Introductory - Global Sikh Studies

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cataclysm. Not only no trace of any bitterness towards his race remains,
but those of his hordes, which remained behind in the country, were
absorbed and given an honourable place in its society. The causes of
the permanent estrangement between the Hindus and the Muslims
are, therefore, different and lie deep.
1. Clash of Social Values
Islam was the greatest revolution of its times. The basis of
Islamic polity was social justice and religious equality, while the avowed
principle of the Brahmanical caste organization was social inequality.
There were deviations and lapses in the practice of the principle of
social equality by the Muslims, but Islamic society had marched towards
this objective over a period and on a scale which no other religious
society had done. A king and a beggar could stand shoulder to shoulder
to Friday prayers, and Islam permitted a slave to become a king which
the caste ideology did not.
When two social systems, and the values on which these are
based, are irreconcilable, there is not much scope for mutual adjustment
and compromise. ‘Among the Hindus, institutions of this kind (i.e.
meaning castes) abound. We Muslims of course, stand on the other
side of the question, considering all men equal, except in piety; and
this is the greatest obstacle which prevents any approach or
understanding between Hindus and Muslims. 2 What happened to the
Buddhists, who had different social values and were by no means
violent, has already been seen. The early Muslim settlements in the
southern peninsula were tolerated because these were too insignificant
to pose a challenge to the established social order. Nor is the cultural
or social assimilation of these Muslims nearer today than it was a
thousands years earlier.
2. Clash of Religious Loyalties
Divergent religious loyalties, especially when surcharged with
emotions, are a very great hurdle in harmonizing different religious
groups. The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man are
the basic tenets of both Islamic and Christian creeds, and their
theological divergences are not of a fundamental nature. Islam
even recognizes Christ as one of its own previous prophets.