Muslimische Quellen in der Ram Janmabhumi Mandir-Babri Masjid Debatte

Abstract During the recent dispute between Hindus and Muslims about their claims to the „Holy Ground“ of the now demolished Babri Masjid both sides cited Muslim sources. The Hindus wanted to prove that in 1528 Babur destroyed a Hindu temple and erected a mosque instead, whereas the Muslim argumentation aimed at showing that there was no temple at Ayodhya at this time at all. It seems that a careful study of the main evidence favours the Muslim cause: All Hindu documents are meaningless, because the key manuscript, the , "Sahifa-yi chihal nasaʾh-i Bahadurshahi", has not yet been found, and Mirza Jan’s "Hadiqa-yi shuhada" as well as other works in Urdu are not reliable. When we look at the sources of the Muslims, it becomes evident that the last will of Babur is a hike, but it is true that the destruction of a Hindu temple is not mentioned in the "Babur-nama" nor in the inscriptions of the Babri Masjid, nor in the works of later historians like Abu l- Fazl ʿAllami and Badaʾuni. We have no proof that the territory of the former Babri Masjid „belonged“ to the Muslims nor to the Hindus, but we have a very strong argumentum e silentio that there was no Hindu temple on that site during the reign of Babur.