Muhammad in the Bhavishya Purana
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The Bhavishya Purana (Sanskrit:भविष्य पुराण, literally "the future Purana") is one of the eighteen major Hindu Puranas. It is written in Sanskrit and attributed to Rishi Vyasa, the compiler of the Vedas.[1] The title Bhavishya Purana signifies a work that contains prophecies regarding the future or a "history of the future."[2] Popular Indian Islamic preachers and apologists such as Dr. Zakir Naik often make the claim that the Hindu scriptures, the Bhavishya Purana in particular, predict the mission and life of Muhammad, and that this constitutes a miracle. This claim is a relatively recent invention, and is not often made outside of India to non-Hindus. The text of the purana itself is a complicated one; like most Hindu scriptures, linguistic features of the Sanskrit it was composed to points to a relatively early composition of the core of the text, but this was an oral, not a written, composition. The full text of the purana itself was put to writing at a relatively late date, and much of the material in it is are likely later accretions to the original core text. Although linguistic features of the core Sanskrit text do point to a relatively early composition date, the Puranas appear younger than the Vedas and the Mahabharata, and the attribution of all of these texts to Rishi Vyasa is almost certainly false.There do appear to be passages in the Bhavishya Purana that that describe Muhammad, but some of these are hostile and appear to paint him as a mlecha, a dastardly foreigner, or even as a demon. Rather than being an actual example of a prophesy, most scholars view these references as an example of Vaticinium ex eventu, a prophecy being placed in the mouth of a prophet by a writer composing after the fact, in order to attribute divine prophesy to his character.
The Puranas
The puranas, 18 in all, compose a vast mass of historical literature on the history of Hindu kings, gods and people. They are traditionally attributed to Vyasa, the narrator of the Mahabharata. They purport to relate the history of the world from its creations. Like most of the Sanskrit Hindu scriptures, the puranas were originally oral texts handed down from teacher to pupil by the priestly brahmin caste. The actual writing down of the puranas happened far after their actual and supposed compososition, and the texts themselves show much evidence of accretions, editions, additions and subtractions along the way to finally being written down.
Contents and Composition of the Bhavishya Purana
The Bhavishya Purana purports to tell the "history of the future" (Bhavishya भविष्य means the future both in Sanskrit and modern Hindi) and also contains a description of the genesis of the worship of Lords Vishnua, Shiva and Surya. Like the other puranas much more recent material has been added to the primordial core of orally composed text, and scholars agree that the "prophecies" which it contains are actually examples of Vaticinium ex eventu "prophecies after the fact", historic events introduced into a "prophetic" text to make it appear to have prophetic powers of future understanding.
Importance of Bhavishya Purana in Islamic Dawah
Islamic du'aa such as Zakir Naik sometimes mention that Prophet Muhammad was predicted in the Hindu scriptures, especially when speaking to an Indian audience. The Bhavishya Purana is prominent in this regard. but what they fail to convey accurately is the nature of these references. Muhammad is depicted as a reincarnated demon, Islam as a demonic religion, and its followers as "the corrupters of religion".[3]
Text of the alleged Prophecy
Original Sanskrit
English Translation
Suta Goswami said: After hearing the king’s prayers, Lord Shiva said: O king Bhojaraja, you should go to the place called Mahakakshvara, that land is called Vahika and now is being contaminated by the mlecchas. In that terrible country there no longer exists dharma. There was a mystic demon named Tripura (Tripurasura), whom I have already burnt to ashes, he has come again by the order of Bali. He has no origin but he achieved a benediction from me. His name is Mahamada (Muhammad) and his deeds are like that of a ghost. Therefore, O king, you should not go to this land of the evil ghost. By my mercy your intelligence will be purified. Hearing this the king came back to his country and Mahamada (Muhammad) came with them to the bank of the river Sindhu. He was expert in expanding illusion, so he said to the king very pleasingly: O great king, your god has become my servant. Just see, as he eats my remnants, so I will show you. The king became surprised when he saw this just before them. Then in anger Kalidasa rebuked Mahamada (Muhammad) “O rascal, you have created an illusion to bewilder the king, I will kill you, you are the lowest..."
That city is known as their site of pilgrimage, a place which was Madina or free from intoxication. Having a form of a ghost (Bhuta), the expert illusionist Mahamada (Muhammad) appeared at night in front of king Bhojaraja and said: O king, your religion is of course known as the best religion among all. Still I am going to establish a terrible and demoniac religion by the order of the Lord . The symptoms of my followers will be that they first of all will cut their genitals, have no shikha, but having beard, be wicked, make noise loudly and eat everything. They should eat animals without performing any rituals. This is my opinion. They will perform purificatory act with the musala or a pestle as you purify your things with kusha. Therefore, they will be known as musalman, the corrupters of religion. Thus the demoniac religion will be founded by me. After having heard all this the king came back to his palace and that ghost (Muhammad) went back to his place.
The intelligent king, Bhojaraj established the language of Sanskrit in three varnas - the brahmanas, kshatriyas and vaisyas - and for the shudras he established prakrita-bhasha, the ordinary language spoken by common men. After ruling his kingdom for 50 years, he went to the heavenly planet. The moral laws established by him were honored even by the demigods. The arya-varta, the pious land is situated between Vindhyacala and Himacala or the mountains known as Vindhya and Himalaya. The Aryans reside there, but varna-sankaras reside on the lower part of Vindhya. The musalman people were kept on the other side of the river Sindhu.
On the island of Barbara, Tusha and many others also the followers of Isamsiha were also situated as they were managed by a king or demigods.[4]See Also
- Muhammad in Other Scriptures - A hub page that leads to other articles related to Muhammad in Other Scriptures
External Links
References
- ↑ For the Bhaviṣyat Purāṇa as one of the eighteen major puranas see: Winternitz, volume 1, p. 531.
- ↑ For the title signifying "a work which contains prophecies regarding the future" see: Winternitz, p. 567.
- ↑ Ramanujan, A. K., "Folk Mythologies and Purāṇas" in: Doniger (1993), Purāṇa Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts. Albany, New York: State University of New York. ISBN 0-7914-1382-9, p. 105.
- ↑ Bhavishya Puran: Prati Sarg: Part III:3,3 5-27