Islam Aur Mythology

(1) First, a few clarifications are necessary. (1) I am not discussing mythology under the traditional terms of *Ilm-ul-Asnam* (the study of idols) or *Devmala* (Hindu mythology). This is because the word *mythos*, in its literal sense, contains no reference to gods and goddesses. (2) *Mythos* is a manifestation of the human imagination that attempts to comprehend the mysteries of the universe by dividing it into various personified units. (3) *Mythos* is an inherent part of human consciousness, which is why its forms have varied across different cultural epochs.

(2) Following these fundamental clarifications, an examination of the Islamic disposition reveals that the Islamic intellectual temperament is fundamentally opposed to anthropomorphic thinking. This attitude is reflected in the common assertion that Islam is the enemy of idol-making and idolatry. Consequently, Islamic thought does not feature the kind of mythology found among the ancient Germanic tribes, the Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, and the Syriac peoples.

(3) At the dawn of Islam, the cultural regions and territories where mythology had once existed as a religious framework were under the dominion of Christianity. Christian theological and religious thought was equally hostile to the ancient gods and goddesses. With the earthly advent of Jesus, not only had the old religions become obsolete, but their deities had also retreated into forests and wastelands, fleeing the arrival of the Prince of Peace and the Son of Man.

(1) The famous Christian poet Milton expresses this truth in his poem written on the occasion of Christ's birth:

*Peor aur Baalim*

*Apne ibadat gharon ko chhor chuke hain.*

*Falastin ke shikast khurda devtaon ke sath*

*Aur Ashtaroth ke hamrah*

*Jo kabhi zameen asmanon ke khudawand the.*

*Ab jalti hui mashalon ke baghair tariki mein hain.*

*Libya ka devta, Hammon apna naqus tor chuka hai*

*Aur Thammuz ke liye kafir larkiyan sog mein hain.*

[Peor and Baalim

Have forsaken their temples.

Along with the defeated gods of Palestine

And accompanied by Ashtaroth

Who were once the lords of the heavens and the earth.

They are now in darkness, without burning torches.

The god of Libya, Hammon, has broken his conch

And the pagan girls are in mourning for Thammuz.]

(4) In light of this reality, it must be noted that at the dawn of Islam, the mythology of gods and goddesses existed nowhere except in Najd, Yemen, and India. Through its intellectual dominance, Islam permanently eradicated Lat, Manat, Uzza, and Naila. The philosophical perspective that Islam introduced and popularized in literature and poetry completely excluded these ancient Arabian deities.

(5) Following the Muslim conquest of Palestine and the eastern Christian territories, the Greek philosophy they encountered was less Greek and more Christian in nature. The figures of Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus had all been reshaped to align with the revealed religion of Christianity. In the Greek philosophy that Muslims assimilated into their own heritage, logic had replaced mythology; deities like Apollo and Venus were entirely absent. If mythology survived anywhere, it was within astrology. However, Muslims have always condemned astrology as heresy (*kufr*), for Allah alone is the Knower of the Unseen—not false gods concealed within the movements of the stars.

(6) In India, Muslims held the position of rulers and represented a conquering cultural force. Therefore, the idea of Muslims being influenced by Hindu mythology is baseless. The temples of Somnath and Kangra, associated with the accounts of Al-Biruni, stand as historical testaments to this fact.

(1) As a religion, Islam does not associate any god or goddess with Allah.

(2) Allah's sovereignty is infinite and unparalleled. In contrast, gods and goddesses are human and semi-philosophical constructs—akin to the figures of Ellora and Ajanta—and anthropomorphic units born of the universe. Consequently, their power and authority are strictly limited.

(3) The history of gods and goddesses is inherently a history of evolution, which, in a way, mirrors the evolutionary tale of the human mind. In Greece, the era of the Titans (demons, giants, and spirits) was succeeded by the age of the Olympian gods, where one generation of deities waged war against another. In Greek mythology, certain gods originate from Northern Europe, while others hail from Egypt or Anatolia. The original gods of Greece were eventually assimilated into these immigrant deities.

(1) In India, the deities were not purely Aryan.

(2) There is a considerable gap in the sociological evolution between Shaivism and Vaishnavism.

(4) These facts inherently testify that gods and goddesses lack intellectual finality or absoluteness. Therefore, any syncretism between the religion of Allah and the pantheon of gods and goddesses was intellectually impossible.

(7) The educational system introduced by Muslims in India was founded upon the religion of Islam and Persian-Islamic sciences. Hindu seminaries (*Pathshalas*) were not integrated into this system. Consequently, Muslims never established any intellectual connection with the deities of the Hindu faith. The academic and intellectual development of Muslims remained strictly anchored in monotheism (*Tawhid*), ensuring that their intellectual environment remained entirely immune to the Aryan influences of mythology.

(8) Some argue that the majority of Muslims in India were indigenous inhabitants of the subcontinent. Therefore, they claim, religious conversion did not result in a complete severance from tradition. According to this view, the tradition of gods and goddesses was not broken, but rather absorbed somewhere within the fold of Islam.

(1) The first counter-argument is that we find no visible trace of this supposedly assimilated tradition anywhere.

(2) The second is that religious conversion is, in its very essence, a severance from past traditions.

(3) In making such claims, these individuals conveniently forget the various religious movements that emerged periodically, striving to purge Islam of un-Islamic influences.

(4) Some of the prominent movements that emerged after Akbar's *Din-i-Ilahi* include:

(1) The movement of Mujaddid Alf Sani

(2) The religious movements of the eighteenth century

(3) The movement of Syed Ahmad Shaheed

(4) The Ahmadiyya movement

(5) The Muslim Renaissance movement, and the Khaksar movement

(6) The Jamaat-e-Islami movement.

(9) The presence of these movements, which arose in the aftermath of *Din-i-Ilahi*, clearly resolves the debate regarding Islam and Hindu influences.

(1) Although Islam rejected ancient mythology, this does not imply that it failed to create its own mythology in accordance with its unique disposition.

(2) Throughout Islamic cultural history, we can sense the pervasive presence of *mythos*.

(3) In the *Seerah* (biography) of the Messenger of Allah, the symbols used to construct the persona of the Prophet heavily utilize... the human imagination.

(1) In *Na'ats* (poetry praising the Prophet), the conceptualization of the 'Beloved of God' closely resembles mythology.

(2) Events such as *Shaqq-us-Sadr* (the splitting of the chest), *Shaqq-ul-Qamar* (the splitting of the moon), and other miracles serve as testaments to this very disposition.

(3) The *Karamat* (miracles) of the Sufis are also an extension of this mode of thought.

(4) Islam has transformed its own history into mythology. The revered figures of the tragedy of Karbala do not merely breathe within the confines of history; rather, they transcend the historical sphere to become an integral part of our hearts and minds. Through the power of our imagination, we draw them close, absorb them into our souls, and thus attempt to truly comprehend them.

(5) The concept of the Hidden Imam and the belief in the descent of the Mahdi are quintessential concepts of Islamic mythology.

(6) Muhammad Asad, in his book *The Road to Mecca*, mentions a *khanqah* (Sufi lodge) in Scutari where he participated in a dervish dance. He notes that the spiritual state induced by the dance compelled him to wonder how such a practice had entered Islam.

(1) In his view, this dance was an echo of ancient religious dances.

(2) In antiquity, priests would dance before the idols of their deities.

(7) However, the point worthy of our consideration is this: to what extent did the dance Allama Asad witnessed in Scutari differ from those ancient dances?

(8) The dance of the dervishes derives its meaning from a conceptual framework. This concept stems from the omnipresence of the Unseen and the Exalted, which aligns perfectly with the ethos of Islam.

(9) Rather than an anthropomorphic mythology, Islam has created a conceptual mythology.

(1) The Islamic mythos is rooted in history and conceptualism; therefore, its cognitive framework never strays beyond its own cultural boundaries. Anyone influenced by this faith who recognizes Islamic traditions as an ongoing continuum will, according to their own disposition, perceive a wondrous and extraordinary universe within it. This universe encompasses the *Seerah* (life of the Prophet), Islamic history, the chronicles of saints, epic war ballads, mystical revelations and miracles, *ghazal* poetry, folklore, and the classic poetic imagery of the narcissus, lily, and jasmine. This universe is constructed through the imagination, and it is only through the imagination that human intellect can comprehend it.

(2) In the presence of such a magnificent mythos, turning toward Ghanshyam, Jupiter, or Kali signifies nothing but a deliberate deviation.