'Om' and 'Allah' are the same: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind chief triggers controversy

On Friday, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Mahmood Madani said India belongs to him as much as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat.

New Delhi, Feb 12: Days after targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying India belongs to him as much as the PM, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Mahmood Madani on Sunday triggered a controversy why equating Om with Allah.

According to him, 'Om', the prime symbol of Hinduism, and 'Allah', the term for God by Muslims, are the same.

Addressing a gathering at the three-day plenary session of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi, he said, "I asked dharma guru when there was no one, neither Shri Ram, nor Brahma, then whom did they use to worship? Some people told me that they used to worship Om. Then I told them that Om is called Allah by us, Ishwar by you (Hindus), Khuda by Farsi (Persian) speaking people and God by English speaking people,"

After the address of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind chief Maulana Syed Arshad Madani, Acharya Lokesh Muni (Jain Muni) present on the stage expressed displeasure over his remarks and said, "We do not agree with his (Arshad Madani) statement. We just agree to live in harmony with each other."

A few days ago, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Mahmood Madani said India belongs to him as much as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat.

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind is a century-old organization and works for the protection of the civil, religious, cultural and educational rights of Muslims. Jamiat claims to be the largest organization of Muslims and socio-political and religious issues of Muslims remain on its agenda. The Jamiat believes in the Deobandi ideology of Islam, PTI reported.

Speaking at the inaugural plenary session of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind at Ramlila Maidan in the national capital, Maulana Madani said, "India is our country. This country belongs to Mahmood Madani as much as it belongs to Narendra Modi and Mohan Bhagwat. Neither Mahmood is an inch ahead of them nor are they one inch ahead of Mahmood."

He claimed that Islam is the oldest religion in this country. "This land is the first homeland of Muslims. Saying that Islam is a religion that came from outside is totally wrong and baseless. Islam is the oldest religion among all religions. India is the best country for Hindi Muslims," Madani said.

The Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind chief stated that they are against forced religious conversions and alleged that today people who are converting their religion voluntarily are also being sent to jail on false charges.

He said, "We are against religious conversion driven forcibly. Freedom of religion is a fundamental right. We are also against conversion by force, fraud and greed. There are many examples of agencies targeting the Muslim community, such as the ban on Namaz, police action on them, and bulldozer action."