continued..............
Religious Beliefs and Practices
Alberuni, who had carefully studied the
Hindu religion’s philosophy and institutions,
found no difficulty in marking out the trinity
gods (three deities of the Hindu religion) and
philosophy of the Upanishads. He says that the
belief in a multitude of gods is vulgar and is a
typical of the un-educated. Educated Hindus
believe god to be one and Eternal. Hindus
considered the existence of god as real. because
everything that exists, exists through god.
Alberuni had also learned all about the
Hindu concept of transmigration of soul. He
explains that Indians believed that every act of
this life will be rewarded or punished in the life
to com, and the final emancipation of a human
being is possible only through true knowledge,
He terms all these beliefs of the Indian as narrowmindedness.
He says that insularity at every level
was the characteristic feature of India in the 11th
century and the price of this insularity was the
disruption of the country be the coming of the
Turks.
Scientific Knowledge and legal System
Although Alberuni is critical of the scientific
knowledge of Indians, sometimes he has praised
their knowledge. He made great effort to
understand the Indian legal system. He notes
every practical aspect of the legal system and
points out the difference between these and the
legal theories as expounded in the law books like
Manusmriti. He also praises the weights and
measure system and distance measurement
system of Indians. He also notices the many
variations of the Indian alphabets. He provides
interesting geographical data and takes into
account local astronomical and mathematical
theories.
While making his profound observation,
Alberuni, did not pay a partisan role and
condemned Mahmud Ghazni’s destructive
activities. He was perhaps the first Muslim to
have undertaken the study of Indian society on
such a major scale.
Where Alberuni was not very sure of his own
knowledge, he frankly admitted it. His critical
assessment of Indian customs and ways of life,
festivals, ceremonies is particularly interesting.
He says that the fact that Indians had started
depending on tradition heavily was a hindrance
to genuine intellectual quest. He felt that learning
and scientific spirit suffered because they had
been sub-ordained to religion.
