In the first part of his talk, Shri Mehandale explained the various aspects of ‘jizya’ and how it was an important part of the attempts by all Islamic regimes to end Hindu Dharma. In this part, he explains several other characteristics of Islamic rule in Bharat and the sanction their acts received both from Koran and the teachings of Mohammad.
Another important aspect of Islam’s imposition was ‘desecrating vigrahas’ and destroying Mandirs (temples). This aspect had sanction not just from the words but from the actions of the Prophet itself.
Shri Mehandale narrates the incident where Muhammad who had left for Medina but returned to Mecca to destroy 360 ancient Pagan idols including the one known as Kaaba (which still stands in Mecca but is considered a manifestation of evil) as an example.
The numerous Islamic invaders who set foot on Bharat had the example of Muhammad himself before themselves and they walked the path shown by him as far as destroying temples and vigrahas was concerned.
A mosque built by Qutubuddin Aibak in 1192 has an inscription saying “this mosque has been built using material from 27 temples”. This mosque still stands at the foot of Qutub Minar even though it is dilapidated and people can see remnants of Hindu and Jain temples here. This mosque is known as Quwwatul Islam which translates to “might or capability of Islam”, in other words, Islam’s ability to destruct Hindu temples.
Aibak’s general Bhaktiyar Khilji destroyed Bihar’s Buddha Vihara and killed several unarmed Buddhist monks and then went on to destroy several other Buddhist Viharas. Many scholars believe this wanton destruction of the centre of Buddhist learning led to its decline.
Iltutmish razed the temple of Ujjain Mahakaleshwar which is one of the 12 Jyotirlingas and carried away the “Shiv Pind” (Shivalinga) and strew the broken pieces of Shivlinga on the steps of Jama Masjid in Delhi so that Muslims may trample upon them.
Even Tughlaq destroyed various temples and brought back murtis which were then broken into pieces and placed on the steps of various mosques in an attempt to insult Hindus and destroy Hindu Dharma as mentioned in biographies of Tughlaq.
Mughals from Babur to Aurangzeb have indulged in razing temples and gurudwaras as recorded by their chroniclers, biographies and even these rulers themselves have recorded these destructions in their autobiographies.
At times they razed a lone temple and at others they indulged in mass destruction. Maasir-I-Alamgiri states that between March 1679 and August 1680, more than 300 temples were felled by Aurangzeb. Official Mughal records show that in January 1705 Aurangzeb issued orders to destroy the Pandharpur Vittal Mandir and slaughter cow in the holy temple premises.
Refuting secular arguments that Islamic invaders looted temples only for their wealth and with no other intention, Mehandale points out that this argument is both false and baseless because if the intention was to loot the wealth of the temple, they would not have ordered the murtis to be broken into pieces and thrown on the steps of the temple so that Muslims may trample upon them. He further indicates that all of this was done in the name of the Prophet who destroyed Pagan idols in Mecca, not for wealth but because Islam does not accept murti Pooja.
He also says that there is no evidence to support the claim that Hindus destroyed Jaina temples and hence their temples were razed by Islamic invaders. He says that this argument does not hold water at all. Besides Islamists destroyed Jain and Buddhist temples as well which again refutes this line of argument.
Even the reasoning that temples were destroyed with the intention of declaring that the invader had established his rule in this particular region stands discredited because a ruler would have destroyed every structure constructed in the conquered region including mosques which were not the case and Hindu structures were specifically targeted.
Slavery was another important aspect of the Islamic rule which was also sanctioned by Islam. Jihad has Koranic sanction and even Muhammad has asked his true followers to wage Jihad on kafirs and enslave women and children. Muhammad himself killed men of a Jewish settlement after winning the war and children and women were sold off as slaves in Arab.
From Balban to Aurangzeb, Islamic rulers have always followed Muhammad’s footsteps. These Islamic rulers often designated native Hindus as “thieves or pirates” and sent their armies to wage wars against them. When Hindus were defeated their women and children were sold off as slaves.
Giving an example of Balban’s cruelty, Mehandale cites one instance where Balban defeated Hindus of a hill region, and later some of these were killed by having an elephant trample upon them while hundreds were skinned alive and their skins were displayed on the doors of Delhi as an ‘achievement’.
Alauddin Khilji, having won the Chittor battle, also ordered killing every Hindu who was sighted after the war was over and as a result, thirty thousand Hindus were killed in the ensuing carnage. Taimur Lang mentions around ten times in his autobiography that he invaded Bharat because Islamic rulers had become weak and ‘kafirs’ had gained in strength. He, therefore, waged ‘jihad’ to save Islam as per his own admissions which seculars want us to ignore.
The so-called secular Akbar also has the blood of innocent Hindus in his hands and was equally a believer of ‘jihad’ who killed thousands of Hindus after Chittor fell into his hands. Mehandale also mentions a believer of the Naqshbandi Sufi sect Islamic general Abdullah Khan who had admitted killing around two lakh Hindus and converting 5 lakhs non-believers to Islam before selling them off as slaves.
Treatment given to women by Islamic invaders was also in keeping with the act of Muhammad who used to sell off women captured during wars and keep those he found attractive for himself. The fourth chapter of the Koran says that although sexual relations with married women are forbidden, one can keep physical relations with those who were won in war.
From time to time Muhammad would instruct his followers on the basis of ‘visions/revelations given to him by Allah’. One such ‘revelation’ relates to the Ayat of the Hadis which allows Muslim men to entertain physical relations with married women won over in war. Mehandale states examples of how Tughlaq, Akbar, Shahjahan, and Sher Shah among others followed this example of Muhammad and either enslaved Hindu women in their harems or sold them off as sex slaves much like how ISIS sold off Yezidi women as sex slaves.
Forced religious conversion is another important part of Islamic invasions which also begins with Muhammad who forced the majority of the Meccans who were Pagan idol worshippers to accept Islam. Mehandale cites letters of Tipu Sultan written in 1790 to his Sardar and 1799 to Sultan of Istanbul that he has converted around 4 lakhs Hindus of Malabar and 5 lakhs Kafirs (that includes Hindus and a small percentage of Christians) to Islam respectively.
Speaking on the roles of Sufis, Mehandale has pointed out how none of the so-called Sufi saints belonging to various sects ever condemned these extremist acts of Islamist rulers. Moinuddin Chisti’s biography states that once Muhammad appeared in his dreams and said that Moinuddin you have followed my footsteps in all but one aspect. He, however, didn’t disclose which aspect.
Later, a disciple of Chisti won a war and captured a Hindu woman whom he ‘gifted’ to Chisti. Chisti not just accepted the ‘gift’ but converted the woman to Islam and married her as well. Many Sufi saints have been known to wield the sword and having razed temples in the name of jihad as well.
Another important point to note is all these Islamists used to slaughter cows, most often in temple premises, only because cows were considered sacred by Hindus. Their acts were cheered by Sufis as well and all Islamists including Sufis believed that refraining from slaughtering cows out of consideration for Hindus goes against the tenets of the Koran and amounts to sin. All that is sanctioned by the Koran should be carried out with zeal with the sole aim of pleasing Allah. Also, no Muslim had the right to decide what is sanctioned by Islam and what isn’t because only Allah had the right to do so.
In the concluding part of this talk, we shall see how the rise of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj put an end to Islamic atrocities and gave hope to Hindus with the rise of a Hindu Samrajya, a legacy that his successors continued for several centuries to come.
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