Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c7.s3.23

c7.s3.23

Friday service is an article of faith with Muslims. It has three components - congregational namaz, sermon by the imam and, under Muslim rule, an ever rising number of *namazis*. Congregational mosques could be built without destroying Hindu temples. But in Islam, breaking the shrines of the people of other faiths is advocated by Hadis and Sunnah. Provocative acts of iconoclasm were therefore freely indulged in India without any regard to the feelings of the non-Muslims. Muslim chroniclers have written dozens of accounts about how Hindu temples and monasteries were razed to the ground and how images of Hindu gods and goddesses were destroyed or desecrated. Commandments of Allah (Quran) and precedents set by the Prophet (Sunnah) are frequently cited by them in support of what the Muslim warriors did both in times of war and of peace. But they do not mention Hindu response to such malevolent acts. Hindu Rajas were not stifled; Hindu resistance never slackened. They did react for years, for decades and for centuries, as best as they could, under the circumstances. We shall confine our notice to the only four renowned temples - Somnath, Ayodhya, Banaras, and Mathura - held specially sacred by the Hindus. The bitter memories of their destruction still linger in the Hindu mind.