Question

Describe a religion that is not your own.

Choose from one of the following religions: Ancient Egyptian belief, Hinduism, Greek or Roman Polytheism, Native American Religion, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. You must choose a religion that is not your own.

Describe three features or tenets of the chosen religion.

Mention any written works and prophets.

Share how this religion compares to your religion or beliefs, even if you do not have a chosen "religion."

Answer 1

Hinduism is influenced by local, regional, caste, and community-driven practices and not by a particular set of rules for all. The common factor among all is the “ belief in a Supreme Being” and the strong adherence to the concepts of Truth, dharma, and karma. The sacred scriptures of Vedas are widely accepted by them.

Hinduism is a prominent religion in the Indian subcontinent and it has a base on dharma (a way of life). Many of the scholars refer to it as “Sanātana Dharma” the eternal tradition. Most of the scholars regard Hinduism has no founder and it aroused as a result of the fusion of various Indian cultures and traditions. It is widely believed that the development of Hinduism started between 500 BCE and 300 CE after the Vedic period (1500 BCE to 500 BCE).

The texts in Hindu religion are classified as Śruti ("heard") and Smṛti ("remembered"). The scriptures of importance are the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Agamas. The eminent themes in Hindu beliefs constituted of the Puruṣārthas “ the proper goals or aims of human life” and they are Dharma (ethics/duties), Artha (prosperity/work), Kama (desires/passions) and Moksha (liberation/freedom/salvation), karma (action, intent and consequences), Saṃsāra (cycle of rebirth), and the various Yogas (ways or practices to attain moksha).

Their enactment of Hinduism comprises of rituals such as puja or worship, recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Some of the people in the Hindu religion quit their social life and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa (monastic practices) to achieve Moksha. Hinduism supports the eternal duties, such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings (ahimsa), patience, forbearance, self-restraint, and compassion, among others. The four largest sects of Hinduism are the Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism.

The common beliefs shared among Hindus:

• Eternal Truth
• Brahman – the true God- is Truth and Reality.
• The Vedas are the ultimate authority and omnipresent and omnipotent
• Dharma must be the main point of everyone’s life
• The immortality of individual souls
• The aim of the soul is moksha (liberation)

Comparison of Hinduism with Islam

Both of the share some ritual practices such as fasting and pilgrimage. But they vary in many views such as apostasy, blasphemy, circumcision, consanguineous marriages, idol making, henotheism, social stratification, vegetarianism, and Ahimsa as a virtue. Temple is the place of worship in Hinduism and Mosque/Masjid is the same for Islam. The Hindu practices Meditation, yoga, contemplation, yagna (communal worship), offerings in the temple. In Islam there are Five pillars: Testament that there is one God and Muhammad is his messenger (shahadah), prayer five times daily, fast during Ramadan, charity to the poor (zakat), pilgrimage (Hajj).

Muslims are not permitted to use common images of God or prophets. For them, no image is representative of God. There is no particular founder of Hinduism but the prophet Muhammad is the one who founded Islam. All the people who follow Muhammad ’s guidance and the messengers sent with it are considered Muslims.

Yet the Hinduism believe in many gods and realize that they all come from Atman or Only one God (monotheism). Islam believes in one God depends on hope in God's mercy.

Original Language(s) of Hinduism and Islam are Sanskrit and Arabic respectively.