O Muslims of India! The Mandate of Vande Mataram Is Not Patriotism, but a Call to Open Shirk: Reject the Idols of the Nation-State and Hold Fast to Your Tawheed

“The union Home Minister has issued an order stating that all six stanzas of the national song ‘Vande Mataram’…shall be sung at all official functions and other occasions” (The Times of India, Feb 11, 2026).

Allah (swt) said,

[أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لاَ يُفْتَنُونَ]

“Do the people think that they will be left to say, 'We believe,' and they will not be tried?” [TMQ Surah Al-Ankabut: 2].

This directive by the Ministry of Home Affairs government of India, mandating the singing of all six stanzas of Vande Mataram in schools and official gatherings, is not merely a policy shift; it is a declaration of theological warfare. The mask of secular accommodation has fallen, revealing the true face of the Hindu State (Hindu Rashtra) that seeks to subjugate the Aqeedah (creed) of the Muslims in India.

This move confirms what the sincere carriers of the Islamic Da'wah have always warned: in a system ruled by man-made laws (Taghut), the rights of the Believers are temporary concessions, not guaranteed protections. Whether under the guise of secularism or the open aggression of Hindutva, the objective remains the same—to strip the Muslim of his distinct Islamic identity and assimilate him into the cultural fabric of polytheism (shirk).

By mandating this specific stanza, the state is compelling every Muslim student to declare that the land of India is the Goddess Durga. For a Muslim, who testifies “La ilaha illa Allah” (There is no deity but Allah), singing this is an act of open Shirk (Polytheism, associating partners with Allah (swt)). It is a direct violation of the First Pillar of Islam. The regime knows that a Muslim cannot bow to land or idols; thus, this mandate is a calculated humiliation designed to force Muslims to choose between their faith and their “citizenship.”

Vande Mataram is not a secular poem; it is the battle cry from Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s novel, Anandamath. This novel depicts hate against Muslims, calls for violence against Muslims, and portrays Hindu sanyasis chanting the song while attacking and killing Muslims. To force Muslims to sing the war song of those who fictionalized their slaughter, is the height of psychological and political oppression. It is a reminder that in the eyes of this state, the Muslim is always the “other,” the historical enemy who must be subdued. The state is not asking for loyalty; it is demanding apostasy.

Stanza 4 of the Verse is a direct assault on Tawheed. It explicitly identifies the physical land of India with the Hindu goddesses Durga and Lakshmi. The translation of the mandated verses (Stanza 4) is, “For You the Land are indeed Durga, the wielder of ten weapons, You are Lakshmi, who resides in the lotus petals, You are Saraswati, the giver of knowledge; I bow to You, It is your image the Land's that we build in every temple.”

For a Muslim, the song is a manifestation of Shirk. How can a Believer, whose tongue is moist with La ilaha illallah (There is no god but Allah), declare that the land he walks upon is a goddess to be worshipped? Allah (swt) said,

[كَيْفَ يَهْدِي اللّهُ قَوْمًا كَفَرُواْ بَعْدَ إِيمَانِهِمْ وَشَهِدُواْ أَنَّ الرَّسُولَ حَقٌّ وَجَاءهُمُ الْبَيِّنَاتُ وَاللّهُ لاَ يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِينَ]

“And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter, he will be one of the losers” [TMQ Surah Aal-i Imran: 85].

By making this mandatory in schools, the Hindu regime is coercing Muslim children to prostrate their minds to idols, forcing them to choose between their education and their faith. This is the ultimate test of loyalty: the State demands that you place the “nation” above the Creator.

The Muslims of India have long been trapped in the false binary of secular congress vs. “communal BJP.” This recent development exposes the futility of this distinction. It was the Congress in 1937 that legitimized this song by adopting the first two stanzas, thereby accepting the premise that the land is a “mother” to be revered. They did not reject the Kufr of the song; they merely “pruned” it to make it palatable for their political convenience. They planted the seeds of cultural Hindu nationalism that the BJP is now harvesting. The BJP has simply taken the “secular” logic to its natural conclusion: “if the nation is supreme, then the nation’s gods must be worshipped.”

Both parties operate within the framework of the nation-state, a Western colonial concept that divides the Ummah and demands that sovereignty belongs to the "people" (or practically the majority) rather than to Allah (swt). In this system, the Shariah is subordinate to the constitution. Whether it is the “soft Hindutva” of the secularists or the "hard Hindutva" of the Sangh Parivar or RSS, the outcome for the Muslim is the same: humiliation, subjugation, and the erosion of Islamic values.

This mandate is not an isolated event; it is part of a calculated strategy of cultural genocide. The regime understands that they cannot convert Muslims by the sword, so they attempt to convert them by the “Law.” By enforcing this in schools, they aim to raise a generation of Muslims who recite polytheistic hymns without guilt. Just as they normalized the destruction of Masjids and the lynching of Muslims, they are now normalizing Shirk. They want the Muslim to become desensitized, to accept that living in India means bowing to its idols.

For decades, the Muslim leadership in India has relied on the Courts and the Constitution to protect them, citing “Article 25” regarding “Freedom of Religion.” This approach has failed catastrophically. The Courts are part of the same Taghut (non-Islamic authority). They interpret laws based on "national interest" and "public order," not divine justice. As seen in the Babri Masjid verdict and the Hijab ban, the institutions of the state will always align with the dominant Hindu majority. Relying on them is like asking the wolf to guard the sheep.

The response to this aggression cannot be silence, nor can it be legal petitions. The response must be ideological and uncompromising. The Muslims must collectively refuse to sing these verses. This is not a matter of political dissent; it is a matter of Iman and Kufr. There is no obedience to the creation in disobedience to the Creator. Parents must instill in their children the courage to stand firm, even if they stand alone.

Muslims must stop legitimizing the secular democratic system that creates these crises and must understand that the acceptance of the sovereignty of the “nation-state” will always lead to or force them to worship its symbols in one form or other.

The imposition of singing of Vande Mataram is a clarion call for the Muslims to wake up from the slumber of secular delusions. The Hindu regime has drawn its line in the sand; it is time for the Believers to draw theirs and declare and affirm that “We bow to none but Allah (swt), and we seek honor from none but Him. We reject this compulsion not out of treason, but out of Tawheed (Monotheism). Our heads bow only to the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth, never to the land, and never to the idols forged by the minds of men.”

Allah (swt) said,

[أَلَا لِلَّهِ الدِّينُ الْخَالِصُ وَالَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاء مَا نَعْبُدُهُمْ إِلَّا لِيُقَرِّبُونَا إِلَى اللَّهِ زُلْفَى إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَهُمْ فِي مَا هُمْ فِيهِ يَخْتَلِفُونَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَهْدِي مَنْ هُوَ كَاذِبٌ كَفَّارٌ]

“Indeed, sincere devotion is due ˹only˺ to Allah. As for those who take other lords besides Him, saying, “We worship them only so they may bring us closer to Allah,” surely Allah will judge between all regarding what they differed about. Allah certainly does not guide whoever persists in lying and disbelief” [TMQ Surah Az-Zumar: 3]

Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Mohamad Younis – India