Examining Buddhism from an Islamic Perspective

Buddhism was founded by Siddharata Gautama who was called Buddha which means the scholar. He lived from 560 BC to 480 BC. He was raised near the borders of Nepal as a prince and enjoyed a great deal of luxury. He got married when he was 19. When he became 26, he abandoned his wife and became detached from all the luxuries to live a harsh and difficult life. In doing so, he worked on disciplining himself. After his death, his followed gathered in a large convention in 483 BC. They attempted to remove differences among them and record the teachings of Buddha. They delegated this responsibility to three monks.

1. Kashyapa – dealt with intellectual issues.
2. Popali – dealt with self discipline.
3. Ananda – recorded the sayings of Buddha.

In the beginning, Buddha was objecting and opposing Hinduism. His teachings call attention to humans. He preaches a detachment from luxury., calling for love, forgiveness and good deeds.

After the death of Buddha, Buddhism became an idolatrous religion. Its follower exaggerated the belief in Buddha until they gave him the status of god.

The Buddhists believe that Buddha is the son of Allah and he is the salvation to humanity from its problems and its pain. They believe that he will carry their sins for them. They believe that Buddha was born as a result of the Holy Spirit coming to the virgin Maya. There are many similarities between the Buddhist belief in Buddha and the Christian belief in Jesus (AS).

Buddhists believe that Buddha was made known as the son of god as soon as he was born. They believe that when he was a baby he said to his mother that he is the greatest of all mankind. They say that once Buddha entered the temple and the idol prostrated to him. They believe that he will come back to this world to restore peace and blessings in it. They believe that Buddha is the only great creature who is eternal. According to them, he is the one who will hold people accountable. They believed that Buddha established a religious kingdom on earth. Some researchers say that Buddha denied and rejected faith in god.but he used to believe in reincarnation. According to Buddha all people are equal.

1. Buddhists must abide by 8 elements to discipline themselves and overcome their desires.
2. Straight forwardness. 
3. To rid oneself of lust and desire before doing anything
4. Good thinking
5. Enlightenment
6. Correct and straight forward belief, i.e. doing only the things you feel comfortable with
7. Compatibility and congruence among the tongue, the behavior and the heart. 
8. Correct life based upon abandoning desires. Life must be based on knowledge and truth

According to them sins are caused by three things.

1. Indulgence in desires
2. Bad intentions
3. Lack of thinking and understanding

Buddhists are divided into two groups, i.e. the religious and the civil. The religious adhere to all

teachings of Buddha whereas the civil are selective in what they take and leave of his teachings. 

There are two sects of Buddhists. Those in the north i.e. China, Nepal, Tibet, Japan and Sumatra believe in Buddha as a god. While those in the south, i.e. Burma, Sri Lanka and Thailand.believe that Buddha was a teacher who reached a higher level of charity and purity.

There are three sections in the book of Buddhism 

Collection of laws written by Buddha

The sermons Buddha made

The Basis and foundation of their religion.

Buddhism is a very old with some similarities and borrowing from Hinduism and Confucianism. It is widespread in Asia, with some 6 million followers. One of their largest temple is in Nepal.It is  based on religious philosophy which was adopted as a religious code.

Examining Confucianism from an Islamic Perspective

Confucius was the founder of Confucianism. He was a philosopher and was born in 551 BC. Confucius did not claim to be a prophet. His followers think he was guided by godly power and inspiration. He traveled to many places. He was appointed a judge, a ruler and a prime minister. Then he began to study and isolate himself. He was humorous and searched for political appointments. He was a good speaker as well as being a musician.

Confucius wrote five books which are respected in Confucianism. In it he described the worship of god as being the essence of the religion. He believed that the earth has a god who is worshiped by majority of Chinese. The sun, the moon, the clouds, the plants and the mountains all each have gods. The angels are treated as holy as well. They also worship the spirits of the father and forefathers. They do not believe in heavens and hell, neither do they believe in the resurrection. They believe that the corpses disintegrate in the ground. A student once asked Confucius about death. He replied that they have not studied life yet, so how can be talk about death. They believe that recompense only happens only in this life. Good happens as a result of good and bad happens as a result of bad. They believe that natural disasters occurs as a result of people's sins. 

In terms of manners and morals Confucianism emphasizes the conscience that leads a person to submit to social norms and traditions. They emphasize the obedience to the parents, to the rulers and younger brother to older brother. They emphasize sincerity between friends and using kind words when talking to people. The ruler must respect the people who are worthy of respect; show kindness to relatives; treat his ministers and employees with kindness and take care of the public interest.

Although they have a class system, movement among classes is possible if people have the qualifications.

Confucianism is widespread in China. In 1949, it was removed from playing a political and religious role but it remains in the heart of the Chinese people. Its teachings are widespread in the Chinese social system. It is also active in Korea and Japan. Muslims have not really reached out to them to give them the message of Islam.

Examining Hinduism from an Islamic Perspective

The Eastern religious have similarities among them in terms of their beliefs and practices. They also have common features with Judaism, Christianity and even Islam. Of these common features is the concept of accountability and the concept of the importance of religions in the life of people. They also have differences which separate the religious traditions of the east from Abrahamic religions. One such concept is polytheism. In Eastern religions we find a god for almost every aspect of their lives. Another concept is belief in the reincarnation of the soul where it returns and lives again in the body of some other creature depending of the destiny of the person whose soul is lost. Through this process the soul experiences enjoyment or punishment. Islam was accepted by a large part of the Eastern world because they were convinced of its truth. So it flourished in India, China and other areas.. The Quran says:

“There is no one single nation but it has received a Warner”

We do not know if the origin of Eastern religions is in the from of messengers that were sent to them or whether it was innovated by the people.. Regardless, we believe that these religions are false and we do not treat these people like we treat the People of the Book.

Hinduism is a major Eastern religion found in India. It evolved through a long period of history from 15^th century BC. It contains spiritual and behavior instructions. for its followers The Hindus believe in a variety of gods. It is not known how Hinduism started. The authors of its holy texts are not well known. It was reformed and rewritten several centuries before Christ. It has very many books. A book the have is called Veda which is a Sanskrit word mean which means wisdom and knowledge. The Veda shows the levels of how to develop a sophisticated mental ability. It contains supplications which lead to the belief of mixing between the Creator and the created. It also contains supplications for the priests. There is also Samarveda which are hymns that are sung during the prayers. There is the TharwaVeda which is used to repel sorcery and satanic elements. There is the Laws of Manu which was written in third century before Christ.  There are many other books like the Mahabharata, Ramayana, etc.

Although they are polytheists, to them monotheism means that when they worship a particular god, they totally devote themselves to it. They believe that every matter that has a beneficial aspect or harmful aspect, has a god for the benefit and a god for the harm. Thus, they have a multitude of gods. In the 9^th century before Christ, their leaders and priests combined all gods into one god through which they claimed that the entire world came out from. They call him Bhrama. They also believe in Vishnu who guards and protects as well as Shiva who destroys. They believe that whoever worships one of these gods, it is as if he had worshiped all three and thus worshiped the one god. This is a form of trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva that they believe in.

They treat the cow, monkey, elephant and snake as holy, although the cow is more holy than other animals. They are not allowed to harm or slaughter it. When the cow dies it is buried in a religious ceremony. 

They believe that their god came and inhabited a human called Krishna. They believe in Krishna in a similar way that Christians believe in Christ. Some Muslim scholars think that the concept of trinity in Christianity may be taken from Hinduism.

Hinduism implements an ancient class system in Hindu society. The divide people into four categories:

• The Brahmin, they believe, were created by god from his own mouth. In society they are the teachers, judges and priests. They are most superior..
• The Kashatrya, they believe, that god created them from his arms. In society that are the warriors.
• The Vish , they believe, were created from god’s thigh. They are farmers and traders and financially support religious institutions.
• The Shuder are the lowest class which they believe were created from god’s feet. Their duty is to serve the other classes.

Hindus agree to submit to the class system due to religious motivation. A man from a class other than the lowest class can marry from a higher class or a lower class but not the lowest class. A man in the lowest class can only marry within his own class. A Brahmin is considered to be the best. They have the right to take as much wealth as they please from people from other classes specially those of the lowest class. They are not supposed to pay taxes. They are not supposed to be killed even if they kill. The most severe punishment for them if they kill is to have their head shaved. Even a 10 year old Brahmin is more valued in society than a 100 year old Shuder. There are very severe punishments for the Shuder. If they teach a Brhamin the Shuder will be forced to drink boiling oil. Many people from Shuder found their dignity in Islam and accepted it.

The Hindus believe in karma i.e. that this world is based on justice and there will be justice in this life or the hereafter. They take this life as a period of trial as well as a place for recompense. They also believe in reincarnation. They believe that when a person dies, only the body gets decomposed. The soul comes out and goes to get into another body. The determination of the type of the second body is based on how the person in the first body lived. They believe in the unity of the universe in that the Creator is confused and mixed with his creation. They believe that the entire universe is a manifestation of god.

The burn the corpses because they believe this allows the soul to escape and rise from the body to reach the highest level in the shortest period of time. According to them burning gives freedom to the soul from the frame of the body. They believe that the soul either rises to the highest place that of the angels or goes to people or to be reincarnated or goes to the hellfire. There is a hellfire for each sin. 

When the husband dies, his wife is not allowed to be married again. She lives in misery, is tortured and humiliation. Many wives choose to burn with their husband's corpse. They used to allow child marriages even when the children are crawling. If the boy dies, the girl was not allowed to marry again. In modern Indian law child marriages are forbidden.

The Hindus control the government institutions in India. Muslims live as minorities. There is a lot of differences between Hindus and Muslims which has led to a lot of animosity between them. This led to the creation of Pakistan in 1947 for the Muslims. Muslim minority still live with Hindus in India.