One cannot fail to comment why Allah could not have left out these negative references to Jews and Christians even in this basic prayer of Muslims. It is but natural that a Muslim who recites this prayer everyday cannot but think that Christians and Jews are mislead and damned and that Muslims alone are saved. Psychologically, this leads to an aversion for these two communities in the minds of the Muslims. From History we do know that Muslims have been at loggerheads with Jews and Christians (an other communities as well) for a greater part of the history. The reasons are not far to seek.

The Kalima of Islam too reads: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is His Prophet" Recitation of this Kalima is, for a Muslim, a proclamation of his or her faith in Islam. Notice that this Kalima too fosters a divisive and an exclusive mentality, for it sets Muslims apart from the rest of the Humanity. In fact it goes further by declaring that the other religions are all false, their Gods and their Prophets are all false. Indeed then, the Kalima is an open insult to all Non-Muslims. It is said that for this very reason, some Marathi rulers had forbidden the muezzins from shouting the Kalima from minarets in their dominions.

In contrast to the Kalima and the Fatihah, the most revered Hindu prayer called the Gayatri Mantra (occurs in the Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda and the Sama-Veda) is totally non-sectarian and translates thus: "OM! God is the Supreme Reality underlying the Universe, the immanent Consciousness, the Abode of Supreme Bliss! We meditate upon the adorable splendour of God who is the Creator and Impeller of all natural activity, the Holy One, Who frees us of all sins and afflictions, who is the Light of the Universe and loved by us. May that Being guide always and at all times, the intellects and the actions of all of us towards the right direction."

Islamic Monitor
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