How many Gods do Hindus have?

format_quote Originally Posted by Goku

Malaysia used to be hindu majority until Islam came and Malaysians embraced Islam.

It's true... we have ruins of old hindu temples in the northern part of Malaysia called "Lembah Bujang" (The Bachelor Valley).

Pre Islamic Malays practiced Hinduism mixing it with Buddhism and Animism. The King is the reincarnation of Gods. Malays were considered as high caste people, the descendants of Holy Mother Cow.

There were Muslims, Nestorian Christians and Jewish (Maimonides' son, reached Penang in 11th Century) traders having trades in Malaya, but the Muslim traders only managed to Islamised handful of Malays.

Then the kings were Islamised by Yemeni, Malabari and Chinese Muslim traders in the 13th Century, and the whole population became Muslims and left Hinduism-Buddhism-Animism.

After being Islamised, the Malays spread Islam to all over Indonesia, the Philippines, Borneo and Thailand.

format_quote Originally Posted by lavikor201

Kabbalists believe "everything" is one? :blind:

Are you referring to the religious group that Madonna joined with having red strings tied up on her hand?

format_quote Originally Posted by lavikor201

Why is that good! The fact that he is prophesized in the Hindu (pagan) scriptures only lead me to refer to the Torah which says false prophets and false gods will perform miracles to tempt you. Why on earth is being mentioned in the Pagan scriptures a good thing?

His theory is that Hinduism might have originally been based on the religion taught by a real prophet of God (one who God hasn't told us about. Muslims believe in about 25,000* prophets, although only about 25 have been mentioned by name). A religion of monotheism.

So, basically the idea is that the description of Muhammad (pbuh) would have been based on the original teachings of that prophet, however of the millennium the religion was change and moulded into the pagan religion it is today.

I have no idea how true this is, though. But that is the basic idea.

*If I got the number wrong can someone please correct me.

format_quote Originally Posted by Malaikah

Muslims believe in about 25,000 prophets, although only about 25 have been mentioned by name). A religion of monotheism.

I feel like you are missing something in total number of prophets

they call them as heavenly beings and later on their seem to have the powers from either their parents or by meditating

G*d is everywhere and in everything!!! (remember your pesach post)

I think you have no idea what I was getting at in my post. *Sigh*.

Three hundred and sixty million I think.

format_quote Originally Posted by King David

But it isnt part of original judaisme.

Your opinion is the same as a Muslim who rejects all the Hadiths. Ask any Muslim how valid a "quranists" opinion is. You have a right to an opinion but don't claim to speak for mainstream Judaism please.

format_quote Originally Posted by Laith Al-Doory

The 'tree of life', a Kabbalistic symbol, is integral to an understanding of Judaism. Kabbalah has it's origins in Chaldean mysticism. Abraham was after all a Chaldean. Chaldea (Khalidiyah) in Southern Iraq corresponds to the site of the Garden of Eden and as it happens means 'land of imortality' in Arabic. Kabbalah is arguably older than Judaism.

Well you view Judaism as a religion. We do not. The Torah which includes the Oral traditions of Kabbalah was created before the earth was according to many!

format_quote Originally Posted by Laith Al-Doory

The Torah as we know it today was first written down in Babylon in approximately 300BC. The Hebrew alphabet is actually Aramaic in origin.

It could be argued that the Torah, like everything else, has always existed, if one considers time to be a subjective illusion. However, the Torah, for the most part, describes the past ie, the history of the Jews. Prophetic writings are very different in style from the historic. The Torah is very much fixed in the time in which it was written.

If you read the text just straight foward, then of course.

from Upanishad:

Then Vidagdha, the son of Sakala, asked him: "How many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?
Yajnavalky said, "As many as are indicated in the Nivid of the Visvadevas - 300 and 3003."
"Very well," said Sakalya. "How many gods exactly are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Thirty-three."
"Very well," said Sakalya. "How many gods exactly are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Six."
"Very well," said Sakalya. "How many gods exactly are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Three."
"Very well," said Sakalya. "How many gods exactly are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"Two."
"Very well," said Sakalya. "How many gods exactly are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"One-and-a-half."
"Very well," said Sakalya. "How many gods exactly are there, Yajnavalkya?"
"One."

i think it sums up Hinduism well

format_quote Originally Posted by north_malaysian

It's true... we have ruins of old hindu temples in the northern part of Malaysia called "Lembah Bujang" (The Bachelor Valley).

Pre Islamic Malays practiced Hinduism mixing it with Buddhism and Animism. The King is the reincarnation of Gods. Malays were considered as high caste people, the descendants of Holy Mother Cow.

There were Muslims, Nestorian Christians and Jewish (Maimonides' son, reached Penang in 11th Century) traders having trades in Malaya, but the Muslim traders only managed to Islamised handful of Malays.

Then the kings were Islamised by Yemeni, Malabari and Chinese Muslim traders in the 13th Century, and the whole population became Muslims and left Hinduism-Buddhism-Animism.

After being Islamised, the Malays spread Islam to all over Indonesia, the Philippines, Borneo and Thailand.

Alhumdulillah how the true religion of God-Islam spread in the Malay-Indonesia areas. I did hear that it started with a few Arab traders.

format_quote Originally Posted by Goku

Alhumdulillah how the true religion of God-Islam spread in the Malay-Indonesia areas. I did hear that it started with a few Arab traders.

In the port of Malacca, it's started by Yemeni traders from Hadhramawt around 1400 CE, and according to Yemeni ambassador to Malaysia, there are 400,000 Malays of Hadrami Yemeni origin living all over the country. The King of the State of Perlis and our current Foreign Minister are Malays of Hadhrami ancestry.

But the first evidence of Islam started as early as 1303 in the eastern coastal area of Malaya. Thus, the Chinese Muslims might be the first Muslim missionaries coming to Malaysia.