The Divine Education Model in the Family of the Prophets (Part 143)
Educational Lessons from the Life of the Messenger of Allah, Prophet Muhammad Mustafa (PBUH)
The Conditions of the World Before the Birth and Prophethood of the Leader of Both Worlds, the Noble Messenger (PBUH)
The Conditions of the Countries and Nations of the World Before Islam
India
Historians believe that the darkest period in India’s religious, political, moral, and social history began in the early sixth century. Since religious beliefs had given an appearance of sacredness to unrestrained behavior, such practices became widespread everywhere, even in temples. Women were considered to have little value, and it was customary for a woman to burn herself alive after her husband’s death.
Historians of India generally agree that the most disorderly period in its religious, moral, and social history was the era that began at the start of the sixth century CE.
India, like its neighboring countries, also shared in the moral and social decline that prevailed throughout the world during that historical period. It was not spared from this widespread darkness. In addition, India had certain distinctive practices and customs, which can be summarized under three main headings:
An excessive number of deities;
Unrestrained sexual desire;
Class distinctions and unjust social discrimination. [1]
Excessive Idol Worship
By the sixth century, idol worship in India had reached its peak. The Vedas mentioned thirty-three deities, but by this century, their number had increased to 330 million.
Every extraordinary or attractive object, and generally anything that played a role in people’s daily lives, was worshipped as a deity. Consequently, the number of idols, images, and statues became beyond counting. Some represented historical figures, while others represented heroes who, according to popular belief, had been manifestations of a deity on particular occasions or during specific events.
Others included natural resources, such as gold and silver mines, in which a deity was believed to have manifested itself. The Ganges River, which was believed to have emerged from the head of a deity named Mahadeva, was among the objects of worship. Weapons, writing instruments, sexual organs, animals such as cows, celestial bodies, and other objects were also counted among the idols worshipped by the people of India.
In this way, Hindu religious practices became a mixture of superstitions, legends, hymns, beliefs, and acts of worship that, according to the account presented here, lacked a sound and well-established foundation and could not be justified by sound reasoning.
During this period, the craft of idol-making advanced considerably and reached its peak in the sixth and seventh centuries, attaining a level of development that had not been achieved in earlier times.
All classes of society, from kings to beggars, regarded idol worship as their duty. [2]
Unrestrained Sexual Desire
From ancient times, Hindu religious traditions and Indian society had been associated with sensual indulgence and the pursuit of sexual pleasure. One possible explanation offered for this was that factors encouraging sexual desire had never become so deeply embedded in any other religious tradition or land as they had in Hindu religious practices.
Indian religious books and religious gatherings contained narratives and stories concerning manifestations of divine attributes, major events, and explanations of the universe. Some of these accounts described relationships between male and female deities and the assaults of certain deities upon respectable families—stories that, according to the author, were difficult to recount without violating a sense of shame and modesty.
The influence of such stories on the minds of sincere religious devotees, followed by the repetition and transmission of these accounts with religious conviction and enthusiasm, is evident.
Furthermore, the worship of the sexual organ of their principal deity, Mahadeva, and the production of images depicting it in highly indecent forms, as well as the gathering of women, men, and children to worship it, were among the practices described in these accounts. Some historians also report that certain religious scholars and sects worshipped naked women, while women worshipped naked men. Such practices would undoubtedly have harmful consequences.
Corrupt and unfaithful temple priests repeatedly assaulted female pilgrims and nuns. Many temples had become places of prostitution, where immoral individuals pursued their desires.
From this description, it becomes clear that if places built specifically for worship and religious devotion were in such a condition, the situation among courtiers and within the palaces of the aristocracy would hardly have been better.
These families competed with one another in committing immoral acts and engaging in indecency. Gatherings attended by both men and women were held, and when wine cups began circulating, the restraints of decorum and dignity were cast aside. Good manners disappeared, while modesty and shame were concealed behind a veil.
In this manner, waves of sexual indulgence and unrestrained behavior spread throughout the land, and men and women alike descended to what the author describes as the lowest level of moral conduct. [3]
[1] Al-Nadwi, Abu al-Hasan Ali al-Hasani, Kand-o-Kavavi dar Awza-e Jahan (An Examination of the Conditions of the World), translated by Abd al-Hakim Uthmani, Nashr Ihsan, 2nd ed., 1388 SH, p. 93.
