Islam and Buddhism are two distinct religious traditions that provide their ownmeaningful responses to the fundamental questions about life. Their views onissues relating to the possibility of a Supreme Being, the purpose of life andtheir understanding of the cycle of life and death are all quite distinct fromeach other, but at the same time, having minor similarities. These can be seenin the following comparative study between the teachings of these two worldreligions.
Is there a Supreme Being? What is the nature of the divine? AllMuslims profess the existence of the One and Only God, God Almighty who is alsoreferred to as ‘Allah’. They firmly believe that Allah is the most high andhonored, the creator and the sustainer of all that exists and he has no physicalconnections between any thing he has created whether it be the creatures orhuman beings on this earth. He has no beginning and no end. Allah has nophysical dimensions like hunger, sleep or rest for he is the one who gives suchattributes to his creatures. Buddhism on the other hand, recognises no creatorgod who initially brought the universe into existence and continues to controlit in the way that Allah controls everything that is or happens in the universefrom the smallest to the greatest events. The founder of Buddhism, who is knownas Buddha, did not want to be worshipped as a god.
He taught that people wouldbe happier if they took responsibility for their own thoughts and actions. Histeachings were simply a guide for living. Muslims can some what relate to thisin the way they are taught to be responsible for their own actions and sins. Thetwo religions are also similar in the way they both believe in the concept ofgod/s existing in the afterlife. Muslims firmly believe in the existence ofAllah in heaven while Buddhists consider the possibility of gods existing in theheavens that their karma has created. What is the purpose of life? Islam teachesthat God created human beings and endowed them with immortal souls.
Eachindividual possesses the quality of uniqueness and the duty of each person is towork out his or her own destiny and each is responsible for his or her ownaction. Buddhists would say that rather than being created by a Supreme Being,humans actually got themselves born due to karma made in past lives. This wasmade with a particular father and mother with whom we have karmic connections. Islam also teaches that the task of a human being is to make a sincere effortand strive to do his/her best.
Islam discourages its followers to sit inresignation. However, whatever results from effort is to come from God’sdecision and should be accepted with patience. At the same time, giving thanksand praise to God is also part of the central purpose in life. In contrast toBuddhism teachings, Buddha did not want to be worshipped as a god, but instead,taught people that the central idea of life was to reach as sense ofincomprehensible peace in their minds. In Islam, life is essentially preparationfor the Day of Judgement when Allah will call all people to hear an account ofhow they have lived. This will determine their destiny after life.
On the otherhand, Buddhists believe that humans are on this earth because of the evil thingsthat they have committed in past lives and the main purpose of life is to reachthe state of enlightenment. To escape the cycle of rebirth is to enter thesupreme reality of Nirvana where there is freedom and bliss. To attain nirvanais simply to be out of existence. The way in which Buddhists are taught to goabout this is to devote their life to compassion, charity, and non-violence andto clear their mind of all content and learn to drift away from theconsciousness of this world.
How do we understand the cycle of life and death?Is there life after death? In Islam, life on earth is considered to be a minutepart of the totality of existence. The life in the hereafter is of eternalduration. Every individual is accountable for his performance in the worldlylife and is answerable in front of God on the Day of Judgement. On this day, Godwill raise every one from the dead and he will allow those who have lived a goodlife to enter the paradise of heaven and those who have done evil will bepunished by suffering in the torment of hell. People will be judged not only ontheir deeds but also on their faith. Believers may have their sins forgiven orundergo a period of punishment and will go to heaven, but disbeliveers will goto hell.
They had their chance to turn to Allah and now it is too late. Onlywhen they have complete submission to God may they be salvaged. In contrast toBuddhist teachings’, our future lives may or may not be in a human form butwhile we are on this earth we may continue to be reborn due to the evil thingsthat we have committed in our past lives. Buddhists consider rebirth as anotherchance to work toward realisation, while Allah considers life to be the onlychance of proving your worthiness to God so that you may enter Heaven. The waysin which both religions encourage people to go about reaching Supreme Reality(whether it be reaching Heaven or Nirvana), are also different to each other. InBuddhism, the only way to escape the cycle of rebirth is by following the”Noble Eight-fold Path”, a strict ethical system and by committingourselves to meditation so that we are no longer conscious of this world.
Asstated before, Muslims are worthy of entering Heaven if they have completelysubmitted to God and if they have performed good deeds, while Buddhists mainlyfocus on the importance of attaining peace in one’s mind so they can reachNirvana. An average Muslim believes that God gives life and death and that deathmay come at any time, thus, every one should try to send on ahead for good deedsthat will earn the pleasure of God. With this perception, a Muslim has to live avirtuous life all the time. Buddhists also believe in living a virtuous life allthe time, but rather than it being for the purpose of pleasing a god, it ismainly for reaching enlightenment. Conclusion In summary, the two worldreligions share both similar and distinguishing beliefs on their variousteachings of life and the existence of Supreme Beings. Their major differencesare mainly that Buddhism ignores the issue of a Supreme Being, while Muslimsconsider Allah as the One and Only God who created this earth.
Buddhism alsoteaches that humans can be reincarnated when they die, while in Muslims believethat after death, there is a life of eternal duration. Although their mainsimilarities are minor, the two religions can relate to the existence of asupreme reality after life on earth, with Buddhists believing in Nirvana andMuslims believing in Heaven. The religions also believe in committing good deedsin order to enter these supreme realities.
