Over the last 1200 years, Islamic barbarians have destroyed thousands of Hindu mandirs in India. Many apologists try to whitewash this brutal destruction of the Hindu religious and cultural symbols. Luckily for us, the invaders and their scribes left behind plenty of contemporary records, enabling scholars to piece together the sordid history of their brutal exploits.
We have launched a series of short articles to daylight this terrible destruction of Hindu mandirs. Each article will contain excerpts from the writings of a well-known Islamic scholar. This is the first article in this series. The entire series is based on an article by Stephen Knapp (https://www.stephen-knapp.com/islamic_destruction_of_hindu_temples.htm)
Islamic Source: ‘Hindustan Islamic Ahad Mein’ (Translation: India under Islamic Rule) by Maulana Abdul Hai
(Abdul Hai was a respected scholar and an authority in Islamic history. Because of his scholarship and services to Islam, he was appointed as the Rector of the ‘Darul Nadwa Ullum Nadwatal-Ulama,’ a post he filled till his death in February 1923.)
Examples of Mandir Destruction
Qawwat al-Islam Mosque at Delhi: “According to my findings the first mosque of Delhi is Qubbat al-Islam or Quwwat al-Islam which Qutubud-Din Aibak constructed in H. 587 after demolishing the Hindu temple built by Prithvi Raj and leaving certain parts of the temple outside the mosque proper; and when he returned from Ghazni in H. 592 he started building, under orders from Shihabud-Din Ghori, a huge mosque of inimitable red stones, and certain parts of the temple were included in the mosque…”
The Mosque at Jaunpur: “This was built by Sultan Ibrahim Sharqi with chiseled stones. Originally it was a Hindu temple after demolishing which he constructed the mosque. It is known as the Atala Masjid.”
The Mosque at Qanauj: “It is well known that this mosque was built on the foundations of some Hindu temple that stood here. The mosque was built by Ibrahim Sharqi in H. 809 as is recorded in Gharbat Nigar.”
Jami Masjid at EtwahThis mosque stands on the bank of the Jamuna at Etawah. There was a Hindu temple at this place, on the site of which this mosque was constructed.”
Babri Masjid at Ayodhya: “This mosque was constructed by Babar at Ayodhya which Hindus call the birthplace of Ramchandraji… Sita had a temple here in which she lived and cooked for her husband. On that very site, Babar constructed this mosque in H.963.”
Mosque at Benaras: “Mosque of Benares was built by Alamgir Aurangzeb on the site of Bisheshwar Temple. That temple was very tall and held as holy among Hindus. On this very site and with those very stones he constructed a lofty mosque, and its ancient stones were rearranged after being embedded in the walls of the mosque. It is one of the renowned mosques of Hindustan.”
Mosque at Mathura: “Alamgir Aurangzeb built a mosque at Mathura. This mosque was built on site of the Govind Dev Temple which was very strong and beautiful as well as exquisite.”
