Is Mohammad Paigambar mentioned in the Hindu scriptures?

Recently, there has been a lot of buzz that Mohammad Paigambar is in the Hindu Scriptures. Therefore, I decided to look into the matter and found out that there is a person with the name Mahaamada in the Bhavishya Purana and has some similarities with Mohammad Paigambar. As far as the Vedas are concerned, there is no mention of him.

According to the Bhavishya Purana, when King Bhoj was on a military mission, he met a person named Mahaamada in a desert outside of India who deluded him to convert to Islam with the help of an illusion, but Kalidasa, the army chief of the king, intervened on time and prevented him from doing so. The energy emanating from the body of Kalidasa that he got after the praise of a goddess turned Muhammad into ashes, and he became the god of Muslims.

There are many false claims made about this incident on some Islamic websites. The prayer that King Bhoj said for Lord Shiva is used for Muhammad. All these false claims are propagated by Dr. Zakir Naik. To understand what exactly has been said in the Bhavishya Purana about him, one needs to read the full story and not a few verses only.

Bhavishya Purana, Pratisarga Parva, Khanda 3, Chapter 3:

Mohammad and Raja Bhoj

 Sootjee said, “In Shaalivahana dynasty, there were ten kings who ruled for  500 years. Then they went to Swarga (heaven). In their rule, the administration was weak, and therefore law and order also got weak. For King Bhoj, the law and order was for namesake. Having seen the administration, law and order, broken into pieces, he went for Digvijay (conquer the earth). In his army, there were 10,000 army men. With them, Kalidasa was also present. He also kept other Brahmins with him and then went near the Sindhu River.

After reaching there, he defeated Mlecchas residing in the Gandhara region and Naravaas of Kashmir. Having defeated them, he took a huge treasury as punishment. Then, he started his journey of conquest and reached a place where a man named Mahaamada (Mohammad) dwelling in that place, who is residing there as a teacher, teaching his student. King Bhoj, also in that place which is named “Marusthalaa “(desert), started worshipping Lord Shiva with panchagavya, the water of river Ganges, and sandalwood, etc., and started reciting prayers to please him.

Bhoj Raaj said, “The Girija Pati who is residing in this desert, I praise him. He, who creates the endless illusion (Maya), destroyed Tripuraasura and is protected from Mlecchas, being so pure and represent the pure form of Sacchidaanandan. I am your servant; hence, I am under your recourse.”

(Dr. Zakir Naik claimed that this prayer he said for Mohammad Paigambar)

Sootjee said, ” By hearing the reciting prayer, Lord Shiva said, ” Bhoj Raaj! Please go to Vahikaa, named the land of Mahakaaleshwaar. This place is being corrupted with sins by Mlecchas. At the very end of the land Vahikaa, the Arya Dharma got destroyed. There, with the order of Bali daitya, the great illusionist Tripurasura got rebirth, whom I have destroyed, turned him into ashes. His inner reality is he got his rebirth to flourish his greatness and spread the dynasty of Daityas. His name is Mahaamada, who is always fond of doing pishacha-like works. Therefore Rajan, please don’t stay in this place of paishacha (land of Pathans). By my grace, you will be pure.”

Sootjee said, “By hearing this, the king began his journey for his own country. Accordingly, Mahaamada with his students reached the coast of the Sindhu River. The well-skilled illusion master, being very gentle, said to the king, “Maharaj! Your deity (Lord Shiva) is my slave! Hey king! See your deity is eating pickings and remnants (waste matter, remains of a meal) of mine.” By seeing this, the king got deluded into the matter and got very much surprised. He then started in thinking of converting himself into that horrific Mleccha Dharma.”

Sootjee said, “By that time, Kalidasa got the knowledge of his Maya and being red in anger, said to Mahaamada, “Wicked you are! You are deluding the king into an illusion that is not true. Therefore I will kill you sinner, the most wretched person of Vahika.”

Sootjee said, “By saying this, the Brahman (Kalidasa) started reciting Navarna (Navakshari) Mantra. He recited it ten thousand times. Being pleased with Kalidasa, Devi gave powerful energy into Kalidasa’s body. Every tenth part of his recitation, the enormous energy came out through his body obliterating every part of the body of Vahika Purusha into the fire. He when fully turned into ashes, became the god of the Mlecchas.”

Sootjee said, “After that, his every student being very fear in mind, went to the Vahikaa Desha. They carried the remnant ashes of their teacher (Muhammad) and placed them under the earth. All became quiet and peaceful after that. Therefore, that place is named “Madhina Pura” (Medina). That place is the sacred place for them.”

Sootjee said, “In deep at night, the illusionist Dev pishacha, came towards King Bhoj and said, Rajan! Your Arya Dharma is the greatest above every other Dharma. I am only propagating this Dharma by the order of “Isha”. The Dharma as it goes:-” Being in my Dharma, one have to cut his genital, he will have no Shikha (the small amount of hair tied backward of the head that belongs to Brahmin), he will talk bigger, shout loudly, and will be omnivorous. Without kaultantra, they will eat animals, and they will perform the purified act with the musala or a pestle as you purify your things with kusa. Therefore, they will be called Musalmaan. The people who will belong to this Dharma will pollute every pure Dharma. Likewise, I will spread this paishachik Dharma,” and he dictated his Dharma to the king.”

 Sootjee said, “After describing his Dharma that Devtaa of mleccha went from there, and the king also went to his palace. Being very afraid that Arya Dharma is going to be destroyed, he flourished Sanskrit in three varnas (Brahmin, Kshatriya, and Vaishya). He then propagated Prakrit language to those who belong to shudra caste.”

 Sootjee said, “After that, King Bhoj reigned for 50 years and attained Swarga. He is the only monarch who restored the respect of devatas in between Vindhya and the Himalayas. He created Aryavarta named state. All people who belong to Aryan Dharma reside in that place and at the end and beyond of Vindhyachala area, lived all varnasamkara (a mixture of all caste because they never maintained their own caste rules. Therefore, they break Dharma every time). At the end and beyond the Sindhu area, the king gave the place to people who belonged to Musalmaan Dharma to living there. Ishamasheeh Dharma propagated everywhere in Barbar, Tusha, and every island like devatas and kings.”

Muhammad Paigambar in the Vedas:

The Bhavishya Purana is a book of prophecies. So Muhammad Paigambar might have been mentioned in it, but the Vedas are not prophecy books. Therefore, there is no chance of his mention in them. Also, the Vedas are at least 3500 years old, and Muhammad Paigambar walked upon this earth about 1500 years ago.

Some Muslims claim that some verses in the Atharvaveda (Book 20 Hymn 127 Verses 1-13) mention him. They are as follows:

Mantra1

He is Narashansah or the praised one (Muhammad). He is Kaurama: the prince of peace or the emigrant who is safe, even amongst a host of 60,090 enemies.

Mantra2

He is a camel-riding Rishi, whose chariot touches heaven.

Mantra3

He is Mamah Rishi who is given a hundred gold coins, ten chaplets (necklaces), three hundred good steeds, and ten thousand cows.

But no such things are mentioned in the hymns. You can read it here.

Other claims are as follows:

1. A similar prophecy is also found in the Rigveda Book I, Hymn 53 verse 9:

The Sanskrit word used is Sushrama, which means praiseworthy or well praised, which in Arabic means Muhammad (PBUH)).

The word Sushrama is nowhere mentioned in Hymn 53. You can check it here. Also, the word Sushrama (Su+Shrama) means “good work” or hard work and not praiseworthy. Even if it means so and the meaning of the word Muhammad matches with it, it does not mean that he is mentioned in the Vedas.

2. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is also prophesized in the Samveda Book II Hymn 6 verse 8:

“Ahmed acquired from his Lord the knowledge of eternal law. I received light from him just as from the sun.”

The word Ahmed is nowhere mentioned in the Samveda.

Therefore, all these are false claims.

Conclusion:

The Bhavishya Purana is a Smriti text and is not very authoritative. Also, there is a chance that this incident was added afterward during updation. Although the historical account about Prophet Muhammad does not match with the story, the name Mahaamada and his religion point towards the person being Muhammad Paigambar.

Assuming that the Bhavishya Purana is authentic, it is clear from the above text that even though Muhammad Paigambar is mentioned in the Hindu scriptures, he is not praised by King Bhoj as claimed by Dr. Zakir Naik. In fact, he is compared with an Asura.

Image Source: www.lokmat.com