The Muslim World v 100 № 2-3 April-July 2010 Special Issue on Islam and Buddhism.pdf

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Islam and Buddhism Relations from Balkh to

Bangkok and Tokyo muwo_1312

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Imtiyaz Yusuf

Georgetown University

Washington, D.C.

On truth’s path, wise is mad, insane is wise.

In love’s way, self and other are the same.

Having drunk the wine, my love, of being one with you,

I nd the way to Mecca and Bodhgaya are the same.

(R¯m¯, Kulliyy ¯ t-e Shams-e Tabr¯z¯ , no. 302)

Introduction

T his is the rst time in its ninety-nine year history of publication that The Muslim

World journal is dedicating a special issue to the theme of Islam-Buddhism. This

initiative highlights the expansion of the journal’s coverage and is a new point of

departure in the venture of Islamic Studies, which up until recently, has largely been

restricted to relations between adherents of the three Abrahamic faiths. Hopefully, in the

near future, this journal will also consider Islam’s relations with the other Asian and

African religions.

The history of interreligious relations and exchange between Islam and Buddhism

extends over their meetings in West, Central, South, Southeast and Far East Asia. This

historic exchange dates from the ages of the Silk Road (4 BCE–1400 CE) and the Age of

Commerce (1450–1680 CE). The early meetings were followed, in some cases, by

conversion to Islam, as in the cases of Central and maritime Southeast Asia. Yet, there

remained regions where Buddhism and Islam continued to exist side-by-side, as in the

cases of India and mainland Southeast Asia.

Buddhism and Islam — History of Relations

Since Buddha and Buddhism pay scant attention to the concept of theos — God,

it is often remarked that Buddhism is not really a religion but rather a philosophy.

However, worldwide evidence of the practice of Buddhism illustrates that it is a

religion with a philosophical bent. T. William Hall denes religion as follows, “Reli-

gion is the varied, symbolic expression of, and appropriate response to, that which

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USA.

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people deliberately afrm as being of unrestricted value for them.” With this denition

in mind, we can see that Buddhism ts into the category of religion rather than

philosophy.

There is a long history of relations between Islam and Buddhism. Indeed, the

religious encounter between Islam and Buddhism is as old as Islam itself. It was and is

an encounter between two totally different religions in terms of their doctrines and

worldviews. Yet, there are deep and subtle compatibilities between them when viewed

from the perspectives of history and the phenomenology of religion.

The rst encounter between Islam and ashab

¯ al-Bidada , or the Buddhist commu-

nity, took place in the middle of the 7 th century in the regions of East Persia, Transoxiana,

Afghanistan and Sindh. Historical evidence suggests that early Muslims extended the

Qur ’ ¯nic category of ahl al-Kit ¯b (people of the book, or revealed religion) to include

the Hindus and the Buddhists.

During the second century of Islam or the eighth century CE, Central Asian Muslims

translated many Buddhist works into Arabic. We come across Arabic titles such as

Bilawhar wa B ¯ dh ¯ saf and Kit ¯ b al-Budd as evidence of Muslims learning about

Buddhism.

In spite of being aware of the idol-worship of the Buddha, Ibn al-Nad¯m (d. 995 CE),

the author of al-Fihrist , comments that:

These people (Buddhists of Khurasan) are the most generous of all the inhabitants

of the earth and of all the religionists. This is because their prophet Budhasaf

( Bodhisattva ) has taught them that the greatest sin, which should never be thought

of or committed, is the utterance of ‘No.’ Hence they act upon this advice; they

regard the uttering of ‘No’ as an act of Satan. And it is their very religion to banish

Satan.

There is evidence of Buddhist survival in the succeeding Muslim era of this region

(Central Asia), such as the Barmak family of Buddhist monks, who played a powerful

administrative role in the early ‘ Abb¯sid dynasty. The ‘ Abb¯sids ruled from Baghdad

during 750–1258 CE, governing most of the Islamic world. The Barmakids controlled

the Buddhist monastery of Naw Bah ¯r near Balkh in addition to other Iranian

monasteries.

There was also the continuation of several Buddhist beliefs and practices among the

Muslim converts of Central Asia. For example, the S¯m¯nid dynasty, which ruled Persia

during the ninth and tenth centuries, invented and modeled the madrasa or Muslim

religious schools that were devoted to advanced studies in the Islamic religious sciences

along the pattern of the Buddhist schools in eastern Iran. Similar may be the case of the

pondoks or pasenterens — the Muslim religious seminaries in Southeast Asia.

The Muslim religious scholar and historian Abu¯Ja ‘ far Muhammad

b. Jar¯r al-Tabar ¯

(839–923 CE), who was born in ¯ mul in

Tabarista ¯ , northern Persia, mentions that

Buddhist idols were brought from K¯bul, Afghanistan, to Baghd¯d in the ninth century.

It is also reported that Buddhist idols were sold in a Buddhist temple next to the Makh

mosque in the market of the city of Bukh¯r¯ in present Uzbekistan.

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All¯h al-Hamadh¯n¯

(1247–1318 CE), the grand vizier at the ¯ lkh¯nid court in Persia and the author of J ¯mi ‘

al-Taw ¯r¯kh — Compendium of Chronicles or World History , also discussed Buddhism

and its features in his compendium, though al-B¯r¯n¯ did not discuss Buddhism in his

Kit ¯ b al-Hind .

The second encounter between Islam and Buddhism took place in South and

Southeast Asia beginning around the 12 th –16 th centuries A.D. In the case of India, there

is a common misunderstanding that Islam wiped out Buddhism through conversion and

persecution. Regarding this, Islamicist Marshall Hodgson remarks:

Rash¯d al-D¯n Tabı ¯ , also known as Rash¯d al-D¯n Fadl

Probably Buddhism did not yield to Islam so much by direct conversion as by a

more insidious route: the sources of recruitment to the relatively unaristocratic

Buddhism — for instance, villagers coming to the cities and adopting a new

allegiance to accord to their new status — turned now rather to Islam than to an

outdated Buddhism. The record of the massacre of one monastery in Bengal,

combined with the inherited Christian conception of Muslims as the devotees of

the sword has yielded the widely repeated statement that the Muslims violently

‘destroyed’ Buddhism in India. Muslims were not friendly to it, but there is no

evidence that they simply killed off all the Buddhists, or even all the monks. It will

take much active revision before such assessments of the role of Islam, based

largely on unexamined preconceptions, are eliminated even from educated

mentalities.

The third meeting between Islam and the Hindu-Buddhist civilization took place in

Nusantara , the Indo-Malay archipelago, including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and

Vietnam. It was a sort of meeting between the monotheistic, monistic and non-theistic

religious traditions. Islam arrived here in its mystic orientation, which was shaped by the

Persian and Indian traditions of Susm.

The Muslim individuals who brought Islam rst to Indonesia and then Malaysia and

southern Thailand in the 12 th –15 th centuries were Su mystics. In religious terms, it was

an encounter between the Hindu view of moksha — liberation — through the notion of

monism, the Buddhist notion of nirvana — enlightenment — through the realization of

sunyata — emptiness — and the Islamic concept of fan ¯ ’ — the passing away of one’s

identity through its mergence in Universal being — as presented in the monotheistic

pantheism of the Sus. Gradually there emerged a hybrid culture, particularly in Java and

in other parts of Southeast Asia, resulting in an Islam that was mystical, uid and soft, and

a spiritualism that is peculiar to the region.

Buddhism as a Non-Theistic Religion

Humanity has experienced the Ultimate Reality in three ways, i.e., from outside, as

in the cases of Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad

and other Semitic prophets; from

within, as in the case of the Indian religions of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism; and

through a medium, as in the case of the Shamanistic and African religions. In this sense,

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the Buddha encountered the Ultimate Reality from within, and resulted in nirvana —

enlightenment — which equals sunyata — nothingness. The Buddhist concept of

sunyata is closer to the Abrahamic religious notion of transcendental monotheism.

Usually monotheists, i.e., Middle Eastern Jews, Christians and Muslims along with

their religious counterparts from Europe, are quick to comment that the Asian religions

of Hinduism, Jainism, Taoism and Shinto are polytheistic religions. The reasons for this

lies in Middle Eastern monotheism, which condemns any supercial sign of the worship

of many deities as constituting polytheism. The root cause of this lies in being unable to

distinguish between personal and non-personal views of the Ultimate Reality. Mono-

theistic religions view God in personal terms, while non-theistic religions view the

Ultimate Reality in two ways: 1) the worship of many devas — gods — at a popular level;

and 2) a non-personal Ultimate Reality at the philosophical level. Max Müller dened it

as henotheism, i.e., worshipping a single non-personal universal principle called

Brahman , which is monistic in nature in relation to the human soul — the Atman — and

also accepting of the existence of other deities. “Non-theistic concepts of deity are seen

as alternatives to theistic notions regarded as unacceptable on religious, as well as

affective and rational grounds.” In Greek, Indian and Chinese religious traditions, theistic

and non-theistic notions of deity are not seen as contradictory but are viewed as

complementary.

In the Western philosophy of religion, non-theistic concepts of deity are found in the

religious thought of Whitehead’s process theology, Paul Tillich’s concept of God as

“ultimate concern,” Charles Hartshorne’s “dipolar theism” and the Christian existentialist

theology of John Macquarrie.

In Buddhism, the principle of non-personal Ultimate Reality or Absolute is described

as nirvana — enlightenment. The Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna (150–250 CE) attributed

it as sunyata — emptiness. Entrance into nirvana is determined by the law of karma ,

whose result is based on the moral activity of the human being tied to samsara — the

cycle of rebirth — from which an individual seeks liberation. This teaching constitutes

the dharma — the teaching, or the righteous path — comparable to the shar¯ ‘ a — the

way — of Islam and Jewish Halakha — the law, the path. Both Hinduism and Buddhism

have a non-dualistic view of Ultimate Reality.

The Indian religious scene is comprised of a belief in a multiplicity of devas — gods

— along with the Hindu concept of monism — nature being constituted of one

substance. Buddhism also recognizes the existence of a great number of impermanent

devas — gods — and of men who become buddhas — that is, achieve enlightenment,

along with the belief that the world operates according to the law of dharma — the

moral order — and that the Ultimate Reality is comprised of sunyata — emptiness.

Buddhism views the question of God as irrelevant.

While I risk being accused of generalizing, I see some philosophical compatibility

between theistic and non-theistic views of Ultimate Reality as dened in the concepts of

Elohim/Yahweh, Christ and All¯h, and the Buddhist view that the Ultimate Reality

consists of sunyata — emptiness.

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Buddha and Muhammad

— The Prophetic Dimension

From a Muslim perspective of the history of religions, God has since time

immemorial sent prophets to every nation, only some of which are mentioned by name

in the Qur ’ ¯n. The Qur ’ ¯n mentions twenty-ve prophets, including Muhammad

, all of

them belonging to the Semitic world. It was impossible for the Qur ’ ¯n to mention all the

world prophets, for if it had done so, it would not have been able to convey its message

to the Arabs, who were its main addressees and who at that time did not know much

about other religions, especially those in Asia and Africa. Furthermore, the Qur ’ ¯n is a

book of revelation and not a dictionary of religions.

The Qur ’ ¯n comments on the universality of the institution of prophethood in the

following way:

And indeed, [O Muhammad

], We have sent forth apostles before your time; some

of them We have mentioned to thee, and some of them We have not mentioned to

thee. (Qur ’ ¯n 40:78. See also Qur ’ ¯n 4:164)

And never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a message] in own

people’s tongue...(Qur ’ ¯n 14:4)

Hence, Islam’s position toward other religions is that of an openness to religious

pluralism. Islam recognizes the existence of different religions, including Buddhism.

Furthermore, the Qur ’ ¯n states that:

To each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way. If God had so

willed He would have made you a single people but (His plan is) to test you in

what He hath given you: so strive as in a race in all virtues. The goal of you all is

to God; it is He that will show you the truth of the matters in which ye dispute.

(Qur ’ ¯n 5:48)

The religious experiences of nirvana — enlightenment — by the Buddha, and

of wahy

— revelation — by Muhammad

are sources of an essential message of

moderation in religion.

The perfection of the Buddha and Muhammad

is connected to their achievements

as enlightened prophets who overcame the impediments of religious ignorance. In the

case of the Buddha, this ignorance is rooted in the cycle of samsara — rebirth due to

attachment as the cause of dukkha — suffering. In the case of Muhammad

, it lies in

illusions of kufr — human rebelliousness, or human rejection/denial of the existence of

God — and shirk — polytheism, or the attribution of divine qualities to aught but God

as the cause of khusr — loss. Interestingly, both the Buddha and Muhammad

from the

Islamic point of view were neither mushrik s — polytheists — nor k ¯r s — those who

associate other beings with God — as they both rejected the petty gods of their

respective communities.

A classical Muslim scholar of comparative religion, al-Shahrast¯n¯ (1086–1153 CE), in

the section on ¯r ¯ ’ al-Hind — The Views of the Indians in his magnum opus , Kit ¯b

al-Milal wa lNihal

— The Book of Religious and Philosophical Sects , evidences high

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