The influence of Islam on the thinkers of the Bengali Renaissance — the first of the regional variants of the national-cultural renaissance in India of the XIX-first third of the XX century - is a significant intra-civilizational influence, which is not as obvious as the influence of Christianity, and therefore has not been sufficiently studied (see: [Ghazi, 2010]). But in the social thought of the Bengali Renaissance, there are meanings and ideas that have an Islamic origin.

Keywords: understanding the other, Bengali Renaissance, hermeneutics, Islamic influences, religious and social thought.

The attitude of Bengali intellectuals (mostly Hindus) to Islam and Muslims was a kind of hermeneutic problem. In 1933, it was formulated by R. Tagore, reflecting on why the European conquerors managed to bring India out of the state of isolation and limitation, but the Muslim ones did not succeed. "The first blow to our indifference was dealt by Muslims. But the Muslims also belonged to the same Ancient East, bound in chains for centuries, " Tagore said. "They built an empire by force of arms, but they couldn't give creative thinking a boost. Having established themselves on our land, they constantly came into sharp contradictions with us, although, in fact, these contradictions were purely external, because they were collisions of two ancient systems, two frozen worldviews "[Tagore, 1961, vol. 11, pp. 291-292]. Recognizing the multiple cultural influences of Muslims, the writer stated:"...In the land of India, two ancient civilizations were locked in their shells and stood side by side, facing away from each other. It cannot be said that they did not influence each other, but this influence was minimal" [Tagore, 1961, vol.11, p. 292].

If we take into account the centuries-old coexistence of two faiths on the subcontinent, the content of the hermeneutic situation appears as follows. In relation to the dharma religion (Hinduism), Islam appears as Another religion, the faith of strangers, regardless of whether they were conquerors (in the north) or merchants and preachers (in the south of India). For orthodox elites, Muslims were known to be Mleccha-foreigners," barbarians " excluded from the social system (Halbfass, 1988, pp. 175-177). However, over time, Indian Muslims have become a community culturally distinct from both the classical Islamic Ummah and the Hindu world, but with innumerable ties to both [Kotin, 2005, p. 53]. A model of peaceful interaction with non-believers (habitual "their own Others") in the socio-economic and cultural spheres has developed. A mobile Indo-Muslim synthesis developed in the culture and social structure of the subcontinent [Kotin, 2005, pp. 94-123; Suvorova, 1995], but despite its powerful forms, in the pre-British period, Hindus did not develop a developed understanding of Islam and Muslims.

Hindus and Muslims together find themselves facing an external British challenge to traditional society from a modernizing economy, governance, culture and way of life. However, the former adapted faster to the changes, and the new intellectual elite (bhodrolok in Bengal, later - the elites of other regions), receptive to European education, science and culture, gave a creative response to the Western challenge, which implied a synthesis of Indian and Western for the development and integration of society into the new reality [Skorokhodova, 2008(1)].

page 91
The most important characteristic of this synthesis was the processes of understanding the Other in thinking and culture due to the change in the hermeneutical situation, which was facilitated by cultural, social, economic, and political-legal transformations [Skorokhodova, 2010(2)]. And the further thinkers distance themselves from orthodox Hinduism, the greater the degree of unbiased attitude towards the Other.

In colonial India, the specific socio-cultural situation associated with the desire to understand the West and European culture left its mark on the formation of the hermeneutical problem. Unlike Christianity, another distant religion, which made such a deep and powerful impression (including its novelty) on Bengali intellectuals and caused an intense hermeneutical dialogue [Skorokhodova, 2010(3)], Islam was a familiar and familiar-Other - near religion. The expansion of the intellectual and cultural horizon that the Christian Europeans brought was the discovery of another world beyond the Indian subcontinent, including the eastern one. This explains the relentless desire to understand Christianity among the Bengali creative minority-up to baptism (Krishnomohan Banerjee, Brahmobandhob Upadhyaya, etc.) and building a dialogue on the other side - Christianity with Hinduism, and not Hinduism with Christianity (in Rammohan Rai, Keshobchondro Sena, and Vivekananda). In this sense, the proximity of Islam and Muslims in the socio-cultural space has led to a lower intensity of the understanding process compared to the hermeneutics of Christianity, although both directions of hermeneutics give an impetus to the analysis of one's own religious tradition and awareness of identity, and at the same time - a breakthrough to universality in the sphere of spiritual and human meanings. Understanding Islam encourages the religious reform movement in Hinduism, but it does not change, but rather strengthens their religious identity. None of the intellectuals converted to Islam, and those who converted to Christianity had little or no interest in Islam.

Biographical contexts show that the understanding of Islam was primarily addressed by those thinkers who were brought up and lived in the space of the Hindu-Muslim culture of the regions of Northern India and/or received a traditional Islamic education, spoke Farsi and Arabic, which allowed them to immerse themselves in the religious meanings of Islam. The founder of the Renaissance processes, Rammohan Rai (Roy) (1772-1833), had such an education; the Tagore family, whose members come from a colleague of R. R. Tolkien, also lived in the same space of synthesis. Raya Darokanatha to Rabindranath - played a prominent role in the Renaissance processes.

If this influence was not present, then the perception of Bengali thinkers was influenced by stereotypes about Islam and Muslims based on social experience, and ideas about Islam outlined in the works of British orientalists who wrote about Indian history and culture. In the European intellectual tradition, since the time of the Crusades, anti-Islamic sentiments have been formed, which have been incorporated in a peculiar way into political ideologems and scientific works. In the History of British India, the utilitarian philosopher James Mill (1773-1836) regarded the Muslim period as a small step forward from the dark ages of Hinduism, and associated the beginning of the true history of the subcontinent with the arrival of the British. In 1854, H. M. Eliot and J. R. R. Tolkien Dawson published an 8-volume work, "A History of India Written by Its Own Historians: The Muslim Period." Translations from Muslim chronicles were intended to show "our native subjects" the growth of "the enormous opportunities that have opened up to them under the moderation and justice of our government", so that they would not want to return to the "dark period" of their history, which meant the "tyrannical" power of Muslims [Chatterjee, 1986, p.11].

This interpretation of the Muslim period of Indian history resonated with the writer Bonkimchondro Chottopadhyay (1838-1894), who apparently did not study Persian (only Sanskrit), but received an English education.

page 92
He did not have a strong interest in Islam, and as an official, he only communicated with Hindu peasants and the Hindu middle class; the Muslim world of Ben-Gal remained unfamiliar to him [Chatterjee, 1986, p.6, 10-12]. The stereotypical attitudes instilled in Indian society became a barrier to understanding Islam and Muslims.

Accordingly, depending on the level of knowledge and stereotypes of perception, in the hermeneutical experience of thinkers of the Bengali Renaissance, either serious attempts were made to understand the meaning of Islam, or some of its aspects were selectively interpreted, or stereotypical judgments prevailed, revealing a superficial knowledge of Islam and Muslims and a lack of desire to understand them. All together, it represents a picture of the dialogue between Hinduism and Islam in the minds of thinkers, which is projected into various aspects of thought and practical reform activities of the era.

In this context, a hermeneutical problem was formed, combining five conditional questions in the philosophical thought of the epoch: 1) What is the power and appeal of the Islamic faith? 2) Do Islam and Hinduism have common spiritual meanings? 3) What components of the faith and social beliefs of Islam can serve to better understand the specialness of Hinduism? 4) What is the significance of Muslims to India? The fifth question was driven by political events and was formulated as part of the alignment of the interests of the two communities in the Indian independence movement.

The hermeneutical problem can be traced in all spheres of thought of the Bengali Renaissance: in the religious sphere - as a dialogue between Hinduism and Islam, built in the minds of Bengali intellectuals; in the social sphere - as a dialogue with the social values and norms of Islam; in the historical and cultural sphere - as a clarification of the role of Muslim rule in the evolution of the Hindu community and the role political thought - as an attitude to the community of non-Believers as a subject of the liberation movement.

The first attempt to understand Islam — the most serious and fruitful for the further development of religious, philosophical and social thought of the Bengali Renaissance-was made by Rammohan Rai. It is important not only as one of the sources of his reformist thought and practice, but also by the very fact of its primacy: thanks to traditional Islamic education and the study of the Koran during the growing up period, R. Rai gained experience in understanding Another religion before getting acquainted with Christianity, the Bible and European culture, and even before in-depth study of the Hindu tradition in Benares. Rammohan's first philosophical treatise "The Gift to Believers in the One God" (this is the title in my published translation, to which reference is given) (Tuhfat-ul-Muwahiddin, 1804) [Rai, 2010; Roy, 1982, vol. 4] testifies to the power of the influence of Islam on him - not only in terms of terminology It also includes references and quotations from the Qur'an, and a general range of theological, philosophical, ethical, and social ideas of Islamic origin. Rybakov considers the influence of Islam on Rammohan Rai decisive, since it gave him a certain "immunity" to the dogmas of Hinduism, and Vedanta served him only as "an illustration that allows him to express his own views in a form acceptable to his compatriots" [Rybakov, 1981, p. 21]. In my opinion, it was the organic nature of his assimilation of Islamic ideas that made them indistinguishable from his own and/or similar to the European ideas of the Enlightenment.

The power of Rammohan's hermeneutical method in reaching out to other religions lies in the direct comprehension of their sacred texts in the original (the Koran, Old and New Testaments) and the discovery of the ambiguity of the meanings of books. Rammohan's dialogical hermeneutics of Islam actualizes three of the five questions of the hermeneutic problem formulated above; the answers to them are the results of understanding.

page 93
First, Rammohan was finally and irrevocably attracted to the monotheism of Islam (at-tawhid), expressed in the formula "there is no deity but Allah" and denying polytheism (shirk):"...A general appeal to the One Eternal Being is a natural inclination of human beings, and is equally characteristic of all members of the human race in equal measure. And the predisposition of each of the sects of humanity to a particular God or gods... there is an extra quality that has emerged as a result of habit or upbringing" [Roy, 1982, vol. 4, p. 943]. His persistent search for monotheism in any religion, his denial of polytheism and the permissibility of worshipping images of the deity, I tend to ascribe precisely to the influence of Islam. Monotheism became for Rammohan Rai the strongest aspect of any religion, its fundamental principle [Roy, 1982, vol. 4, p. 957]. Subsequently, he uncompromisingly defended the monotheistic (initially) the nature of Hinduism, refused to recognize the divine nature and resurrection of Christ (with all due respect to him) and persistently polemicized with missionaries, not finding a rational justification for the dogma of the Trinity (see: [Skorokhodova 2008(2) p. 74-88, 94-103, 124-137, 152-164]). The idea of a Creator God who created the world and man, who is merciful to man, also goes back to Rammohan's understanding of Islam; only secondarily was he influenced by Vedanta monism and Upanishad philosophy.

Moreover, Rammohan was inspired, on the one hand, by Sufi mysticism, which brings to the fore personal experience and inner awareness of faith, on the other — by the rationalism of the Mu'tazilites, who deny any manifestations of polytheism, anthropomorphism of God, as well as the position of human free will. Thus, in the Summary of Vedanta, Rammohan speaks of turning to God by hearing (listening to his commands that establish His unity), thinking (reflecting on the content of His law), and approaching (i.e., turning the consciousness to God) [Roy, 1977, p.270]. By denouncing idolatry in Hinduism, Rammohan sought to show its incompatibility with the truth, since "the true system of religion leads its adherents to knowledge and love of God, to a friendly attitude towards their neighbors" (Roy, 1982, vol. 1, p. 46).

Rammohan's emphasis on the ethical content of religion as opposed to the observance of ritual can also be attributed to the influence of Islam. He emphasized ethics from the beginning of his religious reform work (1815) to the publication of the Commandments of Jesus and the controversy with missionaries, but in parallel with the study of the Bible. It is possible to say that the ethics of Islam and the ethics of Christianity have roughly the same effect on him; but at the same time, the ethics of Sufis were acquired by him before he became acquainted with the New Testament: in the Gift, he repeatedly refers to Hafiz, whose dictum "If you want to serve God, do good to man" is attributed to Rammohan.

Secondly, in monotheism, the mercy of the Creator God, and the ethical content of religion, Rammohan found points of contact and similarities between Hinduism and Islam, and hence the discovery of common meanings, which the philosopher easily found parallels in the Upanishads, justifying the changes in Hinduism and the way of life of its adherents necessary for modern times by referring to the pure meaning of the text. Rammohan's argumentation and general ideas reflect Rammohan's attempt to equalize Hinduism with other world religions by reforming it on rational and ethical grounds, and a breakthrough to the universal content of faith and ethics. Thus, he said that Hindus should accept and implement the "great universal principle": do to others as you wish to be done to you (Roy, 1982, vol. 1, p. 74). This idea of the unity of different peoples was contained in a" folded "form in the "Gift" and clearly came from the Islamic idea of equality before God and brotherhood.

Third, the social components of the Islamic faith showed Rammohan the specifics of Hinduism, and this, along with the influence of Western rationalism, played an important role in his desire to find and preach another Hinduism that was consistent with the idea of a "true system of religion", since this allowed

page 94
make it a Sanskrit education. But he did not consider himself a reformer, convincing his opponents that he was discovering true Hinduism as it was understood by his ancestors [Roy, 1982, vol. 1, p. 90]. Modern Hinduism with its ritualism, worship of images of numerous deities, caste system and its restrictions, odious customs (sati-self-immolation of widows, child marriages, polygamy in high castes, etc.) was perceived by Rammohan as a conglomerate of later layers incompatible with the pure meanings of primordial monotheism. Thus, the movement from Another religion - Islam - to the understanding of one's own religion led the philosopher to the formation of Another Hinduism within it, which was embodied in the teaching of Brahmo Samaj [Rybakov, 1981, pp. 33-58; Skorokhodova, 2008(2), pp. 224-231, 244-248].

Rammohan's social reform work was not without its influence: his protest against social injustice, especially against those who were disadvantaged, apparently made an impression on him. The struggle against the custom of sati is associated with concern for the situation of widows in Islam, as well as defending the rights of Hindu women to property and inheritance of property-with guarantees of legal equality of women with men, the right to property and inheritance of property in the Koran; Rammohan's speech against the caste system as one of the causes of India's degradation-with the idea of equality before God. Speaking as an expert in the British Parliament, he proposed to introduce "a tax on luxury goods and consumption items that are not necessary for life" [Roy, 1982, vol. 2, p. 291]. This measure, designed to ease the situation of the Indian peasantry in order to improve public welfare, reflects the influence of the idea of zakat-a property tax for the needs of poor co-religionists.

In his educational practice, Rammohan showed rare sympathy for non-Believers, was friends with Muslims and highly valued their human and professional qualities (for which he was known as an apostate). His newspaper Mirat-ul-Akhbar (Mirror of News, 1822-1823), published in Farsi, was published to attract educated Muslims to the side of reforms, awaken their civic feelings and lead them out of information and political isolation [Skorokhodova, 2008(2), pp. 173-175, 179-181]. The newspaper aroused great interest among Muslim intellectuals. In his article "On the State of the Local Population of India" (1831), Rammohan wrote about the greater physical activity and abilities of Muslims who do not give up moderate meat consumption, and attributed the improvement in the physical qualities of the "people of India" (!) to the rejection of prejudice and the use of animal food [Roy, 1982, vol. 2, p. 195].

This understanding of the meaning of Islam, both directly and indirectly, is part of the Bengali Renaissance ideas formulated by Rammohan Rai. However, his spiritual heirs, understanding different aspects of Other religions, did not always refer to the text. If reading and interpreting the Bible is quite typical for the thinkers of the era, then no one seems to have turned to reading the Koran immediately after Rammohan Rai. At the same time, the influence of Islamic ideas on the consciousness and thinking of intellectuals is quite strong. This paradox is explained by the depth and power of the influence of Islam and the Qur'an on Rammohan Rai, who managed to master them so organically that they became indistinguishable from his own independent reflections. The results of his understanding of Islam and Muslims, integrated into Rammohan's worldview and thought and manifested in his religious-reform and social-reform works, were included in the circle of basic ideas of the era that he developed, which were inherited by his younger contemporaries and new generations of intellectuals.

The religious sphere of thought demonstrates the presence of Islamic ideas without direct or indirect reference to this fact. Here it is obvious to borrow strong (in the opinion of Hindu reformers) aspects of Islam through the search for analogies to them in their tradition. Hinduism acted as a kind of "mirror" for reformers, in which one can see the advantages and disadvantages of their religion and correct them-for the good

page 95
According to Rammohan Rai, all religions in their own forms and images worship the same God [Roy, 1982, vol. 1, p. 136-138], which implies their dialogue.

Debendronath Tagore (1818-1905), the spiritual heir of Rammohan Rai, is at first glance an example of a consistent monotheist Brahmoist who sought high meaning in Hindu texts rather than in the" sastras of other religions " (Tagore, 1909, p.20), explored the Hindu tradition in its entirety, and sought God through revelation. Meanwhile, Debendronath accepted the philosophy of the Upanishads in a modified form under the influence of Islam [Naravane, 1964, p. 16-17], and Bipinchondro Pal considered his interpretation of the Upanishads primarily Islamic. He also called Debendronath's religiosity "Islamic bhakti", "which cannot tolerate the slightest sign of anthropomorphism in the concept of the deity or the slightest symbolism in the realization of love for him "(Naravane, 1964, p. 36). We should add that Debendronath quoted Hafiz in his description of his religious experience, which indicates Sufi influences (Tagore, 1909, p. 4). 104, 106, 127, 133, 135]. The desire "to preach the religion of Brahmo (one God. - T. S.) Tagore, 1909, p. 40] also points out that the reformer saw the idea of brotherhood in faith in the mirror of Islam, but this faith is nevertheless Hindu.

The same idea is the leitmotif of the reformer Keshub Chunder Sen (1838-1884), who considered the true goal of religion to unite humanity in order to lead it to God on the basis of the universal Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man [Keshub Chunder Sen, 1938, p. 378, 384]. Being under the strongest influence of Christianity, he nevertheless borrowed from Islam the idea of a prophet who reveals to people the eternal laws of Allah. In his lecture "The Great Man" (1866), Keshobchondro discussed the appearance of prophets in different countries during the crisis periods of history, sent by divine Providence to lead humanity, overcome chaos and bring it to a new stage of social evolution. These prophets are "God in human form" and are called to revive their people, to breathe new life into them. There are many such prophets in history: Christ ("king of the prophets"), Muhammad, Luther, and the Bengali preacher Chaitanya (Sen, 1954, p.37-40).

Islam among the Bengali creative minority acts as a tool for reform and / or revealing the merits of their faith. In Bonkimchondro Chottopadhyay, the comparison of religions ultimately leads to the justification of the superiority of Hinduism over other faiths. In Krishna, he saw Buddha, Jesus Christ, Muhammad, and Rama all rolled into one. Bonkimchondro made the attitude towards a non-Believer dependent on his ability to love other people and the world: Christian Europeans can only love their compatriots and their country, Muslims can only love Muslims, and only a Hindu who feels "love for the whole world" (!) can love all people [Chatterjee, 1986, pp. 167-168, 184-186]. The more conservative components in an intellectual's thinking, the higher the degree of such an "instrumental" attitude to Islam.

In this capacity, Islam also appears in Vivekananda, who highly appreciated the power of its influence and proposed a synthesis of the ideas of Muslim philosophy with the ideas of Vedanta. But compared to his predecessors, he took an unusual step in the hermeneutics of Islam: he turned to the figure of the Prophet Muhammad. If Christology is initially present in the thought of the Bengali Renaissance [Skorokhodova, 2008 (3)], then Vivekananda's attempt to understand the Prophet is exceptional. In a speech delivered on March 15, 1900, in San Francisco, USA he presented his interpretation of his teaching in a conservative manner - to understand the Other through understanding oneself. Therefore, in the message of Krishna, according to the philosopher, all the messages of other prophets - Buddha, Christ and Muhammad-are anticipated and harmonized.

page 96
Muhammad for Vivekananda is one of the "messengers of light" who encourage people to move forward and act, "the great Arab prophet who was deeply hurt by the spectacle of sin and idolatry and profanation of worship, and proclaimed faith in the One God." The virtue of Muhammad's teaching is that he addresses the masses: "The first message was equality. ...There is one religion - love. No more questions about race, skin color, or anything else. Join her! ... This great message was quite simple. Believe in the One God, the Creator of heaven and earth! Everything that is created is created by Him alone. Don't ask any questions" [Vivekananda, 1998, vol. 1, p. 481-482, 483]. The Bengali philosopher described Muhammad's religious experience as an epiphany, "but an accidental epiphany "(compared to the constant search for knowledge about the Highest among Yogis). Vivekananda explained the contradictory effect of his teaching by this chance insight: "Think of the good that Muhammad did for the world, and think of the great evil that he caused by his fanaticism! Think of the millions who were killed because of his teachings, the mothers who lost their children, the children who became orphans, the countries that were completely ruined, the millions and millions of people who were killed! " [Vivekananda, 1998, vol. 1, p. 184]. At the same time, the philosopher wrote about the direct and indirect promotion of the sciences and arts by Islam and its role in the development of civilizations and peoples [Vivekananda, 1998, vol. 5, p. 533]. The duality of Islam becomes a mirror in which Vivekananda's Hinduism looks like a merciful and tolerant, all-encompassing faith, which contains the content of all other religions.

In social thought, an implicit appeal to Islam is present in the criticism of social institutions (primarily the caste system) and the vices of Hinduism, and in the justification of the attitude towards a non-believer.

Keshobchondro was one of the first to articulate the idea of tolerance for non-believers, based on the universal essence of religions and the brotherhood of man. He attributed his hatred of non-believers to "a narrowness of heart, which often comes from a narrowness of faith," while all people owe their ideas about God to all the sacred texts and sources of revelation without exception [Keshub Chunder Sen, 1938, p. 379]. Here I see a reminiscence of the Qur'anic concept of tolerance towards the peoples of the Book; Keshobchondro extended it not only to Jews and Christians, but also to Hindus.

The justification of the attitude to the gentile is most clearly manifested in the fiction of Rabindranath Tagore. In the story "Kabuliwala" (1892), he tells about the friendship of a Bengali girl from a Hindu family with a Muslim Afghan Rohmot, whose image is drawn with great sympathy. The situation of understanding the Other develops through the recognition of human dignity in a poor peddler who went to work to feed his family. "I forgot that he is a sweet merchant from Kabul, and I am a descendant of a noble Bengali family. I realized that we are equal, that he is the same father as I am" [Tagore, 1961, vol. 1, p. 486]. The decisive condition for understanding was not only the" enlightened " consciousness of the hero, but also overcoming his prejudices in human communication. Overcoming the barriers of understanding - in Tagore's case, these are communal prejudices and the idea of ritual purity - is essential to overcome the isolation of Hindus and Muslims from each other. Through the eyes of his Mountain hero, the writer sees how the Hindu community does not help a person in need, but only threatens him, tramples him into the mud and humiliates him, while Muslim peasants are united and help each other. The hero of the story comes to the conclusion that the latter are united by religion, not customs, and at the same time compares Hinduism with a tree, and Islam with a vine: "The tree will always remain the support of the vine, even if it is knocked down by a storm to the ground, it can rise again and wrap around it "[Tagore, 1961, vol. 5, p. 435, 455, 406]. In The Mountain, Tagore criticizes neo-Hindu positions that justify the greatness and inclusiveness of Hinduism, and shows the dangers of contrasting religions and communities with each other.

4 Vostok, No. 6

page 97
The main thing for Tagore is the establishment of supracommunal solidarity and social unity. He reaches the highest expression of this idea in the novel "Home and Peace":" If you really preach a united India, do not forget that Muslims are an integral part of it, " says the author's alter ego Nikhilesh [Tagore, 1961, vol.6, p. 124]. Thus, Tagore pointed out the imperative of understanding a gentile in a multi-religious society, even when the majority are representatives of Hinduism. The greater the risk of hostility, intolerance, and conflict in society, the greater the lack of alternative understanding. "It is quite obvious that the main problem of India is the problem of unity. Many races converged here. To unite all these peoples, and to unite them not from the outside, but from the inside, is the main task of India. ...A religion based on the community of people is the only true religion and the only basis for greatness" [Tagore, 1961, 11, pp. 306-307], - Tagore summarizes the goal for believers of different faiths living on the subcontinent. But this requires a highly developed ability to understand each other, which must be educated.

In historical and cultural thought, the question of the role of Muslims, their way of life and culture in the history of India was first raised by the Young Bengals-students of the Eurasian poet and educator G. V. L. Derosio (1809-1931). In the Bengali press, he and his students criticized the contemporary British rule, spoke about the anti-British sentiments of the Muslim population and the equal discrimination of both Hindus and Muslims [Bengal..., 1978, p.32-34, 92-93].

The Indian Christian Derosio, on the one hand, understood the feelings of Hindus - an ancient people who survived the invasion and rule of Muslims, on the other-was interested in Muslims themselves - their culture and worldview. The poem "The Enchantress of the Cave" reflects this duality. "A Muslim came with his hordes in turbans / / to conquer a peaceful, golden land; / /..A Hindu... he must come to the battle to shed blood. / For all that he holds dear-his country, family, and faith. // But evil will befall it and the beautiful Hindustan / / If it surrenders to a proud Muslim" [Chaudhuri, 2002, p. 45], the poet wrote. Along with the imprint of British orientalist ideas about Muslims, his genuine interest in Islamic culture, its legends and poetics is also evident [Chaudhuri, 2002, pp. 42-44]. Derosio was the first in Modern Indian literature to create a stereotype of Muslims as conquerors of the "land of Hindus" with its rich culture, in order to express the ideas of patriotism, freedom and struggle for the independence of the motherland. Half a century later, Bonkimchondro Chottopadhyay used this technique to give an example of selfless service to the Motherland ("Raj Singh", "Abode of Joy"). And although he has enough positive Muslim characters, the very situation of the Hindu-Muslim confrontation worked to develop a negative stereotype.

Criticizing the modern religious institutions of Hindus, the Young Bengalis sometimes attributed them to the influence of Muslims - for example, Maheshchondro Deb saw the reason for the subordinate position of women in India not only in religious laws, but also in the long-term political domination of Muslims. "The situation of constant anxiety and anxiety in which the poor local population lived forced them to abandon their ancient obligations and occupations, the fear of gross violence stopped social interaction between women and men," and seclusion was borrowed from Muslims. A similar position is held by Perichand Mitro (Awakening..., 1965, p. 95, 287).

Keshobchondro Sen opposed the "orientalist" negative assessment of Muslim rule. He spoke of Indian antiquity as a kind of golden age, after which the decline began (due to idolatry, the omnipotence of the priesthood and the caste system). "Muslim oppression and mismanagement have brought to an end a picture of intellectual and moral devastation that is already appalling" [Sen, 1954, p. 126] - i.e., it only leads to the logical outcome of the destructive processes that began earlier due to the fault of the Hindus themselves.

page 98
Emphasizing that " the clash of different cultures is necessary for the viability of our intelligence "[Tagore, 1961, vol. 11, p. 242], Tagore seeks to objectively talk about the contribution of different cultural flows to the development of Indian culture. Thus, "Muslims with their treasures of knowledge, their worldview and their amazing religious tolerance", according to the writer, made " an invaluable contribution to our music and painting, literature and architecture... as well as great religious movements" [Tagore, 1961, vol. 11, pp. 241,243].

It is in the historical and cultural aspect of the worldview of Bengali thinkers that the interaction of liberalism and conservatism was most clearly manifested [Chaudhuri, 1967 p. 16-17; Skorokhodova 2008(1), pp. 74-84]. If the author's thinking was dominated by liberal attitudes, the role of Muslims in history and culture was assessed as having positive and negative cultural consequences, but if conservative, the "soil-based", romantic attitude towards the gentile came to the fore more often: moderately wary, with an admixture of negativism, which goes into the ideas about the former glory and greatness of Hindus. And so a conservative attitude demonstrates a failure of understanding.

In the political sphere of thought, Bengalis were concerned with the alignment of the interests of communities in the movement towards participation in power and self-government; this vector initially developed in line with criticism of British rule, compared to which in the Muslim period of history, Bengalis were inclined to see a positive experience. Thus, Proshonnokumar Tagore wrote that although the previous Muslim rule was despotic, its rulers never treated their subjects in the dismissive manner typical of British rule; Hindus were not denied access to high positions under either Akbar or Haidar Ali (Bhattacharjee, 1986, p.99). Young Bengali Dakkhinaronjon Mukherjee compared the condition of peasants under Hindu, Muslim and British rule and concluded that local governments recognized the individual's private right to land, while the British sacrificed these rights, turning landlords (zamindars) from tax collectors to owners of vast estates [Bengal..., 1978, p.221-222].

The Young Bengals showed their negative attitude towards the principle of "divide and rule" when in 1853, in response to the demand for Indian representation in the legislature, British officials began to argue that it was difficult to implement, since Hindus and Muslims were separated, and it was easier to create two chambers of the legislative assembly for each of the communities. Perichand Mitro said in response that " the issues on which there are differences are very loosely related to the legislative sphere, and do not require separate representation... This body will need general information on subjects related to the internal administration of the country, which people think and feel, in fact, the same way "(quoted in [Majumdar, 1960, p. 86]). Such a position is possible only when Another Gentile or another community is recognized as different but equal subjects in all human dimensions of life, and this is the first stage of understanding and the basis for interaction, compromise, and dialogue. Later, the writer Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay criticized the juxtaposition of communities that lived and still live in a common home - India.

However, as the political awakening of India's Muslim elites began, conservative thinkers tended to distance themselves socially and politically from the former. It was here that the term "nation" first appeared in an application to the religious community: "We should interact with Muslims and other Indian nations in political and other matters, as far as it is useful, like a farmer cultivating a certain area, and not the whole country, we should have a Hindu society as our private field (emphasis added). - T. S.), " Rajnarayon Boshu wrote in 1881 [Studies..., 1958, p. 475]. The radical movement of the early twentieth century largely relied on such ideas.,

4*

page 99
according to its socio-religious composition and ideology, it is Hindu-tinged and anti-Muslim, as Muslims began to be seen as the support of the British in the fight against Hindu claims. Such a turn can be regarded as a failure of the very possibility of moving towards understanding.

But from the liberal recognition of Another community, the concept of an Indian nation on the principle of a single co - citizenship grew, in which all Indian religious communities are integrated (Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay, Surendronath Banerjee, Bipinchondro Pal, etc.), a concept included in the ideology and program of the secular Indian National Congress.

An analysis of the hermeneutical experience of the Bengali Renaissance thinkers reveals the fragmented and mosaic nature of the understanding of Islam, resulting from a lack of interest in it. This lack is explained by the habitual presence of Islam and Muslims on the Indian subcontinent: Another-near, Another in their own environment, attracting attention and arousing interest, could not compete in the minds of intellectual elites with Christianity and Christians (Others-distant) in the novelty and power of various effects on the minds. Hence the relatively modest place occupied in sources on the history of Bengali thought by topics and problems related to Islam and Muslims.

In general, in this area of hermeneutical experience, Bengali thinkers do not have the same depth of interest and analysis that distinguished their desire to understand Christianity and, more broadly, to understand the West. As a consequence, the inevitable limitations of hermeneutical experience, when the basic ideas of the Islamic faith were mastered selectively - only those that could be successfully integrated into the reformist thought and practice (monotheism, the idea of equality, social justice, etc.). At the same time, others were ignored, for example, the political component (the establishment of the power of Allah on earth, the idea of jihad, etc.), social institutions that do not work in the field of social reform. There was no dialogue with the political meanings of Islam at all, but a breakthrough was made to recognize the political and legal equality of Hindus and Muslims as a condition for the normal development of society and the prevention of instability and conflicts, although this happened rather under the influence of European thought and the development of one's own positive attitude towards the Gentile.

Selectively appropriating the meanings of Islam (which often overlap with Christian ones) indicates the instrumental nature of this hermeneutics: meanings serve to better understand what Hinduism is, its social system, its culture — and what they should be in order for society to develop. Understanding is not set as a goal for understanding itself. However, the instrumental hermeneutics of Islam in Bengali thinkers ultimately worked to form a social ideal adequate to modernity, free from traditionalist and archaic social institutions and from confessional limitations, and paradoxically realized understanding as a goal. Despite the limitations and narrowness of the hermeneutical process, the understanding of Islam certainly played a positive role in the socio-cultural synthesis in the philosophical thought of the Bengali Renaissance.

list of literature

Islam in South Asia. Saint Petersburg: Azbuka Publ., Peterburgskoe vostokovedenie Publ., 2005.'

Rai R. Dar veruyushchim v edinogo Boga [A gift to believers in one God]. Voprosy filosofii [Questions of Philosophy]. 2010. № 11.

Rybakov R. B. Bourgeois Reformation of Hinduism, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1981.

Skorokhodova T. G. Bengalskoe Vozrozhdenie [Bengal Revival]. Ocherki istorii sotsiokul'turnogo sintez v indiskoi filosofskoy mysli Novogo vremya [Essays on the History of sociocultural Synthesis in the Indian Philosophical Thought of the New Age].
page 100
Skorokhodova T. G. Rammohan Rai, the founder of the Bengali Renaissance. St. Petersburg: Alstsya Publ., 2008 (2).

Skorokhodova T. G. Istoki reformatorskoi mysli Rammohana Raya [The origins of Rammohan Raya's reformist thought] // Questions of philosophy. 2010(1). № 11.

Skorokhodova T. G. Understanding the Other in the philosophy of Bengal Renaissance // Questions of philosophy. 2010(2). № 2.

Skorokhodova T. G. Understanding Christianity as another religion in the era of Bengal Renaissance / / "Va, pensiero, sull'ali dorate": From the history of thought and culture of the East and West. Collection of articles dedicated to the 70th anniversary of E. B. Rashkovsky, Moscow, 2010(3).
Skorokhodova T. G. Christology of the Bengal Renaissance era// To India of the spirit... Collection of articles dedicated to the 70th anniversary of R. B. Rybakov, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, 2008 (3).

Suvorova A. Nostalgia for Lucknow, Moscow: Tad Sm, 1995.
Tagore R. Sobranie sochineniy v 12 t. [Collected Works in 12 volumes]. Moscow: Khudozhestvennaya literatura, 1961-1965.

Awakening in Bengal in the Early Nineteenth Century: Selected Documents / Ed. by G. Chattopadhyaya. Calcutta: Progressive Publishers, 1965.

Bengal: Early Nineteenth Century. Selected Documents / Ed. by G. Chattopadhyaya. Calcutta: Research India Publishing, 1978.

Bhattacharjcc K.S. The Bengal Renaissance: Social and Political Thought. New Delhi: Classical Publishing Company, 1986.

Chattcrjee B.Ch. Sociological Essays; Utilitarianism and Positivism in Bengal / Transl. & Ed. by S.N. Mukherjee, M. Maddern. Calcutta, Wild Peony, 1986.

Chaudhuri N.Ch. The Intellectual in India. New Delhi: Association Publishing House, 1967.

Chaudhuri R. Gentleman Poets in Colonial Bengal: Emergent Nationalism and The Orientalist Project. Calcutta: Seagull Books, 2002.

Ghazi A. Encounter with Islam and Christianity and the Articulation of Hindu Self-Consciousness. Harvard: Xlibris Corp., 2010.

Halbfass W. India and Europe. An Essay of Philosophical Understanding. Albany: SUNY Press, 1988.

Keshub Chunder Sen in England. Calcutta: Navavidhan Publications Committee, 1938.

Majumdar R.C. Glimpses of Bengal in the Nineteenth Century. Calcutta: Mukhopaddhay, 1960.

Naravane V.S. Modern Indian Thought. N.Y.: Asia, 1964.

Roy R. Selected Works. New Delhi: Gov. of India. Min. of Information and Broadcasting, 1977.

Roy R. The English Works / Ed. by J.C. Ghosc. Vols. 1-4. New Delhi: Cosmo, 1982.

Sen K.Ch. Lectures in India. Calcutta: Navavidhan Publishing Committee, 1954.

Studies in the Bengal Renaissance / Ed. by A. Gupta. Calcutta: Jadavpur University, 1958.

Tagorc D. The Autobiography / Transl. from Bengali by S. Tagore and I. Devi. Calcutta: S.C. Lahiri & Co., 1909.

Vivckananda S. Complete Works. 12th ed. 9 vols. Mayavati-Almora: Advaita Ashrama, 1998-2002.

page 101

Permanent link to this publication: