I S I I l V i AND B U D D H I S M IN THE MCDEDN WCDLD
IMRAN NAZAR HOSEIN
Imran N. Hosein is presently the Imam of Masjid Dar al-Qur’an in Long Island, New York. A former diplom diplomat at in the Trinida T rinidad d and a nd T obago oba go F oreign Servi ervice, ce, he he gave up his career career in 1985 in order order to dev devote ote himself fullfull-tim time e to preaching preac hing Islam Islam.. He studied Islam under the guidance of the out stan standin ding g Islam Islamic ic scholar scholar and sufi S haikh, Maulana Dr. Muh Muham amm mad F adlur R ahman ahman A ns nsari, ari, at the Instit Institut ute e of Islamic Is lamic S tudies in P akist akis tan. He also also stu studied ied P hilosophy hilosophy at the U niversity of K arachi IMRAN N. HOSE HOSEIIN and International Relations at the University of the West Indies (Institute of International R elations) elations) and the Gradu Graduat ate e Insti Ins titut tute e of Interna I nternationa tionall S tudies tudies in Geneva, Switzerland. He has traveled extensively while serving the cause of Islam around the world orld.. Since 19 1989 89,, for exam example, ple, he has made nine Islamic lamic lecturelecturetours ours of South South E ast As Asia. ia. Since writing riting his book book on Buddhism Buddhism at age 29 he has has emerge emerged d as a prolific prolific writer riter.. His latest latest works, works, published published in the A ns nsari ari Memoria M emoriall S Serie eries s (to (to honor honor to his his teacher 25 years years after after his death), death), include include the fol follo lowing wing seven titles: “Dreams in Islam - A Window to Truth and to the Heart”; “The Religion R eligion of Abraham and and the Stat S tate e of of Israel Is rael - A View V iew from Islam” lam”;; “The Calip C aliphat hate e The Hejaz and and tthe he Saudi-W S audi-Wahhabi ahhabi Nation-S tate” tate”;; “T he Im Importance portance of the Proh P rohibit ibition ion of Riba R iba in Islam” lam”;; “T he Prohibit P rohibition ion of Riba Riba in the Q ur’an and S unnah unnah”; ”; “One J amaat One Ameer - The Organiza Organization tion of of a Muslim Muslim Communit C ommunity y in the Age of Fitan”; and “The Strategic Significance of the Fast of Ramadan and the Isra and Miraj.” The distin istinct ctiv ive e char charac actter of of hi his Islam Islamiic though houghtt is its ori origi gina nali litty. He is gifted with the the ability ability to use the the Q ur’an (and Hadith) to first firs t understand, understand, and then to explain, the world today, - its politics, its economics, its spiritual moral and social predicament, and the stage in the historical proces process s in which which we are today today located. located. He is also als o gifted gifted to to locate, locate, and to articulate with passion, that specific guidance in the Qur’an and Hadith with which Muslims should respond to the awesome challenges of this age.
ISLAM ISLAM AND BUDDHI BUDDHISM IN THE MODERNWORLD
Imran N. Hosein
Pub lished lished by
Centre Centre For Research Research and Training Training in Da‘wah D a‘wah Methodo M ethodology logy (CRTDM) The Muslim Converts’Association of Singapore 32 Onan Road , The Galaxy, Galaxy, Singapore Singapore 424484 Tel: Tel: (65) 348 8344 • Fax: (65) 44 06 72 4
All A ll righ ri gh ts rese re serv rved ed by Autho Aut horr I s'. e d it io n p u b l is h e d b y W o rld rl d Fe F e d e ra tio ti o n o f Is la m ic M is s io n s Ka rac hi. Pakistan. 1972. 1972. R e p r i n te d 1976. 197 6. IS I S B N 9 8 1 -0 4 -1 3 2 9 -7 Cover D esigned by by S. Mohdir This edition edition pu blis he d by The Muslim Converts Converts ’Association o f Singapore. 1999 1999.. Printe d by: by: Kerjaya Pr inting Industries Industries Pte Ltd Singapore
Dedication to the Shaikh al-Islam of Trinidad Trinidad and Tobago T obago
His H is E m i n e n c e
Dr. Muhammad Fazl-ur-Rahman al-Ansari al-Qaderi M.A. M .A.,, B .T h ., P h .D .
T hi h is i s t h e f i r s t f r u i t o f t h a t t r a in in i n g I h a v e bee b een n r e c eiv ei v in g f r o m y o u f o r th e la s t s ix ye years. I d e d i c a t e i t to y o u a s a h u m b l e to k e n o f gr g r a tit ti t u d e f o r th e d e e p lo v e , a ff e c tio ti o n a te ca r e, an a n d p a t e r n a l c o n c e r n w ith it h w h ic h y o u h a v e b e e n
w a tc h in g
over
my
de d e v e lo p m e n t o f m y th o u g h t.
life
a n d th e
FOREWORD It gives me great pleasure to introduce Imran Hosein’s research monograph on Isla Is lam m a n d Bud B uddhi dhism sm in the Mod M odern ern World World which which forms his first attempt in the field of authorship and which can safely be said to be b e the first book on this topic ever written written by an Islamic scholar. The author, who is a dear de ar pupil o f mine, mine, has inherited the illustrious illustrious traditions of modem scholarship in Philosophy and Religion represented resent ed by Dr. Syed ZafarulHassan Zafa rulHassan M.A., LL.B., LL .B., Dr. Dr. Phil. Phil. (Erl.), (Erl.), D. Phil. (Oxon.) and Dr. Sir Muhammad Iqbal M.A. , Ph.D., D.Litt.D., BaratLaw, and of missionary endeavour represented by His H is Emine Em inence nce M uham uh amma mad d Abdul Aleem Siddiqui S iddiqui alQaderi (of (o f blesse ble ssed d memo me mory), ry), and I am proud pro ud of o f him. Though Thoug h young in years, he is already on th e road to ripeness ripe ness in wisdom, and I am sure that his continued labour labou r as a researcher researche r will will bring to him greater greater and and greater glory in the cause ca use o f Trut Truth. h. Already, the presen t book is a very very promising promisin g achievement. achievement. His treatment of the subject demonstrates clearheadedness, objectivity and logical logica l acumen acum en o f a high high order order.. And his approach, approach, in in keeping with the spirit o f Islam, is sympathetic sympathetic towards towards Buddha Buddha and Buddhism, Bu ddhism, in sharp contrast cont rast to to the the malicious and vindictive vindictive Ar ya Sama Sa majj approach so often demonstrated by Christian and Arya scholars in their writings on Islam. I pray to God to bless this book with the choicest success. Amen! Dr. Muhammad FazlurRahman alAnsari alQaderi December 25, 1971 Islamic Centre, North No rth Nazim Na zimaba abadB dB,, Karachi. Pakistan.
PREFACE (to (to fi r st edition) edition)
It was in July 1971, just after my graduation at the Aleemiyah Institute of Islamic Studies, that its President, Dr. Muhammad FazlurRahman Ansari alQaderi, asked me to write a book on Buddhism, informing me that he had been deeply im pressed pres sed by my examinatio exam inationscr nscript ipt rela re lati ting ng to the questi que stion onpap paper er on Comparative Religion. Religion. I was then packin pac king g to return to my home in Trinidad, West Indie Indies. s. But because bec ause o f the love and respect I have for my spiritual spiritual and academic preceptor, I found my self comcom pelled pel led to underta und ertake ke this research assign ass ignme ment. nt. The time tim e at my disdi s posal was not unlimited. unlimited . In fact, I could co uld devote devo te only on ly twent tw entyon yonee days to accomplish accom plish this this difficult difficult job. jo b. But Bu t I feel feel A llah’ lla h’ss Grace has blessed ble ssed me with the privilege privileg e o f maki ma king ng a fruitful fruitfu l contrib con tributio ution n to the cause o f Truth. Truth. For all my academic and spiritual attainments, I am deeply indebted to the unique and revolutionary scheme o f education education visualized and realized by Dr. Muhammad FazlurRahman Ansari alQaderi at at the Aleemiyah Aleemiyah Institute o f Islamic Studies. Studies. This Islamic Institute Institute was founde founded d in Karachi, K arachi, Pakistan, for producing Islamic leaders who would be comprehensive com prehensively ly educated in Islam, Comparative Religion Religion and Modem Mo dem Thought. T hought. I also also owe a deep deep debt debt o f gratitude gratitu de to the learned Maulana himself him self whose rich multidimensional multidimensional scholarship sch olarship has assisted me in understanding the problems of Religion and Philosophy more than anything else, and whose dynamic religious personality has influenced my development immensely. I ow e gratitude gratitude also to Anjuman Anju man Sunnat wal Jama’ah Jama’ah Associat Asso ciation ion o f Tr Trin inid idad ad and Tobago for assisting my studies in Pakistan.
Last, but not the least, I am deeply grateful to my revered mother who bore all the hardships of her widowhood with exceptional fortitude and grace while I stayed away from her for six years, at the Aleem iyah Institute, in quest quest of o f knowledge. knowledge.
Imran N. N. Hosein October 1, 1971 6, Main Road, Chaguanas. Trinidad. West Indies.
PREFACE (to (to secon d edition)
Twentyseven long years have passed since I wrote this book in 1971 971 at age ag e 29. This new editio edi tion, n, publi pu blishe shed d by The M usus lim Converts’ Association of Singapore, emerged in the wake of two public lectures which I delivered on this subject in Singapore and in the Malaysian island of Penang in August 1998. I have restricted myself, in this new edition, to minor editing o f the text. text. But I have have lef leftt the language langua ge o f my youth unchanged. Editing Editing and new comments comments amount to less than one percent o f the total total text. text. The reader may may wish to obtain the audiocassette a udiocassette o f my lecture on this very subject (particularly the lecture delivered in Penang) since I introduced new analysis on the subject, analysis which is is not to be found found in the book. The cassettes cas settes may be obtained through the publish publishers ers of o f this book. In fact fact the Muslim Converts’Association of Singapore has an extensive collection of recordings of lectures which I have delivered in Singapore over the years. The spirit with which this book was written was one of profound respe respect ct for Gautama Gautama Buddha. Buddha . In the years year s that have passed passe d since I wrote the book, my respect for Gautama has remained unchanged. unchanged. Buddhists Buddhists of South East Asia, where this edition is being bein g publish pub lished, ed, should find in this book bo ok much mu ch that will prov pr ovok okee thought. thought. Just as important important is the assurance assu rance that they will find nothing in it which, viewed objectively, should cause offense. I gratefully acknowledge the kind assistance of members o f the Muslim Muslim Students’Association of o f Rutgers University U niversity in New Jersey, my dear wife, Aisha, and her daughter, Nicole, who took turns in typing typing the manuscript manuscript for me into a com puter file, and thus simplified simplified the work of editin editing g and printing.
I also wish to thank the th e Muslim Converts’ Conve rts’ Association Association of of Singapore for publishing this book, and Br. Mohamed Nassir for all the efforts he made to have it published. Finally, Finally, a word wor d about ab out that distinguished scholar, Professor Yusuf Yu suf Saleem Saleem Chisti, Ch isti, who taught me Buddhism at the Aleemiyah Aleemiyah Institute of o f Islamic Studies. Studies. I did acknowledge my debt o f gratitude to t o him in the Preface Pr eface which w hich I wrote to the first edition edition of o f this book. boo k. Unfor Un fortun tunate ately ly I was already alread y back bac k home hom e in Trinidad, West Indies, when the book was published in Pakistan in 1972, and I found, to my great sadness, that my acknowledgement of Prof. C histi hi sti’’s input into this boo k did not appear in that Preface. He is now no w no longer longe r in this world. But Bu t I take the opportunity, opportunity, in this new new edition o f the book, to acknowledge my profound debt o f gratitude gratitude to him, and to pray for A llah’ llah ’s Mercy Mercy on his his soul. Ameen! Ame en! Imran N. Hosein Darul Arqam, Arqam, Singapore. January 12, 1999
CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Sources o f Buddhism 1 (i) Pali Literature 3 (ii) Sanskrit Sansk rit Literature 5 I. The Life o f Buddha 6 II. II. Background Backgroun d o f Gautama’s Gautama’s Mission 10 III. III. The Basic Teachin Teachings gs o f Gautama Gautam a Buddha Budd ha 13 (i) Four Fou r NobleTruths 16 (ii) Noble Nob le EightFold Path 17 (iii) Nirvan Ni rvanaa 19 V. The Buddh Bu ddhist ist Philosophy Philos ophy 23 (i) Theory of Dependent Depen dentOrigination Origination 25 (ii) (ii) Theory of Karma 27 (iii) Theory of Universal Flux 32 (iv) (iv) Theory of NotSe No tSelf lf 36 VI. VI. The Philosophical Philosophical Schools Schools o f Buddhism Budd hism 42 (i) Madhyamika School School o f Nihilism Nih ilism 43 (ii) Yogacara School o f Subjective Subje ctiveIdealism Idealism 45 (iii) (iii) Sautrantika Sautrantika School o f Indirect Realism 48 (iv) Vaibhas Vaibhashik hikaa School o f Direct Realism 49 VII. VII. The Religious Schools Schools o f Buddhism Buddh ism 51 (i) Hinayana (ii) Mahay Ma hayana ana on: (a) This World 53 (b) The Other Oth er World 55 (c) An Abiding Reality 56 (d) God 57 (e) The Self Sel f 59 (f) Concluding Remarks Rem arks 60 VIII. VIII. The Influence of Buddhism on Christianity 64 IX. IX. Buddhism Bud dhism and the Encount Enc ounter er with World Religions 71 (i) Hinduism Hindu ism 71 (ii) Christianity 73 (iii) Islam 54
X.
Comparison o f Islam and Buddhism Buddhism Scriptural (i) Dimensional (ii) Archetypal (iii) Comparative Com parative Evaluation Evaluation o f their respective respective (iv) Philosophies o f Life Life
101
(a) Buddhist Bud dhist Philosophy Philosophy o f Life (b) Islamic Philosophy o f Life
101 101 112
Glossary Index
85 85 89 93
139 142
Chapter One SOURCES OF BUDDHISM Preliminary Observations Gautama Buddha achieved ‘enlightenment’ at the age of about thirtyfive. thirtyfive. From then until he died, fortyf fo rtyfive ive years later, later, he devoted his his entire life to preaching preachin g his religio reli gious us doctrines. Yet Yet he never paid paid any attention to the vitally importan imp ortantt task o f recording his message in a permanent written form (i.e., as a book/scripture) As a matter of o f fact, fact, the only founder foun der o f a religious religious community who ever paid any proper attention to this task was Prophet Muhammad Muham mad (divinely blessed is he and in eternal peace). peace). The Qur’an enjoys the unique distinction of being the only revealed scripture in the world today which has come directly from the founder of the religious community. It is is also the only original revealed scripture which has survived historical criticism in respect of its integrity, authenticity, genuineness and purity. Gautama Buddha is is the founder foun der of o f Buddhism. His teachings are authoritative and binding on all Buddhists. Buddh ists. The Buddhist is is dutybound dutybound to try and find find out what were we re the original teachings of Buddha. Buddha. If he fails fails in this this task, task, and yet persists p ersists in calling calling himself hims elf a Buddhist, he must be honest enough to admit that what he believes believ es in may ma y not be the origina orig inall teach tea ching ingss o f Buddha, nay, nay, they may even be quite different from that which Buddha taught! Now No w historical histor ical criticism critic ism has prov pr oved ed quite quit e conclu con clusive sively ly that the original teachings teachings o f Buddha Bud dha can neve n everr be known. known. What is 1
now claimed to be his teaching tea chingss may or may not be so. so. No one can tell. tell. But many authoritie au thoritiess seem se em to speak speak with one voice that the Buddhism that is presented to the world is quite different to that which Buddha preached. preac hed. For Fo r example, example, Dr. Dr. Edward Conze, Conze, in his eminently readable book, ‘Buddhism, Its Essence and Development’, Develop ment’, has this to say: The Truth Truth is that the oldest stratum o f the existing scriptures scriptures can only o nly be reache rea ched d by uncerta uncertain in inference and conject conjectur ure. e. One thing alone do all these attempts to reconstruct an original Buddhism Buddh ism have in in common common.. They all agree that the Buddha Bud dha s doctr do ctrin inee was wa s ce certa rtain inly ly not what wh at the Buddh Bu ddhists ists under unde r stood stoo d it to be. be. Mrs. Rhy R hyss Davids, fo r instanc instance, e, purges purg es Buddhism oj oj the doctrine o f ‘n ‘n o t- s e lf ’, and an d o f monastici monasticism. sm. To her, some worship o f ‘the Man Ma n ’ is the original gospel gosp el o f Buddhism. Buddhism. H.J. H.J. Jennings, in cold co ld blood, remove re movess all references references to reincarnation from fro m the scriptures, and claims thereby to have restored their original meaning. Dr. P. P. Dahlke, Dah lke, again, ignores ignores all the magic and an d mythology with which traditional Buddhism is replete, and reduces the doctrine o f the Buddha Budd ha to a quite qu ite reasonab reasonable, le, agnostic theory.' theory.'
For his part Dr. Conze C onze frankly and honestly state states: s: / confess that I do do not know wha w hatt the ‘original gospel gosp el ’ o f Buddhis Bud dhism m was.2 was .2 It seems that the teachings teach ings o f Gautama Buddha, like the the Gospel of Jesus, Jesus, were preserved prese rved in the memories of their discipl disciples. es. Shortly Shortly after the death death o f Buddha, Bud dha, a Counci Counci was held at Rajagaha so that that the Buddhaword migh mi ghtt be recited and agreed upon. But in in this this Council there were differences of opinion or, rather, conflicting memories. The Council, Co uncil, it i t appears, appears, decided to give preference to the opinion of Kayshapa and Ananda, prominent disciples of Buddha. Buddha. The very most, therefore, which later Buddhist literat literature ure can claim for their source, is the teachings o f Gautama Buddha as interpreted interpreted by Kayshap Kay shapaa and Ananda. Ananda. And even this this is conceding conceding 1Conze, 1Co nze, Edwar Edward d :Buddhism, Its Its Essen Es sen ce and and Develo pmen t, p.27 2 Ibid.
2
too much, for, as Christmas Humphreys casually admits: The his toricity o f these two two Councils Councils is impugn imp ugned ed by certain certain scholar sch olars.3 s.3 (There was a second Council Council at Vesali Vesali about ab out a hundred hund red years later). It was not until four hundred years had passed, after the death of Buddha, that the Buddhists could overcome their misfounded trust in human memory and and distru dis trust st for the written word.4 w ord.4 And even when they started writing down their doctrines and compiling their Canon, as it has come down to us, they paid scant regard to just ju st about everyth eve rything ing the histori hist orian an requir req uires es in orde or derr to assess asse ss the authenticity, integrity, genuineness and original purity of a document. docum ent. Dr. Dr. Conze Conz e remarks: Budd Bu ddhis hism m is a body b ody o f tradit tra dition ionss in which which fe w names stand stand out, out, an d in which fe w er dates are preci pr ecise sely ly blow bl own. n. It is indeed inde ed m ost os t ex exas aspe pera ratin ting g when we try to apply our current ideas ideas o f historica histo ricall criticism. criticism. Langlois and Seignobos Seignobos in their textbook textbook o f historica l method, method, state that “a document docum ent whose auth author or,, date da te a nd prov pr oven enan ance ce1 1 cann ca nnot ot be deter determine mined, d, is ju st good f o r nothing. nothing. ” Dr. Conze goes on to remark sadly: sadly: Alas, that is the case ca se with wit h most mo st o f the docu d ocume ments nts on which which we build a history history o f Buddhism Bud dhism.6 .6
Pali Literature The most important of the Pali texts, so important, in fact, that it may be taken as the the Bible o f Buddhism, Buddhism , is the Tri-pitaka. It is generally conceded to be among the earliest recorded Buddhist literature and is placed at the 1st Century B.C. It I t ther th eref efor oree depends on a long, prior, oral tradition. The Tri-pitaka, or three three baskets baske ts o f law law,, is composed o f three books: 3 Humphreys, Christmas: Christmas: Buddhism, p.45 4 Conze, Conz e, Op. cit., cit ., p.29 5 ie., the source source from which it has has come co me . 6 Conze, Ibid.
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(i) Vinaya Pitaka Pitaka ‘Rules ‘Rul es of conduc con duct.’ t.’ This is the book o f discipline. The original origina l Buddhism was, pa p a r ex exce cell llen ence ce,, the Buddhism Buddhism o f the the Bhik Bh iksh shus us (monks) who lived the monastic life to be trai t raine ned d for prea p reach ching ing and dissemi diss eminati nating ng the t he religious reli gious teaching teac hingss o f Gautama Gautam a Buddha. This monastic life had to be be strictly strictly ordered ordered.. The Vinay main, with the ‘rules rules of o f the orde or der’ r’ Vinaya a Pita P itaka ka deals, in the main, (ii) Sutta Pitaka Pitak a ‘Dis ‘Discou courses rses’’. The Sutta Pitaka is a collection of the sermons and discourses of Gautama Buddha and incidents in his life. It is, is, perhaps, the most important o f the Pitakas as a sourcebook sourceboo k of o f Buddhist Bud dhist doctrine. It consists o f five five division divisionss known as Nika Ni kaya yas. s. Gautam Gau tamaa Buddha was essen tially an ethical ethical thinker thinker.. The Buddhist ethics is enshrined in its most famous form in the Pali text, the D h a m m a p a d a 7 (the path path o f virtue). In fact the Dh D h am m m a pad pa d a may well rank as the most famous of all the Pali literature. It is com posed pose d entirely entirely o f aphorisms aphorisms and short short pit p ith h y stat st atem em ents en ts con co n v e y ing in g trut tr uths hs o f grea gr eatt impo im port rt w ith resp re spec ectt to the spiritual spiritual up lift o f man. (iii) Abhidhamm Abhidh amma a ‘Analysis o f Doctrine’ Doctrine ’. This This third basket basket is the the basket baske t o f metaphysical doctrines. doctrines. It is generally generally known as the Buddhist metaphysics. metaphy sics. But, in particular, particular, it formed the foundatio foundation n of of the Rea schoolss o f the Buddhist Philosoph Philosophy y (Sautrantika, or R eali list st school Critical Realism, and Vaibhashika, or Direct Realism).8 Accord Ac cording ing to a leadin g authority autho rity on Buddhism, Mrs. Rhys Rhys Davids, the Ab A b h id h a m m a is nothing more than an analytical and log ical e laboration o f wha t is is already already given given (i.e (i.e., ., in the first two p i t a k a s ) . It contains analyses and expositions of Buddhist doctrines. doctrines. 7Its comple com plete te Eng E nglis lish h translation can be found in Radhakrish Radhakrishan an and and Moore: Source book o f Indian Indian Philosophy, pp. 29 2-3 25 8 Chatterjee and Datta: Datta: An Introduction Introducti on to Indian Indian Philosophy Philo sophy , p. 176
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Sansk Sa nskrit rit Literat Literature ure
While Pali was used or almost monopolized by the Hin H inay ayan ana a sect of Buddhism, Sanskrit was preferred by their Mah M ahay ayan ana a rivals. We may also note that their attitudes to their scriptures show a marked contrast. The Hin H inay aya a na scriptures ( Tri-Pitaka , for example) simply present an account, both historical and analytical, of the Buddha and Buddhist teachings and precepts. The Mah M ahay ayan ana a school, on the other hand, shows a distinct tendency to ascribe sacred propensities to the texts.9 The Sanskrit texts (of Mahay Ma hayana ana)) it appears, have not been reduced reduce d to a collection or a Canon (as in Pali) Pa li).'0 .'0Much o f the original Sanskrit literature has now been lost. Fortunately some of them were translated into other languages (mostly Chinese). They are preser pre serve ved d in Chinese Chine se and are now no w bein be ing g retra re transl nslate ated d into int o thei th eirr original Sanskrit. The most most famous work in Sanskrit, the Mah M ahav avas astu tu , has been restored from its Chinese translation. The Ma M a ha vast va stu u (which literally means ‘subli ‘sublime me s to ry ’) con sists o f a volum inous collection of legendary stories. Lalita Lal itavis vistar tara, a, another Sanskrit text, discovered by Prof. Hodgson, is regarde regarded d as one o f the holiest holi est o f the Sanskrit texts. It belo be long ngss to the 1st centu ce ntury ry A .C., .C ., that th at is, some som e 500 year ye arss afte af terr Buddha, and contains contains all all the miracles which w hich the superstitionloving folk had fathered on an obliging Buddha over thislong stretch of time.
9 Cf. Cf. Ninian Ninian Smart: rt:: Article Article on Buddhism in E ncyclopaedia o f Philosophy, Vol.l,p.419 10 Humphreys, Christmas:Buddhism, p.237. p.2 37.
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Chapter Two THE LIFE OF BUDDHA There are three Gautama Buddhas, namely: i. Historical Historic al Buddha. ii. Transcendental Buddha. iii. Mythological Buddha. In this chapter we shall restrict our discussion to ‘the historical Buddha’. Bud dha’. He was bom about 560 560 B.C.l 1 His His family family name was Gautama and his given name was' Siddhartha (ie., one who has accomplish accom plished ed his aim). He was also called Sakyamuni (i.e., the sage o f the the tribe o f Sakya Sakya)) and he called called himself Tathagata (he who wh o has arrived arriv ed at the truth). truth). He was bom in the the village village o f Lumbini near ne ar Kapila Ka pilava vastu,1 stu,12 the capital o f a subordinate subordinate kingdom kingdom south o f the Himalayas, ruled by his father, Raja Suddhodana. His mother’s name was Maham Ma hamaya aya.. Legend Leg end has it that an astrologer astro loger foretold to his fathe father, r, the king, king, that young you ng Gautama Gautam a would forsake the throne and the royal royal life, would renounce reno unce the world and lead the life o f a wandering wandering ascetic ascetic on the the day when he would see four things:
11 Som So m e say s ay 800 B.C. Som e g o as far in the other other dire direction ction as as 200 B.C. When we giv gi v e n nam ames es,, dates and other historical data, let it be remembered that that we do not do so on the authority authority o f any text wh ich can survive historical historical criticism. criticism. There There is no such te xt in Buddhism. All our dates, dates, etc ., therefore, therefore, can amoun amountt to to nothing more more than ‘plausible guesswork’. 12 Som So m e M uslim scholars hav e attempted to identify identify Kapil Kapil with Dhul Kifl o f the the Qur’an, ‘f ’ being used in K ifl sin ce there is no ‘p’ in Arabic. Arabic. Allah know s best. best.
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an old man, a sick man, a diseased man a dead man. The king built a special palace to which young Gautama was confined confined.. Therein he was provided with w ith all the worldly pleasp leasures he he could could possibly desire. desire. There were dancing and singing girls, girls, games, games, good food, food, etc. But Bu t he was forbidde forbi dden n to leave the palace. When he had h ad come o f age he h e was w as mar m arri ried ed to the th e beauti be autiful ful Yasoddh Yasoddhra ra who who had caught caught his eye from among the host o f belles the king had presented to the reluctant, pensive pensiv e youth. youth. As was customary customary at that time, the the Prince had to engage in open open competico mpetition in the manly sports to ‘prove his mettle’ and ‘win his spurs’ before befor e he could co uld win the hand h and o f the fair maid. maid . Legend Leg end has it tha t hatt he gave gave a more more than credit creditable able account of o f h im se lf3 lf 3 When Gautama was 29 years of age he saw, on the same day, day, an an old old man, a sick sick man, man, a diseased disea sed man and an d a dead man. man. The impact of the ‘dark side’ of life was so great on him that on that very night he renounced the world and left his wife and babyson secretly secretly,, donning the robes o f the wanderin wan dering g ascetic. It is said that he spent some six years in his quest for truth, a quest which was bom bo m when he came cam e face to face fac e with wit h the fact o f suffering. He studied the sacred lore of the Hindus and practiced the Hindu disciplines and exercises but found no answer to the burning problems problems o f his life life.. Similarly he passed through Jainism. Jainism. He practiced practi ced rigorous rigoro us fasting and w ent en t through thro ugh a perio pe riod d o f extrem ex tremee selfmortification (which he found foun d to be damaging dam aging). ). Still Still he attained no enlightenment. He finally finall y gave up his rigorous exercises exercis es 13Arnold, Arnold, Sir Edwin: Edwin: The Light Light o f Asia . The most beautiful account o f the life o f Buddha 1have read!
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(and in the process lost the five disciples who had clung to him) and returned to his common comm on sense to take up his his begging begging bowl and resume the life of o f the wandering mendicant. Six years years o f search, search, along the two tw o most m ost widely recognized recognize d roads to salvati salvation on known to India, philosophic meditation and bodily asceticism, had yielded no res r esul ults ts.1 .14 In refusing to continue his selfmortification, Gautama had realized that th at whatever w hatever truth a m an may reach is reached reached best by a nourished brain in a healthy body. Such a conception was absolutely foreign for eign to the ideas o f the land and age.1 ag e.15 Gautama was now thrown back on his own resources and it was not no t long befo b efore re he sighted sighte d his goal goal as he sat rapt in in meditation under a Bodhi tree. He passed through different sta stage gess of o f meditation until finally final ly he attained ‘enlightenm ‘enlight enment’ ent’ and saw saw, with with the spiritual eye, the answers to all the problems which were consuming his soul. Thus he came to be known as Gautama, the Buddha (or the enlightened one). After this he spent the next fortyfive years of his life in preac pre achin hing g to manki ma nkind nd the truth tru thss he had discovered. His first sermon was delivered deliv ered at Samath (a city close to Banar Banaras as in India India which which the author visited in 1971). Here he expounded the famous four noble truths that all is suffering ( dukht ), ), it has a cause ( tanha), this cause can be removed, and there is a method by which it can be remove rem oved. d. This Th is method me thod consi co nsists sts in following follow ing the noble no ble eig ei g htht fold p a th o f right views, right resolve, right speech speech,, right right conduct, conduct, right livelihood, right endeavour, right thinking and right meditation. Gautam Ga utam a Buddha spent spe nt the th e rest o f his life in in ministeri ministering ng to 14Brelvi, 4B relvi, Mahmud: Islam and its its Contemporary Contempora ry Faiths, p.68. His chapter on Bud dhism is short and terse, but but suffers fr om a complete absence o f documen documentation tation.. 15 Wells, H.G.: Outline o f History, History, p.39 0.
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the moral needs needs o f mankind, mankind, travelling trave lling from city to city c ity barefooted, cleanheaded, and with nothing more than his saffron robe, his walking stick, and his begging bowl. He died in 480 B.C. at the age o f eight eighty. y.
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Chapter Chap ter Three Three BAC KGR OU ND OF GAUTAMA’S GAUTAMA’S MISSI MISSION ON Buddh Bu ddhism ism is essentia e ssentially lly a revolt against the falseho falsehoods, ods, evils and tyrannies tyrannie s o f the Hinduism Hindu ism o f the 5th 5th century B.C B.C.. Hindu writwrit ers seem very ver y eager eag er to overlook over look this point. It is quite possible that Hinduism, in one or more of its many strains, emerged in history as authentic authe ntic religion religio n founded on revealed trut truth. h. It must must certainly certainly have been monotheistic. monothe istic. Over a period of time that truth truth was corrupted with w ith polytheism polythe ism and idola idolatry. try. The corrupti corruption on of o f truth truth led, led, in turn, to the corruption of values. Man M an is essen es sentia tially lly a mora mo rall being, being, and an d the prim pr imary ary objective object ive o f religion religion is to b uild the character and moral personality o f the the individual, and through the individual, mankind at large. Hinduism had completely lost sight of this objective and had replaced character chara cter building build ing with idolworship idolworsh ip and ritualism ritualism as endsin endsinthem them selves. selves. Secondly, Hinduism had robbed robb ed the the individua individuall of his freedom and individuality (except where he was a Brahman) and had chained him h im in the rigid rig id fetters fetters o f the castesystem, castesystem, the institu institution tion which forms, and must form, the cornerstone of that system of dominance which is the Hindu social order.
Buddha Bud dha arose a rose to set the the perspective perspectiv e aright aright.. It was because of this background that he confined his teachings to ethics and refused refuse d to discuss metaphysic me taphysicss (with which India was already already overoversaturated). Only thus can we possibly understand and and explain explain his his silence about a bout the problem probl em o f the existence or nonexi nonexisten stence ce o f God. God. It may be, also, that tha t because beca use India was (and still is) is) seeped in in idol idol worship and in the worship of thousands of gods and goddesses, 10
the reversion from such such rank polytheism, polytheism , naked anthropom anth ropomorphi orphism sm and animistic idolatry16to 6to a monotheism mo notheism might mig ht have been b een too sudden a step step.. Perhaps Perhaps it was necessary necessa ry that the the slate be first wiped wip ed clean. Hence Buddha Buddha remained remaine d silent on the question o f God. (He did not deny the existence existence of God!). Similarly he remained silent in respect of a transcendental transcendental dimension dimen sion o f existence existen ce (i.e., the un seen world) for, on being questioned as to what would be the life of the Buddhist who attained Nirv N irvan ana a (salvation), he responded with the analog analogy y of a flame. flame. He asked: asked: what wha t becomes becom es o f a flame after it is extinguished? The revolt against Hinduism is enshrined in the movement o f the religious religious consciousne consciousness ss from a stagnant and slavish ‘dependdepen dence en ce’’ in Hinduism, Hinduism, to a free free and dynamic dynam ic ‘selfdepe self depende ndence’ nce’ in BudBu ddhism. dhism. In fact Buddha’ Buddha ’s parting partin g words to his his disciples before he died were: All A ll componen comp onentt things are subj su bjec ectt to decay. Work Work out o ut yo y o u r own salvation with diligence!
This revolt also found expression in Buddha’s scathing denunciation o f ritualism ritualism and sacrifice. Similarly he declared the Vedas and Vedic teachings to be quite useless! The second point to note is that Buddha, like Muhammad free. Anyone Anyo ne can attain attain salvasalv a(s) and Jesus (s) (s) set the individual free. tion. tion. Salvation Salvation is is not restricted to the priestly priestly caste cas te of o f Brahmans Brahm ans who monopolized monopolized the reading o f the sacred writings and who poured pou red molten lead into the ears of every Sudra who dared d ared overhear their their reading! reading! Buddha gave gave the Brahmans a slap slap in the face, which w hich found a resounding resounding echo echo in the the harsh and bitter condemnation condem nation o f the Jew 16 It is is interesting interesting to note note that that despite the passage o f over 2 ,500 ,5 00 years and the strong impa impact ct of o f Islam, Islam, polytheism and idol-worship still persist in Indi India a to this day. day. Indeed the very virulence with w hich hic h ancient idolatry persists persis ts in India indi in di cates that that it is destined destined to play play a fina l inglor ious role in this the last stage o f history.
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ish Rabbis, Scribes and the Pharisees by Jesus Jesus (s) (s) and Muhammad Bud dha,, in fact, did away with wit h the the inhuman castesystem and (s). Buddha opened the doors do ors o f religion to the lowest lowest of o f the low. low. Hinduism Hin duism exerted two influences on Buddha, Buddha, one negative, negative, the other oth er positive. positi ve. We have discussed the former. former. Let us now briefl bri efly y disc di scus usss the latter. The positi pos itive ve influenc infl uencee o f Hinduism on Buddha Budd ha was such that in its its basic characteristi characteristics cs it was and is virtually an offshoot offshoo t of o f Hindu Hi nduism ism.1 .17 The uniquely Hindu doctrines of Karma and Awa Gawan (reincarnation and transmigration of souls) which form the foundation o f the H indu philosophy o f religion, religion, were accepted accepted by Buddha and absorbed absor bed into Buddhism Buddh ism (though in a modified form). form). We shall discuss these doctrines in the fifth Chapter, which deals with Buddhist philosophy.
17 Thus writes writ es Dr. F. F. R. Ansari in his powe rful and terse booklet: booklet: Which Reli Re li gion?, p. 9.
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Chapter Four THE BASIC BASIC TEACH INGS OF GAUTAMA BUDDHA Basical Basically, ly, and origina originally, lly, Gautama Gau tama Buddha B uddha was emphaticall em phatically y an ethical thinker. thinker. His teachings teach ings were, in the main, ethical. It is these we shall discuss here. Suffering Just as all Christian theology revolves around the ‘figment me nt o f sin ’18so 8so too too does all all Budd B udd hist theology theo logy revo lves around aroun d the ‘fact of suffering ' . A fter spending some six six years in his quest for truth, Buddha arrived at the conclusion that ‘all is suffering!’ (sarvan is the cornersto ne on (sarvan dukham). Since this is which the entire structure of Buddhism is founded, we may be excused for dwelling on on it for a w hile. We propose to investigate this statement from two different standpoints, the first: a critical analysis, the second: a sympathetic understanding. Now No w ‘suff ‘su ffer erin ing g ’ is, and an d m u st alw al w ays ay s be, be , asso as soci ciaa ted te d w ith ‘feeling’ and ‘emotion’. We shall hardly be disposed to name as ‘suffering’ that which is not accompanied by some ‘feeling’ 18A ccording cco rding to Islam, sin is an an acquisit acq uisit ion and not a heritage . The Prophet of Islam declared that every child is bom free from sin, that is, with a clean and pure moral moral constitution. constitution. It is only a perverted, intellectua lly dishones t, and and morally under-developed personality which can conceive of a baby as having a basically sinful constitution con stitution inherited inherited from from the ‘original ‘orig inal sin ’ o f Adam!!
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o f pain or ‘em otio n’ o f grief. In this this sense o f the word, it is is clearly cle arly an over ov erstat statem em ent en t to say that ‘all ‘all is is suffering suffer ing’. ’. We all all experience experien ce the ‘fee ling’ lin g’ o f pleasure and the ‘em otion’ o f joy and happiness. happin ess. Indeed, no one can can deny having experienced experienced jo y and an d hap ha p pin pi n ess. es s. It may ma y no t hav h avee bee b een n in the th e meas me asur ure, e, or for as long as one would w ould have hav e liked. But while it is there it is is real, and when it is gone it is treasured in memories, not as something which was unreal, but rather as something which was as real as the su ffering which may have proceeded or followed it. it. We shall have to rewr re write ite all our ou r psychology textbooks if we wish wish to deny den y the ‘feeling fee ling’’ o f pleasure and the ‘emotion’ of happines happiness. s. But it may ma y be that Buddha Bud dha did not use the word dukht in in this sense, the psycholo psyc hologica gicall sense. Perhaps he meant it as an intellecintellectual assessment assessm ent o f ‘the life o f the world’ wor ld’ as a whole. whole. Now, without without a metaphysics to support him, Buddha would face difficulty to projec pro jectt this, thi s, his fundam fun dament ental al teaching teac hing,, as anything anyt hing more than his own personal view point. poin t. For, ‘all ‘all is suffering’ sufferi ng’ would be a universal jud and, as such, it presupposes presuppos es a standpoint, a criterio criterion, n, ju d g e m en t and, and a worldview. worldv iew. It rests on a statement of o f the meaning, purpose and destiny destin y of, not only human life, but all life. life. Is the world world a moral order orde r (or immoral, or o r amoral)? Consciously or unconscious unconsciously, ly, ‘all is suffering suffe ring’’ must mus t rest on a metaphysics. It is Buddh Bu ddha’ a’ss shortcoming that he did d id not work out metaphysics. metaphysics. Without this meta physic phy sicss his hi s judg ju dgem em ent en t cann c annot ot but bu t be relative. relative . We all have our ou r different outlooks ou tlooks toward to wardss life and our different goals in life. life. Joy Jo y and suffering, pleasure and pain would be relative to our individual readings readings o f the world w orld and a nd our individual individual goals in life life.. Thus even with this interpretation interpretation of o f dukht, ‘all is suffering’ is indefensible. Let us now proceed to a sympathetic sympathetic understanding understanding of o f Buddha’s Buddha’s statement. We have not been able to find any literature on this sub subjec ject, t, i.e., ‘the psychological background of the fundamental statement of Buddhism’, and our own knowledge of psychology is limited. 14
It is an undeniable fact that different people view the same world differ differentl ently. y. The identical environm env ironment ent may be heaven in the estimation of o f one person person and hell in the view o f anothe another. r. Now, the facts are as follow foll ows: s: Budd Bu ddha ha’’s moral consciou c onsciousness sness was highly developed, and the more highlydeveloped and refined the moral personality, personality, the more mo re is the th e pain pa in and suffering that tha t it has to endure, endure, and the more sensitive sensitive must it be to the pain and suffering o f others. others. It was, perhap perhaps, s, Buddh Bud dha’ a’ss sensitivity to the moral degradadegrada tion of o f mankind, the evi evils ls presen pre sentt on earth, the ephemeral nature o f the mundane joys joy s to which which men cling, and the inevitability o f decay and death, that that led him on on the sweep sw eeping ing statement: statement: ‘all is suffering’. Secondly, all Buddhists are agreed that Buddha’s develop ment from infancy through childhood and adolescence to adulthood (to the age of 29 to to be precise), was abnormal. In fact, he is the only person, person, perhaps perhaps in the whole wh ole history h istory o f mankind, who was deliberately kept away from the fact of suffering until he was 29 years of o f age. age. As we have have previou previ ously sly noted no ted 19 he was kept away from the the view of old age, age, sickness, sickn ess, disease and death. And, to make matters worse, this abnormality was supplemented with another othe r abnormality. He was fed up to his h is throat, so to say say,, with the joys jo ys o f this world, wo rld, dancing and an d singi sin ging ng girls, good goo d food foo d and drink, drink , luxurious clothes, joyful sports, and as pleasant and beautiful an abode and environment environment as as the royal purse p urse could afford. He was, in fact, confined in a cage of o f happiness! happine ss! At the age of 29 he came into contact with the real world, with the fact of suffe sufferin ring g which he neve n everr knew before, and, what wh at is ju st as important, impor tant, with w ith the ephe ep hem m eral er al nature nat ure o f the joy jo y s and hap h appipiness which he, up till then, believed to be real and permanent. It was only natural that that this this shou sh ou ld give gi ve rise to an abnormal abnorm al impact o f the the realit reality y ofsuffering and unreality u nreality o f happiness on the mind of the disillusioned disillusioned young youn g man. man. We believe belie ve this to be the fund fu ndam am en 19 See pag es 6-7
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tal psychologica psycho logicall explanation f o r the the over-empha over-emphasis sis on suffering suffering on which Buddha foun fo un de d his religion religion!!
‘All is suffering’ constitutes the first of the famous ‘four noble truths’, which form, with the ‘noble eightfold path’, the very essence essence o f Buddhism. Buddhism. De D e sire si re In analysing analysin g ‘sufferin ‘suffe ring’, g’, Buddha found that it had a cause, cause, and that was ‘desire’ ( tanha ). In its technical tech nical sense Buddha used tanha to stand for fo r ‘the ‘the desire de sire and craving for life ’. This is is the second of the ‘four noble truths’. Now, Now , i f tanha is taken in its general sense to mean desire as such, it is obvious tha t all desires desi res do not lead to suffering. It is only wrong wro ng desires or desir es in a wrong wrong measure, which lead to to suffering. The Q u r’an, for example, asks asks mankind to restrain restrain the desires de sires o f the baser ba ser self2 s elf20 0 not no t all all desires. It is the desire of the baser ba ser s elf el f which, as a ma tter o f fact fact,, really leads to suffer suffering. ing. As we noticed earlier, tanha has a technical sense, ‘the desire des ire and craving cravin g for life li fe ’. We shall examine it critically when we disc uss the theory o f ‘dep ‘depend endent ent origin ation’ ation ’ in the chapter on ‘Buddhist Philosophy’. The third o f the nob le tru ths states states that, that, not only has suffering a cause, tanha, but b ut this th is cause can be removed, and ought to be removed. If the cause is present, the the effect will ari arise! se! Do away with the cause, the effec t will vani vanish! sh! But the total negation o f desire desire is ju st n ot p ossible , for, for, in the the words o f Dr. Ansar Ansari, i, it turns human beings into ston es. It is is only stones who may be conc co nceiv eiv ed to to hav e no desires. desires . A s regar regards ds human beings, beings, desire 20 Ref:
.JJ .JJjH g s %
(Qur’an: 38:26).
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and fo llo w not ( i.e., res restra train in the ego from) lower desires. desires.
is the fir st and forem ost condition condition o f their a ctivity and the most Dr. Ansari concludes by devital vital found ation o f their their progress. progress. Dr. claring that: In the th e domain dom ain o f mo m o ra l phil ph ilo o so p h y , the th e d octr oc trin inee o f the total negation o f all desire is a hop eless do ctrin e.21
Finally, Buddha expounds the method through which be eliminat eliminated. ed. This method is the the observan ce o f the tanha can be ‘Noble Noble Eig htFo ld P ath ’ (ariya (ariya atthangika magga). This path is the the four fourth th of the the ‘four noble tr u th s ’ o f Buddhism. Buddhism. The The Noble Eight-Fo ld Path Path The first thing one has to do is to understand and accept the ‘fou ‘fou r noble tr u th s ’. This is called Ri R i g h t Views. After we have accepted the ‘four noble truths’, we should resolve to transform our life in the light of their teachings ings.. Renunciation Renunciation of the world takes preceden ce. This con stitutes right resolve or aspiration. Nex N extt com co m es the prac pr acti tica call and an d c o n c rete re te m a n ife if e sta st a tio ti o n o f this effort to transform ourselves. The first step is that we must learn to guard our tongue from slander, backbiting, idle gossip, sip, falsehood s, etc. etc. This is the stage c alled right speech. speech. When taken even further, this involves guarding our entire tire behaviour, not just ju st speech. We have now n ow rea ched che d the stage of overall overall conduct. Buddha insists that it m ust be checked, moulded and sustained as right conduct. But all this effort will go to waste if we pursue a wrong means means of livelihood. livelihood. Our means o f sustenance m ust not be illega legall or immoral. They must mu st be good and pure and perm issi ble. This Th is co nsti ns titu tute tess righ ri gh t livelihood. 21 Ansari, Op. cit., cit ., p. 12
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N e x t com co m es right endeavour. No matter how high we may rise in our moral progress as moral agents, the fact remains that we are always subject to attacks (on our moral constitutio n) both from w ithin and from from without. The wrong habits and th e effects o f evil deeds o f our past life lie lie submerged in the ‘subc onscio on scio us’ or the ‘unco nscious’ nscio us’ and, and, if we are to be lieve Freud, they can and do play an important role in motivating our ou r conscious beha viour. We must always be on on guard guard to to inhibit them if they should threaten our moral personality. Secondly, the evils and temptations of the outside world are always knocking at our door, and sometimes if we should even innocently open our door, temptation would walk right in and close the door behind him/her. R i g h t en d e a v o u r is really a defense mechanism of pre pa p a re d n e ss to fig fi g ht the th e se c h alle al leng ngee s to our ou r mora m orall integ int egrit rity, y, both bo th from w ithin and witho ut, so that the fruits fruits achieved till then in in our moral struggle may not go waste and be lost.
re ally y right remembering. remem bering. We must R ig h t thin th inki kin n g is reall neve ne verr allow ourselves to forget forg et the truths truths we have already lear learnt. nt. Rather, we must be constantly revolving them in the mind so that we may derive a sustained benefit from those truths. One such truth, according to Buddhism, is the filt fi lth h in e ss skin o f the human body body,, w hich is nothing more than a piece o f skin stretched over such impurities as: hairs ha irs o f the head, hairs ha irs o f the body body,, nails, nails, teeth, teeth, skin, skin, muscles, sinews, bones, marrow, kidneys, heart, liver, serous membranes, spleen, lungs, intestines, mesentery, stomach, excrement, brain, bile, digestive ju j u ic e s , p u s, bloo bl ood, d, grea gr ease se,, fat fa t , tears, sweat, spitt sp ittle, le, snot, fl f l u i d o f the th e j o i n ts , urine uri ne..
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A frame of mind dev elope d on such thou ghts can act as a powerful defensemechanism for meeting all the wiles that Jezebe Jez ebel2 l22 and her consorts may m ay plan for the in noce no cent nt celiba ce libate. te. Finally we come come to to the last stage o f right meditation or right concentration. Right Rig ht concentrati concen tration, on, through four stages, is the last step in the path that leads to the goal Nirvana.
(i) The first stage of concentration is on reasoning and investigation investigation regarding the truths. This gives rise to the joy jo y o f pure thinking. thinking. (ii) (ii) The The second second stage o f con cen tration is unru ffled mediation, free free from from reasoning, reasoning, etc. There The re is, is, then, then, a joy jo y o f tranquillity. (iii) The third stag stagee of o f concentration is detachment detachm ent from even the joy jo y o f tranqui tranquillit llity. y. But though there ma y be indifference to the joy of concentration, still a feeling of bodily ease persists. (iv) The fourth stage of concentration is detachment from this bodily ease ease as as well. The state that is is attained thereafter there after is that o f perfect equanim ity and indifference. This, according to Chatterjee Chatterjee and Datta, is the state of o f nii~vana, or perfect perf ect wisdo wi sdom m . 23 Nirvana Nirvan a Now No w the very v ery importa imp ortant nt questi qu estion on arises: arises : w hat ha t is nirvanal It is very important that we should have a clear understanding of 22 Symbo lising a ‘provocative, devilis h w om an’. 23 Vide: Vide: Cha tteijee and Datta Datta:: An Introduction to Indian Philo P hilosoph sophy. y.
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nirvana , for it constitutes the goal of life in Buddhism, and unless one knows exactly what is his goal in life one can hardly be ex pect pe cted ed to pursue pur sue a sustai sus taine ned d and an d integrated integrat ed effort to achieve that goal.
At the very outset it may be said that no one can say with certainty as to what is nirvana ! There are a number numbe r of conflicting interpretations. According Accord ing to Poussin it is is a happy state, state, pure annihilati hil ation on , an inco nce ivable iva ble existen e xistence, ce, or a changeless chang eless state .24 Dasgupta says it is a hopeless task to explain Nibbana (nirvana) in terms o f worldly experience, and an d ther theree is no no way in which which we can better indicate it than by b y saying that it is a cessation cessation o f all sorr so rrow ow.2 .25 Buddhist thought has found this problem to be particularly knotty. knotty. A distinction distinction was drawn between two phases of nirvana, withou t substrate. substrate. The i.e., nirvana with substrate and nirvana without saint who has attained nirvana lives live s on with a substrate, that is, the the phys ph ysica icall and mental men tal state, w hich hic h constitutes constitu tes him h im as an individual. It is is when whe n the saint dies that the real real problem problem arises. arises. Does he or does he not survive death? Buddha Bud dha refused refused to to answer this question. This is important, for it implies that that neither neither persona personall nor im perso pe rsona nall immo im morta rtalit lity y has any plac pl acee in Buddhist Bud dhist theology, and on the question o f immortality imm ortality Buddhism must must leave a ‘blan ‘blank’. k’. Of course, we are free to speculate what is the answer to the unanswered swere d question. question. But that speculation cannot cannot be elevated elevated to to the the rank o f a doctrin doctrine. e. Our own reading is as follows: it cannot be disputed that Buddha him self must be believed b elieved to have have attained attained what he calls calls nirvana, and that having already attained nirvana he was asked: ‘What is nirvanaT His answer concernin concerning g the extinguishing extinguishing o f the flame fla me can be interpreted to mean m ean that the the saint ceases ceases to exist exist in 24 Dasgupta: Dasg upta:Histo Histo ry o f Indian Philoso Phi loso phy, phy , Vol. 1, p. 108. 25 Ibid Ib id., ., p. 109 10 9
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the psychological psychologica l sense. sense. The individual indiv idual ‘I ’, or the empirical empirica l ‘I’, is psychol psy chologi ogicall cally y annihilate anni hilated d or, rather, rat her, submerged. submer ged. W hat ha t remain rem ainss is transcendental and, being so, is outside the scope of Buddhist teachings. Nirvana, then, would be that t hat state which, when whe n achieved, Nirvan a, then, assumes assumes the psychological psychological conclusion o f ‘death to self’ se lf’ and ‘life in an unknown unknown which is beyond se lf’. lf ’. I f this interpretation is correct, it display displayss a remarkable similarity to the Q ur’ ur ’anic ideal where the individual self, instead of being destroyed, instead of a passive passing passi ng away, is said to be ‘boug bo ught ht’’26 by Allah. Alla h. Here, as in BudBu ddhism, it would be a psychological sale (and a psychological state) and not extinction. So much then for our observations, but the fact remains that the Buddhist has only two avenues open to him, both bo th o f which are unsatis unsatisfacto factory. ry. Either he conceives o f the state o f nirvana (after death) to be the extinction of the self, the passage to nonexist ence, or he frankly and honestly admits that he knows not what is nirvana. On both these counts nirvana cannot function as the su preme prem e goal in life. I f it be the passag pas sagee to extinctio extin ction n then the n the goal go al o f life would be to put an end to life. Such would constitute con stitute a thoroughly frightening proposition for those who care for human happiness. happiness. But it could be used as an admirably adm irably effective effectiv e tool in the hands of the despotic dictator, the exploiting industrialist and landlord, and the imperialists who seek to perpetuate their control over the nice, unconcerned Buddhists. And, on the other hand, if nirvana is unknowable then it cannot function at all as the goal of life. We shall see later how the Buddhists escaped this predicament by turning Buddhism Bu ddhism upside upsid e down. d own.2 27 26
...
ill Ijj
Surely Allah Al lah hath purchased o f the belie vers
their the ir persons persons and and their their goods; for theirs ( in return) return) is the the garden ( o f paradise)
......
And who is more mor e faithful to to his covena cov enant nt than Allah? Then rejoice rejoi ce in the bargain bargain which ye have concluded: That is the achievement supreme. (Qur’an: 9:111) 27 See Mahay Ma hayana ana doctrines in Chapter Seven: ‘The Religious Schools of Bud dhism’.
21
This constitutes a discussion on the Four Noble Truths, the No ble b le E ig h tF t F o ld P a t h and an d nirvana, which constitute, in fact, the essence o f Buddhis Buddhism. m.
22
Chapter Five THE BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY As Buddhist thought evolved, it found expression in a wide range of philosophical positions despite the earnest attempt of the Buddha him self to avoid philosophy. This ph ilosophical evolution of Buddhist thought came about because of two fact factors ors.. Firstly, Firstly, Buddha Buddha him self se lf unw ittingly laid down down the foundatio foundation n of a philosophical system. Secondly, the Buddhists had to ju s t i f y B u d d h a s’ teachings, teachings, defen d it fro m the severe critici criticism sm it had to fa c e in India and outside, an d convert con vert other thinkers to their the ir fa it h .28 .28 In so far as we can categorize the philosophical teachings of Buddha, we find them to contain the germs of the following philosophical schools: Pragm Pra gmati atism sm Because Buddhist doctrine is really a doctrine of salvation, tion, Buddhists Buddhists have been intensely practica l regarding rega rding all matters ters pertaining pertaining to to salvation. salvation. The value o f a thought, idea or doctrin doctrinee is to be judged, judg ed, in their thei r view, on the scale o f salvation. salvation. If it is relevant to to salvation salvation it becomes becom es a truth. I f it is irrelevant to salvation it is thrown out of the w'indow as useless! This, surely, is paying heed to the parting words of Buddha: Work out yo u r own salvation with diligence dilige nce!! 28 Chatteij Cha tteijee ee and Datta Datt a : Op. cit., ci t., p. 161
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This is pragmatism, wherein the truth of a doctrine lies in its practical utility. Dia D iale lecc tic ti c a l Pra P rag g m a tism ti sm As with Hegel, Buddhist philosophy says of every enquiry into truth or reality that it must land the enquirer into contradiction contra dictions. s. Kant also refers to antinomies o f pure reason, but b ut in his hi s p h ilo il o sop so p h y the th e y are ar e lim ited ite d to four. For B uddh ud dhis istt phil ph ilos osop ophy hy,, p u re reas re aso o n, w h e n appl ap plied ied to reality rea lity,, leads lea ds us a lways to to antinom ies or contradictions. This, This, therefore, therefore, is is the dialectical dialectical nature nature o f Bud dhist phil philos osoph ophy. y. A l l view vi ew s a b o u t u ltim lt im a te reali re ality ty invo in volv lvee cont co ntrad radic icti tion ons. s. The only thing can be said sa id o f reality reality is that it is void.29
Psy P sych ch o log lo g y Buddhist effort is directed primarily to gaining control o f the mind, o f the m ental processes, by m editating on on them. them. In consequ ence B udd hist thought is impregnated with what we call psycholo psyc hology gy.. In fact, as Prof. Brelvi says, salvation salvation in in Buddhism is ‘focused upon redemption by psyc ps yc h o log lo g ica ic a l selfse lf-cu cullture'30. The psychology o f nirvana would, we believe, be an extremely interesting field of study if the psychological nir rre d to earlie ea rlierr (see pp. 1920) 1920) be accepted as as a vana we refe rred pla p lau u sib si b le in terp te rp reta re ta tio ti o n .5' .5' Buddhi Bu ddhist st psychology psych ology is spotlighted in another sphere sphere in its analysis o f the empirical em pirical self. It is is outstanding, outstanding, original original and provocative but, in the absence of a metaphysics, it is incomplete.
29 See Nagarjuna Nag arjuna ’s vie w s on o n p. 41 30 Br Brelv elv i, Mahmud: Mahmu d: Islam and its Contemporar Cont emporary y Faiths, Faiths, p.70 p.7 0 31 The only book boo k on the subject se em s to be that that of Johanss Johanssen: en: The Psychology o f Nirvana.
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We shall enter into an elaborate discussion on this subject in a short while. Posi Po sitiv tivism ism
Buddha rose in arms against the overspeculative Hindu philoso phi losophy phy.. Our Ou r thoug tho ught htss shou sh ould ld be c onfi on fine ned d to this th is world wo rld!! That which cannot be positively demonstrated (threefourth of Hinduism) Hinduism) cannot be accepted as as know ledge. This position is now known as positivism. Phenomenalis Phenom enalism m
Like Like Kant, Kant, Buddha taught that we can have knowled kno wledge ge only of the phenomena we experience. experience. O f that which lies beyond phenomena, namely, the ‘noum no umen ena’, a’, the th e ‘thing thin g in i t s e l f , we can ph enome mena nalism lism.. never neve r know. know. This is called pheno Empiricism Empiri cism
As Buddha demonstrated in his own life, experience is the source o f knowledge. knowledge. The Philosophical Philosophical Implications Implications o f B ud d ha ’s Eth ical Teachings I-Depen I-D ependen dentt Origination: Origin ation:
The cornerstone cornerstone on which the Buddhist Budd hist philoso ph ilosophy phy is built is theory o f dependent origination. origination. What this theory in fact states the theory states is that no object or event is independent in respect of its mundane existence, or its appearance. appearance. All objects are depend dep endent ent for their existence, existence, or appearance, appearance, on other objects, all events on other events. There is a causal connection running through all things, such that a is the cause of b, and b is the the cause of o f c, and c is the cause o f d, etc. This theory states that all is contingent and and nothing is necessary. It therefore leaves no room for a selfexistent, selfsubsistent reality 25
or the God G od of o f Islam. It also rules out, out, on on the other hand, nihilism, or the theory that something existing can be annihilated or can cease to be. Buddh Bu ddhaa there therefore fore claims to hold the middle middle view that everything tha t we percei pe rceive ve possesses an existence that is depend depend ent on somethin som ething g else, and that thin thing, g, in turn, turn, does not n ot perish with with out ou t leaving some som e caus c ause.3 e.31 Buddha applied this philosophical theory to his theology and traced the cause caus e o f suffering through through some twelve intermediintermediary stages or links until he arrived at the last cause, the will to live or the clinging to life. This is is the technical techni cal meaning o f the term tanha referred referre d to earlie ear lierr (p. (p. 15). 5). The cause being ‘ the clinging to life’, the effect, he summarily concludes, is ‘life itself, i.e., birth with its attenda atte ndant nt suffering. Chatteijee Chatte ijee and Datta consider this to be very v ery impo im porta rtant nt contr co ntribu ibutio tion n o f Buddhism Budd hism,, namely, the concep tion tion that the externa e xterna l phenomenon phenom enon o f life life or the living orga organis nism m is due to an interna inte rnall impetus impe tus o f desir desire, e, conscious or unconscious.3 unconscious.33 This, they assert, anticipates the Bergsonean elan vital. Both the p hilosop hical theory theory and, what we call call its theological applic ation, atio n, are defective. The Scottish philosopher, David Hume, has shown very conclusively that there is no necess nec essary ary relatio rel atio n betw een ee n ‘cause’ and ‘effe ct’ such such that, that, given the former, the latter must appear. Islam makes ma kes a different use o f the law o f causali causality ty than Buddhism. For Fo r Buddhis Bud dhism, m, the causal law is absolute and universal. universal. There is, therefore, a necessary relation between cause and effect. Islam makes causality relative to the spatiotemporal dimension o f existence. This is possible because Islam Islam is founded on be b e l ie f in the th e ex iste is ten n ce o f an unsee un seen n w orld or ld which wh ich trans tra nsce cend ndss causality. causality. Also, ev en within this this spatiotemporal spatiotemporal dimensio dimension n of existence, Islam accommodates a divine participation both in 32 Chatte Cha tteije ijeee and Datta: Op. cit., cit ., p. 153 33 Ibid. p. 140
26
nature and in in human affairs. This does not, however, affect the pra pr a ctic ct ical al u tili ti lity ty o f the th e law o f ca u sa lity li ty in the th e h ands an ds o f the th e Muslim scientist! Secondly, and this is very important, the universal law of causation, even even if affirmed affirmed despite the troublesome troub lesome Scot, Scot, can only be affirme affir med d with wi thin in the fram fr am ewor ew ork k o f o bser bs erva vabl blee phen ph enom om ena. en a. Take it beyond or before this and we enter into the region of guesswork. That which precedes precedes life is is beyond our observation. Hence the theological application of this theory is defective. The jump from ‘clinging to life’, as the cause, to ‘birth’ as the effect, just ju st cannot be proved. It cannot be admitted as more than a mere hypothesis, hypothesis, and a very farfetched farfet ched one too! too! And even ev en as a hypothesis, it fails to answer the most vital question of ‘the origin o f life’. lif e’. That which can end, end, must also have begun begu n sometime. What, in fact, the elan vital of Bergson, or the ‘clinging to lif e’ o f Buddha, Buddha, can explain, is the the phenom enon o f social and individual survival in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds threatening death or extinction. extinction . ‘Cling ing to lif e ’ is an exclusively exclusively human phenomenon. It cannot canno t be applied to nature. Nature functions acco rding to imm utable laws. laws. It is in man alone, alone, through through the agency o f the selfdirected human w ill, that the possibility possibility o f clinging to life in the the matrix o f suffering can arise. II-Karm II-K arma: a:
The theory of Karma (which Buddha borrowed from Hinduism) is the moral application of the theory of dependent origination. origination. It is an inexorable, immutable law of ju of justi stice ce and moral mor al retribution which states, in as many words, that every single act has its necessary, inescapable consequence, be it for better or for Dha mmapa apada da puts it: worse. As the Dhamm Neither Neith er in the sky, sky, nor no r in the midst mids t o f the sea, nor n or by enterin ente ring g
27
into into the clefts o f mountains, is there there known a place pla ce on earth where, where, statio sta tioni ning ng himself, a man can escape fro m (the (the consequenc conseq uences es o f ) his evil e vil deed. deed. ”34
There can be no relaxation to this law, for the slightest deviation will break down the structure structure of o f causal necessity necessity which runs through the theory o f dependent origination. origination. Togethe Togetherr with the theory o f karma there is also the theory of the transmig tra nsmigration ration o f souls (another (an other Hindu H indu loan to Buddhism).55 Not No t only does karma govern this life but, also, our previous lives. In fact, in accordance with the manner in which we lived our previous previo us life, karma determines in what station or status we shall be reborn in this th is life. A goo g ood d pas p astt life may m ay earn for us the th e reward rew ard o f being bom as a human hum an being. Invariably Invariably the animal animal life life was the the punis pu nishm hmen entt for fo r thos th osee w ho fell fel l below belo w hum hu m an qualif qua lifica icatio tion. n. It beco be com m es d iffi if ficu cult lt in such suc h a socie so ciety ty to argue arg ue the th e case for the preventio prev ention n o f cruelt cru elty y to animal ani mals. s. O f course, the thought that a donkey may be your dead uncle may deter you from beating it. But, by the same token, you cannot object to a man beating a dog and defending him self se lf on the ground ground that whoever w hoever the dog may be, be, that person must have lived a very evil life to have been reborn as a dog and so he/ h e/it it deserv des erves es punishm pun ishment! ent!((35) The defect of the theory of karma is that it can easily give rise to the problem o f despair despa ir if i f faithfu faithfully lly believed in and applie applied d to the ups ups and downs o f the moral struggle. struggle. Despair, Despair, in turn, turn, destroys the psychological drive or impetus, which must be present for healthy participation participatio n in the moral struggle struggle.. Islam Islam solves the problem prob lem o f despair despair with its concept concept of o f Allah, 34 Radhakrishnan and Moore: Op. cit. p.302. 35 Strangely enough enou gh this doctrin d octrinee als o found its way into Greek Greek thought. thought. Pythago ras supported supported it so firmly fir mly that the Greeks Gree ks made fun o f him. Once, they say, he (Pythagoras) (Pythagoras) wa s passing passin g by when a dog was being ill-treated. ill-treated.
“Stop”, “Stop”, he said, said,
“don ’t hit hit it! it! It is the soul sou l o f a friend friend!! I knew kne w it when I heard heard its voic e”. e” . (Xenophanes). (Xenophanes).
28
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Say: Oh my Servants who have transgressed against their soul souls, s, despa despair ir not o f the the Mercy o f Allah Al lah:: f o r Allah Alla h forg fo rgiv ives es all al l sins sin s (i.e (i.e., ., on since sincere re repentance repentance and amendment o f conduct): conduct): fo r He is Oft-Forgiving, Oft-Forgiving, M ost os t Mercif Me rciful. ul.3 37
Secondly, Islam provides the psychological impetus for healthy, vigorous participation in the moral struggle with its system o f reward rewardss and punishments (heaven and hell) which does not remain confined within the limits of a mathematicallycomputer ized exactitude (as in karma) but which is balanced in favour of rewards for the good:
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The The basic basic defect o f Buddhist ethics is that it lacks metaphysics. It ignore ignoress man’s man’s emotional emotional nature, his religious reli gious consciousness. consci ousness. Man, in his moral struggle, craves for a source of unfailing hope and 36 In the name name of Allah, the Most M ost Com passion pass ionate, ate, the M ost Merciful. Merc iful. (Qur’a (Qur ’an: n: 1:2) 37 Abdullah Yusuf Ali: Translation Translation and Comme Co mmentary ntary o f the Qur’an, ( 39:53 39 :53 ). 38 Ibid., (6:160).
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comfort. com fort. This can only be provided with the concep conceptt of a compassionate, loving, forgiving God who is full full of o f grace grace,, and with a system o f rewards and punishments punishm ents balanced bal anced in favour o f good good.. Islam, and Islam Isla m alone, provides both. Buddhism provided neither and has paid pa id the pena pe nalt lty y o f bein be ing g turn tu rned ed upsid up sidee down dow n by unass un assum uming ing Buddhists who today worship even idols and statues of Buddha, and the gods o f Hindudom! Hindudom! The theory theory of transm transmigr igrati ation on o f souls, as found in Buddhism, is quite puzzling. Transmigra Transmigration tion o f souls normally involves the transference transferen ce o f a soulsubstance soulsu bstance from one body (which is is now dead) to another anoth er body bod y (which has just ju st been bom). But there there is no such transference transfere nce in the Buddhist theory theory.. The Buddhist Buddhist conceives conceives o f himself as a preexistent moral entity, which died in a previous existence, and transferred its moral status to that conglomeration o f skand wh ich he calls himself. Had moral moral perfection perfection been ska ndas as3 39 which achieved there would have been no transfer. The very fact of his existence, therefore, casts a slur on the aboriginal purity and status o f his moral personality. The purpose pu rpose o f his life, and all his his lives to come, come, is to achieve nirvana or deliverance from the recurring cycle of birth and the suffering to which birth gives rise. rise. But the theory theory of transmigra tion tion o f souls, souls, with its accompanied theory of karma, falls to the ground when w e ponder po nder over ov er the fact fact that that we have no way o f re membering the pitfa lls o f our previous life becaus becausee o f which which we wh at use is another life if have landed ourselves into this life. O f what we can unknowingly repeat all the mistakes of the previous life? Dr. Dr. Ansari Ansa ri has made m ade a devast de vastatin ating g attack on this theo theory ry.. We quote him at length: This theory, theory, however, does not stand sta nd the test test o f reason. reason. In the fi r s t instance, to realise that a person is suffering suffering or benefiting on any particu par ticular lar occasion in this life life because ofaction ofaction performed perform ed 39 Scanda: an incongruous transitory element. element.
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in a previous life on this earth, it is necessary that every human being should should have have a complete complete picture o f his supposed sup posed previous life life at all moments moments and on on all occasions. occasions. Otherwise, Otherwise, the purpo pu rpose se o f his re-bir re-birth th would be defea defeated. ted. But Bu t no such picture pic ture exists in the mind o f any human human bein being. g. Secondl Secondly, y, i f we p ic k up an immature seed from a tree and wish to g et a tree fro fr o m that th at se ed in spite sp ite o f its imma immatur turity ity,, we never paste pa ste orpi or pin n that seed see d back bac k on the tree. tree. Rath Rather er,, we try to get the best o f the seed by providing better manure and better bette r conditi conditions. ons. Similar is is the case with with the human personality. personality. When hen a human human being leaves this world without achiev a chieving ing that purity pu rity and an d maturi maturity ty which which is necessary f o r salvation, nature should not no t and would not not paste and pin him him again again on the tree tree o f earthly life but should provide fo r him him conditions conditions whereby w hereby his impurity impurity and a nd immaturity immaturity may may be remedied and he may be able to proce pro ceed ed on the path pa th o f evolution. evolution. Third Thirdly, ly, evoluti evo lution on is an esta es tabl blish ished ed law o f the human human personality as as well as o f the universe. universe. But Bu t evolution is always linear linear and never cyclic. cyclic. Hence Hen ce on this score scor e also the theory o f salvation through through transmigration transmigr ation o f souls sou ls is unacceptable. unac ceptable. ”40
The reader would be astonished to learn that Prophet Muhammad (s) (s) has prophesied the emergence of a last stage of history when Allah will release releas e Dajjal, Dajj al, the False Messiah, into the world. Dajjal will deceive deceiv e the Da jjal has a twofold mission. Firstly, he will Jews in in the the greatest greatest act of deception history will ever witness. In consequence of being deceived by Daj D ajja jall the Jews will establish the Zionist Movement and embark on an effort to restore the State o f Israel Israel in in the the holy land land of o f Palestine. In the process o f doing so they will will commit such such betrayal o f Truth and such vile acts as would earn for them the most awesome divine punishment ever visited upon any people in all history. But Daj will pursue a second m ission as well, and that D ajja jall will would be to seek to deceive all the rest of mankind and lead them down the road of godlessness, decadence, destitution. 40 Ansari, Ansa ri, Op.cit. Op.ci t. pp. 8-9
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anarchy, univers un iversal al corruption, sexual sexual perver perversit sity, y, etc. etc. One o f his tricks would be to pursuade mankind to worship him instead o f A llah. In order to capture the adoration and worship wo rship o f ma nkind he would create a civiliza civilization tion which which would per p erfo form rm such su ch asto as toni nish shin ing g feat fe atss as w ould ou ld sweep swe ep m anki an kind nd o f f their thei r feet. The Prophet (s) p rophesied that Dajja would lay claim (s) prophesied Da jjall would to being able to bring the dead back to life, i.e., the dead would be reb re b orn or n . H e said: sa id: An A n d with w ith him (i.e., (i.e., Dajj D ajjal) al) there woul w ould d be raised shayatee shay ateen n (i.e (i.e., ., disbelieving jinn) jin n) who will assume assume the the appearan appearance ce o f the dead, would wo uld speak to the living (in the voice voice o f the dead and an d with the memory o f the dead): dead): don 'tyou recognise recognise me? me? I am y o u r fa th e r ! (or) (or) I am you yo u r brother! (or) (or) some som e close clos e relative. (Kanz al-Ummal Vol 7, Hadith No 2078).
The Prophet (s) (s) has therefore prophesied the emergence of an age in which there will astonishing evidence which would appear to validate the Hindu and Buddhist theory of rebirth and transm tran smigratio igration n o f souls. souls. My view is that the phenomenon o f cloning, w hich has recently rece ntly emerged in the world of o f science science (1997), (1997), will eventually even tually result resu lt in the emergence of human clone clones. s. From there it would only one more step to the claim claim o f bringing bringing the the dead back ba ck to life. I exp e xpec ectt this prop p rophe hesy sy to t o be fulfilled by, perhaps, the year yea r 2020. W hen it is fulfilled Muslims who are faithful faithful to the Prophet (s) w ould d not be deceived. deceived. They would would see see through through Da (s) woul D a jja jj a l’s awesome awesom e deception. decep tion. 2020 will sweep all the rest of mankind off their feet in awesome deception. III-T III -The he Theory The ory o f Universal Univ ersal Flux: Flu x: It is a f a c t a n d a necess nec essary ary constitution constituti on o f Being Bein g that tha t all its co nstituen ts are are transi transitor tory, y, momentary and fleeting. (Buddha)
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This theory theory of o f universal flux ( anicca ) is also derivable from the theory of dependent origina tion. Nothing No thing is real, hence nothing is permanent. Nothing Noth ing is necessary. All is contingent, conting ent, and hence all is transitory. All A ll componen comp onentt things are subje su bject ct to decay. Work out yo y o u r own salvation with diligence. (Buddha)
Things are constantly coming into being and passing away. They exist only for moments, and for even less than moments. This theory has its counterpart in the philosophical thinking o f many nations nations.. The Greeks, for example, had it in the the famous Heraclitus who taught the concept of a universal flux to such an extent exte nt that, as he says: We step ste p and an d do not no t step into the same sam e river river,, for fo r fres fr esh h and every fres fr esh h waters wate rs are const co nstant antly ly po u rin ri n g into it.41 Iqbal, the great Muslim philosopherpoet, has expressed the same idea in his beautiful couplet: Perennial Perennial serenity (denoting changelessness) is impossible in the world o f natural natural phenomena. (Indeed (Indeed)) permanenc perm anencee isfoun fo un d only in the fa c t o f change itself.4 itself.42
The fact of change also finds expression in the Qur’an, but in a different different perspective from its Buddhist Buddh ist counterpart. count erpart. Both Buddhism and Islam affirm the action of change in the order of natural phenomena. Islam Islam goes even further to characterize charac terize Allah Alla h Himself as dynamic to the extent that He H e c o n sta st a n tly tl y reve re veal alss Him H im self se lf in a new Glory and an d Splendour. Splen dour.4 43 41 Gomperz: Greek Thinkers, Thinkers, Vol. 1 , p.66 p. 66
42 Sukoon mahal hai kudrat kudra t kay karkh anay ana y main, main, Thabat Thabat si r f tagayyur ko hai zamana y main main.. 43 Every day He (revea ls H im sel f in a new man ifestat ion o f) H is glor y and splendour. (Qur’an: 55:29)
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The important difference is the use which Buddhism and Islam make o f the fact o f change. change. The Buddhist applicatio application n is negative and potentially destructive, the Islamic application is positi pos itive ve and constru con structiv ctive. e. Let Le t us explain. Buddhism uses the universal flu fl u x to turn away the individual from the life and to strengthen his commitment to the life o f this this world and therefor e psychological in other-worldly life. The application is therefore nature and negative nega tive in intent. intent. The Islamic application is also psychological when applied to the goods and pleasures which men cling to in this life, and when it affirms the more permanent nature of the life hereafter:
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The Islamic application is psychological in nature but positive posi tive in intent, inte nt, for it i t turns turn s man m an away from the life of this world when lived as an end-in-itself and and converts the life of o f this world to Unlik e Buddhism, Islam does not not ask that the the a-means-to-an-end. Unlike belie be liever ver shou s hould ld turn tu rn away aw ay from fr om this world wo rld so full of o f change. Islam asks that the believer should ponder and reflect over the fact of change in this world. Iqbal has grasped this this idea when when he says: says: It is our reflective contact contac t with the temporal temporal flu fl u x o f things things which which trains trains us f o r an intellectual vision o f the non-temporal non-temporal.4 .44 But the Islamic applicat app lication ion is more than psychologic psychological. al. It is is 44 Iqbal, Iqbal, Dr. Dr. M: Reconstruc Reco nstruc tion o f Relig iou s Thoughts in Islam, p. p. 14
34
creatively suggestive within the framework of physical science:
JlLtl JlLtl J& J&I L l i J / i 3>J dU'i J jl .jLfJfj It is Allah who alterna alte rnates tes the night nig ht and an d the day: Verily Verily in this there there is a rule (o f guidance) f o r those who are observant observ ant (oj the phenomena within them and around them). (Qur 'an: 24:44)
The Qur’an directs us to observe the constitution of the heavens heaven s and the earth earth and its basic characteristic char acteristic o f change. This is beautifully beautifully portrayed portrayed in the alternation al ternation o f day and night, o f light light and darkness. darkness. Such observation cannot canno t but lead lead the enquiring mind to the scientific quest of unravelling the secrets of the natural order, be it through physics or chemistry or biology, or medicine, etc. The Qur’ Qu r’an an points to the fact fac t that change in the the natural order is not at at random. It is meaningfu mea ningful, l, purposeful and displays a distinct pattern pattern or or design. design. This quest q uest is such that when it is is undertaken and the secrets of the heavens and the earth b;gin to reveal themselves, the heart of the believer bursts forth in the cry:
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Our Lord! Lord! Thou Thou hast not no t created crea ted this in vain. vain. (Q u r’an: r’an: 3:188)
This in turn leads to a specific attitude towards the universe we inhabit. It is reality to be recko re ckone ned d with, and, in fact, it is in reckoning with reality (as in Islam), and not in detachment (as in Buddhism), that man grows to his his true greatness. Iqbal has concon veyed this idea in a very thoughtprovoking observa.ion: It is the lot o f man to share sha re in the th e deep de eper er aspira as piration tionss o f the universe around him an d to shape shap e his own destiny dest iny as well we ll as
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that o f the the unive univers rse, e, now by adjusting adjusting him self to its forces, now by putting putt ing the whole o f his his energy energy to mould its itsforce for cess to his his own own ends nds and p u rp o se s ..................... I I f he does not no t take the initiative, initiative, i f he does not evolve the inner richness richness o f his being, ifhe ifhe ceases tofe e l the the inward push o f advancing advancing life life,, then the spirit within him hardens into stone and he is re duced duc ed to the level o f dead de ad matte atter. r. But Bu t his life and the on ward march march o f his spirit spiri t depend on the establishment establishment oj connections conne ctions with the reality rea lity that confronts him.45
This is Islam I slam ’s constructive use u se o f the fact fact o f change, change, the flux. flux. The Buddhist Budd hist use was quite different. different. It is, we believe, difficult to find any Buddhist contribution in the field of physical science which has emerged in consequence of the impact of Buddhism on scientific thought thou ght and research. research. If we are are wrong we would like to corrected. On the other othe r hand hand there is a glorious glorious legacy o f Muslim contribution to scientific scientific thought over 1400 1400 years which which has emerged in direct direc t consequence co nsequence o f the impact of o f the Qur’a Qu r’an. n. Islam, with its dynamic approach to reality, succeeded in buildi bui lding ng a virile viri le and dynam dyn amic ic culture. culture . Indeed history will not no t end before bef ore authen aut hentic tic Islam challen cha llenges ges all its rivals rival s in the world worl d and emerges triumphantly as the dominant force in the world. Buddhism, with its escapist approach to reality, has constantly produ pro duced ced passiv pas sivee cultures. cultu res. The Th e dynamism o f Islam will become increasingly evident as Muslims prepare themselves to challenge the political imperialism, the economic exploitation and oppression, and the moral decaden d ecadence ce and godlessness of o f the dominant dominant modem western civilization. civilization. IV I V — The No t-S t- S e lf (Anatta): (Anatta ): In my opinion, the most mos t distinctive contribution o f Buddhist thought to knowledge has been in the field of philosophical 45 Iqbal, Dr. Dr. M.:Reconstruc M.:Reco nstruction tion o f Re ligiou lig iou s Thoughts Tho ughts in Islam, pp.l 1,12 1,12
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psychology. psycholo gy. In their analysis o f the self, the Buddh Bu ddhists ists found foun d that th at man had no immortal abiding changeless substance in him called ‘soul so ul’’ or ‘ego’. Man, Man, they they said, is ju st a composition comp osition o f five com position. These five skan sk anda das4 s46 with a name attached to this composition. skandas are: the body, feelings feeli ngs,, perceptions, percepti ons, impulses and emotions, and acts acts o f conscious consciousness. ness.
Further Further analysi analysiss yielded nothin g which wh ich could not be brought brough t under the heading o f one or the other othe r of the five skandas. skandas. The Buddhists conclude concluded, d, illogically therefrom, the Buddhist doctrine that there is no immortal abiding ‘soul’, illogical because all that they could legitimately legitimately conclude was the unreality unrea lity o f the empirical self! The theory of the ‘notself has two applications in Buddhist philosophy: phil osophy: firstly, firstly, in the realm rea lm o f morals mor als;; secondly, second ly, in the realm real m o f psychology. psychology. In projecting the idea of ‘self’ or ‘ego’ as being unreal, a figment of the imagination and a convenient appellation, Buddha was apparently apparently making a laudable attempt atte mpt at cutting at the roots roots o f the moral moral evils evils which arise arise from excessiv ex cessivee love of self. self. This constitutes constitutes a sympathetic sympathetic understanding understand ing o f Budd Bu ddha’ ha’ss attack on the ego. ego. The sins sins of the ego ego are the most m ost widespread, w idespread, the most serious and the most vicious. In fact, the very first sin sin committed comm itted in creation, creation, according according to the Q ur’a ur ’an, n, was w as a sin o f the ego. Iblis (Satan) 46 Skanda: an incongruous transitory element.
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disobeyed the command comm and o f Allah to bow before Adam (s) because, as he argued:
.ijdf
jU
Jo ijl
7 am better bet ter than than he. he. Thou hast created me from fro m fire. And him Thou hast has t created fro m clay. clay. (Qur’an, 7:12) We cannot, therefore, overemphasize overemphasize the magnitude o f the sins o f the ego. Buddha, Buddh a, withou wit houtt any any metaphysics, had to stop stop at at the destruction destruc tion o f the empirical empiric al self. self. Islam, with its metaphysics, solves the same problem pro blem in an effective effective and acceptable way. way. Islam does not ask that tha t the empirical self se lf be destroyed or annihilated annihilated (as (as a misreading o f the Sufi doctrine of fa n a might seem to indicate). Rather, Rather, Islam Is lam dema de mand ndss that th at the th e individu indi vidual al ego be sublima sub limated ted in the serv servic icee o f the divine divin e Ego (jiha (ji ha dfi df i sabil Allah).47 Allah).47 Within the sphere o f morality moral ity this is achieved through active active participation participation in the moral moral struggle resulting in the ‘purification’ (rather than ‘destruction’) of the the self se lf (tazkiyah al-nafs). This purification process begins with the taming of ‘the carnal animal self’ or ‘the self pronetoevil’ intensely practical stage o f the (al-nafs al-ammarah). This is the intensely purif pu rifica icatio tion n proce pr ocess. ss. N e x t c o m e s the th e s ta g e o f p s y c h o lo g ic a l c o n d itio it io n in g involving th e quicke q uickening ning to life of o f the ‘selfreproaching ‘selfreproaching spir it’, or ‘the ‘the self, conscious conscio us o f evil it has committed, and regretful regretful of of having done so ’ ( al-nafs al-lawwamah). Finally, Finally , we come to the th e stage o f the ‘beatified s e lf’ lf ’ or the ‘self, self, freefro f reefro m evil, and in a state state of o f peace and contentmen t’ the finite finite self (al-nafs (al-nafs al-mutma innah). Here the sublimation of the
47 Strive and strug gle in the way o f Allah Al lah with all your posse ssio ns and with your complete selves. (Qur’an: 9:39)
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and its submission to the Infinite Self is complete and perfect. This is the Nirv Islam! am! Ni rvan ana a o f Isl
The Critique Critique o f the Em pirical S e lf As mentioned earlier, this is Buddhism’s unique contribution to philosophical thought, i.e., its analytical investigation of the concept concept o f T . Nagasena, Nagasena, the the monk, silenced silenced Melinda, the King, when the King challenged the doctrine of no t-sel t-s elf:4 f:4S S In ex exac ac tly tl y the same sa me way, y o u r M ajes aj esty ty,, in resp re spee c t o f me, Naga Na gase sena na is but bu t a w a y o f coun co unti ting ng,, term, term , appe ap pell llat atio ion, n, convenient designati designation, on, mere name fo r the hair o f my head, head, hair o f my body . . . brain o f the head, form for m , sensation sensation,, perception, perception, the predisp pre disp ositio ns and a nd consciou s ness. ness. But in the absolute sen se there is no ego to be found fou nd..
The King had flung a very persuasive challenge at the monk: Bha B hant ntee Naga Na gasen sena, a, i f the t here re is no ego eg o to be fo u n d , who wh o is it, then then,, furn ishes ish es you yo u pr ies ts with the prie pr iestly stly requisites, requisites, - rob robes es,, food, foo d, bedding an d medicine, the reliance o f the sick? Who is it makes use o f the same? sam e? Who Who is it keeps the precepts? Who is it applies app lies h im se lf to meditation? Who is it realizes realizes the paths, path s, the fr u its it s a nd nirvana? Who Who is it destroys life? Who Who is is it takes take s what wh at is is no t given give n to him? Who Who is it commits comm its immo im morality rality ? Who Who is it tells lies? lies? Who Who is it drinks into xicating xica ting liquo r? Who is it commits com mits the fiv fi v e crimes which c onstitute on stitute pro xim ate karm a?49 a?49 In that case there is no merit; there is no demerit; there is no one that does, or causes to be done, meritorious or
48 For an an interesting dialogue dial ogue on the subject see se e Radhakrishnan and and Moore, M oore, Op. cit., pp. pp. 280-28 4 49 i.e., karma that bears fruits in this life.
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demeritorious dem eritorious deeds; neither neith er good goo d nor evil deeds can have any results. Bhante Bh ante Nagasena, n either is is he a murderer who k ills a priest, nor can you priests, Bhante Nagasena, Nagasena, have any teach teacher er,, pre ce cepto pto r or ordinat ordination. ion.
Now N ow all that th at N agas ag asen enaa (and (a nd Buddh Bu ddhism ism)) did was to show that the empirical se lf could not be advanced as as the the answer to the the question. questi on. But that tha t does not dispose of the question! question! The self, self, ego, or I, is there as an immediate intuitive experience for each and every man. For Descart De scartes, es, in fact, fact, the only thing which was free from doubt was the ‘selfcertitude o f the thinking thinking ego’ eg o’ (ego the moral struggle struggle becom es sum, ego e xi sto ).50 ).50 Seco ndly, the meaningless, even impossible, if the moral agent is without a per p erm m anen an entt indi in divi vidu dual ality ity on the th e basis ba sis o f which wh ich he can be held responsible for his evils and rewarded for his good deeds. It is the demand of morality that there be a real, permanent ne nt self. It is is indeed surprisi sur prising ng to find this grave slip in Buddhism, taking into consideration the fact that Buddha was esse ntia lly an ethica l thinker. No amount o f analysing or pru p ru n ing in g can ca n rem re m ove ov e the th e expe ex peri rien ence ce o f the ‘I’ ‘I ’ as a perm pe rman anen entt entity having a real existence, in fact, an existence more real than anything else. Islam it is, which, hearkening to the insistent universal experience of the ego, affirms the reality of the self or ego. Islam agree s with Buddhism Bud dhism th at the empirical empirical s elf is not real. real. But Islam goes on where Buddhism stopped, and in fact had to stop, to make the ‘transcen tran scenden den tal s e l f ’ the real self. self. In so doing Islam raises man above and beyond everything in this spatiospa tio-tem tem poral po ral dimension. dimension. Islam recognises him him as as the the ‘crow crown n o f creatio cre ation n ’, ‘the sm s m all al l divine divi ne ’or ’or, in the langauge langau ge o f the Qur ’a ’an, the ‘kha lifatullah a la al-a rd ’. He is the representative o f Allah 50 Medita Me ditation tionss II, Descart Des cartes es Ph ilosoph ilos oph ical Writings, Selec ted and and Translated Translated by N.K. Smith.
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on earth who is to pursue the mission entrusted to him by Allah, the mission of struggle for realizing the supremacy of Truth, al-haq, over all its rivals. Ma hayana ana ) was, as we shall Later Buddhism ( Mahay sha ll see later, later, forced fo rced to take the step of recognizing the reality of a transcendental dimension dimen sion o f existence. existence. But M a h a ya n a took the step only halfway. The little little individual ego was recogn reco gnized ized as false or M a h a ya n a posited the existence of a unreal, but in its place Ma universal transcendental self (which is the self of all beings), Ma hayan yanist ist of thus depriving the Maha of his personal identity. identity. Islam, it is, is, which affirms the individu individual al transcenden transce ndental tal se lf and makes it fully personal, personal , when w hen it establishes the th e doctrin doc trinee o f person per sonal al immortality.
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Chapter Six THE PHILOSOPHICAL SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM Buddhist philosophical thought is centered around two major problems: Is there any Reality? Can it be known? The first problem is metaphysical, or, to be more precise, ontological. An d the second problem is epistemological. As a matter of fact these are really the basic problems of all ph ilo il o sop so p hica hi call tho th o ug ht th rou ro u g h the th e ages. In answer to these two questions, about thirty different ph p h ilo il o so p h ic a l scho sc ho ols ol s a ro se in Budd Bu ddhis hism. m. We shall sha ll brie br iefl fly y discuss here the betterknown major schools only. To the metaphysical question “Is there any reality, mental or nonm enta l?”, l?” , three differe nt replies have been given: given:
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i.
The madhyamika hold that there is no reality mental or nonmental; all is void ( sunya ).
ii.
The yo g a c a ra hold that only the mental is real; the material world is devoid of reality.
iii.
The realists ho ld th at both both the mental and the the nonmental are real.
In respect of the epistemological question “Can reality be known?” the the realists are divided into two groups: iiia sautrantika, or indirect realists, who w ho hold ho ld that external external objects are not perceived directly, but are known by inference. iiib vaibhashika, or direct realists, who hold that the external world is perceived perceiv ed directly. directly. The The Madhyamika School o f Nihilism or Relativism There is a very important phrase in the Qur’an which Muslims repeat very often. often. It reads:
juLJI . juLJI
&\
Allah Alla h is He on Whom Whom all a ll depend, depend , but bu t Who is H im se lf inde ind e penden pen dent; t; or: Allah is the only on ly necess nec essary ary being, a ll else el se is cont c ontin in gent; or: Allah alone exists, all else subsist. ( Q u r ’an: 112: 112:2) 2)
By virtue of this verse, the Muslim thinkers concluded that the world is neither Real, Real , because only Allah is Real Re al,, nor is it it subsists. subsists. The world, rather, is relatively relati vely Real. It Unreal, because it partakes parta kes o f Reality. It subsists as real by the G race o f the Real. Real. In much the same manner the M a d h y a m i k a school philosophized that tha t the phenomenal phenom enal world wor ld is neith ne ither er Real Re al nor Un Neit her is mind real, nor is matter real. They based their real. Neither arguments on two main teachings of Buddha, i.e., the theory of dependent origination origination and the theory o f the universal univ ersal flux. flux. That which is real must be be permanent, unchanging. That which is subject to change, to decay, which comes into being and passes away, cannot be real. But all all the world is is in a
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constan t flux. The unive rsal flux characterizes both the mental and nonme non me ntal. Therefore Therefo re the world cannot be real. Again, according to the theory of dependent origination, there is a universal law of causation operating in this world such that every effect is dependent on some cause which pre pr e ce d es it. N ow tha th a t w h ich ic h is depe de pend nden entt for fo r its exis ex iste tenc ncee on som ething other than itself, that which is not selfexistent selfexistent and independent, cannot be real. Hence the external external phenomen a are not real. At the same time the external world cannot be called unreal because an unreal thing like a bachelorhusband can never come into existence The chief exponent of this Ma M a d h y a m ika ik a philosophy, Nag N agai aiju juna na,, summe sum med d up the case ca se very ve ry neatly nea tly in the pert expression, expressi on, all is void ( sunya ). Hence He nce the school came to be known know n as ma y also be called relativism, because of nihilism. This school may the relative nature o f the existence of all all thing things. s. But Nagarjuna did not remain confined within the boun daries o f original B uddhism . He went on to give a twolevel doctrine doc trine o f truth, very much mu ch like lik e Kant’ Ka nt’ss ‘phenom ‘phenom enanoume enano umena’, na’, and B rad ley’ le y’ss ‘app earan ea ran cerea ce rea lity’. Beyond the unreality of the phenomenal world there is a transcendental dimension of existence which cannot be described (by virtue of the fact that it transc ends end s experienc e). It is this transcendental transcendental reality which which is real and abiding. abiding. This formed part of the philosophical foundations of the M a h a ya n a sect of Buddhism when they ventured to interpret nirvana, not as state, or an ethical ideal, but as a metaphysical 51 This is the dial ectica l nature nature o f Buddhist thought thought throu through gh which all judgments judgments about reality are shown to be contradictor contradictory. y. See p. 19
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entity in a transcen den tal dim ension o f existe nc e. The Maha Ma haya yana na went on to formulate the doctrine which identified Buddha himself with this transcendental reality, thus opening the way for the worship o f Buddha as God. This Th is was something undreamt undreamt o f in early early Buddhism, and my B udd hist readers may wish to pause to reflect refle ct over ove r this for qu ite a wh ile.5 ile .52 The The Yogac Yogacar ara a Sch ool o f Subjec Su bjec tive Idealism Id ealism The Yogacara school, agreeing with Nagarjuna that all matter was unreal, differed with him concerning the reality o f the mind. mind. According to them if the mind was also unreal then there would be no means of affirming even the truth of the teachings! For them, mind alone is real. Mad M adhy hyam am ika ik a teachings! philoso phicall arguments Yogacara then went on to use acute philosophica to disprove the real existence existence o f external obje cts. Ob jects must be eith ei ther er atomi ato micc (par (p artl tles ess) s) or com co m posi po site te (co (c o m p o sed se d o f parts pa rts). ). But if atomic, atomic, they will be be too small to to be seen, and if composite, they cannot be seen as a whole, in which manner they are in fact seen seen.. (Cf. (Cf. Gestalt school o f psychology). psycho logy). Another difficult difficulty y which arises, arises, if the rea lity o f exter external nal objects is to be affirmed, is that the consciousness of the object cannot arise before the the object has come into existen ce. Neither Ne ither can it arise afterwards, because the object, being momentary, vanishes as soon as it arises. It also cannot can not arise simu si multan ltaneou eously sly with consciousness, being the cause of consciousness, after it has ceased to exist. For, For, in in that case, the objec ob ject, t, bein g in the past, pa st, ther th eree cann ca nnot ot be any imm im m edia ed iate te k n o w led le d g e o f it. T h e rere fore, if objects arc arc regarded as posse ssing an existence independent independent of the the mind, mind, know ledge o f prese nt o bjects (which (which we must admit always to have) remains unexplained. 52 It will o f considerable considera ble interest to my m y Buddhist readers to note that for som e 5 00 years after after his death, death, there were no statues o f Buddha. Buddha.
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M ind, there fore, fore , is all tha t exists. All else else depends on on the m ind for its existence. This is is called subjective idealism and it found expression in western philosophy in the views of Bishop Bishop B erkeley {ess {essee est pe rcip i). There Th ere are a num ber o f serious objections to to the Yogacara phi p hilo loso soph phy. y. I f an ob ject je ct depe de pend ndss for its exis ex iste tenc ncee solely sol ely on the mind, how is it that the mind cannot create, at will, any object at any time? time ? How do we explain the fact fact that objects do not change, appear, or disap pear pea r at the will of o f the perceiver? To answer answ er these these objections, ob jections, the Yogacara school gave a farfetched theory o f the mind. Mind they say, say, is not a single, single, unchanging unchanging entity. entity. It is is a storehouse o f impressions (presumably (presumably o f past experience exp erience). ). Out o f this storehouse the impressions impressions arise, arise, now from here, now from there, to form a veritable stream of consciousn consc iousness. ess. The intriguing question is, is, how how did did this stori storing ng take place at the beginning; and secondly, how is it that every single storeh ouse ous e is unique and different from from every other storeho use, and yet, if a mango is shown shown to a class class of childre children n they w ill all perce ive it as a mango? man go? And if it a Pakistani Pakistani mango (the best be st in the the w orld) they would all want a bite o f it? (My readers in South East Asia would want to replace the mango with a sultan durian ). The Yogacara is more concerned con cerned with developing the moral moral side o f this mindtheory. If mind is something something becoming, something flexible and changing, then mind can be trained and developed on the right lines to ward off the arising of undesir able mental states and develop the ideal state of nirvana. But this is opening the doors to the control o f the mental stream. I f it is is possible to control this stream stream and direct it to pro p ro d u c tiv ti v e ch ann an n els el s con co n duci du cive ve to the th e atta at tain inm m ent en t o f nirvana, then the origin al objection o bjection has to be met. met. How it it is is that that the mind cannot cann ot crea te, at will, any object at any any time (best of all, all, a sultan durian in the month of July)? 46
From the Qur’anic point of view the Yogacara philosophy is fals falsee and and dangerous. dangerous. Both mind and matter possess posse ss degrees of of True, mind is more real than matter, matter, more real and fundafund areality. True, mental than body. body. Mind is a part par t o f ‘perso pe rsona nality lity’, ’, which wh ich was bestowed bestow ed to man as the famous fam ous amanah (trus (tr ust). t).5 53 A nd, nd , it is man, the fully personal being, to whom the heavens and the earth are subjected subje cted.5 .5'' Hence mind possess pos sesses es a more mor e real rea l existence existe nce than matte matter. r. But matter also also possesses a degree degree o f real rea l e xiste xi stenc nce, e, for Allah created the heavens and the earth with Truth (al-haq). Yoga Yogaca cara ra destroys destroys this balance, gives mind the sta tus o f being the only only real realit ity, y, and makes makes o f the external world a fig m en t o f our imagination, imagination , a dream, dream, ‘maya ma ya ’, po sse ss e ssin ss ing g no reality real ity at a t all. As a philosophical theo ry this can float around h armlessly in the philosophy classroom. classroom. But when this this philosophic al theory finds expression in life, in religion, it must, without fail, lead to the establishment of the institution of monasticism, the severance of worldly ties and the adoption of that peculiar sex philo ph iloso soph phy y whi w hich ch leads lea ds to celib ce libac acy. y. This, Th is, as we w e inte in ten n d to show sh ow later, brings in its wake such perversions, sufferings, complications, cations, and misery that that we co nsider it the duty o f sociolog ists, psyc ps ycho holo logi gists sts,, philo ph iloso soph pher ers, s, theo th eolo logi gian anss and o the th e rs, rs , apar ap artt from fr om the world Muslim community, to strike out as forcefully as possi po ssibl blee agai ag ains nstt the anti an tiw w o rld rl d phil ph ilos oso o ph y and an d the th e inst in stit itu u tion ti on s o f monasticism and celibacy to which it it gives rise. The Roman Catholic Catholic church has probably probab ly had to face enough law suits filed against it because of grave sexual misbehavior on the part of celibate celibate priests that that it would wo uld now be prepared to see the light o f Truth.
53 Verily Verily we proposed to the heavens, to the earth earth and and to the the mo untains to receiv e the trust ( of personality), but they refused the burden and they feared to receive it. Man alone undertook to bear bear it. it. (Qur’an (Q ur’an:: 33:72 33 :72)) 54 Do you not see that that Allah has subjected to your (use) all things in the the heav ens and on earth. (Qur’an: 31: 20)
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The The Sautran tika tika Schoo l o f Realism Realism
The Sautrantika believe in the reality, not only of the mind, but a lso of o f external objects. They point out that without the supposition of some external objects, it is not possible to explain even the illusionary appearance of external objects. Their argument for recognizing the reality of external objects is directed primarily to the refutation of the arguments o f the idealists. If one never perceived anywhere, any external object, he cannot say, as the idealists do, that through illusion consciousness appears appe ars like an external extern al object. The phrase ‘like an external object’ is a meaningless as Tike the son of a barren woman’, bec b ecau ause se an exte ex tern rnal al obje ob jecc t is reco re cogn gniz ized ed by the idea id ealis lists ts to be wholly unreal and never perceived. perceived. Again, the idealists argue from the simultaneousness of ‘consci con sciou ousn sness ess’’ and ‘objec ‘obj ect’ t’ to their the ir identi identity. ty. But this argument is is defective. The object and the mind min d are clearly clearly independent o f each each other, other, for fo r if i f they were w ere identical, then th en when I perceive perceive a horse horse (or a rambutan), I should say ‘I am the horse’ (or rambutan). Finally, if there were no external objects, the distinction betwe bet ween en the consci co nscious ousnes nesss o f a ‘p ot’ ot ’ and the consciousness conscio usness o f a ‘watch’ could not be explained, because ‘consciousness’, ‘watch’ and ‘p ‘p o t’ w ould oul d all be be identical. Hence we must admit the existence existence o f external objects. objects. Sautrantika Sautra ntika as Indirect Realism or Represen Representatio tationism nism::
In respect resp ect o f the question: question: can reality be known? the Realis Realists ts are divided into two schools. Sautrantika made an analysis of perce pe rcepti ption on and a nd concl co nclude uded d that it is not ju st a simple matter ma tter of o f mind and object. objec t. There are, in fact, fact, four fou r factors involved in an aet of 48
perception perce ption.. Chatteije Chat teijeee and Dat D atta ta have ha ve listed list ed them the m thus: There There must be the object ob ject to impart imp art its fo rm to conscious ness, ness, there there must be be the conscious co nscious m ind (or the state o f the mind at the the ju st previous moment) to cause cause the conscious ness o f the the form, there there must be the the sense to determine the kind o f conscio consciousne usness, ss, that is, is, whether wheth er the consciousness consciou sness o f that object object would be visual, tactual or o r o f any other o ther kind. kind. Lastly, there must m ust be som so m e favo fa vo ura ur a ble bl e auxil au xiliar iaryy condition, condition , such as light, convenient position, perceptible magnitude, etc. etc. All Al l these these combined combin ed together togeth er to to bring about abo ut the percep perce p tion o f the object o bject.3 .35
On the basis of this analysis of the act of perception, Sautrantika concluded that it was impossible to perceive the object directly. directly. The object reach es the the mind indirectly, first generating in the mind the the form (o ( o f the object). It is this copy cop y or representation of the object in its own consciousness which the mind immediately immediately knows. knows. But from this it can infer the object object without which the copy would not arise. In short, Sautrantika argues that perceptions are reflections or copies copies of o f external external objects objects which w hich can only be known kn own to exist by inference. This is indirect realism. The The Vaibh Vaibhas ashi hika ka School o f D irect ire ct Realism The Vaibhashika, like the Sautrantika, affirmed affirmed the reality of both mind and matter matter.. This metap m etaphysic hysical al agreement, agreeme nt, however, did not extend to episte epistemology mology.. Taking strong objection objectio n to the indirect realism of Sautrantika, Vaibhashika affirmed the possibility of perceivi perc eiving ng the object directly. This Thi s is direc d irectt realism. realis m. A ccord cc ording ing to them inference from impressions can only be possible through a prior prio r perception perce ption o f the object. Only he who has has seen fire and smoke 55 Chatteijee Chat teijee and Datta Datta:: Op. cit. p. 174
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conjoined can infer infe r fire from smoke. smoke. But, But, according to to Sautrantika, we have neve ne verr perceive perc eived d any objects object s dire directly ctly.. I f this is so, inference inference is not possible. possib le. He, who has never seen a mango, can never infer a mango from an impression im pression in the mind, mind, of a mango! mango!
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Chapter Seven
THE RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS OF BUDDHISM It is very clear from from a study o f the original te achings ach ings o f Gautama Buddha (which we have attempted to analyse in this book bo ok)) that th at he enco en cour urag aged ed the th e o ther th erw w orld or ldly ly life, lif e, o r the th e life lif e o f detachm ent fro from m the the affairs o f this world. In freeing the individual from the Hindu caste system and the religious monopoly of Brahmans, he went to the other extreme to make every man man ‘an ‘an islan island d unto him se lf’. For exam ple, in his last words, which he spoke to his chief disciple, Ananda, he said: Be lamps unto yours yo urselv elves, es, be y e refuge re fuge to your yo ursel selve ves, s, betake bet ake yo y o ur selves selv es to no exte ex tern rnal al refuge. Hold Ho ld fa f a s t to the truth (the dhamma dhamma or the the law law). ). Look Lo ok not no t fo r refuge to anyone except excep t yourselve yours elves. s. Decay Dec ay is inherent in a ll comp co mpone onent nt things. Work out ou t you yo u r own salvation with dilig di ligen ence ce.5 .56
The most natural interpretation of the Buddhaic dispensation was that it was a religion of self-help. Each man is the master of his own destiny for better or for worse. There are no intermediaries intermedi aries between ‘ma n’ and ‘delive ‘del iveran rance’ ce’ (like the Brahman Brahman priest priestly ly class o f Hinduism, Hinduism, the Rabbis o f Judaism, and the Padres of Christendom). True enough, this gave rise to a religious response which is free, dynamic, spontaneous, creative 56Maha-Parinibbana 6Maha-Parinibbana Su Sutta, tta, vi. 1.11. Qu Quot oted ed from Chatteijee Chatteij ee and Datta: Op.cit. p. 177
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and original. But, on the other oth er hand, it also amounted amou nted to to ‘each man unto himself’, and as is well known, in a dispensation of ‘each man unto h im se lf, the devil easily takes takes the hin hindmo dmost st!! This was the original, accepted interpretation of the Buddh a’s a’s teachings. The Buddhist Buddh ist accepted accepted the ‘f o u r noble truths ’ and walked along the ‘noble nob le eight-fold path ’ until nirvana was reached. Nir N irva va na was a state o f contemplati contemplative ve quietude out of which the saint would never emerge to render any form of assistance assista nce to his fellowm en struggling to to achieve salvation. salvation. For the Buddhist who was struggling to achieve nirvana, the doors o f this world were closed. closed. But, if i f the doors o f this dimension dimension (the spatiotemporal) spatiotemporal) are closed, perhaps there is another dimension of existence which transcends this, and whose wh ose doors do ors are open open.. Here, again, the th e struggling struggli ng Buddhist is is let down. He faces closed doors. doors. Buddha consistently refused to affirm or deny the existe existence nce o f a transcendental dimension o f existence existence with transcendental transcendental verities like God and soul and an abiding reality. Go d and The Hin H inay ayan ana a sect of Buddhism, in sticking to original teachings o f Buddha, refused to open the doors doors o f either of the two two worlds. The Ma M a h a y a n a sect of Buddhism, flying in the face of the original teaching s of o f Buddha, Bud dha, opened opened both the the doors. doors. In the discussion that follows we shall point out the doctrinal grounds and trace out the historical and psychological reasons for this this aboutface on the part o f the Maha Ma haya yana na.. For a religious re ligious w ay o f life to be true (i.e., (i.e., the pragmatic test test o f truth), it must mu st be universal univ ersally ly applicable. Theoretically, at leas least, t, it must be possible for all o f mankind man kind to adopt adopt it. it. I f all all o f mankind mankind cannot adopt it, as is the case with Hinayana Hinaya na Buddhism, it can 52
either be false, false, or partially partially true, but b ut cannot be true in the complete sense o f the word. Now, the life o f Buddh Bud dhaa bears bea rs testimony testim ony to the fact fa ct that tha t he conceived of his teachings teachings as universally applicable. applicable. He himself, him self, for fortyfive fortyfive year years, s, traveled hundreds hundre ds (maybe (maybe thousands) thousan ds) o f miles from city city to city reaching reaching out the message of Buddhism as far as he could. Also, he sent sent his his emissaries as missionaries of o f Buddhism Bud dhism to different peoples. peoples. Buddhism Buddhism may claim today to to be a worldreligion. wo rldreligion. But Buddhism, as Buddha taught it, could never have succeeded in becoming a worldreligion. worldreligion. The Th e Mahay school of o f Buddhism there Ma hayana ana school fore changed the Buddhist doctrines with the ‘noble’ objective of making them universally applicable. Buddhism Buddh ism flou fl ou rish ri shed ed , but bu t at the expense o f Buddha! Buddha! This World First Firstly, ly, then, then, we should conside r the the opening o f the doors o f this world, which were locked with the key: work out your own salvation! From the the time of Buddha Budd ha himself, the Buddhists have been divided into two groups groups the monks mo nks and the laity. laity. A fter fte r the first two or three three hundred hundred years years o f existence existence o f Buddhism, Buddhism, a num ber o f royal royal personages personages became Buddhists. Among them was the th e famous Asoka, who spared no pains in reaching out the message of Buddhism to manki mankind. nd. The ranks o f the laity laity grew considerably. But it was not a pleasant proposition, either for them or for the likes of o f Asoka, that the sangha (monastic order) order) was the th e only road to salvati salvation. on. The pressure which whic h the layfolk layfolk exerted was twotw o pronged. The first, o f course, cours e, was wa s the legitimate legitim ate hum hu m an demand dem and that they too should be able to strive for salvation (indeed, who does not want to save his soul?). The second was more m ore forceful. The monks were dependent for their overall sustenance on the 53
charity o f the layfolk. layfolk. And An d the easiest way to to a man’ ma n’ss heart is is through through his stomach (which is the basic reason why Dajjal has been using riba to reduc reducee all o f non- White White humanity to a state state o f destitution. He has also, in turn, utterly corrupted western civilization and its clients around the world by injecting them with that blind greed which seduces se duces them them into becoming becom ing the bloodsuckers bloodsuckers o f mankin mankind). d). Thus when it came to a matter of bread and butter, the monks naturally found it expedient to lend a sympathetic ear to the legitimate demands of the layfolk and to admit into Buddhism a ‘participation’ by the monk in assisting the layfolk in their moral and spiritual struggles. (This innovation was at at the expense of Budd Bu ddha ha’’s last command: work wor k out your yo ur own salvation!). As if this was not enough, they went on to hold out the possibility of salvation even for the layman. The Mahay wh ich opened the doors to ‘this world’ world ’ Ma hayana ana sect, which through their innovations, were quick to defend defend themselves themselves against against the indignant orthodox Hin arguments H inan anya yani nists sts.. And what telling arguments did they the y use! One of the prerequisites for admission into nirvana is that the saint should have conquered and obliterated his his personal self or ‘1’. This is a difficult task! task! N ow the th e monk who devotes himsel him selff exclusively exclusively to the task task of o f working out his own salva selfish, for salvatio tion, n, is being terribly selfish, he is showing s howing no concern for the salvation salvation o f mankind. mankind. Even when he has attained nirvana, has he not attained it for himselfalone? himselfalone? Thus the self se lf has not n ot been conquered. conquered. It is still still very much there there.. And not only is he very selfish, but he is also very cruel! Imagine a family stranded in the middle of a forest with wild animals threatening threateni ng to attack a ttack at any time. What shall we think of the brothe bro therr who sneaks off o ff and tries to escape without giving a thought for the safety and survival of the other members of the family? The Mahay se ct argued argu ed that mankind should be assisted assisted Ma hayana ana sect in its struggle stru ggle for salvation. They pointed for support to Buddha’s Buddha’s 54
long life of missionary endeavour. They claimed claim ed this this to be a living commentary o f the truth o f their stand. He who seeks to achieve nirvana, they argued, should first help his brothers to same manner in which the man in the forest should nirvana, in the same first help his family to safety before he makes good his own escap e. Such a man or would-be-Buddha, they called a bodhisattva in contradistinction to the arhat, the selfish saint who seeks to achieve nirvana for him self alone, alone, who takes the ‘short cut to salvat s alvation’ ion’ (Hinayana) rather ra ther than the ‘long and difficult road’ (Mahayana). This policychange contributed in no small measure to the survival survival and and spread spread of Buddhism Bud dhism . The religion, as preached by Budd Bu ddha ha,, was wa s an ideal ide al w h ich ic h co uld ul d on ly be p rac ra c tic ti c ed b y the select few (the monks) and which demanded renunciation of the world and the worldly life. But that would have resulted in the end of mankin mankind, d, for it called for the universal acceptance o f the institution of monasticism and, with it, the institution of ‘solo flight celibacy. The Mah M ahay ayan ana, a, by turn ing aw ay from the ‘solo of the lone to to the alone ’, adjusted the pe rspective o f Buddhism and made it a religion for the comm on man m an as well we ll (even thou gh he be comfortably or uncomfortably married, living a settled or unsettled life at home and performing all his functions and duties as a father and a husband). The Other World As we mentioned earlier, the Hinaya orig i Hin ayana na sect stuck to the original teachings of Gautama Buddha and consistently refused to affirm a transcendental dimension of existence with its ‘unseen verities’. Bu B u t this thi s uniq un ique ue e x p e r im e n t o f reli re lig g ion io n w ith it h o u t a transce transcendent ndental al dimens dimensio ion n o f existence existence failed . Today the overwhelming majority of the Buddhists Bu ddhists believe, be lieve, in some form or the other, in a transcendental dimension of existence and in ‘unseen verities’. In fact, fact, popula pop ularr Buddhism today is saturated with unseen verities with charms and magic and disembodied 55
spirits.57 spirits.57 The cause c ause and histo h istory ry of o f this failure form extremely valuable material for the daring psychologist psychologist of o f religion religion who would like to prove the existence of a transcendental dimension of existence from a study o f the religious consciousne consciousness. ss. The Maha ope ned the doors doors of o f the ‘other world’, the the Ma haya yana na sect opened transcendental dimension dimen sion o f existence, existence, and in so doing doing they restored restored belie be lieff in an ‘abiding abid ing rea r ealit lity’, y’, ‘God’ ‘Go d’ and ‘soul’ to their religious religious way o f life. life. Again they th ey made the orthodox orthodox Hinayanis furious. furious. But again again they could bring brin g to their thei r defense some some plausible plausible arguments. An Abid Ab idin ing g Rea R eali lity ty As we w e saw in our o ur discussions on the theories theories of o f ‘dependent ‘dependent origination’ origin ation’ and ‘universal flux’, flu x’, if the world possessed possessed any reality at all, all, it was an ephem eral reality realit y and not not an abiding abiding reality. It was contingent and not necessary, dependent and not independent, fleeting and not permanent. permanen t. The second second of the two fundamenta fundamentall statements of Buddhism is sarvam kashnikam, i.e., ‘all is fleeting’.5* The Madh M adhyam yamika ika school of Buddhist philosophy, consistent with the teachings of Buddha, denied the reality of the world, both mental and nonmental. nonmenta l. But this did not amount to a denial of all all apparent phenomenal phenomenal reality. Rather, it denied only the reality of the apparent world perceived by us. Beh B eh ind in d this phen ph enom omen enal al world wo rld there is is a reality which is not describable by any character, mental or non-mental, that we perceive. The Mah M ahay ayan anis is accepted this metaphysics and defended the t heir ir apparent apparent innovation innovation on the ground ground that Buddha’s silence on the ten metaphysical questions concerning things beyond beyon d our experience expe rience did not imply their nonexi nonexistence stence.. It rather rath er signified signif ied their the ir indescribability. indescribabil ity. They argued argued that the lif lifee and and teachings o f Buddha Buddh a provided prov ided hints to the truth of o f this interpre interpretati tation. on. 57 Cf. Tantra, or magic al Buddhism , in Conze, Op. Op. cit., cit., p. p. 174 58 The other ot her state st ateme ment nt is sarvam dukham, i.e., ‘all is suffering’.
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God Go d
In the original teachings of Buddha, and in the Hina Hi naya yana na is no concept of God, nor n or o f any deity deity.. This does Buddhism, Buddhi sm, there is not connote atheism atheism (denia (deniall o f the existence e xistence o f God). It is is rather a refusal to affi affirm rm the the existence existence of o f any deity. deity. Apparently Appa rently a disciple once asked asked Buddha Buddha whether God existed. ex isted. He refused to reply to the question. When pressed pressed for an answer, he responded respond ed with a question: i f you are are suffer suffering ing fro m a stomach ache ache,, would wou ld you yo u be concerned with with the relief rel iefo o f the the pain pa in or with studying studying the prescri prescription ption o f the physic physician? ian? It is not my business business or yours tofi n d out whether there is a God, God, - our business is to remove the suffering suffe ring o f the world. But man is by nature a religious being and his religious constitution is such that he craves for a personal deity who can be the worth wo rthies iestt object obje ct o f wor w orsh ship ip.. The Th e worsh wo rship ip o f a Supre Su preme me Being seems to be programmed in human nature itself. This argument is is located located in in the psycholog psy chology y o f religion. religion. The history o f religion all through the ages delivers incontestable evidence of such. My teacher of the philosophy o f history, history, Dr. Dr. Burhan Bu rhan Ahman Faruqi, reached the same conclusion using a different approach and with another argumen argument. t. This Thi s is what wha t he says: says: M a n f i n d s h i m s e l f c o n f r o n t e d in h is c o u r s e w ith it h insurmountable obstacles. On the one side stand sta ndss he with his innate innate yearning yea rning after harmo har mony ny with reality reality,, after afte r moral pe p e r fe c tio ti o n a n d h a p p ine in e ss, ss , a f t e r k n o w le d g e a n d a ft e r beaut beauty. y. On the other sta nds nd s the universe, unam un am enable ena ble to harmony with with his moral and spir itual yearn ings, and un willing willing to to accede accede to to the demands o f his soul. soul. He fin ds him self helple helpless ss,, fo r lo rn . There Th ere m ust us t be a B e in g who has the the power, power, as well w ell as the will, to help him, i f he is to be rescued. Hence it is that religious consciousness
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affirms affirm s the existence existen ce o f such a Being.59
Buddhism faced this problem by providing dhamma, or ‘the impersonal imperson al law’, law ’, in place o f God. But t' t'ia iatt could not satisfy the cravings cravings o f mankind mankind.. The religion religion o f self-help had to be converted into the religion religion of o f promi pro mise se and a nd hope! hope ! The Hinayana could not hold out any promise promis e of o f external help to the forlorn multitud multitudes. es. To such miserable miserable creatures creatures the Mahayan he ld out o ut the hope that the Buddha Bud dha’’s watchful watchful Mah ayana a held and compassionate com passionate eyes are on all miserab miserable le beings. beings. In other words words,, the Mahaya Buddha! ha! The Mahayana performed Ma hayana na made a god out o f Budd this impressive ontological acrobatics by identif identifying ying Buddha with the philosophicall or speculati speculative ve form (i.e., reality it had accepted. In its philosophica no t away away from, from, but within, the phenommadhyamika) this reality was not enon. In other words, it was a n ‘immanent’real ‘immanent’reality ity.. But when applied applied to religion this ‘immanence’ had to be converted to ‘transcendence’. Thereafter Buddha could be identified with it for it to become a qualitative, transcendent, personal, describable or knowable reality! This is the triumph trium ph o f personal persona l deity in in religio religion. n. The learned write r o f the articl article, e, Mahayana ‘ Maha yana in the Encyclopaedia clopa edia o f Religion and Ethics, strikes strikes a different different note. According to him, him , it was not a natural natu ral evolution evolution o f God within Buddhism Buddhism but bu t rat r athe herr the th e effect eff ect o f Hindu Hin duism ism on Buddhism: It I t is almos alm ostt c e r t a i n .................that this transfo transformati rmation on o f the Budd Bu ddha ha may ma y be ex expl plai aine ned d by the natural natu ral evolution evolu tion o f the Bud B uddh dhis istt dogm do gma a on Hind Hi ndu u soil. The resemb r esemblance lance between the Buddha reigning peacefully in paradise and sending images o f h im se lf down to this this worl world, d, on the the one han hand, d, and Krsna (Krishna) gladdening beings in his own world (Goloka) an d appe ap peari aring ng in a human form, for m, on the oth other er,, is striki str iking ng and a nd conta co ntains ins a valuable lesson. lesson. "60 59 Faruqi, Dr. Dr. B.A . The Mujaddid’s Muja ddid’s Conception of o f Tauh Tauhid, id, p. 32. This book boo k was his thesis for the Ph.D. in philosophy philosoph y at Aligarh Muslim Muslim Universit University. y. It is an excellent exce llent work. work. “ Vol. 8, p. 334
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Dr. Conze attempts to explain the same point by directing attention to the eclectic eclectic nature nature o f Buddhism: The The Buddhists Buddhists wouldfi n d no objection whatsoever in the cult o f many gods gods because the idea o f a jea lou s God is quite alien to them; and also because they are imbued with the convict conviction ion that tha t ev e ry o n e’s intellectu intell ectu al insigh t is is very limit limited, ed, so that that it is ve ry d iffic ul t f o r us to kn ow when we are right but practically impossible to be sure that someone else is wrong. wrong. Like Lik e the Catholics, Catholics, the Buddhists Budd hists believe that a Faith Faith can be kept kep t alive only i f it can be adapted to the the mental habits o f the average person . In consequence consequence we fi n d that in the earlier Scriptures Scriptures,, the deities deities o f Brahmanis Brahmanism m are taken fo r g ranted and that that,, later on on, the the Buddh ists ad opted the loc al gods o f any district to which they came. ”6‘
To conclude this discussion, the religion of ‘no G o d ’ was transformed into a religion of ‘m any an y Gods ’ big and small, strong and weak, weak, male and female. female. The Th e ‘manGo man God’ d’ Buddha appears on earth in human huma n form (i.e., (i.e., incarnates) from time to time. Christianit Christ ianity y presents no less amazing a spectacle. spect acle. There too, God comes down dow n to earth to walk and talk like like other othe r men. But he is is the the son s onGo God d 62 The The Se lf The Mahayana Mahaya na did a complete job of opening the doors of the transcendental dimension o f existence. Buddha and and early
61 Conze, Co nze, Op. cit., p. 42 62 Some may argue that Christianity should be warmly applauded for the support it has lent, in spite of its emphasis on monasticism, to the institution of the ‘family’. Even God has a ‘family’! The ‘fam ‘fam ily- Go d’ o f Christianity Christianity is is Jesus, the ‘only begotten son ’ o f God, God, Mary Mary is is the mother o f God and, and, to comp lete the family, there is God, the fath there father er!! But, serio usl y now, it is an an unpardonable act o f blasphemy that one should attrib attribut utee to Alla h, the One God, the b el ie f that that He has a spouse, or a son, or daughters.
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Buddhism had done a thoroug tho rough h job jo b o f demonstrating demonstrating the unreality o f the empirical self. And beca b ecause use the doors doors of the transcendent transcendental al dimension dimen sion o f existence were closed, Buddha, Buddha, it is said said,, concluded that there was no self. But this th is was a highly highly unpalatable unpalatable dish for for most mo st Buddhists. It evoked a feeling o f dread dread to to be told that there there is no ‘self ‘se lf’. ’. Even more, it is quite absurd absurd to labour for salvation salvation when there is no one to be saved. The Mahay Ma hayana ana,, like Islam, pointed out that there does exist a real self. But this is a transcendental transcende ntal self, self, not the empirical self or the small individual ego. There are two differences, differe nces, howeve however, r, between the Mahayan Mah ayana a and Islam, in respect respe ct of o f thei th eirr concept of the self. self. Firstly, Firstly, Islam Islam does not conceive o f the empirical em pirical self s elf as wholly unreal unreal.. It does does posse po ssess ss a measu me asure re o f reality, reality , b ut it is not no t the real self. Secondly, whereas whe reas Islam affirms the existence existe nce o f exclusively exclusively individu individual al transcendental selves, selves, the transcendental transce ndental self of the the Mahaya Mah ayana na is a big single self ( Mah M ah a tm a n ) w hic h is the self o f all beings. The Mah M ahay ayan ana a is therefore faced with the problem of personal identity, a problem w hich Islam solved admirably. admirably. Apparently Chatterjee and Datta overlooked this serious problem when commenting that the devout devou t Mahayanist Mahayan ist thus thusfin ds his selfrestored selfrestored in a more elevating elevating and magnifie d fo f o r m 63 Concluding Remarks Some writers have attempted to explain that this struggle between betw een the Hinayana and the Mahayana was a struggle between two equall equ ally y noble nobl e motives, motive s, namely, namel y, greate g reaterr purity and greater utility.6 utility.64 For example, exam ple, an eminent em inent Japanese writer commen comments: ts:
63 Chat Ch attei teijee jee and Datta, Op. cit., cit ., p. 183 64 Ibid Ib id., ., p. 183
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It I t (Mahay (Ma hayan anism ism)) is the th e B ud d h ism is m which, whic h, insp in spir ired ed by a prog pr ogre ress ssiv ivee spirit, broad bro aden ened ed its origi or igina nall scope, so far fa r as it did not contradict contradict the the inner inne r significance o f the the teachings teachings of o f the Budd Bu ddha ha.6 .65
But as we have pointed out, the Mah M ah ayan ay ana a created what amounts to a veritable revolution in Buddhism. It opened the doors doors which were closed closed by Budd ha himself. him self. Our view is that that this phenomenon can best best be be describ d escrib ed as Bud B uddh dhism ism s s tru tr u g gle gl e fo r surv su rviv ival al.. Buddhism surv ived and flourished, but at the expense of Buddha. Our view is that the innovations o f the Mah M ahay ayan ana a sect opened the doors for the complete corruption of Buddhism. Buddhism. The religion religion taught taught by Buddha Bud dha (like the religion taught by Jesu J esus) s) is dying dy ing or almost almo st dea d ead. d. M ost os t m odem od em schola sch olars, rs, as we noted earlie earlier, r, agree that Buddhism must mu st have been quite different from what it has subsequently been interp reted rete d 'o be. In fact, fact, Buddha actually prophesied prophesied this w hen declared that his teachings te achings will ultimately ultima tely decline and disap dis appe pear ar from the ea rth.66 rth.66 This disappearance is almost complete today, for mar.y Buddhists are sunk in the most loathsome superstitions and childish rituals. Original Buddhism Bud dhism has experienced experience d total change. change. H.G. Wells has described this in a very pithy language: Gautama’s disciple discipless unha ppily have cared more more fo r the the preserv pres ervati ation on o f his tree (the Bo-tr Bo -tree ee which still sti ll exists) exist s) than o f his thoug thought ht,, whic which h fro m the fi r s t they they misconceived and dist di stor orte ted. d. ”67
Writing on the corruptions of Buddhism, Mr. Wells makes these interesting observations: observations:
65 Suzuki, Suzuk i, D.T.: D.T.: Outlines Outli nes o f Mahayana Budd Bu ddhis hism, m, p. 10 66 Vide: Anag An agata ata -vams -va msa a, see also p. 2. 67 Wells We lls,, H.G. An Outline O utline o f History, History, p. 392 3 92
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Tibet today is a Buddhistic country, yet Gautama, could he return return to earth earth,, mig ht go from end to end o f Tibe Tibett seeking his own own teaching in vain. vain. He would fi n d the most ancient type o f human ruler, a god-king, enthroned, enthroned, the Dalai Da lai Lama La ma,6 ,68 the ‘livin liv ing g Budd Bu ddha ha ’. ’. A t Lhasa Lhas a he h e would wou ld fi f i n d a huge h uge temple fill fi llee d with with priests, prie sts, abbot abbots, s, and lamas lamas - he whose only buildings were huts and who made no priests and above a high alter alt er he would wo uld behold a huge golden idol idol,, which he would wou ld learn was wa s call ca lled ed ‘Gautama Buddha ’! He would wou ld hear services intoned before this divinity, and certain precept prec epts, s, which whic h w ou ld be dimly fam fa m ilia il iarr to him, him, murmured murm ured as responses. responses. Bells, incense, prostrations, would wo uld pla pl a y their their pa p a r t in these the se a m azin az ing g procee pro ceedi ding ngs. s. A t one p o in t in the service a bell would be rung and mirror lifted up, while the whole congregation, in an access access o f rever reveren ence, ce, bowed . ..................... l o w e r ...................... Abou Ab outt this B uddh ud dhis istt countr cou ntrysi yside de he would wou ld discover disc over a number numb er o f curious curious little mechanisms, little wind-wheels wind-wheels and w ater-w he els sp inning, on which which b rie f prayers we were re inscribed. Ever Ev eryt ytim imee these things things spin, spin, he would woul d learn learn,, it counts cou nts as a prayer pra yer.. ‘To whom? wh om? ’, he would wo uld ask. Moreover, ther theree would would be a num ber o f flagst fla gstaff affss in the t he lan la n d carr ca rryi ying ng beautiful silk f silk fll a g s - s i lk fla fl a g s which wh ich bore the perp pe rple lexi xing ng inscriptio inscr iption, n, ‘On M a n i Padm Pa dmee hum ’, ‘the je w e l is in the lotus Whenever the fl a g flaps, he would learn learn,, it was a pra p ra y e r also, also, ve very ry bene be nefi fici cial al to the gentlem gen tlemen en who pa p a id f o r the fl a g and to the la nd general generally. ly. Gangs Gangs o f workm workmen, en, employed by pious pio us persons, would be going about about the the countr countryy cutting cutting this this precious form ula on cl iffan iff and d stone. stone. A nd this, this, he would realize realize at last last,, was what the the world had made o f his relig rel igion ion.6 .69 68 At the tim e when W ells wr ote his book, the Dalai Lama had had not as yet fled to New Dehli 69 W ells el ls,, Op. cit., c it., pp. 408 40 8 -9
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My Buddhist readers will be amazed to learn that the very same disease, which befell Buddhism, is now attacking Islam. Around the world today hordes of secularlyeducated Muslim pseudo pseu dosch schola olars rs are hard at w ork or k attem att empt pting ing to reinterp reint erpret ret Islam Isla m in such a way as to make it compatible with today’s essentially godless, godless, increasingly decade decadent, nt, and awesomely awe somely deceptive modem world. world. Contemporary Islamic Islamic modernism mo dernism is, perhaps, the most dangerous enemy Islam has ever had to face in all its history. Now N owhe here re in the strange stra nge m o d e m w orld or ld o f Islam Isl am has ha s the advance of Islamic modernism been more ominous than in Malaysia, until, by divine provide pro vidence nce,, a great evil evil axe fell. We hope that the eyes of misguided Islamic modernists may now be opened Ins In s ha Allah.
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Chapter Eight Eight INFLUENCE OF BUDDHISM ON CHRISTIANITY Prelim inary Observ Observati ation on
There are two Buddhisms, the original gospel of Buddha (whatever it may have been) and what has generally passed as popu po pula larr Bud B uddh dhism ism through thro ugh the th e ages. Similarly Sim ilarly there are two Christianities. The first is the religio us message, which w as taught taught by Jesus himself. himself. The second is the Christianity which has survived to this day after innumerable innum erable changes and deviations were made from from the origi original nal.. Prophet Muhammad (s) (s) has prophesied that Jesus (s) (s) will one day return to the world. When he comes come s back he will, among among other things, things, ‘break bre ak the cros cr oss’. s’. This will result in the end of that Christianity Christianity which wh ich is based bas ed on the C ross.7 ros s.70 When we discuss d iscuss the influence in fluence o f Buddhism on Christ Christiani ianity, ty, we will, in fact, be discussing the influence of Buddhism on ‘popu po pula larr ’Christianity. The original origi nal teachings o f Christianity Christianity (which are still preserved to some extent among the Unitarians), like the teachin tea chin gs o f Islam7 Islam 71, were promulgated promu lgated by the same Divine Being, under the cover of divine sanction, through divinely appointed appoin ted messengers m essengers who were w ere granted granted divine divine guida guidanc nce! e! 70 Christian Christian readers readers may wish wis h to t o listen to a lecture lecture on the subj subjec ect: t: ‘An Islamic View o f die die Return Return o f Jesus’ which I delivered in Singapore in August 1998. The audioc audiocasset assette te may be obtained from the publisher publisher of o f this boo bo o k The Muslim Converts’Association Converts’Association o f Sing Singap apore. ore. 71 In its proper connotation connota tion Islam stands for authen authentic tic religion. religio n. Hence the religion taught by Jesus was Islam.
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The Influe nce
Before the birth birth of o f Christ, Christ, Buddhist Buddh ist teachings, in some form or the the othe other, r, had reached reached the shores of o f the Mediterranean. M editerranean. In fact, fact, from there Buddhism went on to influence Greek thought. Students of early Greek philosophy are all familiar with the Pythagorean ‘transmigration of souls’, and the Platonic concepts o f ‘rem ‘reminisc iniscenc ence’ e’ and ‘the ‘the diale di alect ctic’ ic’ i.e., i.e., the real world wo rld o f ideas and the unreal world o f particulars. If, therefore, the resea re search rch scholar discovers numerous similarities, or even identities, betw be twee een n B uddh ud dhis istt and C hris hr isti tian an teac te ach h ing in g s, inst in stit itu u tio ti o n s, ritu ri tual als, s, and myths, he must be forced to admit that, in all likelihood, one religion must have influenced the other. other. This influen ce is less likely to be a Christian influence on Buddhism because Buddhism arose arose five centuries before befo re Christianity. There Th ere might mig ht have been some twoway traffic, but the conclusion must be that if one one religion influenced the oth er it is more likely to be a Buddhist influence on Christianity. Many Christian scholars have, in fact, admitted that the Christian gospels have, to some extent, been influenced by Buddhist doctrines. We shall try briefly to trace out the similarities between Buddhism Buddhism and and Christian Christianity. ity. For a more exh austive study on the subject subject we must refer the reader read er to chap ter three o f the book, Islam Isl am and an d C hris hr isti tian an ity in the t he M od ern er n World, where the author, Dr. Ansari, discusses the Pagan F oundations o f Christianit Christianityy with with an Argum ent from Buddhism. What seemed to appeal most to the early Christians was the miraculous side side of Buddhism. Dr. Dr. Conze gives three examples: i.
Saint Paul walking on water trod in the foo tste ps o f many many Buddhist Buddhist saints. saints.
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ii. ii.
Buddhists Budd hists are very fo n d o f the twin-miracle twin-miracle:: ‘Fire streamed streamed for th from from the upper pa rt o f the body body o f the Tathagat Tathagata a an d from his lower pa rt proceeds a torrent torr ent o f wa ter ’.’. In John 7:38 7:38 we fin fi n d the curious curious statement: statemen t: ‘He that th at believes believes in me as the Scriptu res have said, said, out o f his his belly shall shall flo w rivers rivers o f living wa ter ’. ’.
iii. iii.
The Tathagata could, i f he so wished, remain fo r an aeon,7 aeo n,72ju s t as Christ ‘abideth f o r an aeon ’. ’. / J
Some Christian scholars go far beyond Dr. Conze to make claims such as the following: All A ll the tales, miracles, similies and an d proverb pro verbss o f the Christian Christian Gospel Gosp el have their counter-pa c ounter-part rt in the Buddhistic Gospel.74
Others, like T.W. Doane, claim that, with the exception of the death of Jesus on the cross and the doctrine of vicarious atonement, atonem ent, the lives lives and doctrines of Buddha Buddha and Jesus Jesus correspond correspond and an d coinc co incide ide with w ith each ea ch othe o therr entirely.75T.W. .W. Doane Do ane goes on to make investigat inve stigations ions which yield y ield more mo re than fifty points of identit identity y or close close similarity between betwee n Christian and Buddhist beliefs.75 We shall depend, for the most part, on the classroom notes of my distinguished teacher of comparative religion, Prof. Yusuf Saleem Chishti, to bring out some twentyfour such striking resemblances:
72 i.e., an imm ense period o f time. 73 C on ze, ze , Op. O p. c it., it. , p. 104 74 Me lam ed,S.M .: Spinoza and Buddha - Visions o f a Dead God. God. 75 Do an e, T.W. T.W.:: Bible Bib le Myths Myth s and their Parallels Parallels in Other Religions. Religion s. 76 Ibid., pp. 2 8 7- 97 . These Thes e hav e bee n reproduced reproduced in Dr. Dr. Ansari’s book: book: Islam and and Christianity in the Modem World, pp, 78-91.
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Bo B o th J e s u s a n d B u d d h a w e r e m i r a c u lo u s ly c o n c e iv e d ;
Both were born wondrously; The fath ers o f both both Jesus and an d Buddha were given given news by angels before the birt birth h o f their sons; Both were born o f virgin moth m others; ers; On the the day o f Bu ddh a’s birth, a Brahman predicted his fu tu r e greatness; Likew Lik ewise ise we read rea d in in the Gospels Gosp els that tha t some som e wise men from the East visited Mary and predicted the futu fu ture re greatness greatn ess o f Jesus. (Luke:(Lu ke:- 2:8-40 2:8 -40); ); The The Brahman came to Buddh Bu ddha a s mothe mo therr through the air air. Simon Simon came by the spirit into the temple; Both steadi ste adily ly grew in wisdom wis dom a n d stature; statur e; Before becomin beco ming g the Buddha Bud dha,, Sidd Si ddha harth rtha a obse ob serve rved d a f a s t fo f o r 49 days. Before beco be comi ming ng the Christ, Jesus Jes us fas fa s te d f o r 40 days; Buddha Budd ha was tempted temp ted by Satan Sat an (Mara). So was Jesus. Jesus . Mara said sa id to Buddha: I f y o u belie be lieve ve in me I will wil l turn the Himalayas Hima layas into gold. gold. Buddh Bu ddha a replied: He who wh o has seen pain, pain , how can he he bow to lust? On hearin he aring g this this,, the th e ev evil il one vanished vanished.. Jesus was was also tempte te mpted d in the wilderness and an d the the same thing happened happened with him; him; A fte ft e r over ov erco com m ing in g the th e tem te m pta pt a tion ti on , S id d h a rth rt h a r e c e ive iv e d ‘enlightenment enlighten ment ’ to become beco me the th e Buddha. Similarly Sim ilarly Jesus became the Christ. Afte Af terr the enlightenment, enligh tenment, Budd Bu ddha ha p e rfo rf o rm e d many miracles. mira cles.
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Jesu Je suss also als o perf pe rfo o rm ed many ma ny miracles afte a fterr becoming Christ; The Buddha was transfigured and his body shone like a star. star. Je Jesu suss was also transfigured and an d his body shone shone;; Buddh Bu ddha a sen s en t 12 disc d iscipl iples es to carry his messa me ssage ge to all classes o f mankind. Jesus also had ha d 12 12 disciples; Budd Bu ddha ha was wa s known kn own as the th e incomp in comparab arable le physic phy sician ian (healing the blind, the sick, the lepers, lepers, etc., by mere touch touch). ). Jesus Jesu s was also, also, in the same sam e sense, sense, a great physician; Budd Bu ddha ha w ashe as hed d a sick sic k monk mon k with with his own hands. Jesus Jesu s also washed the fe e t o f his his disc discip iple les; s; Buddh Bu ddha a conv co nver erte ted d a robbe rob berr named Angolima Ango limara. ra. Jesus Jes us also converted a th ie f on the cross cross;; Budd Bu ddha ha conv co nver erte ted d a harlo ha rlott named nam ed Amba Am bapa pali li and dined dine d with her. Je Jesus sus converted con verted a harlot who anointed his his feet; Both Bot h Budd Bu ddha ha and an d Jes J esus us were accu ac cused sed by their enemies o f being hypocri hyp ocrites tes - ‘living livi ng in abundance ab undance ’; Both bade ba de the t heir irfo foll llow ow ers er s to lay upf o r themselves the mselves a treasure treasure which neithe nei therr moth nor no r rust doth doth corrupt, nor n or thieves thieves break through to steal; Both taug ta ught ht in para pa rabl bles es and an d their para pa rabl bles es are veiy vei y similar simil ar i f not, not, in some som e cases, cases, identical. identical. For Fo r example the the Gosp Gospel, el, attributed attribut ed to Jesus, Jesus, borrowed from Buddha the parables o f the the prodig pro digal al son and the sower sower;; Both Bot h cond co ndem emne ned d cerem ce remonia oniall religion; Both made ma de triump triu mpha hant nt entri e ntries es into their the ir native nati ve cities; cities;
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A n d b o th a d v i s e d th e ir d i s c i p le s n o t to s t r i k e in retu re turn rn .
Apart from these influences of Buddhism on Christian beliefs, liefs, Buddhism Buddhism left its indelible indelible imprint on o n the institutions and rituri tuals o f the Chris Christian tian religio religion. n. Neithe Ne itherr in the life o f Jesus, nor in the Gospels, is there any foundation for the Christian institution of whence, then, did it come? There are many monasticism. From whence, authorities who hold the view that monasticism in Christianity is derived almost wholly from from Buddhism. Buddhi sm. H.C. Lea, for example, examp le, th is (m o n a stic st icis ism m ), as in s o m e o th e r f o r m s o f remarks: In this asceticism, we may look to Buddhism for the model on which the Churc Church h fas hio ne d her institu tion s.77 Lea also points to the influences influences of Buddhism in the the legend o f the life o f Christ.78 Then he goes further to show the Buddhist origin of many Christian rituals: Many Ma ny o f the observance observ ancess o f Latin La tin Chris Ch ristia tianit nityy woul wo uld d seem see m explicable by by derivation derivation from Budd hism, such as monasticism, monasticism, the tonsure, tonsure, the use o f beads, confession, penance, and an d absolution, absolution, the th e sign o f the cross, cross, relic worship, and miracles wrought by relics relics,, the purchase purcha se ofsalvation by by gifts to to the Chu Churc rch, h, pilgrima pilgr images ges to sacr sa cred ed plac pl aces es,, etc., etc. Even Ev en the nimbus nim bus,, which wh ich in sa c r e d a rt surrou sur rounds nds the head he ad o f holy holy personag personages, es, is to be fo u n d in the sculptures o f the Buddhi Bud dhist st Tope Topes, s, and the t he Sangr San grea eat, t, or Holy Cup o f the La st Supp Supper er,, which was was the ob ject o f lifelong quest by the Christi Christian an knight, knight, is like like the Patra or beggin g dish dish o f Buddha Bud dha,, whic wh ich h was the th e s u b je c t o f m an y cu rio ri o u s lege le gend nds. s. It I t is no wond wo nder er that tha t when whe n the g o o d Jesu Je su it mission miss ionari aries es o f the sixteen sixteenth th ce centur nturyy fo u n d among amon g the heathens o f Asia so much much o f what they they were were fam fa m ilia r with at home, home, they could not decide decide whethe whetherr it was the remains remains o f a pre-ex pre- ex istin g Catholicism, or whether Satan, to damn irrevocably the 77 Lea, H. H. C. C. : History o f Sacerdotal Celibac y, p.71 78 Ibid., p. 16
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souls o f men, men, had paro died and travestied the the sacred sacred mysterious mysteriou s and a nd ceremonies, an d introduced them them in those those d ista is tant nt regions. We may therefore therefore perhaps, ascribe to Bud B uddh dhis istt beliefs, belie fs, at least le ast a porti po rtion on o f the influence which led the Church into the extravagances o f asceticism.7 asceticism.79
A Christian Christia n mission m issionary ary has in fact left left his impressions impressions for us us o f how perplexing he found this possessi possession on o f a common common traditi tradition on o f worship: worship: The cross the mitre and dalmatica, the cope, which the G rand Lamas Lama s wear wea r on theirjourney jour neys, s, or when when they are pe p e rfo rf o rm in g so m e ce cere rem m ony on y o ut o f the temple tem ple;; the serv se rvic icee with with dou ble choirs, the psalmody, the exorcis exorcisms; ms; the cens ce nser er,, susp ende en ded d fro m fi v e chains chains,, which you can can open or close at pleasure; pleasu re; the benedictions benedictions given by the Lamas by extend ing the right hand over the heads o f the the faithful; the chaplet, ecc lesia stica l celi celibacy bacy,, sp iritual iritua l retir retireme ement, nt, the w orship orsh ip o f the saints, the fas ts, the proces processi sions ons,, the the litanies, the holy water, all these are analogies between the Budd Bu ddhi hists sts a n d ourselv ou rselves. es. ”m
We have provided just ju st a sample sample of o f the the kind o f evi eviden dence ce which which can be presented in a proper research work to demonstrate the pla p la u sib si b ilit il ity y o f th e c laim la im th a t B uddh ud dhis ism m exer ex erte ted d a prof pr ofou ound nd influence on Ch ristianity. Both being missionary religions religions competing for the souls of men, this appears to constitute a very great embarrassm emb arrassm ent for fo r Christ Christianit ianity. y. On the other hand it may, ay, perhaps, perh aps, help hel p to expla ex plain in the ease with which w hich a significant significan t number o f Buddhists in South E ast Asia and the the Far East are enterin entering g into Christianity in search s earch o f upward mobil mobility. ity. Perhaps they they also also fee feell at home in Christianity!
79 Ibid., p. 17 80Hu, E.R.: Travels. Trav els. Quot Q uoted ed by H.G. H.G . Wells in his Outline o f World World History, History, p. 399 39 9
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Chapter Nine
BUDDHISM AND THE ENCOUNTER WITH WORLD RELIGIONS Hinduism Hindu ism We noted earlier that Buddhism Budd hism arose as a revolt against H induism. duism. Buddha proclaimed the Vedas Vedas to be quite useless. useless. He struck a heavy blow against the religious monopoly of the Brahman, and the caste system, by opening the doors of salvation to even the lowest o f the low low.. He counteracted counte racted the overmetaphysical overmetaphysica l and overritualistic features of Hinduism by making of Buddhism a purely ethical ethic al system, and by repla rep lacin cing g ritua rit uals ls and sacrifi sac rifices ces with wi th the struggle struggle for the the moral transform ation o f the personality. personality. But Hinduism, inturn, scored victories over the new rebellious religion by influencing it to adopt the Hindu theories o f karma, karma, transmigration transmigration o f souls, a himsa (nonviolence), etc. In fact fact,, the Hindu influence on Buddh ism has been so pow erful that some writers regard Buddhism as virtually an offshoot of Hinduism." In its encounter with Hinduism, Buddhism both lost and gained. gained. It lost on two grounds. Firstly, Firstly, Hinduism succeeded succeed ed in in giving giving Buddhism a strongly strongly Hindu coloring. Secondly, Secondly, Hinduism Hin duism eventually succeeded in ousting Budd hism from India. Some Orientalist Orientalistss and Hindu Hindu writers accu se Islam Islam o f persecuting the Buddhists and contributing to their being driven out of India. 81 Ansari, Dr. F.R.: F.R.: Whic h Relig Re ligion ion ?, p. 9
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Not N othi hin n g co u ld be fa rth rt h e r from fro m the truth tru th beca be caus use, e, by the th e time Islam became the dominant power in India, the expulsion of Buddhism had already alre ady been com ple ted /2 Indeed, it was not Islam but the resurgent, militant intolerant Hinduism which committed this crime. H.G. Wells refers to this event as follows: For some time time Buddhism Buddhism flou rish ed in in Indi India. a. But Bra B rahm hm inis in ism m , with wit h its many ma ny gods and a nd its endless end less variety o f cults cults,, always alway s flo urish ur ish ed by b y its side, side, and the organizati organization on o f the Brahm Bra hmins ins grew gre w more powerful, until at a t last they were were able to turn upon this caste-denying caste-denying cult and an d oust it from India Ind ia altogether.. altog ether.... there were persec per secuti ution onss and reaction reactions, s, but by the eleve nth century, century, except fo r Oriss Orissa, a, Bud dhist teachings teachi ngs was extinc ext inctt in India.8 India .83
Another famous historian, Arnold Toynbee, does not mention Islam at all when he says: Buddhism Budd hism was expelle exp elled d from fro m India Ind ia by a pa p a rt-B rt -Bud uddh dhai aicc Hind Hi ndu.8 u.84 4 Thus did Buddhism lose to Hinduism. The Muslims Mu slims now no w living in India India fa c e a similar simil ar threat threat from militant Hinduism. Our view is that that today today s dominant modem western civiliz ci vilization ation will self-destruct. self-destruct. History His tory will not end, end, however, however, befo b efore re Islamic civilization is fo rc e d to respond to, to, and suc ces sfully dispose of, both both Jewish and Hindu Hindu oppression.
The encounter of Buddhism and Hinduism witnessed significant successes for Buddhism. Buddhism. In the mutual influen influence ce of Hinduism and Buddhism, Bud dhism, Hinduism was improved while while Buddhism Buddhism was debased. Hump Hu mphre hreys, ys, for example, has this to to say: say:
82 Islam bec ame domina dom inant nt in India at at about 1000 A.C. The tide turned turned against Buddhism Budd hism in India in the seven se venth th century. Cf. Christmas Christmas Humphreys: Humphreys: Op. Op. cit. p. p. 57 83 Wells,. Op. cit., p .40 9 84 Toynbee,A Toy nbee,A.: .: A Histo Hi storia ria n’s Approach Approa ch to Religion, Relig ion, p.90 p .90
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The popular popu lar forms o f Hindu Hi nduism, ism, as the com c ompo poun und d o f India In dian n religions based on the Vedas Vedas and an d Unpanishads may ma y by called, had been enormously improved by Buddhist moral philosophy philo sophy,, while Buddh Bu ddhism ism had ha d in many ma ny respects been debased by its its lazy lazy tolerance o f the form fo rm s o f Hinduism85
Buddhism made all her converts from Hinduism without Hinduism Hinduism being able able to reclaim them . When Hinduism succeeded succeeded in ousting Buddhism from India, it was not the man ly way, i.e., on the battlefront of ideas, but through persecution. This also also constitutes a victory for Buddhism, for it implies implies th; t if the Buddhists can regain a foothold in India, their missionaries are certain to achieve significant successes. Christianity In the preceding chapter we attempted to show the great influence influence which Buddhism Buddhism exerted over Christianity. Christianity. In the encounter encounte r o f these these two w orldreligio ns, Buddhism has ha s undoubtedly emerged the victor to the extent that the devout Budd hist who goes to a Catholic country will hardly Mah M ahay ayan anii Buddhist have cause to be homesick. There is little evidence to show that Christianity exerted a similar influence over Buddhist beliefs, and, until the emerg ence of essentially godless EuroChristianity, less evidence of Christian missionary successes in the Buddhist countries. Christianity Christianity had a golden golden opp ortunity for a trial trial o f strengt strength h w ith Buddhism when western imperialism thrust itself into the eastern lands. The Buddhists Buddhists did not offer any serious resistance to that thrust, and individual Buddhists have, indeed, been converting converting to Christ Christiani ianity. ty. But Christianity C hristianity failed to win over a single Buddhist country, and Buddhist conversions to Christianity have largely been motivated by considerations of 85 Humphreys, Op. cit. cit . p. 58
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upw ard m obility. In fact it will always rema in the most difficult task for the innocent Christian missionary to sell Ch ristianity ristianity to the wo rld of Buddhism. Buddhism. It would be like like ‘sending coals to Newcastle’!*6 Isla Is lam m
There is very little memory left in the world today of a historic encounter encou nter which whic h took place plac e between between Islam and Buddhism in history. history. Both M uslim and Buddhist readers would benefit from an effort to step back into history for a moment and examine that encounter which resulted in a resounding victory for Islam. Firstly: Islam influenced Buddhist doctrine without incor porati por ating ng into itself, itself , in return, retu rn, anything from Buddhism. I refer here to to the Buddhist concept o f Adi-Buddha: Adi-B uddha: Sometime around 800 A.C., according to Dr. Conze, a doctri doctrine ne was pro po un ded de d in various various pla ce cess and in varying form fo rm s, which wh ich tried to derive thefive Tathagat Tathagatas as as emanation emanationss fro fr o m one, original, origin al, fi f i r s t o r prime pri meva vall Buddha B uddha,, who is some som e times called the A di Buddha B uddha and who who is the eternal livin living g prin pr inci cipl plee o f the entire ent ire Universe.87
This concept of Adi-B Ad i-Budd uddha, ha, which constitutes the first and only monotheistic trend in Buddhism, arose in the northwest of India in the wake w ake o f the encounter encou nter of Isla Islam m and Budd Buddhi hism sm.® .® Secondly: Islam succeeded, where no other religion has succeeded, in winning to its fold millions of Buddhists in Central
86 Buddhist co nver nv ersio sio ns to Christia nity in Singapore and and Malaysia etc ., do not appear appear to to represent the triumph o f one belief-sy stem over anot anothe her. r. 87 Conz Co nze, e, Op. cit. cit . p. 190 88 Ibid., p. 43
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Asia, SouthWest SouthWest Asia, SouthEast Sou thEast Asia As ia and China. In some some cases an entire nation of Buddhists was won over to Islam. Now No w this is a remarkable remar kable fact! The Th e three great grea t missionary missio nary religions of the world are Islam, Christianity and Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism preceded Islam by five hundred and one thousand years respectively. Th ey there fore had a clear headstart in the field. field. They drew their converts from secondary and tribal religions and cults, some of which have now disappeared. Islam, Islam, on the other hand, hand, drew over o ver threefourths threefo urths o f her converts from areas under the influence of the great g reat religions o f the world, and these included inclu ded the proselytizing proselytizi ng religions relig ions,, Chri C hristi stiani anity ty and a nd Buddhism.1 Buddhi sm.189 Another remarkable thing is that Islam is the only Semitic religion which has been able to achieve any measure of success in its confrontation with the ancient religions of the East, i.e., Hinduism, Confucianism, Confucianism, Toaism and Shintoism. In fact fact,, the the only other religion that succeeded in this field was Buddhism; Buddhism; but then Buddhism, in turn, could achieve no success against the Semitic Semit ic faith fa iths.9 s.90 It is a truly remarkable thing that since the Prophet Muhammad (s) (s) preached Islam fourteen hundred years ago, to this day, no religion in the world, missionary or nonmissionary, worldreligion, national religion, or tribal religion, has succeeded in winning over Muslims to its fold fold.. We mean thereby the reby ‘real con c onver versio sion’, n’, not ‘curry conversio conv ersion’. n’. It does no credit cred it to Christian Chris tian missions missio ns in poverty stricken stricken Indonesia Indonesia to boast of o f converts w on through throug h ration cards or through years o f brainwashing in educationa educa tionall institutio institutions. ns. Nor can Russia Russia,, China or o r India India be gleeful about abou t Muslims who are falling falling as victims of brute force and barbarism, or because of their systemic systemic forced alienation alienation from their religiou reli giouss institutions and their springs of religious inspiration. 89 Vide: Vide: M asdoos i, A.: Living R eligi ons o f the World, p. 105 90 Ibid., p. 105
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In its confront conf rontatio ation n w ith Islam, Buddhism was the loser loser.. To prove prov e our o ur point po int we w e shall sha ll draw dra w from fro m one very ve ry significant signifi cant historic his torical al event and, in doing so, we hope to silence those critics who still persis per sistt in their th eir accu ac cusat sation ion that tha t Isla I slam m was spread through throug h force, or through natural historical causes (Toynbee), and not through the inherent truth, superiority, and dynamism of the faith, and the im pact pa ct o f the pers pe rson onali ality ty o f its founder fo under,, Proph Pr ophet et Muhamm Muh ammad ad (s). In the beginning of the thirteenth century the centers of civilization, Christian, Buddhist and Muslim, east of Egypt, fell victims to one o f the most mo st amazing am azing and and heartrending heartrending destruc destructions tions in history. The Mong M ong ols, who had been consolida ted into into a warmachine by Jenghez Khan, swept down from obscurity to conquer China in the East, and then, in 1218, moving westwards, to plunder, kill, destroy and lay waste the cities of the Muslim Khwarizmian empire. Kashga Ka shgarr and Khokand Khokand were were razed razed to the the ground and their inhabitants inhabit ants passed passe d under the sword. sword. Bokhara was reduced reduc ed to ashes. Finally Fin ally Samarkand Sam arkand itself, the capital, was destroyed, and of its million inhabitants only 50,000 remained to tell tell the fate of the ruined ruine d city city.. Thereafter nothing could stop the Mongols as their armies laid waste the centers ce nters o f civilization. One by one, Balkh Balkh,, Urganj, Urganj, Nessa, Ne ssa, Nisha Ni shapu pur, r, H erat, er at, Rai, Rai , Dinw Di nwar ar and Hama Ha mada dan n fell to the merciless sword o f Jenghe Jen ghezz Khan. Millions Millions were slaughtered slaughtered with a barbarity barb arity too heartren heart rendin ding g to narrate. narrate. But in 122 1221 A.C., after the Mongols had destroyed de stroyed h alf al f the Islamic world, world, they were checked checked by the Iraqia I raqian n troop tro opss o f the th e Caliph Cal iph Mustansir. They then turned tu rned in another anoth er direction and, b y 1241 1241 A.C., A.C. , they had swept across Asia to Russia, Russia, ravaged Poland Pola nd and occupied Hun Hunga gary. ry. But the destru ction o f Islam was not yet complet complete. e. It remained rema ined for Halaku Hal aku Khan K han to resume resum e in 1258 1258 A.C. where Jenghez Khan had left o ff in 122 1221 A.C. Halaku invaded the capital capital city o f the Muslim Abbaside Abbasid e Empire, E mpire, Baghdad, Baghdad, and in six weeks o f rape, rape, slaughter slaughter,, burning b urning and unimaginable unimag inable horrors, horrors, reduced Baghdad to 76
ruins. ruins. According to Ibn Ibn Khaldun, Khaldun, a population populatio n o f over two million was reduced in six weeks to less than 400,0 4 00,000. 00.9 91 Out of this this wave of Mongol destruction it was the Muslims who suffered suffered the most. most. Thomas Thom as Arnold gives give s a vivid description o f the Muslim Muslim plight. He says says:: Ther There e is no event in the history o f Islam that that,, f o r terror or desolati desolation, on, can be compared comp ared to the Mong Mo ngol ol conquest. conquest. When the Mongol army marched out o f Herat, He rat, a mise m isera rable ble remna remnant nt o f fo r ty pers pe rso o ns crept cre pt out ou t o f thei th eirr hidin hid ing g plac pl aces es and gazed gaz ed horror-str horror-stricken icken on the ruins o f their beautiful city city,, all that were were left out o f a population popu lation o f over 100, 100,00 000. 0. In Bokhara, so fa f a m e d fo r its men o f p ie ty a nd learning, the Mongo Mo ngols ls sta s tabl bled ed their the ir hors h orses es in the sac sa c red re d prec pr ecin inct ctss o f the mosques mosques and tore tore up the Qur 'an 'an to serv se rvee as litter; those thos e o j the the inhabitants inhabitants who were not butch ered were carried away into into captivity and their city reduce d to ashes. ashes. Such Such,, too too, was the the fa te o f Samarkand, Balkh, and many another another city city o f Islamic civilizati civilization on and the the dwelling pla p lacc e s o f holy ho ly men me n a n d sea se a ts o f s o u n d lear le arni ning ng,, such such,, too, too, the fa te o f Bag B aghd hdad ad,, that th at f f o r ce n turi tu ries es h ad bee b een n the cap ital o f the the Ab ba sid dynasty.92
Ibn alAthir, the famous Arab historian, has also written on this sub subjec ject. t. His introduction introduction to to the subject wo uld suffice to to give the reader an idea idea of the destruction wrought by the th e Mongols. Here are his introductory comments: I shall sha ll have to describe descr ibe even e vents ts so terrible, terrib le, a n d calami cala mitie tiess so stupen stupendou dous, s, that neither day nor night have ever brought
91 A detailed detailed account account o f this ghastly story is to be found in Am eer Ali: A Short History History o f the the Saracens, pp.3 91-401 92Arnold, Sir Thomas: Thomas: The Preaching o f Islam, p .2 18
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fo r th the like; they th ey f e l l on all al l nations, but on the th e Muslim Mu slimss more than all; and were one to say that since God created Adam Ad am the w orld or ld hav h avee no n o t seen the like, he h e would wo uld but bu t tell te ll the truth, truth,f o r history has ha s nothing noth ing to relate relate that at a t all approaches it.93
I have brought bro ught the proce pr oceedin eding g historica historicall quotes to the attention of the reader because they are most important for understanding and appreciating appreciating the significance o f what follo follows ws.. The Mongols Mong ols were w itho ut a stable stable religion that that could stand stand its own against the major world religions with which their conquests conqu ests had brou ght them into int o intimate contact. contact. The primitive religion of the Mongols was shamanism. The civilized races with which the conquest of the Mongols brought them into contact, comprised large numbers of Buddhists, Christians and Muslims, and the adhe rents o f these these three three great missionary fa ith it h s e nter nt eree d into in to r iv a lry lr y w ith it h one on e anot an othe herr f o r the conv co nver ersi sion on tu rn to Thomas Arnold Arno ld for an initial o f their conqu erors.94 We turn description description o f that that encounter: encounter: Bud B uddh dhist ist prie pr iest stss he h e ld contro co ntrover versies sies with the Shaman Sh amanss in the pre p re sen se n c e o f Jen Je n g h e z K h a n ; and an d a t the th e cour co urts ts o f Mang Ma ngu u Khan and Qubily the Buddhist and Christian priests and the Muslim Imans alike enjoyed the patronage o f the Mongol Mongol prin pr ince ce9 95 The spectacle, says Arnold, Arnold, o f Buddhis Buddhism, m, Christianity Christianity and Islam emulously strivin g to win win the allegi allegiance ance o f the the fie f ie r c e conq co nque ueror rorss tha th a t h a d set se t their the ir f e e t on the necks nec ks o f adherents o f these great gre at missionary m issionary religions religions is one that is without parall pa rallel el in the history o f the world.9 world.96
Now N ow let us take tak e stock sto ck o f the th e situation. Islamic civilizati civ ilization on had been destroyed. The Muslim Mu slimss had been been conquered conquered,, their their centers centers 93 Ibn al - Athir, Athir, Vol.xii, Vol.x ii, pp. 23 3 -4 . Quo ted by Arnold, Ibid. Ibid. p.219 94 Ibid.,p.220 95 Arnold, Op. cit. p. 2 0 0 . Arnold Ar nold qu quote ote s from William o f Rubruc Rubruck. k. 96 Ibid. p. 200
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o f learning learning reduced to ashes, their ulama ( those learned in the religious disciplines) disciplines) almost wiped out. In such conditions an Islamic missionary effort was launched to convert the Mongols. Surely there could be no place pla ce for force there! there! To make mak e matters more difficult for Islam there were two powerful competitors in the field. field. The task seemed alm ost im possib le. A rnold agrees: For Islam to enter into competition with such powerful riva rivals ls,, as Buddhism an d Christianity Ch ristianity w ere at the o utset oj oj the period o f Mon M ongo goll rule, rule, must mu st have hav e appe ap peare ared d a well-ni we ll-nigh gh hopeless hopeless undertak undertaking. ing. For Fo r Muslims had suffered suffere d more more from fro m the storm storm o f the Mongols Mongo ls invasion invasion than the others. others. Those Those cities cities that had hithert hitherto o been been the rallying poin ts o f spiritual organi organiza zatio tion n and learning fo r Islam Islam in Asia, Asia, had been fo r the most pa rt laid in ashes: the theologian s a nd pio us docto doctors rs o f thefaith thefa ith either slain slain or carried away into captivity. captivity. Am A m ong on g the th e M ong on g ol rule ru lers, rs, - u su ally al ly so tole to lera ra n t towar tow ards ds all religions, - there were some who exhibited varying degree degreess o f hatred towards towards the Muslim faith. fait h. Chingiz Kahn Kahn ordered ordered all those who killed kille d animals anima ls in the Muhamm Muh ammadan adan (i.e. (i.e.,, M uslim) fa sh io n to be p u t to death, a nd this ordinance was revived by Qubilay who, by offering rewards to informers, set se t on fo o t a sharp persecution that lasted fo f o r seven s even year ye ars. s.9 97
It was in such conditions that the most crucial and historic confrontation between betwee n Buddhism, Islam and Christianity Christi anity took too k place. place. Islam won a deci decisiv sivee victory. victory. The Mongols M ongols we re conv erte d to Islam Isl am . Arnold describes it as follows: follows: In spite s pite o f all difficulties dif ficulties,, says say s Arnold Arn old,, the Mon M ongo gols ls and an d the savage savage tribes that follo fo llo w ed in their wa ke were w ere at length brought brought to to submit to the fa ith o f those Muslim peo ples 97 Ibid., p.225
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whom who m the y had h ad crushed crus hed beneath their fee t.98 t.98 In In a similar strain he comments: Bu t Islam was to to rise rise again again fro m the ashe ashess o f its fo r m e r gran gr ande deur ur and, through its preache prea chers, rs, win over ove r these savage conquerors to the the acceptan acceptance ce o f the fa ith it h .99
Christianity, which had entertained great hopes of winning this great grea t missionary battle, battle, failed complete completely. ly. For an account of this failure I m ust refer the reader rea der to Chapter 32, 32, Section 5 o f H.G. H.G. Well’s Outli wh ere he h e discusses the subject: subject: Why the Outline ne o f History, where detailed account o f the Mon M ongo gols ls we were re no t Christian Chris tianized. ized. For a detailed success of Islam in converting the Mongols, the reader may refer to A rnold’ rnol d’ss Preachi Preaching ng o f Islam Islam (Chapter 8) where he discusses: The The spread spread o f Islam Isl am amon am ong g the th e Mong Mo ngols ols and an d Tarta Tartars rs.. This defeat of Buddhism and Christianity was particularly ignominious. It was the greatest grea test and most historic historic missionary battl ba ttlee in histor his tory y involvin invo lving, g, as it did, the three great mission miss ionary ary religions religio ns o f the world. Islam won the battle battle in in as as convincing convincing a manne ma nnerr as was possible. possible. Am ong the Mong Mongol ol kings and ruling ruling prin pr ince cess the t here re were w ere many ma ny who wh o had h ad been converted or brought broug ht up as Christia Chri stian n or Buddhists. Even these the se were converted to Islam Islam!! Arnold narrates the following: In the region o f Ogota Og otayy (122 (1 2299-12 1241 41), ), we read o f a certain Bud B uddh dhist ist gove go vern rnor or o f Persia, Pers ia, named nam ed Kurguz, Kurguz, who in his later y e a r s a b j u r e d B u d d h i s m a n d b e c a m e a M u s a lm a n (i.e., (i.e. , Musl Mu slim im). ).1 100 In I n th e reig re ign n o f Tim Ti m ur K ha n (132 (1 3233-13 1328 28), ), A n a n d a , a grandson o f Qubilay and viceroy o f Kan-Su Kan-Su,, was a zealous M u s u lm a n (i.e (i .e., ., M u s lim li m ) a n d h a d c o n v e rte rt e d a g r e a t numbe numberr o f pers pe rson onss in Tangut Tan gut and an d won ove o verr a large numb nu mber er
98 Arnold, Op. cit. p. 226-7 99 Ibid., p. 219 100Arno 0A rnold, ld, Op. cit. p. 2 27 . Arnold quote qu otess from C. D. Ohsson, Ohsso n, Vol.ii, p. 121 121
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o f the the troo troops ps under his command to to the sam e faith. He was summoned to court and efforts were made to induce him to conform to Buddhism, and an d on on his refusing refus ing to abandon his fa ith he was was cast into into prison. prison. Bu t he was shortly after after set at liber liberty ty fo r fe a r o f an insurre insurrecti ction on among the the inhabitants ofTa o fTangu ngu t, who were much a ttach tta ch ed to him 101 Tak Takudar udar ( the the son son o f Halaku Khan) ...was the fir st o f the the Ilkh Il khan anss (the dyna dy nast styy f o u n d e d by b y Hal H alak aku) u) who wh o em b race ra ced d Islam. Isla m. H e h ad been bee n brou br ough ghtt up as a Chri Ch rist stia ian, n, f o r he was baptised when young and called by the name of Nich Ni chol olus us ”102 (Hal (H alak aku u K han ha n s f a v o r i te w ife if e was wa s a Chris Chr is tian ian and favorably disposed the mind o f her husband husband towards towards her co-religionists co-religionists.. His son, son, Abaqa Aba qa Khan, though not a Christ Christian ian himself, ma rried the dau ghte r o f the Empe Em pero rorr o f Cons Co nsta tant ntin inop ople le.. Takuda Tak udarr s u c c e e d e d Aba A ba qa as the ruling ru ling prince). The The successors succ essors o f Takudar were a ll heathens heath ens until, until, in 1295 1295,, Ghaz Ghazan, an, the seventh and greatest gre atest o f the Ilkhans, Ilkhans, became Musulman Musulman (i.e., (i.e., Muslim) M uslim) and a nd made Islam the ruling religion religion o f Persia... Persia... Ghazan Ghazan himself, himself, before be fore his conversion, h ad been brought up as a Buddhist Buddhist an d had erected seve ral Buddhist temples temples in Khurasan, a nd took grea t ple asu re in the company company o f the the priests o f this this faith . . . He appears to have been natura na turally lly o f a religious religiou s turn in mind, fo f o r he stud s tudie ied d the creeds cre eds o f the differe diff erent nt religion reli gionss o f his time, time, and a nd used to hold discussions with the learned lea rned doctors o f each fa f a ith it h .103
101 Ibid., Ibid., p. p. 227. 22 7. Arnold quotes from Rashid Rash id al-Din, al-Di n, pp. 6 00 -2 102 Ibid, Ibid , p.2 p .229 29 103 Ibid. pp. 232 2 32 -3
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His H is brot b rother her (i.e. (i.e. Ghazan Gha zan s brother), brother), Uljaytu Uljaytu,, who w ho succe suc ceed eded ed him in 1304, under the name of Muham Mu hamma mad d Khudaban Khud abandah, dah, ha d been brought up as a Christian in the fa ith it h o f his mother and had been been baptized under the name name o f Nichola Nicholas, s, but after his mother s death, death, while wh ile he was still a yo un g man, man, he becam be cam e a convert conv ert to Islam thro throug ugh h the the persuasions oj his wife w ife (who (who was a Muslim)?. From this time forw fo rw ar d Isla Is lam m became bec ame the pa p a ra m o u n t fa ith it h in the Kingdom King dom o f the Ilkh Il kha a ns.1 ns .104
We hope the research of Thomas Arnold, from whom we have quoted qu oted so extensively, extensively, has proved prove d the point to to the satisfaction satisfaction o f the reader, that the encounte enc ounterr between Buddhism Buddhism and Islam resulted in a resounding victory victo ry for f or Islam Islam.. It was not not possible, possible, nor necessary, necessary , to discuss the the entire enti re range o f this encounte encounter. r. We narrowed row ed down dow n our discussion to this thi s single confrontation, confrontation, the struggle to win over the Mongols, and we have shown that it was Islam which w on this greatest of o f all all missionary battles battles.. In our opinion the only thing which prevents Islam today from making makin g a more positive impact on the Buddhist Buddhist world is the Muslims themselves. They have hav e lost their proselytizing proselytizing spirit spirit and and their thirst for the acquisition acquisition o f knowledge. knowledge. The spirit spirit o f Islam, Islam, it seems, has fled, and all that now remains of o f Islam in the world is a mere formalistic, form alistic, ritualistic rituali stic shell. When our readers are confronted by gove go vernm rnmen entt appoin app ointed ted Islam Isl amic ic institutions, ‘think thin k tank ta nks’ s’ etc., led by scholars sch olars correctly dres d ressed sed in starched starched shirts, shirts, jackets jack ets and ties, ties, they would do well to remember that ominous prophecy of the Prophet (s) w hich has now been fulfilled fulfilled.. Ali said that the Prophet Prophet (s) (s) which (s) said: It I t w ill il l not no t be long lon g befor be foree a time comes when nothing noth ing will wi ll remain o f Islam but bu t the name, and nothing will remain remain o f the Qur 'an 'an but but the words; wo rds; the mosques will be gra nd 104 Ibid., Ibid ., p. 23 234
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structures but would wo uld be devoid o f true true guida guidance, nce, and the relig religiou iouss schol scholars ars ofIsla ofIs lam m will be the worse peop pe ople le beneath the sky; sky; from them them w ill issue that which dece ives a nd corrup corrupts, ts, and they w ill be the centres centres o f that deception and an d corruption. (Sunan (Sunan o f Baihaqi Baihaqi))
It is our fervent fervent prayer praye r that this book o f ours may ma y contribute contribu te something towards rekindling a flame of missionary spirit and a love of o f knowledge in the hearts o f our Muslim readers. Before we end this chapter there is one very important point which we would would like like Muslims to note. This battle of o f the giants, the three missionary religions of the world, was won fo r Islam by the Sufi Sufis. s. O f special import importance ance,, says Arnold, among amo ng the prosely pro selytisin tising g agencies agencies at wor work, k, was the influence o f the p ir and his spiritual ir, or spiritu sp iritual al guide, guide, and religious relig ious orders, orders, disciplines ......... the pir, such as the Naqshba Naqshbandi ndi,, which whic h in the fourte fou rteent enth h century cen tury entered ente red on a new period pe riod o f its deveopment, - breathed new life li fe into the Muslim Mu slim community comm unity and ins i nspi pire red d it with fre fr e sh ferv fe rvo o u r.1 r. 105 We live today in a strange age in which the spiritual heart of the religious way of life is being subjected to massive attacks from modernized seculari secularized zed religious forces. The Protestant Prote stant movement in EuroChristianity, which attacked the spiritual heart of that religion, has its counterpart in every other religion in the world today. today. Islam is no exc eptio n. The Wahhabis, i.e., Islamic Protestants, were the first to launch their venemous attack on the Islam. It has now become beco me fashionable for so many others Sufis of Islam. to join in that attack on the Sufis. While we hasten to admit that Sufism, like every every thing else in this strange age, is being be ing corrupted, that does not invalidat invalidatee authentic authe ntic Sufism. Indeed, it is Sufism which, through the the ages, ages, has has guarded the spiritual heart hea rt of o f Islam. Shall Shall we attack attack Islam itself becau because se o f the many false false versions o f Islam Islam now 105Arno 5A rnold, ld, Op. cit. ci t. p. 239 2 39
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paradi par ading ng in the world wo rld (partic (pa rticula ularly rly in Chicago)? One o f greatest scholars of Islam in this age, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, was tremendou treme ndously sly influenced influe nced by the Sufi maste master, r, Maulan Ma ulana a Jalaluddeen Rumi. Mau w hom this book boo k is dedicated, dedicated, was a M aula lana na Dr. Ansari, to whom belongs to to the the Qaderiyyah Sufi Shaikh. And this writer him self belongs spiritual order in Sufism. The tableeghi is a prominent example of an Islamic tableeghijam aa t is movement which has abandoned the revolutionary struggle of challenging the forces of falsehood ( batil) and evil (munkar ) in the world wo rld today, and o f struggling for the reemergence reemergence o f Islam Islam as the the dominant dom inant force force in the world. Authentic Sufism has not done so. This writer w riter has not done so. so. And An d yet foolish foolish,, ignora ignorant, nt, misguided misguided Islamic scholarship in this strange age makes a profession of attacking even authentic Sufism.
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Chapter Chap ter Ten Ten
COMPARISON OF ISLAM AND BUDDHISM In any any future future contest contest between betwee n Islam and Buddhism B uddhism , Islam is boun bo und d to emerge victorious. victorio us. This Th is m ust us t be b e so beca be cause use o f the clear cl ear superiority superiority of o f Islam Islam over over Buddhism as a religion which is capable of responding to the awesome challenges of the modem age, politica poli tical, l, economic, moral, spirit sp iritua uall etc. We propose, in this chapter, to embark on a comparative evaluation of Islam and Buddhism with a view to presenting the facts on the basis of which the reader may be able to undertake a critical evaluation. evaluation. Scriptural Comparison In Chapter One, we have already discussed the Buddhist scriptures. scriptures. We now resume tha t discussion in the contex co ntex t o f a comparison with with the scripture o f Islam. Islam. We have alrea dy seen that the earliest Buddhist scriptures are in Pali and were written some 400 years after the death of Buddha. They can not, not, there therefor fore, e, give us us any reliable relia ble historic al informa tion abo ut Christmas Hum phreys, a the life and teachi teachings ngs o f Buddha. Christmas Buddhist convert convert who says says o f him self se lf that he studied B uddhism uddh ism for thirty years and “o f Budd hism in the w orld today I know this to say about the Bud dhist Scriptures: S criptures: more than most”, has this The The Buddha him self se lfwrote wrote not nothi hing ng,, and none none o f his teaching was was written written down down f o r at least fo u r hundred yea rs after his death. death. We therefor thereforee do not n ot know what wha t the Buddh Bu ddha a taught,
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any more than we know what Jesus taught; and today at least fo f o u r scho sc hool ols, s, with wit h sub-division sub-d ivisionss in in each, each, proclaim their own view vie w as to what wh at is Buddh Bu ddhism ism.1 .106
The scriptures of o f Buddhism Budd hism are numerou numerouss and mutually conflicting. Buddh Bu ddhism ism employed, employ ed, in the main, two languages languages for recording recordin g her scriptures. In the Pali language are recorded the scriptures scriptures o f the the Hina those Hi naya yana na sect, and in the Sanskrit language those o f the Mah sect. Both Bo th these the se sets o f scriptures oppose each each M ahay ayan ana a sect. other. other. This makes a Hinay Hi nayan ana-M a-Maha ahayan yana a reconciliation next to impossible. impo ssible. Both these language lang uages, s, Pali and Sanskrit, Sanskrit, are now virtua vir tually lly dead, dead , or survive as literary literar y curiosities. curiosities. Sanskrit despite its reemergence reem ergence,, is still, in its its new usage, archaic. archaic. The ordinary ordinary Buddhist Bud dhist cannot, therefore, th erefore, go directly to his scriptu scriptures. res. Like the Christian, he has to depend on translations. The scripture of Islam is confined to one single text, the Q ur’an. ur’an. It was recorded in the lifetime lifetime o f the founder founder o f the relireligious community, Muhammad (s), the Prophet o f Allah. Allah. And it has survived survive d to this day, day, over ove r a period o f 1400 1400 years, in its original original form witho w ithout ut the addition or omission o f even a lette letter. r. As hostile hostile a critic as Sir William M uir is forced force d to to admit: admit: Exce Ex cept pt the Qur ’an there is no other book under the sun which, for the last twelve centuries, centurie s, has remaine rem ained d with so pure pu re a text.10 text.107 The scripture of Islam is in one language, Arabic, Ara bic, which w hich is today today a living language language spoken by hundre ds o f millions o f people people all over the the world world.. Thus Thus the ordinary ord inary and even the uned ucated uca ted Muslim has direct direct access access to the scripture o f Islam. Islam. What is more astonishing aston ishing is that even even after 1400years the Arabic Arabic o f the Qur Qu r ’an ’an still stil l retains its position posi tion as the best classical Arabic and the m odel fo r the the enti entire re fie ld o f mode modern rn othe r hand, literar lite raryy work wo rk in that tha t langua lang uage. ge.1 108 The Bible, on the other 106 Hum phreys phr eys,, Op. cit . p. 11 107 Munir, Munir, Sir, W ..: Life o f Muhammad. 108 George Georg e Sale, S ale, the hostile ho stile critic o f Islam , says: The Koran is universally allowed to be written with the utmost ele gance ga nce and purit purity y o f language. language. It is confessedly confes sedly the standar standard d o f the Arabic tongue. ‘The Koran: The Preliminary Preliminary Discourse’, Disco urse’, p. p. 47.
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which which has been retranslated retranslated into English from its its Greek tran slation (there is no original Bible) has had to be continuously revised revise d in in search for for accuracy. accuracy. The languag lan guage, e, also, also, is consta co nstantly ntly bein be ing g mode mo derni rnised sed.. Secondly, the entire Muslim world accepts the Qur’an as it only scripture. scripture. Muslims may belo be long ng to this or that sect, but bu t they all believe believ e in the same scriptur scripture. e. Thei Th eirr differences are differences differenc es o f interpretati interpretation on of o f som somee verse versess of o f the Q u r’an. r’an. The possibility possibility always, therefore, exists, exists, for their differences differe nces to be resolved. resolved. Indeed, the bigge bi ggest st sectarian rift in Islam, the th e Sunni-Shia rift , is certain to be healed with with the advent of Imam al-Mahdi. al-M ahdi.
As regards the life of Muhammad (s), unlike Buddha, he stands out in the full full glare of history. He is, in fact, fact, the only founder foun der of a religious community about whose life we have records that can pass the test of historical historical criticism. critici sm. Arnold Toynbee, Toynbee, another anot her hostile critic o f Islam, Islam, has this to say:/ say :/0 09 The The sources sourc es fo r t he stud y o f Islam Islam ic history history from Muh M uham amm m ad s lifetime onwards, onward s, are copious, and an d many ma ny o f them them are are o f first fi rst-ra -rate te valu v aluee fro fr o m the historian historia n s prof pr ofes essio siona nall poin po intt o f view view. Muha Mu hamm mmad ad s caree career, r, unlike unlik e Jesu Je suss s, s, can be foll fo llow ow ed point poin t by poin po intt and, in some so me o f its chapters, almos alm ost t day by day - in the fu ll light o f histo hi sto ry1 ry 110
John Davenport states: It m ay be truly tru ly aff a ffir irm m ed th a t o f a ll know kn own n legi le gisl slat ator orss and an d conquerors not one one can can be named name d the history history o f whose life life has has bee been n w ritten ritten with with gr eate r authenticity a nd fu lle r detail than that o f Muhammad.”1 Muhammad.”1 109To ynbee, ynb ee, A.,: A study o f History, History, Vol., 12, p. 463 4 63 110 Ibid. 111 Davenport, Daven port, John: John: An Apo logy lo gy for Muhamma Muha mmad d and the Koran, Koran, p. 1
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From the pen p en o f a distinguished distinguished Christian clergyman clergyman comes comes the very significant statement: We know less o f Zoroaster Zoroaste r and C onfucius than we do of Solon and Socrates: Socrates: less o f Moses Mos es and a nd Buddha Bud dha than we do o f Ambr Am brose ose and a nd Augusti Aug ustine. ne. We know kno w indeed inde ed somefr som efrag agme ments nts o f a fragme frag me nt o f Christ Christ s life; ife; but who who can can lift lift the the veil o f the the thirty thirty years year s that prepared prep ared the the way fo f o r the th e thre th reee . . . . What do we know o f his mot mothe her, r, o f his his home life life,, o f his early early friends frie nds,, and o f his relation to them, them, o f the gradual gradu al dawnin dawning, g, or, it may be, be, the sudden revelation revelation o f his divine missio mission. n. How many questions questio ns about ab out him occur to each each o f us that must always remain questions? But B ut in Moham Mo hammed medani anism sm every e verything thing is is different: here instead o f the shadowy shado wy and an d mysterious we have histo history. ry. We know as as much much o f Muham Mu hammad mad as we do even even o f Luther and Milt Milton on.. The mythical, the legendary, the super-natural is almost wanting in the original origina l Arab authori authorities, ties, or at all events can can easily easily be distinguished from w hat is historical. Nobody Nobo dy here is the dupe o f him se lf or o f other others; s; ther theree is is the the fu ll light o f day upon all a ll that th at light can ever reach at all all.. ”“ ”“2
The question m ust be raised: is the life and teachings teachings o f the founder of Islam and Buddhism of any significance to the relig ion s them selves, to Muslims and Buddhists? Both Both religions answer in the affirmative that they are of paramount importance. But today tod ay’’s scientific scientific mind insists on a merciless merciless examination of all historical documents which claim to be religious scriptures. The funeral funeral pyre which modem Biblical Biblical criticism has made o f the Christian scriptures scriptures has led numerous numerous ChrisChristians to abandon the real Christian life, lived by faith, for a mere formal and an d social attachme attach ment nt with Christianity. Christianity. ‘After Afte r all it seems seems as though we can never nev er know kn ow the real life and teachings o f Chris Christ! t! ’ 112 Smith, Rev. Boswor Bo sworth: th: M ohamm ad and and Mohamme Moha mmedism, dism, pp. 16-18
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Now No w in the th e script scr iptura urall c o n fro fr o n ta tio ti o n betw be twee een n B uddh ud dhis ism m and Islam, it is the Islamic scripture alone which can satisfy all the demands deman ds of the modern modern scien sc ien tific mind. In fact, fact, it is the only religious scripture in the world today which can escape the funeral pyre! It is, is, and an d w ill il l a lw a y s be, p o ssib ss ib le f o r us to have certain knowledge o f Islam an d Muhammad. It is is, and will always be, be, impossible impossible fo r us ev ever er to be certain certain about abou t what is Buddhism and who was Buddha. Budd ha. Dime Di mensi nsiona onall Comparison This book book has depict depicted ed the essentia l teaching te aching o f Gautam a Buddha as being exclusively eth ical ica l in in character. Original Origin al Buddhism Bud dhism was confined to an eth ica l system. But even as an ethical system Buddhism is problematical, as our critique of the fundamental statements statements o f Buddh Bu ddhism, ism, the theories theories of o f Karma , transmigration of souls, notself, etc., have shown. Buddhism preaches preaches a ph iloso phy ph y o f detachment detachm ent from the world in order that the mental state of contemplative quietude may be reached . D etach m ent from from the w orld and otherworldliness otherworldliness belong belong to to the Budd Bu ddhist hist philosophy o f life. life. But detachme detac hment nt as a moral ideal is dang da ngero erous. us. Toynbee draws draw s out an appalling moral conclusion: . . . as a mor moral achieve achievement ment it is over over-w -whe helm lmin ing; g; but it has has a discon disconcert certing ing moral moral corollary; corollary; f o r perfect detachment casts out pity, and, therefore, also, love, lov e, as inexora ine xorably bly as it purge pu rgess away all the evil evi l p a s sio si o n s .113
Again, Buddhism’s moral code is openly hostile to women. Buddha was never tired of describing the defects and vices of women and and warning the the monks to guard against them./M them./M The 113 Toynb To ynbee, ee, Op. cit. c it. Vol. Vol . 6, p. 144 114 Encyclopaed Encyc lopaedia ia o f Religion and Ethics: Ethics: art: art: Ethics Eth ics and Morality, Vol. 5, p. 45 3
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Orthodox decried sexual intercourse as the ‘bovine’ or ‘bestial’ habit, and they c ultivated a certain contempt contempt for women?The monk monk was warned to be perpetually on his guard, and a short dialogue admirably sums up the attitude attitud e o f the early early Buddhis Buddhists: ts: Anand An anda: a:
How Ho w sh s h ou ld w e behave behav e to women? w omen?
Lord:
Not N ot to see s ee them th em!!
Anand An anda: a:
An A n d i f w e have ha ve to see se e them?
Lord: Lord :
N ot to spe s pea a k to t o them!
Anand An anda: a:
A n d i f we have ha ve to speak spea k to them? the m?
Lord: Lord :
Keep your thoughts tightly controlled!”5
For more than 1,000 years, Buddhist monks remained celibate. A fter tha t one sectio n of o f the Buddhists Buddh ists lifted lifted the the ban and pe rm itted m arria ge . But even even then woman was not absolved o f her curse. Women were not free individuals individuals.. It appears from the fo llow ing incident incident that she she was considered as a chattel by some o f the highe hig hest st Buddhist Buddhist religious personalities personalities.. Padma Sambhava, the Lotusborn, established Buddhism in Tibet about 770 A.C. He was considered to to be a second Budd Bu ddha ha.. H e a c c e p ted te d f r o m the Tibetan K in g the g ift if t o f one on e oj ntl y ‘the ‘the second Buddh Bu ddha’ a’ believed in in his fiv e wives.”6 A pp are ntly wom en as ch attel, wh o cou ld be gifte gifted d by a husband husband to another another man! Similar is the case o f Marpa, Marpa, the translator, translator, one one o f the wh en 42 years old, and grea test teachers o f Tibe Tibet. t. He married when he also had eight other fem f em ale discipl disciples, es, who were his his spiritual spiritual consorts. consorts.”” 7 115 Conz Co nze, e, op. cit., ci t., p. 58 116 Ibid., Ibi d., p. 60 117 Ibid., Ibi d., p. 60
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Islam has a very comprehensive ethical ethica l system. system. It does much more than minister to the moral needs nee ds o f mankind. It, It, in fact, fact, provid pro vides es guida g uidance nce for every aspect aspe ct o f hum hu m an life be it individ indi vidua uall or social, spiritual or mundane, legal, or political, or economic, etc. etc. Islam alone, alone, among among all all the religious religio us systems o f the world, can pre p rese sen n t an econo eco nom m ic teac te achi hing ng on the th e b a sis si s o f its scri sc ript ptur ure, e, a teaching fundamentally different from the existing economic philos phi losoph ophies ies o f the world wo rld/'* /'* a teac te achi hing ng which wh ich promi pro mises ses to be socially socially progress progressive ive and and po litica lly dem ocratic ocratic , in which laissez-faire and socialism socialism will attain a happy ha ppy synthesis, synthesis, in which capital will be controlled controlled and y e t man will be free fr ee .'19 Similarly Islam, through its scripture, the Qur’an, pro p ro v ide id e s s ign ig n ific if icaa n t guid gu idan ance ce in p o li tic ti c s , law, the th e d iffe if fe re n t bran br anch chee s o f scien sci ence ce like phys ph ysic ics, s, chem ch em istr is try, y, biolo bio logy gy,, geol ge olog ogy, y, astronomy, astrophysics, etc. etc. The Q u r’an r’an urges the the exploration exploration o f space and and the conques conquestt of the heave ns. In the field field o f phi p hilo loso soph ph y the Q u r ’an not o n ly g iv e s an ethi et hics cs,, but, bu t, also al so,, a metaphysics (something which Buddhism woefully lacks), a logic, logic, aesthetics, aesthetics, epistemolo epistemology, gy, psycholog psyc holog y, etc. etc. The Qu r’an has made real contributions to the philosophy of science, phil ph ilos osop ophy hy o f history his tory,, ph loso lo soph phy y o f reli re lig g ion io n , psy ps y chol ch olo o gy o f mental hygiene and characterbuilding and social philosophy. The Qur’an gives detailed guidance in respect of man’s social social life. life. For example, example, it it deals at len gth with the institutions of marriage and divorce, inheritance, voluntary and compulsory charity. charity. It not only emphasizes the bro therho od o f man, but also takes effective measures to bring about, through the institution of congregational prayer, the psychological framework which breeds the feeling of unity within a group and which grows until (in Hajj, Ha jj, or the pilgrimage to Makkah) it encompasses mankind at large. 118Vide: Ahmad, Ahma d, Shaikh Mah Mahmu mud: d: Ec on om ics o f Islam. 119 Ibid, Ibi d, p. vii v iiii
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The Qur’an goes even further to apply itself to the task o f eradic ating so cial ev ils. The scriptur scripturee of Islam Islam is the only only religious scripture in the world which lays down a systematic, effective and workable framework for the eradication of that dimension of the institution of slavery which witnesses the immoral exploitation of human beings and the unjustified denial o f freedom. It was n ot the Bible Bible but the British British Parliament Parliament which wh ich abolish a bolished ed slaver sla very y in the Christian Christian British Empire in in 1833 1833,, and this was accomplished in the face of ecclesiastical op po sition . In fact, the Ch ristian ristian Church supported the the slavetrade to the extent that, as Dr. Eric Williams informs us the bells o f the B ristol Churches Churches pee led merrily merrily on on the the news news oj the rejection by P arlia m en t o f Wilberforce’s bill fo r the the abolition o f the the s lav e-tr ad e.12 e.120 Upto to this day, the Q u r’an r’an is is the the only scripture, or moral system in the world (religious and secular), which has applied itself intelligently to the task of eradicating the evils of sexual immorality, and given a code of sexual morality that can effectively effec tively solve the sex p roblems o f even the modem mode m age. age. We say ‘inte llig en tly ’ be ca use Islam, Islam, unlike Buddhism Buddhism and and Christianity, Christian ity, conceives conc eives o f sex sex as natural, natural, normal, necessa necessary, ry, pure pure and even sublime. Again, on the question of sex, the Qur’an is the only religious scripture w hich no t only makes makes woman a free free individu individual al bu b u t also al so give gi ve s h e r the th e rig ri g h t to own p rope ro pert rty y and, and , even eve n more, more , raise her to such a high status that, on the authority of Muhammad (s) himself: Paradise Para dise lies at the fe e t o f thy mot mothe her, r, she becomes the object of the highest respect and veneration. The Buddhist scriptures, like the Bible, are full of negative com men ts concerning conc erning w omen. omen . The The Hindu wife, likewise, likewise, is
120W illia ms, ms , Dr. Eric Eric:: Cap italism itali sm and Slavery, Slavery, p. 42. This book contains a vivid, accurate and fully documented account of the slave trade of 18th and 19th cen tury Christian Britain.
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expected to mount the pyre of her dead husband and prove her fidelity and love to to the extent extent of being crem ated alive while w hile he, lucky chap, is cremated dead. Some more social evils which the Qur’an eradicates are the curse curse o f alcohol alcohol and gambling, gambling, the use o f narcotics and oth er deadly or harmful stimulants, the follies of extravagance and the vice of miserliness. The The hand o f the th t h ie f is to to be cut off. off. The lazy goodfornothing who will not work to earn his own brea br ead, d, but bu t pref pr efer erss to live as a p a rasi ra site te on socie so ciety ty,, finds fin ds that th at there is absolutely no scope for such an occupation. The conclusion is that dimensionwise Islam is far more comprehensive than Buddhism, for while Buddhism ministers to the the moral needs of mankind, mankind, Islam pro vides vide s guidance guidan ce in every sphere o f human life. life. And even within the closed field o f ethics, the ethics of Islam, as we have tried to show in our discussion above and in previous chapters, is demonstrably superior to the Buddhist ethics .121 Ar A r c h e ty p a l Com Co m pari pa riso son n
The archetype archetype of Buddhism, Buddhism, G autama Buddha, is dec idedly inferior in in respect of the richne ss o f his life, the success o f his mission and the stature of his moral personality, to the archetype o f Islam, Islam, the Holy Holy Prophet M uham mad ma d (s). Gautama Buddha, from the time he attained enlightenment at the age of thirtyfive until he died fortyfive years later, devoted his entire life to only one activity, viz., ministering to the moral needs of mankind. In this this connection he travelle d far and wide, from city to city, covering thousands of miles on missionary errand. 121 The readers readers who wh o would like to exa mine min e the entire ethical ethi cal code c ode o f Islam may refer to Dr. Dr. F.R F.R.. Ansari’s Ansari ’s masterpiece: masterpiece: The Qu r’anic Foundati F oundations ons o f Structure Structure o f Islamic Society. World World Federat Federation ion o f Islamic M issio ns. Karachi. Karachi. 1973. A v e r y short work on the subject is B.A. Dar’s: Qur’anic Ethics.
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The Holy Prophet Muhammad, from the time he proc pr ocla laim imed ed prop pr ophe heth thoo ood d at a t the th e age o f forty, until un til he died die d twent tw enty y thre th reee y e a rs '22 later, led a life o f such richness richnes s that it found expression as a head of state, a military commander, a family man, a lawgiver and judge, a social reformer, a political and diplomatic prince, an economist, etc., apart from his basic function of ‘bringing the bes t morals morals to perfection perfection .,in For the entire 23 years of his ministry he remained in the cities of Makkah and Madina except for a short trip to nearby Taif and divers m ilitary ilitary expeditions. In con nec tion w ith the success success o f their respective missions, Buddha labored for 45 years but did not live to see the rise and spread of Buddhism, the impact of Buddhism on the w orld scene. In fact, he made so small an an impact on on his his age that no historical reference to him is to be found except in the Pali scriptures o f the Hina yana sect. sect. Similar is the case with Christianity. In sharp sharp contra st with that, Muhamm Muha mmad’ ad’ss impact on his age was dram atic, revolutionary, revolutionary, and histor historic. ic. According to A.L. Kroeber; Isla Is lam m h a d no infan inf ancy cy a n d no n o real rea l growth, grow th, but bu t spra ng up, M inerva-like, inerva-lik e, full-blo full- blo w n with with the life life o f one man .'24 And as for the impact of Muhammad on his time, the historian Christopher Dawson comments that history allows the whole world-situation to be sudd enly transformed transformed by the action action o f a single indivi individual dual like like Muhammad . . . 125 In fact, Arnold Toynbee, also, puts his stamp of approval of this aspect of our archetypal comparison when he says:
122 Buddha spent a time t w ice as long lon g as Muhammad on his mission mis sion and did not achie ve half as as much. 123 “ I wa s raised in order that the best bes t o f morals may be perfected”. Thus spoke Prophet Muhammad (s). 124 The Nature o f Culture, p. 388 38 8 125 The Dynam Dy namics ics o f World History, History , ed. By J.J. J.J. Mallory, p. 27
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Isla Is lam m s ep iph ip h a n y was d ra m a tic ti c by co m p aris ar iso o n w ith Christianity’s and Bu dd hi sm ’s. J e su s’s life and death pa p a s s e d unno un no tic ti c ed at the th e time, tim e, ex excc ep t am ong on g the th e obsc ob scur uree and tiny tiny band o f his his Galiliaean Jewish disciples. disciples. Our information about his min istry comes exclusively fro m the scriptures scriptu res o f the the Christian Ch ristian Church . . . Siddharth Sidd hartha a Gautama s ministr ministry, y, likewise, is known only on ly from fro m the Pali script scriptss o f the the Hinaya Hinayana na . . . Yet Buddhi Buddhism sm did not make a political impact on the world on a grand scale till about 200 years, and Christianity not till about 300 year ye ars, s, a fte ft e r the fo f o u n d e r s day, when wh en the th e ir resp re spec ecti tive ve po p o li tic ti c a l fo r tu n e s we were re m a d e b y th e ir con co n ve vers rsio ion n s o f Aso A soka ka a n d Constan Con stantine tine.. On the th e oth ot h e r hand, hand , Isla Is lam m m ade ad e a compara ble impact du ring the fo u n d e r ’s own life time, and its its po litica litica l fortune s were were made by the the fou nd er h im se lf'26
Gautama Gautam a Budd B uddha’ ha’ss mission in life has turned out to be less than successful; for, as we have shown in our discussion on the ‘religious schools o f Bu ddhism ,’ the original teachings o f Buddha have been turned turned upside upside down. Buddha closed the doors o f both the worlds. Buddhist Buddhistss have opened the doors o f both the worlds. worlds. In fact, fact, if Buddha Buddha were to return tod ay he might not be able to even recognize the religion which he founded. The religion which Muhammad has taught is very much the same toda y as it was du ring his time. In fact, some Muslims have taken their repugnance to innovation to such an extreme limit that, as Dr. Ansari laments, dynamic orthodoxy has been replaced replace d by conservatism. conservatism. If Muham mad (s) were to return today he would find Muslims reading the same Qur’an, worshipping the same God (Allah), praying the same way, fasting the same way, giving the same compulsory charity, perf pe rfor orm m ing in g the th e pilgr pil grim imag agee in the th e sam sa m e w ay as he did! 126A Study St udy o f History, Histor y, Vol. 12, p. p. 461
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In order that the reader may be able to judge for himself the successes of Buddha and Muhammad in their respective m issions we shall discu ss just one one poin t here. here. Gautama Gautama Buddha remained perfectly silent about the existence of God. He never affirmed affirmed the existence of God. God. He certainly never claimed claim ed to be God or to be an object of worship. worship. Today Today ninety ninety nine perc ent o f Buddhists b elieve in and worship worship one god, god, many many gods, and what is even worse , Gauta G autama ma Buddha him self as god. god. The idolworship which the Buddha revolted against has returned to Buddhism with such a vengeance that, wherever there are Buddhists today, there are idols (even of Buddha himself, some fifty feet high, some in pure gold, etc.) which are objects o f worship. worship. The fundamental statement of Islam, or the ‘declaration dyn am ite’ o f Muhamm ad (s), on the basis of which he raised the structure of the religious community in Islam, is La ilaha ilah a ilia ilia Allah, Muham madur Ra sool Allah - ‘There is no God but A llah and Muhamm Muha mm ad is his servant servant and me ssenger.’ sseng er.’ Toda Today, y, througho throu ghout ut the length and breadth o f the earth among the the 1,00 1,000 0 million and odd Muslims of the world, no one can be found who claims to be a Muslim and who has wavered even the slightest from this fundamental statement. stateme nt. If any Muslim, in fact, fact, should should be b e lie li e v e in an y o the th e r G o d th a n A llah ll ah,, o r i f he shou sh ould ld rais ra isee Muhammad to a status higher than prophethood, he ceases to be a M usli us lim m . The Th e only on ly exce ex cept ptio ion n to this th is clai cl aim m w ould ou ld be Louis Lou is Farrakhan and his group w ho have preserved the beliefs beliefs o f Elija Elijah h Muhammad to the effect that Allah appeared in the person of Farrad M uhamm ad in Chicag o in the beginning o f this cent centur ury. y. Whoever holds such a belief is in manifest shirk and is not a M uslim. But Farrakhan Farrakh an and his his group claim to to be Muslims. And, amazingly, this claim is recognized by ignorant Muslims, and by equally ignorant Muslim leaders! The Jews raised Ezra Ez ra to be the sonofGod. The Christians Christians went we nt further. further. They raised Jesus not only only to to sonofGod, sonofGod, but 96
made him him part o f what they called the ‘God h ea d .’ The Buddhists also made a God God o f Buddha. Bu ddha. It is only the Muslims who have remained faithful to the teachings of the founder in refusing to exalt Muhammad (s) to the status of Divinity. At the time of the death of the Muhammad (s), the people peo ple gath ga ther ered ed in the m osqu os quee w ere er e h e sita si ta n t in b e lie li e v ing in g the news. news. Omar, in fact, threatened threaten ed to kill anyone anyo ne who said that Muhammad (s) was dead. dead. Abu Bakr, the sage, wen t into the Prophet's home, kissed the the dead bo dy on the forehead, and then then went out to make the historic statement to the crowds outside: Oh people, i f yo u worshipped Muham mad, then know that Muh M uham am m ad is dead. dea d. But Bu t i f yo y o u w orsh or ship ip A llah ll ah,, then th en kn ow that th at Allah Al lah is aliv al ivee a n d w ill il l neve ne verr d ie .12 .127 Finally, to bring this archetypal comparison to a close, let us examine the moral personalities of Buddha and Muhammad (s). Our studies in Buddhism and the life of Buddha have created in us deep respect and great love for the man himself, and a sympathetic appreciation for the conditions under which he was brought up, and which left a deep impression on his life. life. We firmly believe that he had a highl hig hlyd yd evelo ev elope ped d moral pers pe rson onal ality ity and an d that th at he led a good go od life. lif e. B ut as m uch uc h as he inspires awe and devotion, the critical student cannot escape the responsibility of examining Buddha’s moral personality in parti pa rticu cula larr and his hi s overal ove ralll p e rso rs o n alit al ity y in gene ge nera rall in so fa r as it fo rm s an arch ar chet etyp ypee f o r huma hu man n life li fe a n d cond co nduc uct. t. Again we shall shall restrict restrict ourselves to a discussion o f just ju st one point, for it is quite quit e sufficient to t o prove pro ve our ou r case. It is is one of the axioms axioms of moral philosophy philosop hy that tha t the ‘means’ mean s’ 127Cf. Dinet D inet and Ibrahi Ibrahim: m: The life o f Muhammad, Muhamm ad, the th e Prophet o f Alla h, p. 210
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should always alw ays conform con form to the ‘end’. ‘end ’. Gautama G autama Buddha, by his his own testimony, did achieve his end, namely, ‘enlig htenm ent’ and ‘nirva nir vana na but bu t the ‘means mea ns ’ he adopte ado pted d did not no t conform to the ‘e n d ’. A t the age o f 29 he is reported to have have abandoned his young young beau be autif tiful ul wife wif e and his infant inf ant son. And for f or the rest r est o f his life, even after he had h ad attained at tained the goal for which which he he left his home, home, he never resumed resum ed his duties dutie s as a husband husba nd and a fath father. er. He never returned to his life at home hom e despite de spite the fact that he he revisited his native native city and his home. By no stretch o f imagination imagination can this act be conceived conceived o f as pardo nab le, far less less exemplary and archetypal. archetypal. If all all husbands and fathers were to desert their wives and children and spend the rest o f their lives seeking enlightenment and and ministering ministering to the moral needs o f mankind, the greater part of o f mankind will will be reduced redu ced to unimagin unim aginable able sufferings. As an archetype, therefore, Gautama Gau tama Buddha B uddha suffers from a very very seriou seriouss defect. defect. The archetype of Islam, the holy Prophet Muhammad (s), also possessed a highly developed moral pers person onal ality ity.. But far from from desert deserting ing his wife wi fe and a nd children, he h e performed perform ed his duties duties as a husband and a father father until his death, with the greatest love, the greatest compassion and extreme devotion. Muhamm Muh ammad ad marrie married, d, when he was 25, a twiceo lderr than himself, himself, who had h ad three children children.. married widow, widow, 15 years olde For the next 25 years, the most sexually active for male, Muhammad (s), and sexually subdued for the female, Khadija (ra), the Prophet of Islam remained loyal, faithful, loving, kind, dutiful and compassionate to his ageing wife who, when w hen she died, died, was 65 years years old old.. He then then married marr ied Sauda, S auda, an elderly widow. And for the next five five years she she remained remain ed his only wife. After this the Prophet Prophet married a number number of o f times times and history records that, with the exception exception ofAisha, of Aisha, all of o f these wives were widows with childre children n or divorced women. His entire married life thus sets a prece pre cede dent1 nt12 28, w hich hic h effe e ffect ctiv ivel ely y cou c ounte nterac racts ts the th e
128 M y ow o w n mother mothe r w as a wido wi do w w ith a child when my father father marrie married d her her.. He expla ined his ch oic e as follo ws: ws : I f Muhammad, Muhammad, the the Prop Prophet het o f Allah, can can marr marry ya wid ow with children, children, so can I. I.
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stigma, and even prohibition attached to the remarriage of widows and and divorcees. N ot only this, this, but by virtue o f Muhammad (s) being the archetype archetype o f Islam, Islam has ensured that all all those w h ) emulate emulate its arche type w ill be kind and loving, faithful and compassionate to their wives and children. If all men should follow the example of Muhammad (s) many tears of this earth will change to smiles. We do not propose to to go into a de tailed description descrip tion o f the overall overall personality personality o f the archetype archetype o f Islam. Suffice it to to bring to the notice of the reader that one of the greatest minds of the modern age considered the archetype of Islam to be eminently acceptable. George Bernard Shaw says: The The mediaeval mediaeva l ecclesiastics, ecclesiastics, either through ignorance igno rance or bigo bigotr try, y, pa inted int ed Muham medanism in the dark est colours. They They were, were, in in fac t, tra ine d to to ha te both the man man Muh M uham am mad ma d an a n d his reli re ligi gion on.. To them the m M u h a m m a d was wa s the anti-Christ. anti-Christ. I have stud ied him, him, the wonderfu won derfu l man, man, and in my opin opinio ion, n, fa r fro m being an anti-Christ, anti-Christ, he m ust be called the the savior o f Humanity. Humanity. I be lieve that i f a man like like him him were were to assume assume the dictatorsh ip o f the modern world he would succe ed in in solvi ng its prob lem s in a way that that would bring bring it the muc h-need ed pea ce and happine in e ss. ss . ”1 ”129
Annie Besant writes: It is im p o ssib ss ib le f o r a n y o n e w ho s tu d ie s the th e l i f e a n d charact character er o f the the great great Prophet o f Arabia, who knows how he taught taught and how how he lived lived,, to fe e l anything but reverence reverence fo f o r that tha t mighty mig hty Prophet, one on e o f the grea gr eate test st messe me ssenge ngers rs o f the the Supr Suprem eme. e. And An d althoug although h in what I p u t to you yo u I shall say many many thin things gs whi which ch may may be fam iliar to many, many, y e t I m y se lf 129Quoted in Charms Charms o f Islam, Aisha Bawa Ba wany ny Wakf, p. 4 0
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fe e l, w h e n e v e r I rere re read ad them, a n ew wave wa ve o f admirat adm iration ion,, a new sense o f reverenc reverencee fo r that mighty mighty Arabian Arabian te a c h e r 130
The conclu c onclusion sion is, is, and must be, be, that the archetype archetype of Isla Islam m is superior to to that tha t o f Buddhism. The archetype archetype of Islam Islam found found perfe pe rfecti ction on in every eve ry aspect asp ect o f his personality, personali ty, every dimension o f his life, to the extent that th at Allah him self declares o f him: him:
Verily thou possesseth greatness (in excellence with regard to) to) every dimension dim ension o f thine personali personality. ty. ( Q u r’an: r’an: 68:4) 68:4)
It is the person ality o f the man man Muhammad Muhamm ad (s), as much as the religion which he taught, which even today, 1400 years after his death, can capture c apture the hearts he arts of o f men and women o f all all races, races, of all classes, of all colours, men and women of the highest intellect and greate gr eatest st learning, to to rekindle and redynamise redynamise,, again and again, the rev olution olutio n which w hich he initiated, initiated, to reawaken reawaken,, even even in the darkest of hours, all that is great and divine, noble and good, in the hum an personality, to change the course course of human human history and to strive, till death overtakes them, for establishing here on earth the ‘heavenly abode of peace’ ( dar al-salaam). No relig rel igio ion n can survive surv ive without withou t an archetype. archetype . No religion can build a human personality except on the pattern of its archetype. archetyp e. A single defect defec t in the archetype leads to tenfold defects in the personalities of all those who faithfully imitate it. Hence nothing noth ing less than perfection is acceptable. acceptable. The archetype archetype of Islam alone is perfect. It is is certainly certainly superior to the Buddhist Buddhist archetype. 130 Besant, Besa nt, Annie: The Life Lif e and Teaching Teac hing o f Muhammad, p. 4
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Compar Comparis ison on o f the Philosop Philosophie hiess o f Life o f Buddhism Buddhism and Islam
A religious philosophy of life centres around three main concepts, Man, the World World and God. We shall attempt, atte mpt, in this section, to compare the Buddhist and Islamic philosophies of life within the framework of these three basic concepts. A. The Buddh Bu ddhist ist Philosop Phil osophy hy o f Life Li fe Man
Here we are confronted with such questions as: What is life? What is the origin of life? What is the purpose of o f life? What is the goal or destiny destiny o f life? life? What is the the place o f man in the scheme o f things, etc.? Buddhism, as we saw in our discussion on the theory of dependent origination, places the origin of life in 'the craving for life7 lif e7, conceives conceives of o f the purpose purpose o f life as being a struggle to escape esca pe the sufferings sufferings of o f the world, and holds hold s out Nirvana Nirv ana or nonexistence as the end o f life. The question ques tion ‘beyond bey ond Nirv Ni rvan ana, a, what?’ is considered to be inadmissible. As regards the place of man in the scheme of things, we have to look look to the theory of o f Karma and the transmigration o f souls souls for the position o f Buddhism. Buddhism. Life is a cycle of rebirth, rebirth , which whic h continues till till one has attained salvation. Man is a cog in the wheel. He might just as well have been an animal, but was bom as a man by virt vi rtue ue o f his hi s good go od deed de edss in a p rev re v iou io u s life. lif e. B ud d h ism is m , fortunately, did away with the Hindu caste system and so escapes the further further criticism of dividing humanity huma nity itself. In Hinduism, one may be bom as a Brahman of high caste and so be closest to salvation, or one may be bom as an untouchable to live as a veritable outcaste from society, scorned and abused. There are certain disconcerting corollaries to this philosophy o f man as found in Buddhism Budd hism.. Since the purpos pur posee o f 101
life is to escape from the universal fact of suffering, Buddhism is led on to a philosophy of the world that is negative and escapist. Let us discuss this. World Buddha never discussed such allimportant questions as the origin of the world or the destiny of o f the world. world. But in so so far as the constitution of the world is concerned, it appears as though he conceived of the world as being an ‘immoral order’, if we may be permitted to coin the phrase. The worl world d is not so constituted constituted as to be be compatible with success in the moral struggle (i.e., it is not a moral order). N or is the w orld indifferent to m an ’s moral life life (materialism). Rather Rat her the world, and all it relates relate s to, constitute constitute the greatest obstacle to m an ’s pursuit of salvation. This being so, so, Buddhism adopts a negative attitude towards the world and encourages what wha t in religious terminology is called, ‘ the otherworldly otherwor ldly life’. lif e’. When this philoso phil osoph phy y was applied to Buddhist personality culture, culture, it gave rise to the ideal of detachmen detachment. t. This philosophy philosophy o f ‘otherwo othe rworldl rldlines iness’ s’ with its practical form form o f ‘detachment ’ gave rise r ise to important consequences in the domain of morality. The goal o f the the Buddhist Buddhi st philosoph philo sophyy o f life, life, in so fa r as it pertains perta ins to moral philo sophy sophy,, is not a collective effort fo r victoiy victo iy in the moral str strug uggle gle,, but, but, rath rather er,, individual effort ef fortf o r escape escapefrom fro m the world world.. God Despite the fact that Buddha remained perfectly silent on the the question o f god, Buddhism evolve d for itself the the concept conce pt o f god. This it did in an extremely shabby way to incorporate w ithin itsel its elff the very evils against which it rose rose as a revo lt. Ido lw orsh ip is now now comm on all through through the the Bud dhist world. And the Hindu incarnate gods have found found expression in Buddhism with Buddha as god, who incarnates from time to time to render assistance to the forlorn multitudes struggling for salvation. 102 10 2
This conccpt of god god falls far short sho rt o f the requirements o f the authentic religious consciousness which conceives of God as the embodiment o f all perfection perfection infinite in respect of His being as well as His attributes. A god who can be bom as a man, live as a man, and die as a man, be subjected to all the human privations and frailties, etc., cannot be conceived of as the embodiment of perfection perfe ction,, wheth wh ether er he be G autam au tamaa or Jesus. It does sound soun d quee qu eerr to say that god died at the the age o f eighty, eighty, or o r that that god, before befo re he was w as crucified, crucified, complained o f having b een forsak forsaken! en! The philosophy of life in Buddhism as revealed in its concepts concepts of o f man, man, the world world and god, gave rise to certain certain consequences consequence s which mar the serene face of Buddhism. The antiworldlylife stand of Buddhism led, within the lifetime of its founder, to the establishme establishment nt o f the institu institution tionss o f monasticism and celibacy celibacy.. Monasticis Mona sticism m Of all religions in the world, Buddhism lays the greatest emphasis on monasticism. It is imp i mpos ossib sible le f o r the layman lay man to wor w ork k out his own own salvation salvation while while in the world, fetter fet tered ed by its ordinances and under the spell o f its attractions. attractions. He must renounce the world and become a monk so so that, that, undistrac und istracted ted and at leisu leisure, re, he might m ight pursue pur sue the high h ighest est ends and a nd win wi n f o r h im s e lf fina fi nall deliv de liver eran ance ce.1 .13' The criticism criticism o f the institution o f monasticism monasticism is that it tends to weaken or even even distort the perspectiv persp ectivee o f the monk with respect to the richness richness of o f human life life as it reveals itself in the theoretical the multifarious multifarious branches branches and dime d imension nsionss of thought thought and feeling, feeling, and in the practical the numberless forms of activities which find expression in m an’ an ’s social social life. life. Monasti Mo nasticism cism,, as an ideal, finds it indispensable indispensable to cultivate cultivate in the mind o f the monk a certain contempt for the nonmonastic life. This results in his being cut away and deprived of the springs of inspiration which ever flow 131 Encyclopedi Encyc lopedia a o f Religio Reli gion n and and Ethics, art: art: ‘ Mona Mo nast stici icism sm’’ (Buddhist) (Buddhist ) vol. vol . 8, 8 , p. 796.
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through and through organized society beckoning the perceptive consciousness to newer, fresher, more creative worlds of thought and action. The monastic mon astic life, as an ideal or an institution, robs life life of the opportunity to be lived, as it ought to be lived, as a many splendoured thing. But the monastic life as a form of temporary withdrawal fro fr o m the world wo rld open to a ll men is, on the other hand, an absolute nece ssity if man is is to to have selfrealization. selfrealization. The Q ur’an ur’an recommends recomm ends this form o f withdrawal. In fact fact it establishes establishes an institution o f withdrawal. In Chapter Chapter 73, 73, ‘Surah al-Mu al -Muzza zzamm mmil il ’, o f the Q ur’ ur ’an this subject sub ject is examined and treated treated thoroughly and and a scientific and beneficial b eneficial method me thod of withdrawal is actually actually given given.. The following quotations are all from Surah al-Muzzamil:
ji ji .Sui si* ° ^ \ jl ^
.Sui Snjdb jdbi
.ji>3i tf tfci i; •4 & V
Oh thou thou,, fo ld e d in garm ents (i.e (i.e.. the garments garm ents o f worldly worldly life), stand sta nd (in (in prayer pra yer)) by night, night, but not all nigh night, t, - ha h a lf o f it or a little less or a little more.
Standing in praye r by night nigh t is a form of withdrawal withdrawal from from the the worldly life. This is very clear cle ar from the use use o f the word Muzzamil Muzza mil (one folded in in garments) garme nts) in the previous previous verse. But the Q ur’an ur’an immediately proceeds to forbid a permanent withdrawal (but not all night!). This withdraw withd rawal al must be intelligent intelligent and temporary temporary ( ‘h alf al f o f it or a little less or a little more’) more’).
S ? j i ^LJLc ^LJLc
UJ .*)Lj .*)L j y y j l J l J J j j
An A n d recite the Our Ou r ’an in slo slow, measur me asured ed rhythmic rhyth mic tones. tones. Soon shall sha ll we send down to thee a weighty mess message age..
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The withdrawal, withdrawal, which is to be employed em ployed for the the purpose of reciting reciting and pondering pondering over the revelation reve lation o f Allah, prepares prepa res the soul to serve as an instrument of the Divine Will.
Trul Trulyy the rising rising by night is most mo st poten po tentt fo r governing gove rning (the (the soul) soul) and a nd most suitable suitable fo r (framing) the Word o f (prayer and praise).
Abdullah Yusuf Ali commen com ments ts on the above verse as follows:752. . fo f o r conte c ontempla mplation tion p ra y e r and an d praise pra ise,, what wh at time tim e can be so suitable as the the nig night ht,, when calm and silence prevail, and an d the silent stars stars pour forth fort h their eloqu ence to the discern ing soul. soul. The Surah directs directs attention to the fact that the day keeps us preoccupi preoc cupied ed with multifario mult ifarious us activit act ivities: ies:
Sl J ,
j
iu Sj
Truly, ly, there is fo r thee by day prolong pro longed ed occupation with ordinary duties.
There must, therefore, be a time for work, and a time for withdrawal. withdrawal. Neither shoul should d incorporate incorpo rate nor intrude upon the other so that one should devote one’s time exclusively to affairs of the world, world, or on the the other hand, hand, that tha t one should withdraw completely complete ly from the worldly life.
• X _ L d l j l j j X j p
l3- Abdullah Abdullah Yusuf Ali: Transla ranslation tion and Commentary Commentar y o f Qur’a n , notes 575 5 759, 9, p. 1633
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But B ut kee keep p in rem re m embr em bran ance ce the name o f the Lor L ord d and a nd devote dev ote th y se lf (i.e. (i.e. withdraw) withd raw) to Him H im whole-heartedly.133
The withdrawal to Allah, which must be complete while it lasts, is symbolized by the night, which follows the day. This is is the m onastic on asticism ism of Isla Islam. m. In this sense sense every every Muslim is supposed to be a m onk for for a part of every night night o f his his (or her) her) life! life! But the monas mo nasticism ticism arising arising from an antiworld phil ph ilos osop ophy hy,, w hich hi ch e sta st a b lish li sh e s itse it self lf as a perm pe rm anen an entt full fu lltim timee institution institu tion outside outsi de of o f society, society , is forbidde forbidden n in Islam. Such is the monasticism o f Christianity and Budd Buddhi hism sm.. The real value o f the idea o f withd withdra rawa wall is that a man has to live with with him self fo f o r a whil w hilee in order to to really really discover disco ver hims himself. elf. And it is only after he has discovere disco vered d himself that his his life will have real real meaning mean ing and creativity creativ ity whate wh ateve verr be be his area area or sphere of act activ ivity ity.. Ever Ev eryy man m an is a voic vo icee unto un to himself. himself. An A n d he w ill il l nev n ever er worsh wo rship ip The Great God In the Great Gre at Temple Till Tillfi rs t he sits in silence Before Bef ore the Ete E tern rnal al Flam Fl ame, e, In the inmos inm ostt shrin sh rinee Within his h is he h e a rt.1 rt .13 34 133 Ibid., ( 73:1 73 :1-8 -8)) 134The 4T he Flame o f Life , o ne o f m y unpublished poems. poems.
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This is the ideal Islam, that a man should first realize him self in order order that he may rea lize the divine t ru th s.'55 s.'55 When Wh en we examine the life of the Prophet of Islam we find him again and again agai n withdraw with draw ing at nigh ni gh t to the lonely lonely,, quiet spots, spots, far from the madding crowd, in order that he might again and again rediscover himself himse lf and the the truth he was to preach. Thus Islam Islam wants wants each one o f us to be a mystic or monk for some time in his life. life. But it should sho uld be in the the form of o f dispersed disp ersed moments of withdrawal so planned as not to bring about a complete rupture with the worldly life. Secondly, Islam insists that withdrawal is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a means to an end. Withdr Withdraw awal al is meant fo r recharging recharging the the spiritual spiritual dynamo with a view o f returning to life better better equipped to to fig ht the the battle o f life life.. Celibacy In the the same strain strain in in which Buddha Budd ha advocated advoca ted the monastic mon astic life, life, he he also advocated celibac celibacy. y. He set the example by abstainin abstai ning g from sex from the day he parted from his wife to the day he died. The elite of Buddhists, Buddhists, in fact fact the only real Buddhists, are the monks, monk s, and the primary indispensable foundation of the monastic life is celibacy celibacy.. Buddhist and Christian scriptu s criptures res are very clear clea r on this this issue that abstinence from sex is of paramount importance for withdrawal from the world. world. Thus Thu s Christ said: said: There be eunuchs whic which h have made the thems msel elves ves eunuchs fo r the the kingdom o f heaven s sake! In the Dhammapada we read: men who have not pra ctice cti ced d celibacy . . . .pine away like old cranes in a lake lake without with out fish fi sh ; 135 “He who rea lizes him self realizes his Lord”, said Ali (ra).
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men who who have not prac pr actic tic ed celiba cel ibacy. cy. . . .lie like worn-out bows, sighin sig hing g afte a fterr the th e p a st.1 st .136
Celibacy, according to Dr. Conze, was a cornerstone of the monastic life. The orthodox cultivated a certain contempt for women. wom en. This contempt contem pt is, o f course, easily easily understood as a defense defense mechanism, mech anism, since women must mu st be a sour source ce of o f perpetual perpetual danger to all celibate ascetics especially in a hot climate. The reasons for this rejection o f the sex impulse imp ulse are not far far to seek seek.. A philosophy philosophy that sees the source of all evil in craving for sensuous pleasure w ould not n ot wish to m ultiply the occasio occasions ns for indulgenc indulgencee in sensu sensual al pleasu ple asure re.. As A s long lon g as the slig sl ight htes estt thought o f lust lus t o f a man towards women remains undestroyed, so long is his mind tied, even as the suckin suc king g c a lf is bound bou nd to its mother.'37 Islam alone, among am ong the th e religions of o f the world, has come out out with a stinging denunciation denu nciation o f celib celibacy acy.. Prophet Muhammad (s) (s) declared: Ma M a rria rr iag g e is o f m y w ays; ay s; he who wh o goes go es a gain ga inst st my ways wa ys is not o f me. Marri Ma rriag agee is a h a l f o ffa ff a ith it h .
The wisdom of the Islamic denunciation of celibacy has bee b een n conf co nfir irm m ed by m o d e m psycholo psyc hology. gy. Sigmu Sig mund nd Freud Fre ud gave gav e it a scientific scient ific interpretation. inte rpretation. He decla declared red (in his book, book, Sexual Sexual Problems, March 1908) I h a v e not no t obta ob tain ined ed the impres imp ressio sion n that tha t sexual abstinence is helpful to energetic and independent men o f action or origina orig inall thinkers, to courageous liberators liberators and reformers. The sex ua l cond co nduc uctt o f a man man is is often often symbolic o f his whole m ethod o f reac tion in the the world. world. The The man who energetically grasps the objects o f his his sexual desire desire may be 136 Radhakrishan and Moore: Op. c i t . , p. 304 137 Co nze, nz e, Op. O p. cit. p. 58 58
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trusted to to show a similarly relentless energy in the the pu rsui rs ui t o f othe ot herr a im s.1 s. 138
The suppression of the sex impulse leads to neuroses of a thousand and one kinds. kinds. On the the other hand, normal normal health he althy y sex relations in marriage can solve a thousand and one kinds of neuroses and ailments. There are, says Hinton, innumerable ills terrible destructio destr uctions, ns, madness madness,, even even the ruin o f lives - f o r which the embra embrace ce o f man and woman woman would wo uld be a reme remedy dy.. No one thinks o f question questioning ing it. Terrible Terrible evils, evils, an d a remedy rem edy in delig ht an d jo y ! An A n d man has ha s chosen so to mudd mu ddle le his life that tha t he must say: “There There,, that woul w ould d be a remedy but I can c anno nott use u se it, it, I must mu st be virtu v irtuous. ous. ”n
Dr. Dr. Abba Ab basi si'’ '’"7, quoting exten ext ensiv sively ely from authorit auth oritativ ativee source so urces, s, lists all the different neuroses, illnesses, etc., which can and have arisen from sexual abstinence and have been cured by resumption o f sex sex life. life. He concludes concludes his wellwritte wellw ritten n article on the following follow ing note: Now No w after af ter knowing know ing all these the se scient scie ntif ific ic fa c ts and an d truths, who can can deny the the greatness o f M u h a m m a d (s) who wh o ve veh h e m e n tly tl y disc di scou oura rage ged d celib celibacy acy,, asceticism asceticis m and an d monasticism. . . .He fore fo resa saw w the dangers o f celibacy as well as the the advantages o f the married life life.. Though Though an ummi (unlettered), (unlettered), he proc pr ocla laim imed ed that the the conception conception o f ascetic ‘sexua sex uall abstinence a bstinence ’ was an entirely fa lse ls e and artificial conception. It is not only illadjusted to the hygi hygieni enicc fact fa ctss o f the case but it fa ils even to invoke any genuine moral motive, for it is exclusively selfregardi regarding ng and s e lf ce cente ntere red. d. It only becomes becomes genuin ely moral and truly inspiring when we transform it into the 138 Quoted Quoted by Dr. Dr. Abbasi in his article article ‘Problems o f Sex explained in the Light o f Islam and and Modem Scie nce’, nce ’, published published in the the ‘ Voice o f Islam’, Karach Karachi, i, Vol 1, No. 3. 139Abba 9A bbasi, si, Op. cit. ci t. p. 96 140 Ibid., Ibi d., p. 96 9 6 -7
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altruist altruistic ic virtue virtue o f self-sacrifice. When hen we have done so we see that the element ele ment o f abstinence abstinence ceases to be essen essential tial.. Self-sacr Self-sacrifi ifice ce is ackn owledg ow ledged ed to be the basis o f virtue; virtue; the noblest instan instances ces o f selfsacri self sacrifice fice are those dictated by by sexual sati satisf sfact action ion.. Sympath Sym pathyy is the the secret o f altruism; altruism; nowhere nowh ere is sym pa thy th y more mo re real and complete than than in in love love.. Cour Courag age, e, both moral mora l a nd physical, physical, the love o f truth truth and hono honor, r, the spirit o f enterprise, enterprise, and the admiration o f moral worth, are all inspired by love as by nothing else in human nature. nature. Celibacy Celib acy denies den ies itse lf that inspiration or restricts restricts its influenc influence, e, according accord ing to the measure measure o f its denial ofsexua ofse xuall intima intimacy. cy. Thus the deliber del iberate ate adoption o f a consistently celibate celibate life implies the narrowing narrowing down o f emotional and moral experience to a degree which is, from the broad scientifi scientificc stand s tand point, unjustified unjustified by any o f the advanta advantages ges piou pi ousl slyy supp su ppos osed ed to accr ac crue ue from fro m it.1 it .141
The Islamic denunciation of the institution of celibacy as found in Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc., has its vitally important complement in the concept of sex and marriage in Islam. Again Aga in I s l a m s’ viewpoint was unique and diametrically opposed oppo sed to well-ni well-nigh gh universally accepted accepted sexual philosophy o f its its Satan in man. man. cc ntemporary faiths. fait hs. Islam denied that sex is the Satan Rather sex, like food and water, is a natural biological need which has to be fulfilled for man to live liv e a normal normal healthy life. life. Islam went went further to make the sex act a sublime and holy act and to invest it w ith both psychological psychologi cal and spiritual spiritua l purity purity.. With this foundation foundation established, Islam could and did wage a successful war against lust. The Q ur’ ur ’an makes ma kes lust absolutely absolu tely forbidden: forbidden:
o j —j
c j
I . i i ) I j Ij j * 1 j l j 3 ^ L a!l a! l I
141 Ibid., Ibi d., p. 102
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j
-
o
o lU o
But after a fter them (the righteous right eous poste po steri rity ty o f the great prophe pro phets) ts) ther theree followed follow ed a posterity posterity who missed prayers and follow ed after after lusts: lusts: Soon, Soon, then, then, will theyfa c e destruction. (Q u r ’an: 19:59)
In fact the the command command of o f Allah to Adam and Eve, Eve, when He placed plac ed them in the garden, was:
.
3
Ij yi j
Do not no t approach appr oach this tree tre e (i.e., lust.). (Q u r’an: r’an: 2:35)
The Q ur ’an refer referss to to the em ergence o f sex sex consciousness in Adam and Eve when it speaks of the sense of shame disclosed in their anxiety to cover the nakedness of their bodi bo dies es afte af terr they th ey had ha d taste ta sted d the th e forb fo rbid idd d en tree tre e 142(2 0 :121). According to the the Qur’an, Qur’an, the proper prope r psychological frame o f mind for the sex act can only arise when its legal requirements are fully met. met. For this this reaso reason n Islam permits perm its the satisfaction o f the sexual desire through lawful means only. But, as as Dr. Dr. Ansari observe obs erves, s, the institutio instit ution n o f marriage ma rriage in Islam Islam is not meant for the the mere satisfaction o f sexual sexual desire: Alt A lth h o u g h the th e union un ion o f m an a n d w om an in m a r r ia g e involves the satisfaction o f sexua sex ua l appetite, it is not, not, in the view o f the Qur ’an, the end o f marriage, - the en d being spiritual spiritual com panionship a nd mu tual love love,, to which the the sexua l unio union n its e lf sh ou ld contribute, contribute, but which is is marke marked d o ffdistinctly ff distinctly fr o m mere me re sexu se xu a l plea pl easu sure re.. The Ho H o ly
142 Most commentaries commenta ries o f the Qur’an Qur’an give gi ve a different interpretation interpretation of o f the verse ve rse relatin relating g to the the act o f disobedience disobedience co mm itted by Adam and and Eve.
Ill
Q u r ’an says: ‘A n d amon g His Signs is this this,, that He created created fo r you mates from among yoursel yourselves, ves, that ye might obtain tranquility and solace in them, and He ordain ord ained ed between betwe en yo u love and mercy. mercy. Veri Verily ly in that are signs f o r those who re flec fl ec t’ (30:21).143
The conclusion is that it is Islam with its positive and healthy attitude towards social life, sex and marriage, and not Buddhism with its its indispensib ind ispensib le institutions institutions o f monasticism monasticism and celibacy, which can establish the conditions necessary for the establishment of a happy stable social order, and for the fulfillment of the human longing for a life of peace, happiness and satisfaction. B. The Isla Is lam m ic P h ilo il o so p h y o f Life Li fe The P rinc iple o f Unity: Unity: O ntological Cosm ological and Ep E p iste is te m o lo g ic a l Applic App licatio ations. ns.
The Islamic Philosophy of Life revolves around the p r i n c i p l e o f u n i t y (tawhid). This princip le o f unity has manifold ma nifold application s. In its ontological application application it it gives us the absolute monotheism o f Islam, One God. The cosmological application results in the concept o f the the world or the universe as an or ga niz ed w h ol e. 144 Even in epistem olog y we find the prin cip le o f un ity at work. work . Islam ’s theory of knowledge is absolutely unique and revolutionary. A l l knowledge form s one whole. All the differen t branche s of k n o w le d g e a r e i n t e r r e l a t e d a n d i n t e r d e p e n de n t . T h e pe p e rfe rf e ctly ct lye ed d u c ated at ed sc h o lar la r is h e who is educ ed ucat ated ed in as m any an y 143Ansari, Dr. Dr. F.R.,: F.R.,: The Qur’anic Foundations Founda tions and Structu Structure re o f Muslim Society, Societ y, Vol. 2. p. 36. 144The dislo d islocati cation on or imbalance imbala nce o f any o f its its part partss will wil l throw the entire entire machinery machinery o f the universe out o f gear. gear. The Amer icans and Russians would theref therefore ore be be well advised to make a through investigation of the constitution of the moon before they start start explod ing their nuclear d ev ice s, etc, up up ther there. e.
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different different branches o f knowledge know ledge as possible, and who wh o achieves a concordance of all this knowledge on the basis of the fundamental truths laid down in the Qur’an. psychological application, Psychological Application: In the psychological the principle principle o f unity gives us the unity o f human nature. nature. Man is a unitary being, - an integrated whole. Both Christianity and Buddhism oppose this concept. Christianity conceives of man as a dual being. He is both a physical being and a spiritual being, bein g, and they the y are always alwa ys at w ar bec b ecaa u se they the y are diam di am etri et rica call lly y opposed to each each other. other. The flesh is evil; i t is is the spirit spi rit whic h is good. good. Buddhism surpasses surpasses Christian Ch ristian ity to to give us the multiple unho ly allianc alliancee of many man. Man is a conglomeration, an unholy different s k a n d a s 145 which, for the sake of convenience, are conceived as a whole and given a name. App A ppli lica cati tion on to man m anki kind nd:: Islam does n ot stop w ith man as a unitary unitary being. being. It goes on to to give the co ncept ncep t of ma nkind as unity. unity. All human hum an beings, being s, irresp irre spec ectiv tiv e o f color, class, cla ss, c aste as te7 746 or creed form one family, the universal brotherhood of man. In the history of the world it is only Islam which has so far succeeded in establishing the real real broth erhoo d of o f man. H.A.R. Gibb, the learned orientalist, makes a significant statement which should be brought to the attention of our readers (particularly in this age in which wh ich war w ar is relentlessly be ing w aged on Islam): But Bu t Islam has ye t afurt fu rthe herr service ser vice to render to humanit hum anityy . . . No othe ot herr soci so ciet etyy has ha s such su ch a reco re co rd o f s u c ce ss in unit un itin ing g in an an equality equality o f status status,, o f opportun ity and endeavour, endeavour, so many and so various various races o f mankind. mankind. The The great grea t Muslim Muslim communities of Afric Af rica, a, In d ia a n d Indon Ind ones esia ia,, pe p e rh a p s also als o the small Muslim comm unity in Japan, sho w that Islam 145 See Se e p. 29. 2 9. 146The reader should note that that the the caste cast e syst sy stem em still exist ex istss in Indian Hindu Society. Society .
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has still the po w er to reconcile reconcile apparentl apparentlyy irreconci irreconcilabl lablee elements o f race and trad traditi ition. on. I f ever the the oppos oppositi ition on o f the great societies socie ties o f the East and the the West est is to to be be replaced replaced by co-opera co-operation tion,, the mediation mediation o f Islam Islam is an indispensable co nd itio it ion n .14 .147 Bio B io lo g ic a l A p p lic li c a tio ti o n : In its biological application the concept of unity gives us life as a single unitary evolutionary and pr p r in c ip le . In resp ect o f life man is inseparably related and con joined join ed to other living organism s or beings. It is by virtue of po p o s se ssin ss ing g pe distinc t, different and p e r so n a lity li ty that man becomes distinct, ab solu tely unique! Berg son did did not make this this distinction distinction be b e tw e e n life lif e (w hich hi ch b elo el o n g s to the orde or derr o f crea cr eatio tion, n, i.e., the determined world alam al-khalq) and personality (which be b e lo n g s to the th e ord or d er o f com co m m and, an d, i.e., the world of freedom mix ed up both and and presented presented personality personality alam ala m ala l-am am r).1 r) .14 48 He has mixed as the flowering of the elan vital, i.e., the vital life impulse. But this is entirely arbitrary fo f o r ev even en the th e b ares ar estt spa sp a rks rk s o f pe p e rs o n a lit li t y are n o t to be f o u n d in the th e nonno n-hu huma man n universe. univ erse.
Dr. Ansari has pointed out three further applications of the unitar y principle. They are as as follows: follows: Appli Ap plica catio tion n to the Sexes: Sex es: Islam gives, for the first time, the prin pr inci cipl plee o f the unity un ity o f sexes. Woman, according accor ding to Islam, is not no t to be conceived of as a chattel, an inferior being, or an evil being, or as a ‘freak of o f nature na ture’’ (Arist (A ristotl otle)/ e)/''9 ''9 Rather woman and man are are o f the very v ery same essence having ha ving both been created created from from the same same sin gle gl e prim eval ev al se lf.1 lf .15 50 In this modern age in which whic h a new ph ilo il o soph so ph y o f gend ge nder er has ha s crea cr eate ted d an insane ins ane and devas de vastati tatingl ngly y 147 Gibb,H Gib b,H.A.R .A.R .: Whither Islam?, p. 37 9. 148 Cf. Say, the essential esse ntial human being bei ng is from the command o f my Lord. Lord. (Qur’an: (Qur’an: 17:85 ), and: and: Surely to H im be lon gs the worlds o f Creation Creation and and o f Comman Command. d. (Qur’an: 7:54) 149Accordi 9Acco rding ng to t o Aristotle it is when w hen nature nature fails fa ils to produce a man that that a woman is bom. 150A l-Q l- Q u r’an, 4:1.
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destructive feminist liberation movement, the philosophy of gender in Islam, Islam, based on the the principle o f the unity o f the male and the female, is sorely needed. Allah uses the analogy of the ‘night’ and ‘day’ to describe the basic malefemale relationship and the dual, yet mutually compatible and interdependent roles which the male and the female must play in human society. society. (Qu (Q u r’an: r’an: 92:14). The dire warning, implicit in every painted sunset, with its colorful display o f the enthusiasm and joy with w ith which ‘day’ da y’ approaches ‘nig ht’ ht ’ and plunges plun ges into her he r arms, is that tha t when wh en ‘nig ni g ht’ ht ’ foolis foo lishly hly decide dec idess that tha t she wants to become ‘day’ (modem w omen om en’’s liberation movement), movem ent), it will only be a matter of time before ‘day’ begins to mate with ‘d ay ’, and ‘ni ‘nig g ht’ ht ’ begins to mate with ‘n ig ht’. ht ’. The sons and daughters of today’s feminists will tomorrow embrace the sexual perversit perv ersity y o f Sodom and Gomorr Go morrah. ah. Applic App licati ation on to Economic Econ omics: s: In the field of economics, the principle princ iple o f unity unit y works for a none no nexp xploi loitat tative ive union unio n o f labou lab ourr and capital. The free free and fair market ma rket offers equal opportunity oppo rtunity to all. There There are no previledge previledged d people in that market. All must assume risks. risks. All must make effor effort. t. The free and fair market mark et restores resto res the essentia essentiall unity of o f mankin mankind. d. That free and fair market no longer longe r exists in the world today, and has not existed since the market of the Ottoman Islamic Empire was destroyed. App A pp lica li ca tion ti on to the p ro b lem le m o f the co n flic fl ictt o f f a i t h a n d reason: Dr. Ansari also points to the principle of unity as solving the vexed problem problem of o f the conflict between faith and reason. reason. Islam alone, among all the religions of the world, brings faith and reason into a harmonious relationship with its concept of Iman, i.e., ’. Islam can afford affor d this because becau se it is built, ‘rationally oriente orie ntedfa dfaith ith ’. not on on dogmas, dogmas, but on on doctrines. doctrines. It is is Christianity, which is built bui lt on dogmas (trinity, incarnation, atonement, etc.), which seeks precarious preca rious refuge re fuge in a blind faith, flying flyi ng in the face o f the cle c lear ar and an d elementary elementary requirements requirements o f reason. reason.
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Goal in Life: Life: The second basic principle in the Islamic philosophy o f life is its its goal in life. life. Once Onc e the goal of life is determined, everything else must be examined exam ined in the light o f that goa goal. l.
In connection with the goal of ‘Nirv Ni rvan ana a ’ the Buddhist finds him self sel f in a great muddle. In this life life Nirvan Nir vana a may be salvation from suffering. But what o f the life beyond death? Is the grave or py p y re the th e end o f life? lif e? B u ddhi dd hism sm j u s t does do es not no t answer! answ er! The Buddhist, Budd hist, faced with this problem, has two two option options. s. Either he he interprets Nirvan Nir vana a to mean stark nonexistence after death, or he frankly admits that he does not know what is Nirvana. But neither of these interpretations can make Nirv Ni rvan ana a acceptable as the ultimate goal in life. If my destiny is to pass into nonexistence, i f my goal in life is to end life, I can can hardly be expected expe cted to muster up the enthusiasm for participa parti cipating ting competitively, originally, and creatively in in the overall overall struggle o f life, life, moral or otherwise, whether w hether it be in thought thought or in action. Great Grea t achievements achieve ments come only through great sacrifices and men are prepared to make the sacrifice of o f life itself if they they are given give n a sufficiently attractive attract ive goal in life. life. It would appear appear that Buddhism Budd hism has failed to give this goal. goal. There is another peculiarity pecul iarity of the Buddhist goal goal of o f life. life. In Buddhism Budd hism we come across the peculiar pec uliar phenomenon phenomenon o f Buddhists Buddhists working their way towards their goals, not on the positive psyc ps ycho holo logy gy o f the ‘p u ll’ ll ’ o f the goal, the t he ‘force o f attractio attr action’ n’ o f the goal, but rather on the negative psychology of the ‘push’ of the past pa st and the rejectio reje ction n o f the concre con crete te objective obje ctive reality in the here and now! Islam gives two goals in life one immediate and the other oth er ultimate. The first being be ing achieved, achie ved, the the second is sure to be b e achi ac hiev eved ed.. The Th e goal go al in this life is, according to the Qur’an, to so build the overall huma hu man n personality person ality that it becomes godly, godly, sublime and beatified. 116 11 6
The Qur’an commands:
Be g o d ly (Q u r’an: r’an: 3:79)
But the ultimate goal in life as given in Islam, and recognized today only by the Sufis, is that fulfillment of the ultimate longing of the lov er for the beloved. beloved. It is the culmination of the struggle for achieving closeness to Allah (iqurbah), it is the meeting with the Lord, with Allah Himself:
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Therefore Therefore he whose whose go a l is the me eting with his Lord, Lord, let him be righteous in his conduct . . . (Q u r ’an: 18:110) 18:110)
These two goals in life are interrelated, for while achievem ent o f the the form er leads natu rally to the the latter, latter, by b y f a s t e n i n g the th e o v e ra r a ll g a z e on the th e la tt e r , a p o w e r f u l ps p s y c h o lo g ic a l in c en tiv ti v e is b u i l t o r im p e tu s g ive iv e n fo r the th e successful struggle to achieve the former. Islam gives as attractive a goal in life as man can possi bly want. A llah lla h H imse im self lf is th t h e goal go al o f life in Islam. Isla m. To him do we belong , says the Qur’an, and to Him is our return (2:156). He is is the most potent factor in the life o f a Muslim. In fact, all o f life life is to be saturated saturated with Godconsciousne Godco nsciousne ss the w ay love perm pe rmea eate tess the t he tota to tali lity ty o f the b ein ei n g o f the true tr ue l o v e r /5' /5' A nd it is 151 It may be boldly bold ly asserted tha thatt no p eople eo ple in the world gi ve the impression impress ion o f being so religious-minded religious-minded as do Muslim s. All o f life is satur saturat ated ed with the the co n sciousness o f God (C.R. Wast Waston on:: What is this Muslim World World?, ?, pp. 38-9 , London,
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winning God’s pleasu re and meeting meeting Him, Him, which Islam holds out as the goal in life. The Muslim therefore, advances to his go al w ith ith the po sitive psycholog y o f the ‘p u ll ’ o f the the goal goal..
Secondly, Secondly, the psy chological cholo gical value o f this, the highest goal goal in life, is that it serves as the most powerful motivating force that can act on human behav ior. The The Muslim can be absolutely fearless of the terrors or tyrannies of this world, or of death, bec b ec a u se for fo r him, him , bey be y o n d d eath ea th there th ere is A llah. lla h. In the dark da rkes estt hour ho ur Allah is with him. And there th ere is a life life in the hereafter which is better bet ter than this life li fe '52, a life w hich Allah provides w herein His righteou s servants shall no t only only enjoy the the supreme supreme bliss of the beatific vision, but shall also have all that their hearts desire, all that they have been asking for, as a gift from the Forgiving, the Merciful God. Now N ow the th e im m edia ed iate te goal go al being be ing godl go dlin ines ess, s, all huma hu man n in stitutions, w hether they serve biological, psychological, psychological, social, social, po p o liti li ticc al, al , econ ec onom om ic or acad ac adem em ic ends, m ust us t be so cons co nstru truct cted ed and maintained as to function as agencies for building and maintaining ma intaining the godly personality. In fact, on e’s e’s whole whole life must revolve around this pivotal ideal, the goal in life of godliness. This is, perhaps, the most important application of the princi ple pl e o f unity. un ity. But before the task o f building the godly personality can can be u nd erta er tak k en, en , cert ce rtai ain n vita vi tall philo ph iloso soph phic ical al ques qu estio tions ns must mu st be answered, questions w hich pe rtain to Islam ’s philosophy philosophy o f life life and its concepts of man, the world and God. Firstly, what is human nature? What Wh at is the origin o f hum an life and the na ture o f human freedonj? freedonj? Is man so 1937 ). We well ma y ask ask:: What do they know o f this, who never have have known the agony agony o f love? love? 152 Qu Qur’an: r’an: 87:1 87 :166-17 17
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constituted constituted that he can become godly? Is the framew framew ork of godliness already present as as a bu iltin natu re in man? Or is is man so constituted that his very nature is alien and hostile to godliness, or indifferent to to godline god liness? ss? To becom bec om e godly, godly, should man negate or affirm himself? Secondl Secondly, y, what is is the the nature nat ure o f the wo rld? And what wh at is the relationship which exists between man and the universe around him? him? Is the world so so cons titute d as to be in harmony harmo ny with, or is it an obstacle to the realization of, man’s goal in life? To become godly, godly, should man n egate ega te or affirm the world? Finally, what is the the nature o f God? And w hat is the relationship relationship which exists exists betw een m an and God? Is the relationship between man and God such that man can know nothing about Him, Him, and and that man has no a ffinity w ith Him? Or is is it that God him self can can inc arn ate as Jesus or Bu ddha or Ram and walk and talk among men, thereby establishing the closest closest affi affinit nity y w ith ith man and and prov iding him w ith the opp ortunity of a firsthand observation of God’s personality and beh b eh av ior? io r? (The (T he d isc is c e rn in g re a d e r, b o th m a le and an d fe m a le, le , would have noted the gender difficulty a writer faces when using using the the English English language. In every use o f the word ‘m an ’ in the above paragraphs, as well as hereunder, our meaning includes both male and female! In the Qur’an Allah, using the Arabic language, employs the word i n s a a n , which embraces both the male and the female in a nondiscriminatory embrace) All these questions must be answered before we can embark embark upon the the task of o f making men godly. In fact the answers to these questions will determine whether or not it is possible or feasibl feasiblee to attempt to achieve achieve the goal in life o f godliness.
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Man M an
The O rigin rigin o f Life and Human Human Freedom: Freedom:
As regar re gards ds the origin o f human life, life, Islam conceives conceives of o f man as a created being created ab novo, out of nothing, with a constitution which, far from being tainted with a heritage of sin (original sin Christianity; karma - Buddhism and Hinduism), is rather described describe d as being perfec perfect: t:
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We hav e indee ind eed d created crea ted man man in the best o f constitutions constitutions (or nature). (Qur ’an: 95:4)
Man therefore begins his sojourn in his earthly state with a clean slate, a clean bill o f health. health. In Buddhism Budd hism,, life has its cause cause in the ‘craving for life’. life ’. In other words, m an is responsible responsib le for his own exist existence ence.. What follow s is only on ly logic al. Since man is the agent agent o f his own existence, by the t he same token he is the architect o f his own desti destiny ny.. He is what wh at he makes m akes him h im self se lf no more, more, no less less.. Here Buddhism Buddhism seems to be in complete agreement with the modem atheistic existentialism of men like Jean Paul Sartre. Such a philosophy cannot escape the problem of despair. Indeed it holds out to man stark terror and agony and makes man an infinitely infinite ly lonely lone ly being in an alien, alien, hostile world. world. This This is is so beca be cause use it actu ac tual ally ly aband ab andon onss man to all the terrors terror s o f the stormy, stormy, high seas without providing him with as much as a raft or even a log to which whic h he can cling. And because no man in his right senses senses is prepared prepare d to accept acc ept such a state of o f affairs affairs,, atheistic atheistic existent existentiali ialism sm must mus t eventu ev entually ally modify mo dify its stand just as Buddhism modifi modified ed her hers. s. 120 12 0
In Islam it is Allah who created man, and Allah it is who further endowed him with personality and freedom.1S3 And yet Allah Allah is not prepa red to abandon aba ndon man to himself: , *> 'I , * ''] ) , , . ^ J— ^ dJ j Z j j I j I— >ji I
Doe D oess m an thin th inkk that th at h e w ill il l b e le ft f o r s a k e n ? ( Q u r ’an: 75:36) 75:36)
Neith Ne ither er is man the comp co mplet letee arch ar chit itec ectt and an d m aste as terr o f his destiny, nor is Allah the despot working out the destiny of man. Islam strikes the middle midd le course. course. In so doing Islam escapes escapes the the stark stark terrors of the complete freedom of existentialism and Buddhism, on the one hand, and the stultifying, suffocating determinism of Spinoza or the kismat of the Persians, on the other. Taqdir in Islam gives give s man ma n the freed fre edom om to ‘p a r tic ti c ip a te ’in the makin ma king g o f his own destiny. But the point to note is that his heart hear t finds solace, his A lla ah tremulous soul is comforted with the knowledge that All Him H im se lf also part pa rtici icipa pate tess with him in the m a king ki ng o f his destiny. This thought is more than than just ju st comforting; it is revolutionary and dynamic, for it makes of such a Muslim, the most fearless human being there can can ever be. In battle he is prepared to face an enemy ten times stronger and defeat defe at him. him. This fearlessness fearlessne ss has been amply demonst dem onstrate rated d in Isla I slami micc civili civ iliza zatio tion, n, time tim e and again, aga in, not only only on the battlefield battlefield but but also in the battlefield battle field o f ideas. And there is a gloriously gloriously beautiful beautiful tomorrow, prophes prop hesied ied by Muhammad Muham mad (s), which is coming, when authentic Islam will once again reemerge triumphantly resplendent in history, and all its hostile rivals will will be consigned to the garbagebin garbag ebin o f history! history!
l53Qur’an: 33:72.
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On Hum an Suffering
For Fo r the Buddhist, Bu ddhist, the world w orld is made up o f sufferin suffering, g, sarvam suf fering ing’. ’. Since suffering is ingrained in the dukkham, ‘all is suffer very nature of the world, it would hardly be worthwhile to try to confro nt the suffering o f the world. world. The purpose purpose of life life in Buddhism is to escape from suffering, to find salvation from suffering. The unfortunate unfort unate reality rea lity is that this philosophy philosophy o f life led led many ma ny to leave th e world wo rld to suffer and to seek shelter in an artifi artificial cial mind min d which wh ich is so condition c onditioned ed as to be unaffected by suffer suffering ing.. For the Muslim Mu slim there the re is suffering suffering in in the world. world. That sufferin suffering g is not in the nature na ture o f the world. It can be removed. removed. It is the duty duty of the Muslim, on the one hand, not to increase the misery and sufferings of the world, and on the other, to strive tirelessly to decrease decre ase them. The attitude here here is is not that of escape escape but of alleviation allevia tion and amelioration. ame lioration. The fundamental fundamental attrib attribute ute of Allah, the One God, is compassion'54', His compassion encompasseth all thing thi ngs.1 s.155 The Prophet Prop het o f Islam Islam was sent by Allah as the ‘source ‘source of of compassion’ for all the worlds .156 And in the famous saying of the Prophet (s), mankind is urged to be compassionate: Those who show compassion and mercy will have the sam e bestow be stow ed to to them them by the Compassionate One. One. Oh yo y o u e a r th ly beings, b y ye y e compassio comp assionate nate to one another! anoth er! (If y (If yee sh o u ld do so) H e who is in the th e heaven hea venss will wi ll show sh ow compassion comp assion to you.
This constitutes a positive Islamic attitude and response to suffering in the world.
154 In the nam e o f Alla Al lah, h, Mo st Compassiona Compas sionate, te, Most Merciful. (Qur’an: (Qur’an: 1:1) 155 Oh Our Lord, Your Mercy encompasse th all things. (Qur’an (Qur’an: 40:7) 156 And We ha ve not sent thee (O h Muhammad) Muhammad) but as a mercy mercy unto unto all the worlds. (Qur’an: 21:107)
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The The Rationale Rationale o f Suffering: The Muslim further distinguishes betwee bet ween n the sufferings suffer ings o f which man ma n him hi m self se lf is the archite arc hitect, ct, and the suffering sufferingss which come from Allah. No motorca mo torcarr can be displayed in the salesroom for public sale until it has been thoroughly thoroughly teste tested. d. No airc aircraf raftt is is deliv de livere ered d to the purc p urc haser ha ser until it has been tested again and again. again. It is is through these testing in trying situations that defects are discovered and removed to make the aircraft safer and more reliable.
On the same analogy analogy the human huma n being bein g has to go through tests so that he may be built into something durable, reliable and faultless faultless.. Allah uses suffering suffering to try man, to test t est him, to build him:
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Be sure We shal sh alll test you yo u with wit h som so m ethi et hing ng o f fe f e a r an a n d hunger hunger,, some some loss loss in goods, or live lives, s, or the fr u its (o f yo ur toil toil), ), but give gla d tiding tidingss to those those who patiently pa tiently persevere. persevere. (Qur (Q ur ’an: ’an: 2:155) 2:15 5)
By running from from suffering man becomes becom es a coward. By striving for personal immunity from suffering man becomes callous. callous. By standing up and and facing suffering squarely, bearing it with patience, patience, and working for its its alleviation, man m an becomes be comes a hero. hero. It is through Islam pa becom es a hero. This p a r excel ex cellen lence ce that man becomes is so so because it is the Qu r’an r’an which builds b uilds its philosophy philosoph y o f life on the concept of sabr. Sabr means patience, forbearance, composure, equanimity, steadfastness, firmness, selfcontrol, self command, command, selfpossession, selfpossession, perseverance, endurance endura nce and hardiness. And the Qur’an has over a hundred references to sabr. The second point to note is that it is the Muslim who is best be st equi eq uipp pped ed to exer ex erci cise se sabr. This again is so because it is is 123 12 3
the Qur’an which states that Allah Al lah n e v e r pla pl a c e s on any an y so u l a burden gr ea ter te r than tha n it can bear.157 On human nature natu re an d ma m a n ’s relatio relation n with God In connection with human nature, Islam affirms the aboriginal aborigi nal godlines godl inesss o f the human transcenden transc endental tal self. self. At the dawn of creation, according to the Qur’an, Allah addressed a spiritual gathering of all of mankind, and took from them a covenant of godliness, which whic h covenant coven ant signifi signifies es the natural godly dispo dispositi sition on o f the spiritual spiritual being o f man.
When When thy Lord drew forth fort h from the childre children n o f Adam, Adam, from fr om their loins, their descendents, and made them testify concerning themselves (i.e (i.e.. their the ir transcendental selves) (sayin (saying:) g:) Am I not no t yo y o u r Lord Lo rd? ? (i.e., (i.e ., is n o t the th e rela re latio tions nshi hip p whic wh ich h ex exist istss betwe bet ween en yo y o u r o w n selv se lves es a n d M e such su ch that th at I am the th e Creator, Creator, Evolv Evolver, er, Cherish Cherisher er and Sustainer Sustainer o f your yo ur spiritual spirit ual beings) bein gs) ? They said: Yea we do testify? (Qur’an: 7:172)
Man has another dimension of his being besides the transcend transc endental ental in as much as he he is is also also a spatiotemporal being. being. In respect of this dimension also Islam affirms, as no other religion affirms, that human nature is so constituted as to be in harm ony with the strug strug gle for for godline ss. Man, we noted earlier, earlie r, has h as been be en crea cr eated ted in the best of o f consti co nstituti tutions ons or nature nat ure.7 .75* But what is more significant is that the human constitution or nature has been m odelled after the Divine Divine Nature: Nature: 157 Qu Qur’an: r’an: 2:28 2: 28 6. 158 Qu Qur’an: r’an: 95:4 95 :4..
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T’/ie constitution constitution o f Allah acco rding to which which He hath constituted constitute d man. man. ( Q u r ’an:30: an: 30: 30). 30 ).1 159 Thus Thus is order to practise practise the religious relig ious way o f life, life, according to the Qur’a Qu r’an, n, man does not not have to negat ne gatee himself. Rather, Rather, he has to affirm himself. True religion means living a life in conformity growth of the with wit h one s over ov er-a -all ll natu na ture1 re16 60. In fact the measure o f growth individual human personality corresponds exactly to its measure o f affinity affinity with Realit Reality, y, for man is the microcos mic rocosm m o f which Real Re ality ity is the macrocosm;
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Wher Wherefo efore re set thou thyfa c e toward towa rd the true religion religion (which (which is, is, to follow foll ow)) the constitu constitution tion o f All A llah ah acco ac cord rdin ing g to which H e hath constituted man. man. There There is no alteration altera tion in A lla ll a h s’ creation (i.e., human nature does not not change!) That is the right religion religion (living a life in conformity with human nature) but most men know not. (Q u r’an: r’an: 30:30)
Thus according to the Qur’an, man, in his very nature, posses pos sesses ses a built bu iltin in frame fra mewo work rk o f godl go dlin ines ess. s. This is affirm aff irmed ed even more emphatically in the hadith literature where it is stated that Allah Alla h crea c reated ted Adam Ada m (i.e (i.e., ., man m an,) ,) in H is own surah sur ah (liken (lik eness ess).1 ).161 159 Rendering by Maulana Abdul Abdul Majid Maji d Dary abadi (H oly Qur’an with E nglish nglis h Translation). 160 This is an absolutely unique unique and and creativ e definit d efinit ion o f religion giv en by the Qur’an. 161 And He created Adam in His own surat (ima ge). Hadith Hadith .
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Thus, as we pointed out earlier, the Islamic conception of human nature makes it possible for Islam to say that in order to attain godliness, man must affirm himself, man must foster the growth o f very ver y dim d imens ension ion o f his being.76 being.762 This is in contrad contradistinct istinction ion to other religious viewpoi view points nts where we find, as in Chri Christian stianity, ity, that in order to be godly man must negate himself, i.e, his physical being, bei ng, and in Budd Bu ddhi hism sm w here he re man has to negate neg ate not no t only his physical phys ical being be ing and a nd self, self , but bu t also his very existence existe nce as an an individual, his very ‘I’. World In connection with the relationship which exists between man and the universe around him, Islam gives the unique answer that the universe has been subjugated to man. So that, far from bein be ing g an obsta o bstacle cle,, the t he unive un iverse rse becomes a tool which w hich man m an can c an use for his own ends:
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To becom e godly g odly man ma n must build a relationship relationship with nature. nature. He must be a keen observer of the external phenomena, and he should reflect over his observations and ponder over his reflections. reflections. In so doing doin g he not only discovers discovers the the reality reality of o f the world, but he also establishes for himself a pattern of life which leads naturally to godliness:
162 Tr Trul uly y he succ eeds wh o prom otes the grow growth th o f (all (all the dimensions dimensions of) his being . And he fails w ho stultif ies that growth growth (either (either who lly or partly). partly). (Qur’an (Qur’an: (!: 9-10)
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Behol Be hold! d! In the creation o f the heav he aven enss a nd earth, and an d the th e altern alternati ation on o f the Night and the Day there are are indeed Signs Signs fo r men o f understan understanding ding:: those those who remember Allah standing stan ding and sitting and lying on on their th eir side sides, s, and an d reflect on the creation o f the heavens and the earth earth (until the realization realization o f A l l a h s’ greatness as reflected reflecte d in creation stuns them to to the exclamat excla mation) ion):: ‘ Our Lord! Lord ! Not N ot fo r nought nou ght hast ha st thou created create d (all) this. H a llow ll ow e d be Thou! Give us salvation fro fr o m the Fire ’. ( Q u r ’an: 3:190-1) 3:190-1)
The world is real. It is not, as in Hinduism Hin duism , maya, an illusion, illusion, a dream, not a figm ent o f my im agination . For Christianity, and even more so for Buddhism, the world is an obstacle obstacle in the way o f man’ ma n’ss achievement achievem ent o f moral mora l perfection. Both o f these religions, religions, therefore, therefore, in their the ir original orthodox o rthodox form, form, deny d eny this world, turn away from this world, and project, consequently, a complete complete otherworldly philosophy o f life life.. Islam says that the world is real. It says more than tha n this. this. It says that the world is is so constituted constituted as to be in harmony harmo ny with man's ma n's moral strivings. strivings. In other words, this world worl d is a moral mor al order. order. It is possible for Islam to make this statement because Islam (with Christianity and Judaism) holds that the world is a crea creati tion on o f Allah Alla h out o f nothing. This means means that the total nature nature of o f the world wo rld has been given by Allah. But here Islam parts company with the other revealed religions to assert that Allah not only on ly created crea ted an ordered ord ered1 163univers uni versee but bu t also placed place d l63Qur’an: 69:3
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in it a serious purpose and end. That the creation o f the world, world, o f life and death, is for a moral end, and that the world is a moral order, is stated in the following verses:
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Ble B le s se d is H e in Whos Wh osee Hands Ha nds (i.e., poss po sses essi sion on)) is the Domin Do minion ion:: a n d H e o v e r a ll thing thi ngss has ha s P ower ow er;; H e who crea cr eate ted d Dea D eath th a n d Life, that th at He H e m ight ig ht try you yo u (as to) which o f yo yo u is best in conduct, and an d H e is the th e Exalte Exa lted d in Might, Oft-Forgi Oft-Forgiving ving.. (Qur’an: 67:1-2)
The conclusion in this respect is that, in its quest for godliness, Islam affirms, rather than denies, the world. The Buddhist philosophy of the world is negative, the Islamic is positive! As we w e explained in the discussi discussion on on the relig ious iou s schools sch ools o f Buddhism, Buddha locked the door doorss of this this world wo rld and preach pre ached ed a philosop phil osophy hy o f ‘otherworldliness’. Since Since ‘all is suffering’ and the Buddhist seeks to escape from suffering, he can only do that by severing his relations with the world. Most Mo st Buddhists ha ve watere w atered d this down to a ‘spirit o f detachment’, detachment’, 128
trying to imply imply that though the flesh may b e weak, still the spirit, at least, can be Buddhist. The Qur’an, as we have seen, teaches that this world is real, i.e., it it is is ‘a reality real ity to to be be reckon reck oned ed w ith it h ’. The world, and all it contains, contains, have been subjugated to man. Far from from escaping from the world, man finds himself, in Islam, as the virtual sovereign sovereign o f the world, the viceg erent o f Allah (khalifatullah) in the world. This positive philosophy has some very important implications. Buddhism with its negative philosophy of the world has, in more than two thousand years, contributed very little to the advance of knowledge in the different fields of investigation which pertain to this world and the life of this world, e.g., the natural and and social sciences. sciences. A contribu con tribution tion has been made in the field field of psychology to some extent, bu t that only nega tively and not positively since it is not based on an objective approach. Islam, Islam, on the other hand, hand, with its positive attitu de towards tow ards the world world (including (including the em pirical s elf of man) actually inaugurated the scientific era, develope d the scien tific method , and laid the foundations for the vast and stupendous advances in knowledge and discoveries in different branches of science ’an it s e lf serv ed which characterizes the modern age. The Our ’an as the the fou nta in-he ad which which gu ided the M uslim uslim s in their academic a nd scientific pursuits. pursuits. Hartwig H irschfield irschfield writes: We must not be surprised to to fi n d in the Q u r ’an the fou nta in head o f the scienc sciences. es. Every sub ject connec ted with with heaven or earth, human, life, commerce and various trades is
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occasionally touched upon, and this gave rise to the pr p r o d u c tio ti o n o f num nu m erou er ouss m onog on og rap ra p hs fo r m in g comme com men n taries on pa rts o f the Holy Book. In this way the Qur ’an was respon sible fo r great great discussions discussions,, and to to it was was indirectly due the marvellous marvellous developmen develo pmen t o f all branches branches scie sc ienc nc e in the th e M uslim us lim world wo rld . . . 164
Iqbal makes the same point when he comments: Bu B u t the th e p o i n t to no te is the ge n e ra l em p iric ir ica a l atti at titu tude de o f the Ou r ’an which wh ich engendered engendered in its followe follo wers rs a feelin fe elin g o f reverence f o r the actual and ultimately made them them the the fou fo u n d e rs o f moder mo dern n science. It was a grea gr eatt p o in t to awaken the empiric em pirical al spirit spir it in in an age age which renounced the visible visible as o f no valu valuee in in ma n’s search search f o r God.'6 Go d.'65
The positive po sitive philosophy philosoph y of the world gave rise, in Islam, to to something which is even more unique unique.. Prophet Muhammad is the only world leader, and an d Islam the only religion, which has made the quest of all knowledge (including the physical sciences) compulsory on all a ll its followers, follow ers, male male as well w ell as female. The very first revelation which the Prophet received began with the word know ledge! The revelati revelation on then went on to give give the the iqra - pursue knowledge! nam ely that Allah Allah must be psyc ps ycho holo logy gy o f the th e que q uest st fo f o r knowledge, namely the source of inspiration and guidance in the pursuit of know kn ow ledge led ge'6 '66 6. Seculariz Secu larizatio ation n o f education has today effectively effectively destroyed the link between betwe en the Allah Allah and the pursuit purs uit o f knowledg knowledge. e. Secondly, Secondly, it pointed pointe d to the fruits of the quest for knowledg knowledge. e. By acquiring know ledge man is raised raised stage stage by stage, in a world which which recognizes recog nizes values, valu es, to the th e exalted exal ted state of o f honor ho nor and an d glory76 glory767. The IMHirschfield, Hartwig: New Researches into the Composition and Exegesis of the Qur’an, p. 9. 165 Iqbal, Op. cit. ci t. p. 13. 166 Pursue know ledge led ge in the name o f Allah. (Qur’an (Qur’an:: 96 :1) 167 Pursue kn know ow ledg e and thy Lord, Lord, Who is the the Mo st Honored (wil l raise thee thee to a state of honor). (Qur’an: 96:3)
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world today has witnessed such a collapse of values that knowledge is now pursued in order to make money, be rich, control others, and live comfortably. Finally Fin ally the Q u r’an gives the the method of the quest, namely the knowledge must be pursued systematically and acquired in a scientific, organized manner, through the use of the ‘p e n ’ and an d all that tha t it sym sy m boli bo lize zes7 s76 6* ‘P e n ’ symbolizes the recording of facts, observations, findings, hypothesis, etc.; the scientific scientific development developm ent o f language to serve as as a proper instrument for the pursuit and spread o f knowledge. The words ‘read ’169‘teac te ach’1 h’17 70, and ‘p e n ’171 impl im ply y read re adin ing, g, writi wri ting, ng, books, boo ks, stud study, y, and research. research. The world o f knowledg know ledgee has today lost sight sight o f this and and is producing more and more people p eople who are technically te chnically efficient in a single branch of knowledge and are jackasses in respect o f all all the rest o f the world o f knowledge. knowledge . The intellect is fed with Me Donald’ Don ald’ss hamburgers hamburgers and KFC, K FC, and an d if i f Michael Jackson were to start dancing on his head they would all seek to imitate him, and all their expensive education would dance with them! The Muslim is dutybound, therefore, to enter into different branches of knowledge with a view to accumulating understanding, assessing and assimilating, with a critical outlook, the contributions of different nations and different scholars, and thence to proceed to the creative, daring task of strivin striving g to extend the frontiers frontiers o f knowledge know ledge in every single single branch of knowledge knowledge.. Muslims have now abandoned this quest. quest. And the scholars of an essentially godless and decadent modem western civilization have put the scholars of the world of Islam to shame. God Go d
Without God, Buddhism failed to give satisfactory answers in connection with the origin of life, the purpose of life, the goal 168 Who taught with the pen. (Qur’an: (Qur’an: 96:4) 96: 4) 169 170
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or destiny of life, and the place of man in the scheme of things. Nei N eith ther er coul co uld d B u ddhi dd hism sm give gi ve a satisf sat isfac acto tory ry philo ph iloso soph phy y o f the world. In fact, w ithou ith outt God Buddhism Buddhism could not but give give a philo ph iloso soph phy y o f life to tall ta lly y inadeq ina dequat uate, e, unsu un suite ited d and unac un acce cepta ptabl blee to basic human nature. Because o f this mistake Buddhism has suffered the hum iliatio n o f being ‘turned upside do w n’ to the the extent that it is today difficult to find the original gospel of Buddha in popular Buddhism. Islam, with God, gave eminently satisfactory answers where Bud dhism co uld not. Because Because o f God man is is a created bei b eing ng w ith an a b o rig ri g in a lly ll y pure pu re moral mo ral co nsti ns titu tuti tion on,, a spiri sp iritu tual al bei b eing ng w ho w ill il l surv su rviv ivee deat de ath, h, a fully ful ly pers pe rso o nal na l bein be ing g endo en dow w ed (as nothing else in the universe has been endowed) with a creative intellec t, selfconscio se lfconscio usness and a ‘selfdirected ‘selfdirected w ill’ end of life, life, as as (i.e., freewill). B ecau se o f God the purpose and end well as the goal o f life, beco m e positive positive,, dynamic dy namic and sublime. sublime. Because of God man occupies the highest place in the scheme o f things. Again Ag ain bec ause au se o f God God this world wo rld is is real real and is is a moral order, that is, it is so constituted as to be compatible with success in the moral struggle. Let us examine the relationship which exists between God and man. For philoso phil osophi phicc Hinduism, God or the absolute, absolute, is is the great unknown (DM). For Mahayana Buddhis m the transcendental transcendental Mahaya na Buddhism reality, which has been identified with nirvana, is unknowable. It is void (sunya). Even Eve n ancient anci ent Greek Greek thought thou ght which, in its last upsurge took a religious turn in Plotinus, conceived of God, or, as prin ciple it he called it, ‘the One’, as unknowable. On this principle becom bec omes es impo im possi ssibl blee to deter de termi mine ne the relatio rela tionsh nship ip which whic h exists betwe bet ween en man m an and an d an eter et erna nally lly unknowable unknow able God. Christianity, later Buddhism, popular Hinduism, and even Judaism have gone to the other oth er extreme. extreme. According to Christian Christianity ity and later Buddhism, God Himself is a Man. (Christianity: (Christi anity: Jesus; Jesus; Buddhism: Buddha Bu ddha). ). He incarnates inc arnates as a man, comes down to earth earth 132 13 2
to live as a man, to suffer all the human frailties, privations and limitations, and finally to die as a man. In Hinduism Hindui sm the Gods are all men (Hinduism also admits of goddesses) who came down to earth and lived like human beings. The relationship here is not the promotion promot ion o f man to divinity but bu t the th e demo de motio tion n o f God Go d to humanity. humanity. Even the God God of Judaism Judaism does does not escape this defect. He may not be a man, but He certainly certai nly behave beh avess like lik e one. For Fo r exam e xample, ple, there the re were Jews who believed that God Go d had a son called Ezra. Ezra. Then again, he created created the world world in six days and a nd becam be camee so tired that He had to rest on the seventh day, etc. etc.! It is is Islam, Islam, which, which, instead o f degradi deg rading ng God, G od, recognizes man m an as the vicegerent o f Allah. Allah. Nay, Islam proclaim proc laimss that Man has been constituted consti tuted in such likeness, liken ess, or on the same sam e pattern patte rn as the Divine Constitution and Nature, that Islam can give to humanity the ideal seeking to imbue the Divine Attributes . 172 The relationship, therefore, which exists between man and God, God, is one o f affinit affinity. y. It is therefo the refore re possibl poss iblee for man to become becom e godly godly,, to imitate the Divine Divine Personality. In fact Islam has has made this imitation of the Divine Personality compulsory, as we have just ju st noted. The second aspect of this relationship is that, as observed earlier, Allah Himself has appointed man as His Vicegerent (khalifah) on earth:
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172 Cf. The hadith hadith:: Imbue yourselve yours elvess w ith the div ine attributes. attributes.
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This establishes an official close relationship between God and man. But, to become godly man must know something of the divine personality. Islam says it is is possibl pos siblee to know God. God. The knowledge of God Go d is is to be arrived arri ved at a t through throu gh different stages. stages. The first stage stage is through revelation . The second stage stage is through observation, observation, reason reaso n and experi exp erienc encee (mora (m orall and mystic)/7 mysti c)/7i. i. Both these stages, stages, however, will give us knowledge of God only in so far as He is related relate d to us to His H is creation crea tion.. In fact the Q u r’an enshrines this relationship in the famous famou s ninetynine beautiful names o f Allah. Allah. But of God, in himself, in His essential being and essence, we do not have any knowledge.
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Even by analogy he cannot be comprehended; because, in his essence, essence, nothing nothin g is like unto h im /74 Thus, the God o f Islam is bot both h unknowable and knowable. Islam Isla m admi ad mits ts kno k now w ledg le dgee o f G od adequate adequa te to human requirements. W hat more can m an wa nt? There are many reasons why man man cannot, and sho uld no t have ha ve more. To begin with, with, God is an infin ite bein g. M an is a finite being. The finite cannot 173 In respect o f the the pro blem o f provin g the the existence o f God, Islam Islam holds the the positio n that God is not to b e prov p roved ed (proofs being ratio rational nal and and God being being supra supra-rational). Rather God Go d is to be achiev ach iev ed. ed . God is to be experienced. experie nced. But rational rational arguments can be used, and in fact must be used, to suggest very strongly the existence o f God. God. 174 Qu Qur’an: r’an: 42:11 42: 11
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comprehend the infinite. It I t is fo f o r th e in fin fi n ite it e to em b rac ra c e the th e fin fi n ite it e a nd to best be stow ow on it such su ch kn o w led le d g e a s its it s f i n i t u d e adm ad m its. it s. Secondly, it is a psychological characteristic of man’s rational consciousness that to grasp, comprehend and know a thing is, is, in in a very real sense sense,, to make mak e it subservien sub servient. t. In the very act of o f knowing G od’s od’s tot total al nature the rational consciousness will be unde un derm rm inin in ing g and an d erodi ero ding ng the th e b a sic si c u tili ti lity ty o f the th e b e l i e f in God. The The Concept Concept o f God God What is is the the nature nature o f the God o f Islam Islam and how does H e compare with His Buddhist Buddhist counte rpart? Buddhism actually has no God to offer for comparison. comp arison. W hat the Buddhists now worship as God, i.e., the idols, even Buddha himself who reincarnates, is not to to be be found in origin al B uddhism . And so it is not really fair to make these innovations representative of original Buddhism. In so far as as the gener general al conce co nce pt o f God is concerned th ere are two fundamental questions we can raise. raise . Firstly, Firstly, ought there to be be a God? And secondl secondly, y, if there the re is a God, w hat should sho uld be His qualities? In respect of the first question, we shall be content with drawing the attention of the reader to this monograph as a whole, Buddhism experimenting without God, and Islam insisting insisting on God, God, and leave leave the reader read er to draw his own conclusio conc lusion. n. Now N ow w ith it h rega re gard rdss to th e s e c o n d q u e s tio ti o n it m u s t b e admitted that God, in order order to be God, Go d, ought oug ht to be the embodiment falls short o f holiness and o f holiness holiness and perfect perfectio ion. n. If He falls perfection perfe ction,, He can ca n never ne ver function functi on as the th e high hi ghes estt goal g oal in life o r the th e explanation explanation of all things for man. This is clearly in consequence consequen ce of the fact that man possesses aesthetic, rational, moral and 135 13 5
spiritual or religious relig ious consciousn cons ciousness. ess. But God, God, the perfect perfec t being, being, cannot be a finite being, for, as Dr. Ansari points out, fin fi n itu it u d e is limitation, limitation is shortcoming, shortcoming is defect, and defect defe ct is imper fection fec tion.'7 .'75 Therefore God, in order or der to be perfect, perfect, must be infinite. infinite. Again God, the infinite being, being , must m ust be One. One. There cannot be two infinite infinite beings, bein gs, for infinity, b y defini def initio tion, n, is that which is limitless. O f all the religions o f the world, world, it is Islam Islam and Islam Islam alone which gives the concep con ceptt o f God Go d as perfect, perfect, infi infinit nite, e, and a nd one one..
The God of Christianity suffers from the imperfections and finitudes o f man, to the th e extent tha t when he (Jesu (Jesus) s) was nailed on the cross, he actually cried out in distress for help: Eli El i Eli E li lema lem a sab s abac acht htha hani ni My M y God, M y God, w hy hast ha st thou forsa for sake ken n me. (Matthew: 27:46)
Secondly, Secondly, the Christi Ch ristian an concept of o f God is not monotheistic. monotheistic. There is a world of difference between God as One, and God as ‘one in three and three in one ’. The Christian Christia n Godhead Godhe ad is really reall y triune. The God o f toda to day’ y’ss Judaism, Juda ism, though One, One, is not perfect. He has a defective sense o f just ju stic ic e since s ince He shows open open favouritism favourit ism to one race o f people (the Jews) Je ws) and excludes excludes the rest rest of o f mankind (the (the Gentiles) from the possibil po ssibility ity o f enter entering ing Para Paradis dise. e. The Gods and g oddesses odd esses o f Hinduism, Hinduism, are so numerous that it takes an effort to remember even their names. 175Ansa 5A nsari, ri, Dr. F.R.: F.R.: Found Fo undati ation onss o f Faith, Fait h, p. 36
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In Islam, God is is embodiment embodime nt o f all perfection. He is the the selfexist selfexistent, ent, selfsubs selfsubsisten istent, t, omnipotent, o mnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient omnisc ient God, besides whom there there is is no other other.. He is the compassionate, comp assionate, the merciful, merciful, the loving, the the kind, the generous, g enerous, the forgiving, the just. ju st. He is fully person p ersonal al being bei ng with w ith who w hom m man can cons co nseq eque uent ntly ly communicate. The foregoing discussion has demonstrated that the concept of God in Islam is not only rationally acceptable and sublime, but also absolutely unique and without parallel. Summary The Islamic Islamic philosophy o f life revolves around the prin pr inci ciple ple o f unity un ity (tawhid) which finds expression expression in the unity o f man, the world and God, and the concept of rationallyoriented faith. faith. In respect of the goal of o f life, life, Islam gives the ideal o f godliness. godliness. Unlike the the Buddhist goal of life, the Islamic goal o f life is definite, definite, positive, positive, and eminently eminen tly acceptable. Furthermo Furthe rmore, re, all the prerequisites necessary for the successful struggle to achieve the the goal are met met in the Islam ic concep c oncepts ts o f man, w orld, and God. Conclusion The conclusion is that it is Islam and not no t Buddhism w hich meets the requirements of man’s religious consciousness and, thus, possesses possesses the capacity capacity to survive the m odem age, an age which is witnessing the most powerful challenge to the religious way o f life life ever witnessed in history. history. Our scriptural, dimensional and archetypal comparison of Buddhism Buddhism and Islam as as well well as the comparison o f their respective respe ctive philosophi philo sophies es o f life have demon dem onstra strated ted the very ver y clear clea r superi sup eriori ority ty o f Islam. Islam. 137
This confirms the truth o f the the thricerepeated thricerepeated Qu r’anic r’anic verse verse which states:
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He H e it is Who has ha s sent sen t His Mess M essen enge gerr (Muhammad) (Muha mmad) with the guida gu idance nce and an d the true religion (i.e. (i.e.,, Islam) that tha t it may prevail pre vail (time (time and again) over all other religions (or ideologies), and Allah suffices suffi ces as a s a witness (that such will wil l be). be). (Our’an: 9:33; 48:28; 61:9)
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138 13 8
Glossary o f the three books which comprise the Tripitaka. Tripitaka. Abhidhamma: Abhidh amma: one of It deals deals mainly with Buddhist metaphysics. Buddha. Adi-Buddh Adi-B uddha: a: the great Buddha or the primeval Buddha. Ahimsa: Ahimsa : nonviolence. Alam al-Amr: the world o f freedom. Alam al-Khalq: al-Kha lq: the determined world. Anatta: Anat ta: the notself. unive rsal flu flux. x. Anicca: Anicc a: the universal saint of the Hinayana sect. sect. Arhat: the saint souls. Awa gawan: gawan : transmigration o f souls. celibate life Bhikshu: the Buddhist monk who lives the monastic celibate and who trains himself for preaching the religious doctrines of Gautama Buddha. saint o f the Mahayana Mahaya na sect. sect. Bodhisattva: Bodhisatt va: the saint famous tree unde r which Buddha attained Bo B o d h i tree: tree : the famous enlightenment. law). Dhamma: law (impersonal law). ethics. Dhammapada Dhamma pada:: a Pali text dealing mainly with Buddhist ethics. Dukh: suffering. Fana: the psychological annihilation o f the se lf as a prelude to its sublimation to the Divine Self. two famous sects of o f Buddhism. It is strongly Hinayana: one of the two orthodox. Iblis: Satan. (rationall yorientated) faith. Iman: (rationallyorientated) struggle in the way o f Allah, which inflicts a Jiha Ji had d f i sabil sa bil Allah: Allah : struggle cycle of rebirth on anything falling short of moral perfection. bec omee godly and then the n function as as God’ Go d’ss Khalifatullah: he who can becom representative. Sanscrit rit text of the Buddhist scriptures. scriptures. Replete Lalitavistar Lalit avistara: a: a Sansc with the miracles of Buddha. o f the philosophical schools schools o f Buddhism which Madhyamika: Madhyamika : one of holds that there is no reality. Ga utama ma’’s mother. Mahamaya: Mahamay a: Gauta 139 13 9
sel f or great soul. soul. Mahat Ma hatma ma:: great self sects o f Buddhism. Buddhism. It has Mahay Ma hayan ana: a: one o f the two famous sects departed to a considerable extent from the original teachings teachings of o f Buddh Buddha. a. pronetoevil. Nafs Na fs al-amm al-a mmarah arah:: the se lf pronetoevil. it has Na N a fs al-l al -law aw w am ah: ah : the self, conscious o f evil which it committed, and regretful o f having done so. so. s elff freefromev freefromevil il and and in a state state of Nafs Na fs al-muta al-m utama mainn innah: ah: the sel inner contentment and peace. Nirvana. Nibba Nib bana na:: same o f Nirvana. state of contemplative contemplative Nirv N irvan ana: a: salvation, enlightenment, the state quietude. sole scripture scripture of o f Islam. Islam. Q ur ’an: the sole Sabr: patience. Gautama. a. It literall literally y means ‘the ‘the Sakyamuni: one of the names o f Gautam sage sage o f the tribe o f Sakya’. suff ering. g. Sarvam dukham: all is sufferin Sarvam kashnikam: all is fleeting. schools o f Buddhism. Buddhism. It Sautrantika: one o f the philosophical schools corresponds to ‘critical realism’. given name o f Gautama Gautama.. Siddharta: the given incongru ous transitory tran sitory element. element. Skanda: an incongruous auta ma’’s father. father. Suddhodana: G autama spiritual luminaries o f Isla Islam. m. Sufis: the spiritual Sunya: void. o f the three books boo ks which compose compose the TriPika TriPikata. ta. Sutta Pitaka: one of It is a collection of the sermons and discourses of Gautama Buddha and incidents in his life. clinging to life. life. Tanha: desire, clinging Tathagata: the name by w hich Gautama called himself. It literally means ‘he who has arrived at the truth’. Tawhid: unity. Tazkiyah: purification. Pali text o f the Buddhist B uddhist scrip scriptures tures.. Tri-pitaka: a Pali Ummi: unlettered. schools of Buddhism. Buddhism. It Vaibhashika: one o f the philosophical schools corresponds to ‘direct realism’. 140 14 0
Vinaya pataka: one of the three books which compose the Tripitaka. Tripitaka. It is the book o f discipline. discipline . Yasoddhra: Gautama’ Gautama ’s young and beautiful wife. Yogacara: one one of the philosophical philosophical schools of Buddhism Buddhism which holds that only the mental is real and that the material world is void of reality reality..
141 141
INDEX Abaqa Khan 81 Abbasai, Dr. 109 Abdullah Y usuf Ali 29 Abhi Ab hidh dham amm m a 4 —5 Abiding Reality 52 53 Abu Bakr 97 Adam 13,38, 78, 111 Adi-B Ad i-Bud uddh dha a 74, 75 Ahmad, Shaikh Mahmud 91 Ahim Ah imsa sa 71 47 Am A m anat an at 47 Am A m bapa ba pali li 68 Ameer Am eer Ali Ali 77 Ambrose 88 Ananda (the disciple) 2, 3, 51, 80, 90 Anat An atta ta 36 Ango An golim limar ara a 68 Ansari, Dr. F. R. 16, 17, 30,31, 65,71,93,95, 111, 112, 114, 115, 136 Anthropomorphism 11 Appearancereality 44 Archetype 93100 85 Arh A rha a t 85 Aristotle 114 Arnold, Sir Edwin 7 Arnold, Thomas 77, 78, 79, 80, 81,82, 83 Asoka 53,95 Augustine 88 Awa Gawan (see also Transmigration) 12 142 14 2
Baghdad 76,77 Banaras 8 Bergson 26, 27, 114 Berkeley, Berkeley, Bishop B ishop 46 Besant, Annie 99 Bhikshu Bhi kshuss 4 Bible 86 87, 92 92 Bodhi Tree 8 Bo Tree 61 Bodhis Bo dhisattv attva a 55 Bokhara 76, 77 Bradley 44 Brahm rahman an 10,11,51 ,59,6 7,71 , 72, 101 101 _ Brelvi, Prof. Mahmud 8, 24 Brotherhood 113 Buddha as archetype 93100 as God 45, 58, 59, 96, 102, 132, 135 death 1,9 development 15 enlighte enlightenmen nmentt 1,7,8,67, 1,7,8 ,67, 98, 102 incarnation 102 life 1,6, 8, 52, 53,88 mission 1012 resemblance to Jesus 6669 resemblance to Krishna 53 teac teachi hings ngs 1 3,13 22, 22, 2539
moral consciousness 15 moral personality 97 98 Buddhism comparison with Islam 85138 encounter with Christianity nity 64 70,73 encounter with Hinduism 10-12
encounter with Islam 7484 influence on Christianity 6470 philosoph phil osophical ical schools 4250 philosop phil osophy hy o f 23 41 philosop phil osophy hy o f life 101
1 12
religious schools 51 51 63 script scriptures ures 1 5, 85 85 86 source urcess of 1 5 Caste system 12,51,71,101,113 Cause Cause and effe effect ct 25 25 27,44 27 ,44 Celibacy 47, 55, 90, 103, 107112 Change 33 36, 43 43 Chatteijee and Datta 4, 19, 23, 26, 49,5 1,60 China 75 Chisti, Prof. Y.S. 66 Christ (see also Jesus) 11, 65, 6769, 83, 107 Christianity 13, 59, 75, 80, 94, 110, 113, 115, 120, 127, 136
encounter with Buddhism 73 influence of Buddhism 6470 Compassion 122 Concentration 19 Conc Concep eptt of God God 13 51 37 Confucianism 75 Confucius 83 Constantine 95 Conversio Con version n 73, 74, 74, 75, 75, 79 82 Conze, Dr. E. 2, 3, 56, 59, 65, 66, 74, 108 C o u n ci ls 2 3 Covenant o f godliness godliness 124 Dahlke, Dr. P. 2 Daryabadi, MaulanaA.M. 125 Dasgupta 20 Datta, Datta, Chatteijee Chatteijee an d4, 19,23, 26, 49,51,60 Davenport, Davenp ort, John 87 Davids, Mrs. Rhys 2, 5 Dawson, Christopher 94 Decay 11, 15,33,51 Dependent Originati Origination on 24 27, 28, 33,43,44, 101 Descartes 40 Desire {Tanha) 1 6 1 7 , 2 6 2 7 Despa De spair ir 28, 120 120 121 Destiny 120121 Detachment 89, 128 Dham Dh amm m a 51, 53 Dha D hamm mm apad ap ada a 4, 27, 107 Dialectical Pragmatism 24 Doanne, T.W. 66 143
(se e also sufferin suff ering) g) 3, Duk D ukh h (see 13 16, 122 122 124 124
Goloka 58 Gomprez Gomp rez 33
Economics 115 Ego 3 8 4 1 , 60 60 Elan El an vita vi tall 26, 27, 114 Empiracal se lf 24, 38, 39 41, 5960, 129 Empiricism 25 Ethics 10, 13,2539, 89, 93 Eve 111 Existe Ex istenti ntialis alism m 120 121 Ezra 96, 133
Halaku Khan 76, 81 Hegel 24 Heraclitus 33 52, 53 53 63, 86, Hinay Hin ayan ana a 5, 52, 94, 95 Hinduism 7, 10, 75, 93, 110, 120, 127,132, 136 encounter with Buddhism 7173 Hinton 108 Hirschfeld, Hartwig 129, 130 Hodgson 5 Hue, E.R. 70 Human Nature 119, 124 126 Hume David 26 Humphrey Humphreys, s, Christma Christmass 3,5 3 ,5,7 ,72 2, 85, 86
Faith and Reason 115 Family 59 Fana 38 Faruqi 57 Flame, analogy an alogy 11, 20 21 Four Noble Truths Truths 8,13 8,1 3 17, 52 Freed Freedom, om, human 1 2 0 121,132 121,132 Freud, Sigmund 18, 108 Gautama (see also Buddha) 1, 3,6 , 7, 7, 8,51 ,61 ,62 , 89 89, 93, 95, 102 Gestalt Ges talt 45 Ghazan 81 81 82 Gibb, H.A.R. 113, 114 Goal Goal in in life life 14,20,21,115 14,20 ,21,115 1 1 9 , 131,137 God 10, 11, 25, 35, 52, 56, 57 59, 96, 102 102 103, 117, 122, 124 126, 131 137 137 nature o f 28, 119, 119, 136 136 137 137 144 14 4
Iblis Ibl is (Satan) 37 Ibn AlAthir AlA thir 11, 78 Ibn Khaldun 77 Idealism, subjective 45 48 Idolatry 10, 96, 102, 135 Ilkhans 81, 82 Iman Ima n 115 Immortality 20, 41 India 10, 71, 72, 114 Iqbal Iqbal Dr. M. M. 33,35 33 ,35,36 ,36,130 ,130,131 ,131 Islam 10, 13,36,64,71,72 and Hinduism 72 archetype 94100 causality 26 change chan ge 33 36
comparison with Jews 96, 136 Buddhi ddhism sm 85 1 3 8 38 Jih J ih a d 38 comprehensive Johanssen 24 guidance guidance 90 93 Judaism 132 desire 16 despai despairr 28 29 KanSu 81 ego 3738, 40,41 Kant 24, 44 encounter with Kapilavastu 6 Buddhism 72, 73 73 84 Karma 12, 27, 32, 39, 71, 89, goal in life 115119,137 101,120 God /Allah 28, 29, 33, Kayshapa 2, 3 1 3 1 11 13 37 Khadija 98 immortality 41 Khalifatullah 40, 129, 134 man man 11 113, 120 1 2012 12 6,132 6,1 32,, Khudabandah 82 133 Khurasan 81 marriage marri age 91, 108 108 112 Kismat 121 moral struggle 38 Knowledge of God 113, 129, philosophy o f life 112 112 — 131,135 138 Kroeber, A.L. 94 pri prin ncip ciple ofUnity 112115 112115 Krsna (Krishna) 58 reality reality 43, 46 47 Kurguz 81 scrip criptu turre 8 5 8 9 sel self 21, 5 9 6 0 Laity 53 55 sin 13 Lalitavistara Lalitav istara 5 superiority of o f 137 137 138 Lama, Dalai 62, 70 withdrawal 104107 Langlois and Seignobos 3 woman 93, 107 112 Lea H.C. 69 world 34 34 35, 35, 43 43 Lhasa 61, Life 115 Jainism 7 origin origin of 1 2 0 1 2 1 , 131 Jenghez Jenghez Khan 76 77, 77, 79 Lumbini 6 Jennings, H.J. 2 Lust 111 Jesus (see also Christ) 59, 61, Luther 88 64, 85, 87, 95, 96, 97, 103, 119, 132,136 45,56, 58 Madhyamik Madh yamika a 42,43 45,56, resemblance resemblance to Buddha 57 69 Mah M aham amay aya a 6 145 14 5
Maha Ma hava vastu stu 5 Mahat Ma hatma man n 60 41, 44 45, 52, Maha Ma haya yana na 5, 41, 5 3 6 3 , 7 3 7 4 , 86 8 6 ,1 3 2 M an 9 ,17,36, ,17,36,47,57 47,57,101, ,101,113, 113, 119,120126,132,133,135 relationship with God 131 131 135 135 Mangu Khan 78 Mankind, unity o f 11 113 114 Mara M ara 67 Marpa 90 Marriag Marriagee 90,91, 98,10 8 112 Mary 59, 67 Masdoosi 75 Maya Ma ya 47, 127 Melinda, King 39 Metaphysics 4, 10, 14, 29, 24, 38, 56, 91 Mind Mind 45 47 Milton 88 Monasticism 4, 47, 53, 55, 59, 69, 103 107 Mongols 7683 Monks 53, 54, 55 Monotheism 10 Moore, Radhakrishnan and 4, 27, 39, 103 Morality 92 Moral Order 102, 128, 132 Moral Philosophy 102 Moral Struggle 28, 29, 38, 39, 54, 102 132 Moses 88 Muhammad (O.W.B.P.) 1, 11, 75, 86, 87, 88, 89, 93,
146 14 6
108, 109, 122, 130 as ar archet chetyp ypee 94 1 0 0 Muir, SirW. 86 Mustansir, Caliph 76 Al-Na Al- Nafs fs al-Ammarah al-Amma rah 38 A l- N a fs a l-L l- L a w w a m a h 38 Al-N Al -Nafs afs al-Mutmainnah al-Mut mainnah 38
Nagaj Na gajuna una 2 4 ,44 ,4 4 , 45 Nagas Na gasena ena 40 Naqshb Naq shband andii Order 83 Nichol Nic holas as 82 Nichol Nic holus us 81 Nihilism (see also also Madhyamika) 4345 Nikayas Nik ayas 4 Nimbus Nim bus 69 Nirvana (see also Salvation) 11, 1922, 24, 30, 39, 40, 44, 46, 52, 53, 54, 97, 101, 115116, 132 Noble Nob le EightFol Eigh tFold d Path 9, 17 — 19, 52 Not N otSe Self lf (anatta) 2,36 39,40, 39,40, 89 Noum No umena ena 25 Ogotay 80 Omar 97 Origination, Origination, dependent 25 25 27, 27, 28, 33,43,44, 101 Orissa 72 Padma Sambhava 90 Padres 51
Pali Pali Litera Literatur turee 3 5 , 85, 85, 94 94, 95 95 Patra 69 Paul, Saint 65 Perception Perception 47 48 Pers Person onali ality ty 48,114,119,121 48,114 ,119,121,125 ,125 Pharisees 11 Phenomenalism 25 Phenomenan Phenomenanoumena oumena 25,4 4 Philos Philosoph ophy y of life life 1 0 1 1 3 7 Pitaka 4 5 Plato 65 Plotinus 132 Polytheism 10, 58, 59 Positivism Positivism 24 25 Poussin 20 Pragmatism Pragmatism 23 23 24 Psychology 14, 24, 37, 45, 91, 116,117, 130 Pythagoras 28, 64 Qubilay 78, 79, 81 Qur’an 1,16,21,29,34,37,38, 39,46, 39,46,47, 47, 86 89 ,91 93, 104 105, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123,124,125,126,127 128, 134, 138
Rabbis 11,92 Radhkrishnan Radhkrishnan and Moore 4,27 4, 27,, 39, 108 Ram 119 Realism Realism 48 50 critical 4
direct 4, 43, 50 indirect 43, 49 50 Realist 4, 42 Reality Rea lity 42 50, 50, 56, 56, 58 Reincarnation (see also Transmigration) 2 Relationship Relationship with God 129 1 3 2 Relativism Relativism 43 45 Religion, true 125 Religious Religious Scrip Scriptur tures es 15 1 5 ,85 ,8 5 89, 89, 9193 Renunciation Renunciation of o f the the world 8 ,17 Representat Representationis ionism m 49 50 Right Conduct 9, 17 Right Righ t Endeavou Ende avourr 9, 18 Right Livelihood 9, 18 Right Meditation 9, 19 (or Concentration) Right Resolve (or Aspiration) 9, 17 Right Speech 9, 17 Right Righ t Thinking Thinkin g 9, 18 19 Right Views 9, 17 Russel, Bertrand 121 Rus Russia 7 6 7 7 Sabr 123 Sacrifice 110, 117 Sakyamuni 1 Sale, George 86 Salvation (see also also Nirv Ni rvan ana a) 8, 11,23,24,30,31,51,5254, 59, 71, 102 Sangha 53 Sangreal 69 Sanskrit Sansk rit Literature 5, 86 Samath 9 147 14 7
Sartre, JeanPaul III 120 Satan 67, 110 Sautrantika 4, 43, 48 50 Science 130 132 132 Scribes (and Pharisees) 11 Scri Script ptu ures res 1 5,85 5,8 5 89,91 89,91 93 Seignobos, Langlois and 3 Self (see (see also Empirical self) 21, 3 7 4 1 , 5 9 6 0 Selfculture 24 Selfhelp 51, 57 SelfMortification 85 SelfSacrifice 109 Sex 90, 92, 107 112 Shaw, George Bernard 99 Shamanism 73 Shintoism 75 Siddhartha (see also Buddha) 7, 67, 95 Simon 67 Sin 13,37,38, 120 Skandas 30, 37, 112 Slavery 92 Smart, Ninian 5 Smith, Bosworth 87 Socrates 87 Solon 87 Spinoza 121 Sublimation Sublimation o f ego 36 Suddhodana, Raja 6 Sudra 11 Suffering (see also Duk D ukh h ) 8,9 , 1316,26,121123,128 Sufis 36, 84 Sunya (Void) 40, 42, 132 Sutta pitaka pitak a 4 148 14 8
Suzuki, D.T. 60 Takudar 81 Tangut 81 (Desire)) 16 17,26 27 Tanha (Desire Taoism 75 Taqdir 121 Tathagata 7, 65, 66, 75 Tawhid 112115, 137 Tazkiyah al-Nafs 36 Tibet 6061,90 Timur Khan 81 Topes 69 Toynbee, Arnold 72, 76, 87, 89,95,122 Transcendental Dimension 55 5 6 , 59 59 Transmigration of Souls 28, 2931,64,71,89, 101 Tripitaka 3 5 Uljaytu 82 Unitarians 64 Unity, Unity, principle princip le o f 112 112 115 Universal flux (anicca ) 31 34,41 Universe 126131 Upanishads 72 Vaibhashika 4, 43, 50 Vedas 71, 72 Vesali 1 Vinay Vinaya a pitaka pitak a 4 Void (Sunya) 42, 44, 132 Wells, H.G. 8,61,72, 80 Williams, Dr. Eric 92
Withdrawal 104 107 107 Wome omen 89 89 90, 90, 93,9 8,10 7 112, 114115 Worl World d 1 4,34 ,35,43,102 ,119, 126131 the other 55, 56 this 53, 55 Xenophanes 23 Yasoddhra 7 42, 45 47 Yogacara 42, Zoroaster 88
O P I N IO N S O F E M IN E N T S C H O L A R S :
“ . . . What hat struc truck k me me mos mostt while reading reading Im Imran’s ran’s magnificent agnificent book was the luci lucidity dity of, of, and clarity clarity in, in, the tre treatment atment and almost awe-inspiri awe-inspiring ng simplici implicity ty of style with which the argument argument has been pr presented esented by the author at first to expound and then to critically appraise what, after all, is a highly complex philosophical conception of Religion by which cons conside iderab rable le bulk of of humanity humanity of today claim claims s to to regulat regulate e its its life. In hundred hundred and odd pages the author author has presented presented to us a comparative estimate of the two great world religions like Buddhism and Islam, and, what what is vastly more important, important, he has attem attempted pted a critical critical analysis analysis of of the implications of Buddhism regarded both as an ethics and as a metaphysic. “By and large, the principal principal points points made in this book tend tend to show show an an amazing amazing and origina originall mind mind at work. For that reason reason this this book book is likely to be ranked as one of the most significant contributions that have been made to the literature of comparative religion
A. K. Brohi (Em (Eminent Muslim J urist) urist) “ . . . an excellent account of Buddhism Buddhism . . . . Studen udentts of compar comparat ativ ive e religion will find this monograph of special interest.” Prof. Dr. I. H. Qureshi (Eminent Muslim Historian) “ . . . Imran Hos Hosein ein has employed employed in his monogra monograph ph hermeneutics hermeneutics,, phenomenology of religion and sociology sociology of religion. religion. He, He, as a serious student of philosophy, was bound to recognize philosophical reflections involved in religious religious matrix. atrix. The last last chapter of the the book is a masterpiece. He has given full attention to factors which give nuance and differentiation between Buddhism and Islam Dr. M. Basha Basharat rat Ali (Eminent Muslim Sociologist)
