Philosophical Viewpoints: Hinduism vs. Islam Quotes in Beneath a Marble Sky

Some ten centuries before, during the ninth month of the lunar year, a caravan trader named Muhammad wandered the desert near Mecca while pondering his faith. One night the angel Gabriel whispered to him that he had been chosen to receive the words of Allah. In the following days, Muhammad found himself speaking the verses that were later transcribed into the Qur'an.

Since the Prophet Muhammad's enlightenment, Muslims have always celebrated Ramadan by forgoing any sort of indulgence. For instance, we renounce food and drink from dawn until dusk for the entire month. Allah, we knew through Muhammad's words in the Qur'an, expected this sacrifice. Fasting, He said, made us appreciate the poor's suffering, as well as learn the peace that accompanies spiritual devotion.

And so I fasted and healed in my room. I recited one-thirtieth of the Qur'an each day until I finished the scripture. By the end of Ramadan, celebrated with the festival of Eid al-Fitr, I was fully recovered. While Muslims throughout Agra hung lanterns and decorations from their homes, and dressed in their finest clothes, I ate dates with Father and watched our city sparkle through the night. (8.6-8)

Early in the afternoon we came across a man burning his wife's body next to the river. Hindus often burnt loved ones' corpses in this manner, since they believed that only once the body was ashes did the soul no longer feel an attachment to the body. Such an uncoupling was necessary for the soul's progress to be unhindered, a passage which began when the ashes were cast into the Ganges. Within its sacred waters the journey toward reincarnation continued—unless the deceased had amassed enough positive karma over numerous lifetimes so that the soul was finally released from the wheel of rebirth. (9.86)

"Buried all your gold, sister?" I started to speak, but he motioned for my silence. "The Sacred Text says, 'Surely God does not love the ungrateful who disbelieve.'"

Dara hurried to my defense. "The Qur'an says much. It also asks, 'Do you see the one who repudiates religion? He is the one who rebuffs the orphan and does not encourage feeding the poor. So woe to those who pray without paying attention to their prayers.'"

Aurangzeb's face tightened, for he was a zealot and, like all such followers, believed the Qur'an was his instrument alone. "Take care," he warned, "that you know of what you speak."

Father, aware of the mounting hostility between his sons, cleared his throat. "We all know the Qur'an well enough. If you both wish to recite its verses, you should stand and face Mecca." When neither son responded, Father pretended to swat their words away. (10.127-130)