Basic Beliefs of Hindus and Muslims
side by side

Islam	Hinduism
In Islam, belief in One God is the most important belief. Allah in arabic refers to the One God. It is a known fact that every language has one or more terms that are used in reference to God and sometimes to lesser deities. This is not the case with Allah. Allah is the personal name of the One true God. Nothing else can be called Allah. The term has no plural or gender. This shows its uniqueness when compared with the word god which can be made plural, gods, or feminine, goddess. It is interesting to notice that Allah is the personal name of God in Aramaic, the language of Jesus and a sister language of Arabic. The One true God is a reflection of the unique concept that Islam associates with God. To a Muslim, Allah is the Almighty, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Who is similar to nothing and nothing is comparable to Him. (monotheism) Islam exhorts man to consider himself and his surroundings as examples of Divine Creation rather than as divinity itself. Muslims therefore believe that everything is God’s i.e. the word ‘God’ with an apostrophe ‘s’. In other words the Muslims believe that everything belongs to God. The trees belong to God, the sun belongs to God, the moon belongs to God, the monkey belongs to God, the snake belongs to God, the human beings belong to God and everything in this universe belongs to God. Thus the major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim beliefs is the difference of the apostrophe ‘s’. The Hindu says everything is God. The Muslim says everything is God’s.	*Common Concept of God in Hinduism:* Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to this, by professing belief in multiple Gods. While some Hindus believe in the existence of three gods, some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty three crore i.e. 330 million Gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God. The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as God. He considers the trees as God, the sun as God, the moon as God, the monkey as God, the snake as God and even human beings as manifestations of God!
In Islam, all humans are created equal. For example, there is no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, or vice versa. Blacks and whites have no superiority over each other. The same holds with any other nationality or ethnicity. Islam rejects characterizing God in any human form or depicting Him as favoring certain individuals or nations on the basis of wealth, power or race. He created the human beings as equals. They may distinguish themselves and get His favor through virtue and piety only.	Hinduism has a caste system, with four major castes. Members of each are required by strict religious laws to follow certain hereditary occupations and to refrain from intermarriage or eating with members of the other castes. The highest, or priestly and intellectual, caste is that of theBrahmans. The remaining three in order are Kshatriya (ruling or warrior caste), Vaisya (common artisan and agricultural caste), and the Sudras(the low caste people).
Muslims eat all wholesome and good food including meat of Cow (beef), lamb, goat, and chicken.	Cow is a sacred animal and a deity for Hindus. Cows, therefore, can not be killed or eaten in Hinduism.
Muslims believe that each person has a body and soul. At death, your body is separated from your soul. Your faith and actions in this life will determine your fate in the Life After Death. There is a Day of Judgment when this life will come to an end for every one, and all humans from Adam to the last person, will be brought to a second life, rejoining of your body and soul. On that Day, God will put people in Hell or Heaven based on their beliefs and deeds of this life.	Hinduism believes in body and soul. Your soul returns to your body after your death. This cycle repeats seven times according to some. Your status or caste in next life depends on your deeds of the previous life. This is called Reincarnation in Hinduism.