parlayawan. They also believe that Manu was the first man on earth. The basis of this belief is that the human race was exterminated by the Deluge and it flourished anew after Manu. Therefore, Prophet Nuh and Manu seem to be the same person. Other evidence of Prophet Nuh's association with India is the phrase 'Farat Tannur' in the Quran. The Quran says that the Great Deluge (Toofan-e-Nuh) originated at Tannur. "And when our command came and the 'Tannur' burst with water, We, said to Noah, 'Take into Ark a pair from very species---except those against whom the decree to drown has already been passed -- and those who believe. But none believed except for a few. "(Hud:40) Exegetes have translated Tannur as an oven but some exegetes say Tannur also means a raised place. Tannur is a coastal town in the southern state of India, Kerala. A town in Haryana in north India is called Nuh. All these evidences strengthen the belief that Prophet Nuh a.s. was the Manu of the Hindus and lived in India. The belief of some Islamic scholars that prophets were also raised in India is strengthened by the revelation of the graves of nine prophets in the town Bras in the northern state of India by the Islamic scholar Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi in the sixteenth century by intuition. The Shaikh's Mazar is situated in Sirhind, some 18 kilometres from Bras. Upon his revelation the area was cleared and nine graves were reinstituted. Today, Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs visit the nine graves and seek the blessings of the nine prophets. Here the number nine is important. The Vedas mention nine or ten rishis (prophets) and the graves of the prophets are also nine. It can be inferred that the graves may be the graves of nine Vedic rishis whom Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi mentioned as prophets. Therefore, we find that from Hadhrat Adam a.s. to Hadhrat Nuh a.s.( Manu), all the initial prophets and their descendants lived in India. Hadhrat Adam a.s, the first man on earth, descended in Sri Lanka, a part of ancient India. Then the human civilisation shifted to Turkey during the great Deluge in Prophet Nuh's life and from then onwards, prophets were raised in the Middle East from where the Aryans travelled back to the land of their ancestors because human beings have an emotional bonding with the land of their ancestors. Hence, the Indian people have a common religious legacy which has been lost. The prophets of Abrahamic religions and the Vedic rishis have one thing in common: they preached monotheism. The Bible, the Torah and the Psalms of David a.s. have similarity in style, diction, ideas and belief with the Quran. Since the language of the prophets and divine scriptures are different, the followers of the prophets and divine scriptures think that they belong to different religious communities. They have not strived to find their common roots though the Quran clearly says that prophets speak the language of their community. Therefore, the Hindus and Muslims of India need to reclaim the lost common legacy of Indian prophets to strengthen the cultural bond and live in harmony. ----- S. Arshad is a columnist with NewAgeIslam.com. URL: https://newageislam.com/interfaith-dialogue/common-legacy-indian-prophets/d/131737 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism