On April 5, I took part in a Seminar at Rishikesh attended by a number of highly educated Hindus. At one session on this occasion, there was a good group discussion, which is stated here in brief.

The subject of the discussion was how to produce an atmosphere of mutual tolerance and respect in human society. The Hindus suggested that the concept of the oneness of reality should be inculcated in people’s minds. They held that the truth was one, but the paths to reach the truth were many. Any path one followed would finally lead one to God.

This is an age-old concept, in support of which the arguments are all based on analogies. For instance, one Hindu scholar had this to say: If you are standing at the foot of a hillock, you will find only one way going to the top of the hill. But if you climb up the hill and look around, you will find that there are paths all around the hillock, and that all these paths, albeit separate from each other, reach the same destination, that is, the top of the hillock.

Such analogies carry no weight in academic terms. Arguments based on such parallel cases can easily be refuted by citing other parallel cases. For instance, if someone is standing at a railway station like Bombay or Delhi, he will see dozens of trains in motion, but that would not imply that all the trains were going to the same railway station. In one analogy all the paths are converging on the one destination, while in the other all paths are diverging to a separate destination.

This concept, in essence, has nothing to do with creating tolerance and respect in human society. Even if everyone accepted this theory, it could not serve any purpose so far as the desired social goal is concerned. The practical proof of this is that infighting among the adherents of the same religion has continued since ancient times till today. Then how can the concept of unity which has failed to unite the adherents of the same religion, succeed in uniting the followers of different religions?

“The unity of religion produces social unity.” This statement implies that the concept of the unity of religion has yet to be put into practice. This is at variance with the facts. It is a matter of history that this concept has been experimented with on a very high plane, yet it has been an utter failure. The emperor Akbar, with all the power of the state, Dr. Bhagwan Das with all his encyclopedic knowledge, Mahatma Gandhi, with all his massive following are some of the prominent names which appear on the list of unsuccessful experimenters.

This shows that the real problem facing us today is not the difficulties of experimenting with the concept of the unity of religion, but rather the lack of the desired result after prolonged experiment. In other words, what is lacking is not a valid theory, but a positive outcome. What is needed in this case is to find another solution rather than repeat an experiment that has failed again and again.

The more proper and practicable viewpoint in this matter is one which is explained in the Quran. According to the Quranic concept, all human beings have been created from one single soul (4:1). That is, all human beings have a common source. They are the descendants of a common ancestor. This means that all human beings are each other’s brothers and sisters. The general acceptance that all are blood sisters and blood brothers will on its own produce unity.

According to this concept, the basis for creating unity and mutual respect in society is the firm belief that, despite apparent differences, all belong to the same human brotherhood.

This is the only formula for creating an atmosphere of respect and unity in society which is both practicable and also in accordance with nature. □