Islam and Buddhism in the Modern World - Imran Nazar Hosein

The Buddha's teachings of detachment from the material world or as he expounded from the Mayavic (Illusional) existence is not the denial of life as we know it. Many contemporary Muslims and other religious writers seems to hone in on this issue as a form of escapism that Buddhism has laid down for its followers. Taken at face value it may seems so, however if the issue is studied in depth and with right understanding it is a fallacy an error of not looking at the teaching with an open mind but a mind bent on criticism and the effort to compare against as I found written in a book by Imran Nazar Hosein entitled ; Islam and Buddhism in the Modern World.
Having made it my effort to understand the Buddha's thoughts and teachings I feel that what the Buddha meant is like His quote, "In living life, it is like plucking a lotus without wetting your fingers." In order to do so one has to be more conscious and aware of one's activities in every thing that we do to not be attached to what we are doing. There is no doer or giver or one who receives, only action. When we do things without attachment we are free from claiming the result or denying it if the result is not to our satisfaction in other words the ego is not involved. Another teaching of the Buddha somewhat similar is the practice of what is called 'bare attention' where one acknowledges an event but does not contribute to it with our personal input or judgement, of right or wrong, we do not add to it our psychological or emotional energy, thus freeing our mind from making choices that we later have to answer for.
The author Imran Nazar also also lambasted Buddhism for its 'lack of commitment' to the nature of God and the afterlife, This again is not what it seems,as the Buddha was said to have taken the Noble Silence while not answering such questions. The silence to me was not to indulge into a discussion over matters that are beyond what was necessary at the time of the Buddha which was some 2600 years ago during the time when Gods were in abundance in the form of Hinduism.The Buddha saw life as suffering for the multitude of Hindus whose life was at the mercy of their religious institution. To argue about the existence of Gods and so forth would have been like to fight fire with fire.I see the Buddha as drawing the focus of the multitude away from the prevailing God dominated religion to that of the problem of humanity. 'The Gods can take care of themselves, it is man who is facing the suffering of being alive in this world.
The author also pointed out the fact that the Buddha's teaching led to annihilation or void which in Islam is called 'Fana', that is to cease to exist and emergence with God as One. The Buddha led a very systematic path towards the achievement of this state of final deliverance from being attached to this worldly life, a system based on overcoming one's ignorance in the nature of existence itself. During His time, one must assume that the common people were totally lacking in education or understanding and what was needed to lead them away from the horrors of Hindu practices was a simple truth, that life is suffering and how to step out of its clutches, out of the circle of life death and rebirth.If the Prophet of Allah had been there before the Buddha i am sure the Buddha would have no need to appear into the realm of man to help ease the burden that they were heaped with.
It took great wisdom to make no commitment in declaring whether there is or there is no God and this we have to give credit to the Buddha and not use it as an attack towards His teachings. I am one of those as a Muslim who would have no problem to accept the Buddha s one of the Prophets of Allah sent down in the times of darkness and ignorance as India was in those days.Not much for quoting the Quran, however i did hear it said that in the Holy Book it is written somewhere that Allah had declared that he had many messengers and prophets before our last Prophet, those that he has not named. Any great religion that professes Good and teach the nobility of human nature has to be fully respected and not use as a comparison much less a object of ridicule. I highly doubt that the Buddha had it in His mind to influence others to become Buddhist for the sake of 'winning' a cause. it seems to me Muslims like the writer of this book are more into trying to justify Islam's. As a Muslim I do not agree that Islam is a religion that needs to compare and compete at the expense of other religions; compare but with fairness may be acceptable. This is one of the causes of why Islam today is at loggerhead with other religions. Instead of comparing why not seek that which is similar in essence.
The Lord created this universe and All in it Islam professes, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and the rest of it is His creation. In times of dire need what is so difficult to accept the fact that the Lord sent down the Buddha or Christ and their teachings? Perhaps these awakened minds were part and parcel of what would eventually lead to the final religion of His in Islam. They were to pave the way for those who were living in ignorance such that when Islam does arrive at their doorsteps they would not find it too hard to swallow..

"The Islamic Philosophy of life revolves around the principle of unity (tawhid)....Islam's knowledge is absolutely unique and revolutionary. All knowledge forms one whole. All branches of knowledge are inter-related and interdependent..The perfectly educated scholar is he he who is educated in as many different branches of knowledge as possible, who achieves concordance of al this knowledge on the basis of the fundamental truths led down by the Qur'an."
                                               Islam and Buddhism in the Modern World....Imran Nazar Hosein

One need not point out the the Qur'an did not exist in the time of the Buddha as a point of reference but..it is obvious that we need to look at it from a greater perspective than merely quoting western writers to justify one's personal truth. The teachings of the Buddha have evolved and today it is still as relevant especially in the west even if it is not exactly what the Buddha taught. Each religion when removed from its origin in time and place is bound to adapt to changes. Buddhism in China, Japan and America is much alive and thanks to it presence many find solace and comfort to ease their minds from not having any belief to follow. As for Islam right or wrong better or worse is a matter of personal faith and understanding, the greater in number does not signify this.There may be billions of Muslims on this planet but that does not mean all are true Muslims. I hope that the writer and those like him would look to promote the unity through looking at beauty of the teachings of other religions rather than the weaknesses; we have the devil for this.
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