Well the correct title should have been sub-continent muslims are more influenced by Hindustani culture than Arab culture. I understand that he is trying to use the term Hindu in the cultural sense, but people like the previous RSS heads and Praveen Tagodia, Advani during the 90s and Bal Thakery and the likes have completely changed the definition and made it quite rigid, moreover Aakar Patel's understanding of Islam and difference between tribal/arab culture and Islamic principles is sorely lacking.
And still the content wouldn't be accurate. The moon sighting even if taken scientifically wouldn't be visible in the subcontinent at the same time as in the Arabian peninsula. For example In Australia and Indonesia, it was on Saturday because the the new moon was visible in this part of the world but not in the ME or sub-continent. It is only region specific and doesn't have to be exactly the same day around the world. Although there does exist difference of opinion on this matter, this is the consensus view.
Idolatory to the moon? Again, false propaganda, because even the most illiterate muslim knows that no one "prays" to the moon. The different phases is used to keep track of time and that is it
Saudi Arabia didn't exist before 1932, this area was under the Ottoman Turks which where the superpowers of their time. Jews from Europe would go there to escape persecution. The leading intellectuals from China India Europe would come to Baghdad to translate and study in the sciences at that time. Even the hard line view in SA today started only in the 70s and 80s, before that you had cinemas e.t.c. there.
There were international compulsions like 67 war with Israel, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the destabalising movements against the Saudi royal family that they had to legitimize their rule and used Islam for their political purposes giving power to the extremist clerics from the area around Riyadh while marginalizing the cosmopolitan Sunnis in the west around mecca and medinah and the shias in the east. They will have to revert back to the true spirit of Islam in time.
Already they are running local elections and people are able to elect their representatives for local bodies and even the King's council. A Saudi female has also become minister in the cabinet. Saudi females graduates are more in number than males in higher education and female literacy is almost 80%. There is nothing UnIslamic about this. Similarly the stupid rule about women not driving cars, even the clerics say that its is not against Quran or Hadith for women to drive "but" it is better because there is lot of bad people around and can cause strife in society. Such rulings indicate a mindset of male-dominant culture rather than faithfully following Islamic teachings.
A dictatorship is definitely not Islamic and a kingdom is no different. So in that sense Indian muslims are following the Islamic principle of rule with consensus, while the arabs are not yet. But the population wants to, its not that they are happy with having a dictatorship. The Kingdom will have to go and a true democratic / shura setup will have to come for it to return to Islamic principles.
I disagree that Indian Muslims worship a "different" diety. We actually worship the same One God who even Hindus worship but call with different names and worship the same God. Even the Jews and the Christians worship the one God who they call Yahweh or Jehovah. He may also be referred to as Ishwar, and he has different qualities which incorporates Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu, but this are the different attributes of the one Parmatma and Ishwar. This is also according to the Vedas which calls for worshipping the One God which is formless. The closest sects would probably be the Vedantists, lingayats and Arya Samajis in this regard who also are also monotheists and abstain from idol worship.
European culture is based on Greek, Roman and Gaulic culture. Christianity is hardly there any more. Christian texts prohibit alcohol and homosexuality, the Bible has even more harsh punishments than the Shariah laws. "Eye for an Eye" is from the bible. Infact, it was the Dark Ages where the Catholic church had full sway over the European continent.
After the interactions with the Ottomans and the Andalusian people in Spain, the Renaissance was given birth in Europe. So its really an interaction with Muslim majority civilizations (I actually prefer to call it Turkish, Spanish, Egyptian, Persian Indian civilizations based on the region) which again interacted with Greek Ancient Indian and Chinese civilizations that we have present day Europe. The same thing applies to India, the present day culture (the culture not the religion) is a result of the interaction of Persian and Turkic influences along with a strong dose of British and European influences in the recent past.
And Islamic values are based on the same values of universal brotherhood, freedom of religion(secular) and expression, consensus of people (democracy), charity to the poor and needy, kindness to neighbors and so on. Whats wrong with that? Almost all major religions have some sort of values like this. Infact, this is what the whole world is trying to uphold and muslims would naturally join this effort because of their religion as well.
Singing is also allowed, and the most hardline view would be that only the duff should be used as a musical instrument. Infact, even during the Prophet Muhammad's time, he would appreciate and let the girls of Medinah sing songs during Eid and other festivals for people to enjoy.
Even today, many Qawallis and naths-songs in praises of the prophets and saints are sung as well.
The problem is that some of today's songs have become vulgar in many cases and any parent would be opposed if their kids saw some songs or heard their lyrics. But as long as the music isn't vulgar e.t.c there is nothing wrong with it.
Unfortunately, because of people like Bin Laden and Syed Qutb who used Islam for political purposes and grabbing power and also were influenced by Communist and Fascist revolutions in Europe that were taking place a lot of misconception of Islam has come.This is where the problem is and any group that uses Islam for political purposes no matter what it is, can't represent true Islam because when it comes to politics you have to get dirty, change your aims and do what ever it takes to maintain your power, even if its unethical and contrary to your core beliefs.
On the other hand there is a group of people who have already closed their minds and formed a negative opinion of Islam, anything favorable is seen as unIslamic because according to them how can anything good come out of Islam? Falsehood and distortions are used to present negative image of Islam. "Its not muslims, Its Islam" they say ignorantly without even having any objective study of Islam or the Quran taken. This situation will change because its not true. People should learn to open their minds and approach Islam objectively and that is already happening.
Islam is based on five pillars
(1) Belief in One God and that Muhammad was his messenger
(2) Prayers or Salat
(3) Fasting in Ramadan only if you are healthy enough to do so
(4) Giving in charity a minimum of 2.5% of wealth only if you are well off
(5) Go to Hajj once in a lifetime only if you are healthy AND you have the money to do so
Other than 1 and 2 all other are conditional, and as long as a person follows this he is a muslim. You can be a Chinese, speak Chinese wear Chinese clothes, have Chinese friends and live and eat like Chinese and still be a good muslim
The same thing applies to the muslims of the sub-continent. For example many muslims and even Hindus wear the sherwani as a special dress, and the ladies wear sarees, shararas, shalwar shirts e.t.c there is nothing unIslamic about or Islamic. Its a cultural thing. Similarly wearing jewellry is a cultural thing and if someone wears a mangalsutra there is nothing UnIslamic about it because its just jewellry. Just because an Indian muslim wears shalwar kameez or sherwani instead of an Arab head dress and body gown doesn't mean he is a less muslim.
The problem is there is a lot of misunderstanding between people of the othe religion and this applies to both Hindus and Muslims. For example a close Hindu friend of mine after a few years asked me saying he didn't want to offend me but why in the masjids you guys always chant Mughal king Akbar's name and why not other kings. It was after I explained that it just means Great or Allahu Akbar means basically "Ishwar sabse bada hai" did he understand and appreciate it. Otherwise he (and many others) thought that muslims keep praising a Mughal king in our prayers!
On a religious level there are some similarities between Hinduism and Islam, Zakir Naik has discussed this in various lectures and quoted from the vedas and Quran, so there is some commonality there.
I think Aakar Patel is writing with a genuine heart but he has some misconceptions. I'm not sure he is Muslim but if someone can provide some good links that would be good. I knw he is a pretty prolific journalist though and writes articles in many papers.
