houris, or virgins. Hell is a place of burning and heat where excruciating pains are
perpetual (Qur’an).”^167 While many Muslim scholars point out that these two
descriptions are only metaphors for an afterlife, the two depictions nevertheless
underscore the importance of good and evil—and the consequences of each—in
Islamic teaching. We should also note that there is debate among Muslim imams
and scholars on the issues of suicide bombers, martyrdom, and heaven. Many imams
in the leadership of Al Qaeda see the actions of these bombers as an extension of a
jihad against the enemies of Islam. They tell suicide bombers that they are dying to
save Islam from the West. Other Muslims maintain that the Koran does not approve
of the killing of innocent people. Regardless of the authenticity of these positions,
one thing seems certain: Those who become suicide bombers and engage in these hor-
rific and gruesome acts do so because they believe their actions will be rewarded in
heaven. For this group, death in the name of Allah ensures a place in heaven.Hinduism
Hinduism, with approximately a billion followers, is a religion that dates back almost
4000 years. In spite of its many followers and long history, Hinduism, because it is so
very different from Western worldviews, remains a mystery to most“outsiders.”Part of
that mystery is that Hinduism as a“religion has no single founder, creed, teacher, or
prophet acknowledged by all Hindus as central to the religion, and no single holy
book is universally acclaimed as being of primary importance.”^168 Van Voorst explains
the uniqueness of this religion writing:
If this is your first encounter with the Hindu religion you may become bewildered by all its
varied beliefs and practices. Calling something a“religion”usually implies a unified system
of belief and practice, but Hinduism has little obvious unity. It has no human founder,
defined core beliefs, common scripture that guides all Hindus, standardized worship practice,
or central authority.^169
This suggests that it is difficult to pin down Hinduism for a variety of reasons such as
those cited by Van Voorst. Yet as distinctive and baffling as this religion can be, there
are some concepts and beliefs that will partially explain the worldview of Hindus.Origins
Hinduism is among the oldest religions in the world, and, as such, providing an accu-
rate history of Hinduism is problematic. In addition, the difficulty of gathering a pre-
cise historical account for this tradition is compounded by the fact that Indian culture
is not concerned with its past.^170 In addition, Hinduism had its creation long before
people were maintaining written records. Even with these limitations, most historians
trace the origins of Hinduism to a time four thousand years ago when a group of light-
skinned Aryan Indo-European tribes invaded what is now northern India.^171 When
this group of people moved into the Indus Valley, a blending of cultures took place.
“As these Aryans mixed with the native people, they shared customs, traditions, rites,
symbols, and myths. Each contributed and each received.”^172 These early stages were
marked by a series of orally transmitted texts that expressed the fundamental concepts
of what is now call Hinduism. Because of the message contained in these texts and
their significance to Hinduism, we now examine some of those“central concepts.”138 CHAPTER 4•Worldview: Cultural Explanations of Life and Death
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