Editing Hindus (section)

== Terminology ==
[[File:Malviya dwipa island across Har ki Pauri during Kavad mela, Haridwar.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|Hindus at [[Har Ki Pauri]], [[Haridwar]] near river [[Ganges]] in [[Uttarakhand]] state of India.]]

=== Medieval-era usage (8th to 18th century) ===
Scholar [[Arvind Sharma]] notes that the term "Hindus" was used in the 'Brahmanabad settlement' which Muhammad ibn Qasim made with non-Muslims after the Arab invasion of northwestern Sindh region of India, in 712 CE. The term 'Hindu' meant people who were non-Muslims, and it included Buddhists of the region.<ref name=arvindsharmahhhh2>Arvind Sharma (2002), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270470 On Hindu, Hindustān, Hinduism and Hindutva] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118045517/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270470 |date=18 January 2017 }} Numen, Vol. 49, Fasc. 1, pages 5–9</ref> In the 11th-century text of Al Biruni, Hindus are referred to as "religious antagonists" to Islam, as those who believe in rebirth, presents them to hold a diversity of beliefs, and seems to oscillate between Hindus holding a centralist and pluralist religious views.<ref name=arvindsharmahhhh2 /> In the texts of Delhi Sultanate era, states Sharma, the term Hindu remains ambiguous on whether it means people of a region or religion, giving the example of [[Ibn Battuta]]'s explanation of the name "Hindu Kush" for a mountain range in [[Afghanistan]]. It was so called, wrote Ibn Battuta, because many Indian slaves died there of freezing cold, as they were marched across the mountain range. The term ''Hindu'' there is ambivalent and could mean geographical region or religion.<ref>Arvind Sharma (2002), [https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270470 On Hindu, Hindustān, Hinduism, and Hindutva] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118045517/https://www.jstor.org/stable/3270470 |date=18 January 2017 }} Numen, Vol. 49, Fasc. 1, page 9</ref>

The term Hindu also appears in the texts from the Mughal Empire era. [[Jahangir]], for example, called the Sikh [[Guru Arjan]] a Hindu:<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), [http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.gisp.d7_sp/files/sitefiles/journals/volume12/no1/3_singh.pdf Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118094357/http://www.global.ucsb.edu/punjab/sites/secure.lsit.ucsb.edu.gisp.d7_sp/files/sitefiles/journals/volume12/no1/3_singh.pdf |date=18 January 2017 }}, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), pages 29–31</ref>

{{Blockquote|text=
There was a Hindu named Arjan in Gobindwal on the banks of the Beas River. Pretending to be a spiritual guide, he had won over as devotees many simple-minded Indians and even some ignorant, stupid Muslims by broadcasting his claims to be a saint. [...] When Khusraw stopped at his residence, [Arjan] came out and had an interview with [Khusraw]. Giving him some elementary spiritual precepts picked up here and there, he made a mark with saffron on his forehead, which is called qashqa in the idiom of the Hindus and which they consider lucky. When this was reported to me, I realized how perfectly false he was and ordered him brought to me. I awarded his houses and dwellings and those of his children to Murtaza Khan, and I ordered his possessions and goods 
confiscated and him executed.|author=Emperor Jahangir |title=Jahangirnama |source=27b-28a (Translated by [[Wheeler Thackston]])<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Wheeler Thackston]]|year=1999|title=The Jahangirnama: Memoirs of Jahangir, Emperor of India|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-512718-8|page=59|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T_QNAQAAMAAJ|access-date=16 February 2022|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331131327/https://books.google.com/books?id=T_QNAQAAMAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|Prince [[Khusrau Mirza|Khusrau]], Jahangir son, mounted a challenge to the emperor within the first year of his reign. The rebellion was put down and all the collaborators executed. (Pashaura Singh, 2005, pp. 31–34)}}}}

Sikh scholar [[Pashaura Singh (Sikh scholar)|Pashaura Singh]] states, "in Persian writings, [[Sikh]]s were regarded as Hindu in the sense of non-Muslim Indians".<ref>Pashaura Singh (2005), Understanding the Martyrdom of Guru Arjan, Journal of Punjab Studies, 12(1), page 37</ref> However, scholars like [[Robert Fraser (writer)|Robert Fraser]] and Mary Hammond opine that [[Sikhism]] began initially as a militant sect of Hinduism and it got formally separated from Hinduism only in the 20th century.<ref>{{cite book|title=Books Without Borders, Volume 2: Perspectives from South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C9p8DAAAQBAJ&dq=sikhism+hindu+sect+during+mughal+rule&pg=PA21|page=21|publisher=Springer|author=R. Fraser, M. Hammond|date=10 July 2008|isbn=978-0230289130|language=English|quote=The Sikhs arose initially as a militant sect of Hinduism in opposition and resistance to Muslim and especially Mughal rule and its discriminatory and oppressive policies and practices. It was only in the twentieth century that they legally and formally separated from Hinduism to constitute a distinct religion followed by about 1 per  cent of the current population of India|access-date=9 July 2023|archive-date=18 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230918024134/https://books.google.com/books?id=C9p8DAAAQBAJ&dq=sikhism+hindu+sect+during+mughal+rule&pg=PA21|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Colonial-era usage (18th to 20th century) ===
{{multiple image
 | direction = vertical
 | width = 235
 | footer = The distribution of Indian religions in India (1909). The upper map shows distribution of Hindus, the lower of Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs.
 | image1 = Hindu percent 1909.jpg
 | image2 = Sikhs buddhists jains percent1909.jpg
 }}
[[File:A Hindu wedding ritual in progress b.jpg|thumb|upright=1.05|A Hindu wedding ritual in [[India]]]]
During the colonial era, the term Hindu had connotations of native religions of India, that is religions other than Christianity and Islam.<ref name=gauri>Gauri Viswanathan (1998), Outside the Fold: Conversion, Modernity, and Belief, Princeton University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-691-05899-3}}, page 78</ref> In early colonial era Anglo-Hindu laws and British India court system, the term Hindu referred to people of all Indian religions as well as two non-Indian religions: [[Judaism]] and [[Zoroastrianism]].<ref name=gauri /> In the 20th century, personal laws were formulated for Hindus, and the term 'Hindu' in these colonial 'Hindu laws' applied to Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs in addition to denominational Hindus.<ref name="rachel">Rachel Sturman (2010), Hinduism and Law: An Introduction (Editors: Timothy Lubin et al), Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-71626-0}}, pag 90</ref>{{efn|According to Ram Bhagat, the term was used by the [[British Raj|Colonial British government]] in post-1871 census of colonial India that included a question on the individual's religion, especially in the aftermath of the [[Revolution of 1857|1857 revolution]].<ref name="iips">{{cite web |last1=Bhagat |first1=Ram |title=Hindu-Muslim Tension in India: An Interface between census and Politics during Colonial India |url=http://archive.iussp.org/members/restricted/publications/Oslo03/5-con-bhagat03.pdf |website=iussp.org |publisher=IIPS |access-date=17 April 2019 |archive-date=17 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190417052237/http://archive.iussp.org/members/restricted/publications/Oslo03/5-con-bhagat03.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Archive of All Colonial India documents |url=https://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/2/public/census.htm |website=arrow.latrobe.edu.au |publisher=The Centre for Data Digitisation and Analysis at The Queen's University of Belfast |access-date=17 April 2019 |archive-date=30 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190530131730/http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/2/public/census.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>}}

Beyond the stipulations of British colonial law, European [[Oriental studies|orientalists]] and particularly the influential Asiatick Researches founded in the 18th century, later called [[The Asiatic Society]], initially identified just two religions in India – Islam, and Hinduism. These orientalists included all Indian religions such as Buddhism as a subgroup of Hinduism in the 18th century.<ref name=brian111>{{citation|last=Pennington|first=Brian K.|title=Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction of Religion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7drluePK-acC&pg=PA111|year=2005|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803729-3|pages=111–118|access-date=31 July 2018|archive-date=31 March 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331131328/https://books.google.com/books?id=7drluePK-acC&pg=PA111#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> These texts termed followers of Islam as ''Mohamedans'', and all others as ''Hindus''. The text, by the early 19th century, began dividing Hindus into separate groups, for chronology studies of the various beliefs. Among the earliest terms to emerge were ''Seeks and their College'' (later spelled Sikhs by Charles Wilkins), ''Boudhism'' (later spelled Buddhism), and in the 9th volume of Asiatick Researches report on religions in India, the term ''Jainism'' received notice.<ref name=brian111 />

According to Pennington, the terms Hindu and Hinduism were thus constructed for colonial studies of India. The various sub-divisions and separation of subgroup terms were assumed to be result of "communal conflict", and Hindu was constructed by these orientalists to imply people who adhered to "ancient default oppressive religious substratum of India", states Pennington.<ref name=brian111 /> Followers of other Indian religions so identified were later referred Buddhists, Sikhs or Jains and distinguished from Hindus, in an antagonistic two-dimensional manner, with Hindus and Hinduism stereotyped as irrational traditional and others as rational reform religions. However, these mid-19th-century reports offered no indication of doctrinal or ritual differences between Hindu and Buddhist, or other newly constructed religious identities.<ref name=brian111 /> These colonial studies, states Pennigton, "puzzled endlessly about the Hindus and intensely scrutinized them, but did not interrogate and avoided reporting the practices and religion of Mughal and Arabs in South Asia", and often relied on Muslim scholars to characterise Hindus.<ref name=brian111 />

=== Contemporary usage ===
[[File:HinduDevoteeNepal.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|A young [[Nepal]]i Hindu devotee during a traditional prayer ceremony at [[Kathmandu]]'s [[Durbar Square]].]]
In contemporary era, Hindus are individuals who identify with one or more aspects of [[Hinduism]], whether they are practising or non-practicing or ''[[Laissez-faire]]''.<ref>Bryan Turner (2010), The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion, John Wiley & Sons, {{ISBN|978-1-4051-8852-4}}, pages 424–425</ref> The term does not include those who identify with other Indian religions such as Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism or various animist tribal religions found in India such as [[Sarnaism]].<ref name="Marty1996" /><ref>James Minahan (2012), Ethnic Groups of South Asia and the Pacific: An Encyclopedia, {{ISBN|978-1-59884-659-1}}, pages 97–99</ref> The term Hindu, in contemporary parlance, includes people who accept themselves as culturally or ethnically Hindu rather than with a fixed set of religious beliefs within Hinduism.<ref name=jefferylong /> One need not be religious in the minimal sense, states [[Julius J. Lipner|Julius Lipner]], to be accepted as Hindu by Hindus, or to describe oneself as Hindu.<ref>Julius J. Lipner (2009), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-45677-7}}, page 8</ref>

Hindus subscribe to a diversity of ideas on [[Spirituality#Hinduism|spirituality]] and traditions, but have no ecclesiastical order, no unquestionable religious authorities, no governing body, nor a single founding [[prophet]]; Hindus can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, agnostic, atheistic or humanist.<ref>[[Julius J. Lipner]] (2009), Hindus: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition, Routledge, {{ISBN|978-0-415-45677-7}}, page 8; Quote: "(...) one need not be religious in the minimal sense described to be accepted as a Hindu by Hindus, or describe oneself perfectly validly as Hindu. One may be polytheistic or monotheistic, monistic or pantheistic, even an agnostic, humanist or atheist, and still be considered a Hindu."</ref><ref>Lester Kurtz (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict, {{ISBN|978-0-12-369503-1}}, Academic Press, 2008</ref><ref>MK Gandhi, [http://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/essence_of_hinduism.pdf The Essence of Hinduism] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150724045756/http://www.mkgandhi.org/ebks/essence_of_hinduism.pdf |date=24 July 2015 }}, Editor: VB Kher, Navajivan Publishing, see page 3; According to Gandhi, "a man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu."</ref> Because of the wide range of traditions and ideas covered by the term Hinduism, arriving at a comprehensive definition is difficult.{{sfn|Flood|1996|p=6}} The religion "defies our desire to define and categorize it".<ref>{{cite book |title= Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction|last= Knott|first= Kim|year= 1998|publisher= Oxford University press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285387-5|page= 117}}</ref> A Hindu may, by his or her choice, draw upon ideas of other Indian or non-Indian religious thought as a resource, follow or evolve his or her personal beliefs, and still identify as a Hindu.<ref name=jefferylong />

In 1995, Chief Justice [[P. B. Gajendragadkar]] was quoted in an [[Supreme Court of India|Indian Supreme Court]] ruling:<ref name=SCI>[[Supreme Court of India]], [https://web.archive.org/web/20061030015441/http://www.hinduismtoday.com/in-depth_issues/RKMission.html "Bramchari Sidheswar Shai and others Versus State of West Bengal"], 1995, [http://indiankanoon.org/doc/967081/ Archive2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151207043454/http://indiankanoon.org/doc/967081/ |date=7 December 2015 }} Archived from [http://www.hinduismtoday.com/in-depth_issues/RKMission.html the original] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061030015441/http://www.hinduismtoday.com/in-depth_issues/RKMission.html |date=30 October 2006 }}.</ref><ref name=SC1966>Supreme Court of India 1966 AIR 1119, [http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/imgs1.aspx?filename=2757 ''Sastri Yagnapurushadji'' vs ''Muldas Brudardas Vaishya''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512221716/http://judis.nic.in/supremecourt/imgs1.aspx?filename=2757 |date=12 May 2014}} (pdf), page 15, 14 January 1966</ref>
:When we think of the Hindu religion, unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet; it does not worship any one god; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophic concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion or [[creed]]. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more.

Although Hinduism contains a broad range of philosophies, Hindus share philosophical concepts, such as but not limiting to [[dharma]], [[karma]], [[kama]], [[artha]], [[moksha]] and [[samsara]], even if each subscribes to a diversity of views.<ref name=frazierintro /> Hindus also have shared texts such as the [[Veda]]s with embedded [[Mukhya Upanishad|Upanishads]], and common ritual grammar ([[Sanskara (rite of passage)]]) such as rituals during a wedding or when a baby is born or cremation rituals.<ref name=carlolson>Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-8135-4068-9}}, pages 93–94</ref><ref>Rajbali Pandey (2013), Hindu Saṁskāras: Socio-religious Study of the Hindu Sacraments, 2nd Edition, Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-0396-1}}, pages 15–36</ref> Some Hindus go on pilgrimage to shared sites they consider spiritually significant, practice one or more forms of [[bhakti]] or [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]], celebrate mythology and epics, major festivals, love and respect for [[guru]] and family, and other cultural traditions.<ref name=frazierintro>{{cite book|last1=Frazier|first1=Jessica|title=The Continuum companion to Hindu studies | date=2011|publisher=Continuum|location=London|isbn=978-0-8264-9966-0|pages=1–15}}</ref><ref name = Flood>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qSfneQ0YYY8C&q=uniting+and+dispersing+tendencies&pg=PA4|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|first=Gavin|last=Flood|date=7 February 2003|publisher=Wiley|via=Google Books|isbn=978-0-631-21535-6|access-date=2 October 2020|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126071337/https://books.google.com/books?id=qSfneQ0YYY8C&q=uniting+and+dispersing+tendencies&pg=PA4|url-status=live}}</ref> A Hindu could:
* follow any of the Hindu [[Hindu philosophy|schools of philosophy]], such as [[Advaita Vedanta|Advaita]] (non-[[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|dualism]]), [[Vishishtadvaita]] (non-dualism of the qualified whole), [[Dvaita]] ([[Dualism (Indian philosophy)|dualism]]), [[Dvaitadvaita]] (dualism with non-dualism), etc.<ref>Muller, F. Max. ''Six Systems of Indian Philosophy; Samkhya and Yoga; Naya and Vaiseshika''. 1899. This classic work helped to establish the major classification systems as we know them today. Reprint edition: (Kessinger Publishing: February 2003) {{ISBN|978-0-7661-4296-1}}.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Radhakrishnan |first1=S. |author-link1=Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |author2=Moore, CA |title=A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy |year=1967 |publisher=Princeton |isbn=0-691-01958-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/sourcebookinindi00radh}}</ref>
* follow a tradition centred on any particular form of the Divine, such as [[Shaivism]], [[Vaishnavism]], [[Shaktism]], etc.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tattwananda |first=Swami|title=Vaisnava Sects, Saiva Sects, Mother Worship  |year=1984 |publisher=Firma KLM Private Ltd. |location=Calcutta |edition=First revised }} This work gives an overview of many different subsets of the three main religious groups in India.</ref>
* practice any one of the various forms of [[yoga]] systems in order to achieve [[moksha]] – that is freedom in current life (''jivanmukti'') or salvation in after-life (''videhamukti'');<ref>TS Rukmani (2008), Theory and Practice of Yoga (Editor: Knut Jacobsen), Motilal Banarsidass, {{ISBN|978-81-208-3232-9}}, pages 61–74</ref>
* practice [[bhakti]] or [[Puja (Hinduism)|puja]] for spiritual reasons, which may be directed to one's [[guru]] or to a divine image.<ref name=jeaneanefowler>Jeaneane Fowler (1996), Hinduism: Beliefs and Practices, Sussex Academic Press, {{ISBN|978-1-898723-60-8}}, pages 41–44</ref> A visible public form of this practice is worship before an idol or statue. Jeaneane Fowler states that non-Hindu observers often confuse this practice as "stone or idol-worship and nothing beyond it", while for many Hindus, it is an image which represents or is symbolic manifestation of a spiritual Absolute ([[Brahman]]).<ref name=jeaneanefowler /> This practice may focus on a metal or stone statue, or a photographic image, or a [[linga]], or any object or tree ([[Ficus religiosa|pipal]]) or animal (cow) or tools of one's profession, or sunrise or expression of nature or to nothing at all, and the practice may involve meditation, [[japa]], offerings or songs.<ref name=jeaneanefowler /><ref>Stella Kramrisch (1958), Traditions of the Indian Craftsman, The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 71, No. 281, pages 224–230</ref> Inden states that this practice means different things to different Hindus, and has been misunderstood, misrepresented as idolatry, and various rationalisations have been constructed by both Western and native Indologists.<ref>Ronald Inden (2001), Imagining India, Indiana University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-253-21358-7}}, pages 110–115</ref>

=== Disputes ===

In the [[Constitution of India]], the word "Hindu" has been used in some places to denote persons professing any of these religions: [[Hinduism]], [[Jainism]], [[Buddhism]] or [[Sikhism]].<ref>[http://www.unesco.org/most/rr3indi.htm India-Constitution:Religious rights] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007173401/http://www.unesco.org/most/rr3indi.htm |date=7 October 2011 }} Article 25:''"Explanation II: In sub-Clause (b) of clause (2), the reference to Hindus shall be construed as including a reference to persons professing the Sikh, Jaina or Buddhist religion"''</ref> This however has been challenged by the Sikhs<ref name="Marty1996">{{cite book|author=Martin E. Marty|title=Fundamentalisms and the State: Remaking Polities, Economies, and Militance|url=https://archive.org/details/fundamentalismss00mart|url-access=registration|date=1 July 1996|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-50884-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fundamentalismss00mart/page/270 270]–271}}</ref><ref name="Fazal2014">{{cite book|author=Tanweer Fazal|title="Nation-state" and Minority Rights in India: Comparative Perspectives on Muslim and Sikh Identities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1WwtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136|date=1 August 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-75179-3|pages=20, 112–114}}</ref> and by neo-Buddhists who were formerly Hindus.<ref name="BoyleSheen2013">{{cite book|author1=Kevin Boyle|author2=Juliet Sheen|title=Freedom of Religion and Belief: A World Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JxgFWwK8dXwC&pg=PA191|date=7 March 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-72229-7|pages=191–192}}</ref> According to Sheen and Boyle, Jains have not objected to being covered by personal laws termed under 'Hindu',<ref name="BoyleSheen2013" /> but Indian courts have acknowledged that Jainism is a distinct religion.<ref name="School Bal Vidya Mandir 2003">para 25, Committee of Management Kanya Junior High School Bal Vidya Mandir, Etah, Uttar Pradesh v. Sachiv, U.P. Basic Shiksha Parishad, Allahabad, U.P. and Ors., Per Dalveer Bhandari J., Civil Appeal No. 9595 of 2003, decided On: 21 August 2006, Supreme Court of India</ref>

The [[Republic of India]] is in the peculiar situation that the [[Supreme Court of India]] has repeatedly been called upon to define "Hinduism" because the [[Constitution of India]], while it prohibits "discrimination of any citizen" on grounds of religion in article 15, article 30 foresees special rights for "All minorities, whether based on religion or language". As a consequence, religious groups have an interest in being recognised as distinct from the Hindu majority in order to qualify as a "religious minority". Thus, the Supreme Court was forced to consider the question whether [[Jainism]] is part of Hinduism in 2005 and 2006.