On Sunday (April 9), Bollywood singer Maqsood Mahmood Ali (popularly known as Lucy Ali) courted controversy after he claimed that the word ‘Brahman’ is derived from ‘Abraham’.
Ali, who is a Muslim by Faith, had alleged that Brahman (which translates to the universe) comes after Prophet Abraham. In a Facebook post, he said, “The name ‘Brahman’ comes from ‘Brahma’ which comes from ‘Abram’…which comes from Abraham or Ibrahim…”
Lucky Ali then went on to claim that ‘Brahmans’ are a lineage of ‘Ibrahim Aliahisalam – The Father of all Nations.’ The singer did not provide any source for his outrageous claim.
“So why is everyone just arguing and fighting without reasoning amongst themselves?” he asked after linking Dharmic concepts of ‘Brahman’ and ‘Brahmans’ to the Abrahamic religions.
His outrageous claims did not sit well with his followers, who urged him to stick to singing and not display his ignorance about the Hindu religion.
“Sir, we love you for your music. That’s the field of your absolute expertise. Please avoid commenting on stuff…,” one Omkar Dabhadkar appealed.
Following social media backlash, Lucky Ali deleted his contentious Facebook post without citing any apology. Opindia was able to find a cached version of the Facebook post on Google.
Ali’s attempt to paint Brahmins as descendants of Ibrahim is yet another endeavour to reinforce the supremacy of Abrahamic faiths, which are just 1,400-2,000 years old, and belittle the millennia-old Hindu civilisation. It also illustrates the longstanding Abrahamic practice of casting themselves as the fount of all civilisations, from which different cultures and religions branched out.