The Honorable Lord Krishna: A Prophet Of Allah
Posted on August 18th, 2012
By I. Ahmad Dalupotha, Negombo.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ While many Hindus recognize the differences between Islam and Hinduism, few may appreciate that according to Islamic principles and Prophet Muhammad, Lord Krishna was a true Prophet of God. The obvious question that emerges is that if the same God sent Lord Krishna and Prophet Muhammad, why do Islam and Hinduism have notable theological differences ?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Simply put, Islam only argues that the original core teachings of Hinduism and Islam are the same — the unity of God and the obligation to serve mankind.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Furthermore, nothing in the Quran, Sunnah or Hadith declares that Lord Krishna was not a prophet. Thus, this short article offers nine points to consider –ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ togetherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ — that Lord Krishna is a true prophet of God, a prophet whom Muslims also revere along with their fellow Hindu neighbors.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 1.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ First, the Quran is the only ancient scripture that specifically mentions and praises other faiths. While the Quran mentions Jews and Christians specifically, in numerous places, likewise, it mentions Hindus in a group known as the Sabians. Sabians refer to non-Abrahamic traditions — Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Taoists, etc. Thus, recognition of Hinduism exists in the Quran.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 2.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Islam teaches six Articles of Faith. The Fourth Article of Faith is the belief in all of God’s prophets. This simple Article of Faith provides further credence to recognizing Lord Krishna as a prophet sent to the Indian subcontinent.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 3.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Quran is clear that God’s Divine guidance is not exclusive to any one people. Rather the Quran says that God sent ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ “messengers to every people” (10:48) and ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ “We raised among every people a messengerƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (16:37) ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prophet Muhammad further declared that God has sent no less than 124,000 prophets to mankind throughout history (Ibn Hanbal, Musnad, 5, 169) of which only 28 are mentioned in the Quran. None of those 28 prophets are mentioned as being sent to the Indian subcontinent. Thus, it is perfectly reasonable that Lord Krishna is one of the many prophets God sent with His Divine message.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 4.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Segueing from the previous point, the Quran clearly declares, “And We sent some Messengers whom We have already mentioned to thee and some Messengers whom We have not mentioned to thee…” (4:165). Thus, to declare that Lord Krishna is not a prophet simply because the Quran does not mention him is a meritless argument.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 5.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Remarkably, Prophet Muhammad declared, “There was a prophet of God in India who is dark in color and his name was KahanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ [Krishna]” ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ History of Hamadan Dailmi Chapter Al-Kaaf). ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Some critics allege this is not a Sahih (authentic) hadith (sayings), and while their assessment could be valid, their conclusion that the hadith should be discarded is invalid. Basic Islamic jurisprudence holds that if a hadith (sayings of Prophet) does not contradict the Quran, then it may be accepted as valid. As mentioned earlier, nothing in the Quran, Sunnah or Hadith declare that Lord Krishna was not a prophet of God. Thus, Prophet Muhammad’s testimony provides clear guidance of Lord Krishna’s status in Islam — that of a prophet. In fact, a renowned early 19th century Muslim scholar, Muhammad Qasim Nanotwi also was of the opinion that considering the evidence and this hadith, Lord Krishna was a true Prophet of God (Dharam Parchar Pg 8 & Debate Shah Jahan Pur Pg 31).
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 6.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Islam’s Third Article of Faith is the Belief in God’s Books. This is why Muslims revere the Injeel (Gospels) and Torah (Old Testament). Thus, it is only logical that Muslims also revere the Gita and Vedas, Hinduism’s holy scriptures from which Lord Krishna taught.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 7.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Earlier I mentioned that both Islam and Hinduism teach the unity of God and service of mankind — a message both Prophet Muhammad and Lord Krishna taught. In fact, the Vedas state, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ “There is only one God, worship HimƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (Rig Veda 6.45.16) ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ “Do not worship any one beside Him: (Rig Veda 8.11) and also, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ “God is only one, not a second” ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (Chandogya Upanishad Ch. 6.2.1). Furthermore, countless verses in the Vedas teach the service of mankind. For example, “Oh Noble men! We do not commit violence. We do not hurt others. We do not quarrel either.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We of course chant Vedas and act according to its dictates“ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (Rig Veda 10.134.7) and “Every man should protect the other in all respects” (Atharva 6.64.1). ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Again, while admitted theological differences exist between Islam and Hinduism today, no doubt exists that Prophet Muhammad and Lord Krishna both taught God’s unity and service to mankind.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 8.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Furthermore, Lord Krishna’s scriptures clearly prophesize Prophet Muhammad’s advent in multiple places. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ We provide just two. Bhavisyath Purana 3:5-8 states, ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ “A spiritual reformer will come from a foreign land (outside Bharat) with his disciples. His name will be Mahamad. He will dwell in a desert.” Likewise, “HisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ [Mahamad’s]ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ followers will perform circumcision. They will not keep their hair in the form of Choti as the Brahmans do. They will keep beard. They will bring about a revolution. They will call with a loud voiceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ [i.e. Adhaan ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” calling for Prayers].ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They will eat meat of animals other than that of swine. They will attain purity through Jihad. Their civilization will be called MuslayƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ [Muslim].”
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ For the sake of brevity we will avoid further commentary on these verses as they speak volumes on their own. Suffice it to say, however, that these verses further support the argument that the same God who sent Prophet Muhammad, sent Lord Krishna. Earlier we provided Prophet Muhammad’s hadith validating Lord Krishna, and now we provide Lord Krishna’s holy scripture validating Prophet Muhammad. What further proof do we need that Prophet Muhammad and Lord Krishna are brothers cut from the same mold ???
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 9. Finally, in the Quran, God gives Prophet Muhammad the auspicious title ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Khataman Nabiyeen or Seal of the Prophets (33:41).
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ While some limit this title’s meaning to “last,” from Hadith and authentic Arabic lexicon it is clear that the true import of “Seal” is Greatness and Validation.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ That is, Prophet Muhammad is called not only the greatest prophet, but also the Validation of all prophets.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Thus, it makes perfect sense why Prophet Muhammad specifically called Lord Krishna a Prophet — part of his purpose in coming was to declare to the world that God did not abandon any people. Rather, God sent His guidance and prophets to all people. In doing so, Prophet Muhammad validated Lord Krishna’s truthfulness — something no prophet of any faith outside of Islam has done. Thus, as human beings we must honor and revere all those prophets because the same God sent each of them — Lord Krishna being no exception.
In short, Prophet Lord Krishna was a noble, righteous, beloved one of God. Far from theological division, he is a source of unity and accord between Hindus and Muslims.
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August 18th, 2012 at 2:20 pm
There should be more than one edition of Quran as the bible has so many different editions.
I think you are unaware that the name Hindukush (where Hindus were slaughtered) exists. It is said, in the known human history, slaughter of Hindus by invading Islamic conquerors was the worst massacre that ever happened. Iranian govt has laws to protect Zorastrians because Zorastrianism was the Pre-islamic religion in that area. Yet, many zorastrians migrate to the west alleging discrimination.
Major Islamic sects kill in some countries. for example, many refugees hanging around Australian christmas island are pakistanis (google and see). In pakistan, Ahmadia sect is not recognized as muslims.
Mohamad himself involved in killing the tribes that who were not prepared to listen to his preachings.
Those killings are the reason why even to date Muslims are not tolerated in India. On the other hand, Arabs came as traders and got married to both Sinhala and Tamil women and there on they only increased their population of muslims which they do even to date.
Again JIHAD is the military exertion against non-muslims.
Islam is very particular about the monothiestic nature of the god. Because of that different versions of the “Same TRUTH” is not allowed and those days those sects were killed and even todate it is the same with rural muslim societies in the world while they are harassed and discriminated as they do to sri lankan Ahmadias.
August 18th, 2012 at 6:43 pm
Sri Krishna – the Prophet of God – an excellent informative article. Thanks to the author.
AnuD – your way of understanding Islam is incorrect.
August 18th, 2012 at 7:55 pm
Mr. Dalupota,
You said,
“First, the Quran is the only ancient scripture that specifically mentions and praises other faiths. While the Quran mentions Jews and Christians specifically, in numerous places, likewise, it mentions Hindus in a group known as the Sabians. Sabians refer to non-Abrahamic traditions — Hindus, Buddhists, Zoroastrians, Taoists, etc. Thus, recognition of Hinduism exists in the Quran.”
This is simply because Islam came last ! Why are you ignorant to this simple truth ?
August 18th, 2012 at 11:59 pm
You go through this link in which you will find more about Sri Krisha – the Prophet of God.
http://www.alislam.org/tamil/books/pdf/Namadhu-Krishnar.pdf
August 20th, 2012 at 4:16 am
Moulavi Muhammad Umar H.A. an Islamic Scholar delivered an important speech at Ramakrishna Hall, Wellawatte, Sri Lanka in May 1994. In this address he quoted many references from the Hindu scriptures on teachings of Lord Krishna regarding worshipping of ONE GOD. He also quoted references about the foretold of Sri Krishna about the advent of Holy Prophet of Islam. Worthy to watch. These are video links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nrkv3FzIjM&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO_aCVCpXQ4&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCa9SiCaHgY&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQrOQ36tOfw&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvsvLHYrkf8&feature=youtu.be