When Hindus Claim Bujang Valley, They Are Actually Revealing Evidence of an Earlier Tawhid

Hindu Claims and an Earlier Historical Layer

The association of Bujang Valley with Hinduism is a widely discussed issue. The issue of some Hindus making claims over specific places is nothing new either. For me, claims like these have a positive side because each claim creates room for us to re-examine earlier layers of history.

Moreover, when such claims arise, they can become a gateway to proving that the religion of tawhid existed before shirk came to cover it. Do you not understand? Then read it all the way to the end.

Many times I have been asked about this matter, but I did not answer immediately. The reason is simple. We have not truly read what is in the Qur’an carefully.

I know that some people do read. The problem is that they do not necessarily read correctly. Simply reading the commentaries of Arabs does not necessarily enable us to understand what happened in the Nusantara and what Hinduism has done throughout its history. Not every Arab came to the Nusantara.

Allah has provided the answer for all human beings, not only for Arabs. That is why I prioritise an Anbiya’-centric approach rather than one that is merely Arab-centric.

Only an Anbiya’-centric approach allows us to understand this issue more broadly.

There are many claims by some Hindus that they did not migrate and are instead the original people here. They also claim that they have been here for thousands of years. It is indeed exasperating to hear claims like this, but within a Qur’anic study framework, such claims can become a rahmah if we know how to read them.

If all we want is to uphold our own opinion, then opinions, arguments, historical evidence, manuscripts and statues are not enough to serve as a solid foundation. All of these can indeed be regarded as evidence, but the origins of that evidence must be understood more deeply.

They can claim the statues. Each statue, in turn, will immediately be associated with Hinduism. We, meanwhile, seem unable to claim anything because statues are indeed prohibited in tawhid. This way of reading the matter is inaccurate.

The Series on the Six Phases of the Human Caliphate Cycle

That is why I wrote a dedicated series entitled:

“The Six Phases of the Human Caliphate Cycle”

You can click the link above.

For everyone’s information, this is among the least-read articles according to the statistics. Perhaps this is because it is not sensational. Perhaps it is also because it is too academic. The fact is that the article is the foundation for understanding how an ummah emerges, develops, transgresses, is punished and is replaced. It is not merely an article about the final outcome, but an article about method.

Not many people read it apart from “Mat Salleh”. Our people prefer to read the final conclusion but are less interested in reading the process that leads to it.

Six Phases in the Cycle of the Ummah

Today, I want to use the framework of that article to explain claims made by some Hindus regarding certain places including Candi Lembah Bujang. I also want to answer some Muslim readers who are too quick to associate every old discovery with Hinduism.

Everything becomes Hindu. The moment an old structure is found, it is immediately labelled Hindu. The moment a candi is found, it is immediately labelled Hindu. This happens because we have been overly influenced by external readings while our own reading of the Qur’an has not yet been properly mastered.

In the Qur’an, every nation, ummah, people, bani, ashab or any other group mentioned in the Arabic text of the Qur’an goes through its own process. Every ummah has its own cycle. We too are currently in that cycle. The same applies to Hindus because, in the time of Prophet Muhammad SAW, all human beings were included in the ummah of da‘wah of Prophet Muhammad SAW.

Within that cycle, from the past until today, every ummah will pass through the same broad pattern:

1. Given the opportunity to become khalifah.
2. Beginning with faith, then increasingly transgressing the limits.
3. Prophets and messengers are sent to remind them.
4. Persisting in wrongdoing.
5. Allah SWT destroys them with punishment.
6. A new khalifah is raised.

To understand this framework, you have to read the series in full. There are only 10 articles including the main article. It is not particularly long compared with the scale of the issue we are discussing.

Hindu Claims over Ancient Locations

Let us now return to the claims made by some Hindus regarding several locations in Peninsular Malaysia.

When they make these claims, we do not need to react angrily straight away. If we understand these six phases, we will see the matter from a broader perspective. Indeed, in certain circumstances, we can be grateful because their own claims open an opportunity for us to examine the existence of tawhid before the Hindu layer appeared in that place.

Consider this.

Prophet Adam and the Beginning of Tawhid

Prophet Adam was sent down into the world as a khalifah on earth. Was Prophet Adam a Hindu? Did Prophet Adam associate partners with Allah? No.

Adam and Hawa served as khalifah. They governed themselves and their lives on this al-ard through tawhid. What was their religion? They were upon submission to Allah, that is, Islam in its original meaning. They lived by tawhid, affirming Allah’s oneness.

That was the first phase in the cycle.

Have you ever heard of the people of Prophet Adam being destroyed in the Qur’an? No. That is because they were in the early phase. The first and second phases are not phases of major punishment. They are phases in which human beings begin, develop and are tested.

From Faith to Shirk

What happened after that to Adam’s descendants?

At first, they developed in faith. Over time, violations occurred. The violation of a law is already serious. Transgression is even more serious because it describes conduct that continuously exceeds the limits.

That is where prophets and messengers began to be sent.

Allah renewed the call to tawhid through His messengers. The messengers came with two major things: warning and reminder. A warning is a call for human beings to return to the path of Allah. A reminder reminds human beings of the consequences, punishment and recompense if they persist in disbelief.

Warnings and reminders were sent down in the third phase. Yet not all human beings wanted to accept them. Within the spectrum of human corruption, one of the groups most intensely hated in the Qur’an consists of those who associate partners with Allah.

This is because shirk is not merely a minor error. It is a violation of the most fundamental basis of human life. Allah is the true Ilah but human beings take other ilah besides Allah. Some worship idols. Some do not worship statues but still take something besides Allah as their highest source of obedience, fear, hope and dependence.

All of this comes under transgression.

Shirk and the Tawhid Layer

Now look again at today’s reality. Claims are being made over certain lands. There are efforts to revive symbols of worship. There are places that people want to associate again with deities, idols and particular ritual systems. In some cases, symbols of idol worship appear more prominent than signs of tawhid.

This is the fourth phase, the phase of transgression.

If the fourth phase exists on this land, what does this confirm?

It shows that the first, second and third phases have already taken place. This is the cycle. Shirk does not emerge suddenly. Idol worship does not appear without an earlier history. It usually comes after human beings deviate from the original tawhid.

In the past, this had already happened. Now it is happening again.

This is why we see the candi throughout the Nusantara bearing traces of idol worship. Ordinary readers will immediately say, “This is evidence of Hinduism.” But for me, that is not enough. We must ask further: before the Hindu layer arrived, what existed there?

When a place eventually becomes filled with elements of idol worship, that shows that a process of transgression has taken place. If transgression has taken place, then before it there must have been a call to tawhid, people who were entrusted with responsibility, an ummah that was tested and a reminder that had reached them.

The Separation of Those Who Uphold Tawhid

Where did the good people who upheld tawhid go?

This is where we need to read the pattern of the prophets. When a society increasingly transgresses, people of faith are separated. Some migrate. Some are saved. Some leave the centre of corruption. This pattern recurs in the stories of the prophets.

The same thing is happening to us now. When a place becomes increasingly filled with transgression, those who uphold tawhid will be forced to choose a path. Some remain and are tested. Some leave to preserve their religion. Some prepare to migrate when the situation reaches a point that can no longer be compromised.

Claims as an Opening for Study

That is why, when some Hindus claim Bujang Valley or any ancient site, I do not see it merely as a threat. I see it as an opening for study.

Their claims do not necessarily prove that they were the earliest. Their claims may only prove that, at a certain point in time, a layer of shirk moved in, covered or replaced an earlier layer of tawhid.

That is what we need to uncover.

Do not be too quick to hand over the entire history to Hinduism simply because there is a candi. Do not be too quick to hand over every ancient site to idol worship simply because there is a statue. Do not be too quick to assume that everything ancient is Hindu while the Qur’an teaches that human beings began with tawhid, then deviated, then a reminder was sent, then transgressed, then were punished and replaced.

This is the foundation that many people overlook.

They see a candi and stop at Hinduism.

I see a candi and ask:

“Before shirk came, who upheld tawhid on this land?”

That is the question we should be asking.

The Third Phase and the Trail of the Prophets

If there is evidence of Hinduism at Candi Lembah Bujang in terms of construction, symbols, structure or traces of worship, then it belongs to the fourth phase. The fourth phase is the phase of transgression.

Then what is the third phase?

The third phase is the phase in which prophets and messengers are sent to remind human beings. That is why, within my reading framework, we need to look again at the traces of the prophets who appeared in their respective reminder phases. There are Sulaiman and Daud. There are Harun and Musa. There are Luth and Ibrahim. Indeed, this line must be traced all the way back to Nuh.

All these pairs of prophets have their respective reminder phases. If the third phase can be read clearly in the Qur’an, then the second and first phases cannot simply be denied either.

The First and Second Phases

The first phase means that there were people who were given the opportunity to become khalifah on this land. Who was the last group given this opportunity within this framework? It was Bani Israel through Musa and Harun, who were to inherit the territory connected to Bujang Valley.

That was the first phase.

The second phase, in turn, was their development. Bani Israel developed over a long period in this territory. At the same time, the descendants of Ibrahim and Luth as well as the descendants of Daud and Sulaiman and even the descendants of Prophet Muhammad SAW also already had earlier lines that need to be examined here.

That was the second phase.

Punishment before Revival

Therefore, whenever a claim appears with certain evidence, remember that Allah has already given us a way to read this matter. A claim does not necessarily close off the tawhid argument. A claim can be evidence that an older civilisation once existed before that civilisation was corrupted, distorted and covered by a layer of shirk.

Before long, Candi Lembah Bujang, which is said to be a Hindu heritage site, will rise again. Revival is the sixth phase.

Before the sixth phase occurs, the fifth phase must occur first. The fifth phase is Allah SWT destroying us all with punishment.

The second attack on Bani Israel on the land that contains Bujang Valley will take place in the future. At that time, there will be no need to search for too much historical evidence because the disclosure of this matter will mean that the Sepuluh Perintah, or The Ten Commandments, has reached the phase of punishment. That punishment will later become evidence that cannot be rejected.

Those who survive then will be the people granted mercy by Allah. That will be the opportunity for revival.

At that time, we will need to migrate, just as the owners of tuyure migrated in the past.

So, if people want to make claims, let them make them. That is why I said earlier that this land will once again be controlled by idol worshippers and will become the new land of Hind. That is where Ghazwatul Hind will eventually take place.

After that, the two main points, Makkah and Bakkah, will shine again together.

Note on the Masjid and Bayt

The first masjid placed on earth was al-Masjid al-Haram. The second masjid placed on earth was al-Masjid al-Aqsa. The difference between the two is 40 years.

The first Bayt placed for humanity was the Bayt located in Bakkah, based on the wording of the Qur’an:

“أَوَّلَ بَيْتٍ وُضِعَ لِلنَّاسِ”

in Surah Ali ‘Imran 3:96.