Islam and Buddhism In The Modern World

Islam and Buddhism In The Modern World, a book written by a prominent scholar called Sheikh Imran Nazar Hosein. Reading this book, you are about to encounter the question of how Islam and Buddhism stand side by side in the modern world. Despite the title of the book itself, the book is not meant to be read by Muslims or Buddhist only. Rather, the author gives an extensive view on various issues particularly relating to the Christians and even the Hindus. As such, I believe Christian and Hindu readers might want to get a copy of this book. In fact, based on my reading, even the Atheist can benefit something from this book.

Sheikh Imran Hosein states clearly that:

The spirit with which this book was written was one of profound respect for Gautama Buddha. Buddhist of South East Asia, where this edition is being published, should find in this book much that will provoke thought. Most importantly, they will find nothing in it which viewed objectively, should cause offense.

For those who have no knowledge of Buddhism at all, get ready. You are about to encounter various terms which you might not be familiar with. Nevertheless, they are extremely important if you want to understand this particular faith and also various thoughts in it. For instance, Nirvana( a term which cannot be defined ), Sarvan Dukham(All Is Suffering), Sarvan Kashnikam(All is fleeting), Anicca(theory of universal flux), Dukkha(sounds familiar right?) ,Tri-pitaka(three baskets of law), Anatta(the not self) and lots of other terms. In fact, the discussion on the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eight Fold Paths (ariya atthangika mangga) and Nirvana are of prominent importance as they constitute the essence of Buddhism.

For me, this book is really unique as it comes from a very unique author. Meaning, you would find so many things that you definitely have to agree with, and at the same time things that would really stimulate your mind. As a student of comparative religion, I found that the approach taken by Sheikh Imran Hosein is a bit different from what I’ve been exposed to. I won’t say ‘harsh’, rather it would be appropriate to say- straightforward. I believe different people have different approach in dealing with any particular subject matter isn’t it?.

Throughout the book, the author discusses various issues and topics. Among them are;the sources of Buddhism, the life of Buddha himself, the basic teachings of Gautama Buddha, Buddhist philosophy, schools in Buddhism (both philosophical and religious ), the influence of Buddhism on Christianity, comparative analysis on Islam and Buddhism and finally on Buddhism and the encounter with world religions particularly Hinduism, Islam and Christianity)

On Buddha himself, the author had given respect to what is due to him. Of course such respect cannot be disregarded because it would be fair to say that without Buddha, there would be no Buddhism in the first place. In fact, to know his life prior to his enlightenment is very much compelling to the extent that he is the only person, perhaps in the whole history of mankind, who was deliberately, kept away from the fact of suffering until he was 29. However, things changed tremendously on the day Gautama saw four things i.e. an old man, a sick man, a diseased man and a dead man. From then onwards, Buddha‘s life had never been the same anymore. Simply to say, the event had basically led him to his quest for truth-a quest which was born when he came face to face with the fact of suffering.

From what I can see, the author addresses those issues in a very absorbing and engrossing manner. For instance, he put forward various questions which are definitely thought provoking especially to the Buddhist. Among them are:

On the theory of Karma, he asks , of what use is another life if we can unknowingly repeat all the mistakes of the previous life? (given the fact that we have no way of remembering the pitfalls of our previous life because of which we have landed ourselves into this life)

On attaining Nirvana by the monk, he asks, even when he has attained nirvana, has he not attained it for himself alone? (given the fact that one of the pre requisites to attain nirvana is that the saint should have conquered and obliterated his personal self or ‘I’. Isn’t that the monk who devotes himself exclusively to the task of working out his own salvation, is being terribly selfish, for he is showing no concern for the salvation of mankind?)

On the goal in life, he asks; In this life Nirvana may be salvation from suffering. But what of the life beyond death?

These and many more questions had been discussed by Imran Hosein in a very extensive way without neglecting the questions of How Islam deals with the issues. In addition to that, his comparative analysis between Islam and Buddhism are very much prevalent in this book. As such, you would find him addressing the concept of law of causality in Islam(as differed with Buddhism’s), on the fact of change, on the concept of suffering as to oppose to the Buddhist’s perspective of suffering and many more. In fact, I was really amused when he put forward the ‘Nirvana of Islam’ and the ‘monasticism of Islam’. Yes, Nirvana but ‘Islamic version’ of it =)

Christian readers might be surprised to know how Buddhism had influenced Christianity. To be honest, I’m sure many would not even agree with this statement in the first place. Nonetheless, the arguments brought forward by Imran Hosein with references from various scholars like Dr. Conze, T.W. Doane and also Prof Yusuf Salem Christi might be startling and thought provoking for them.
Apart from those influences of Buddhism on Christian beliefs, Buddhism also left its indelible imprint on the institutions and rituals of the Christian religion. That’s why ,as I said in the beginning of this post, Christian readers might want to get a copy of this book.

Of course there are things that I’d rather put some reservations. For instance, when the author uses the term ‘founder’ when he’s referring to Prophet Muhammad like when said ‘the founder of the religious community’ and so on and do forth. I assume what he meant is the founder of the Ummah. Of course, I don’t even have any right to question a great scholar like him. Nevertheless, I am not in agreement with such usage. For me, it can be manipulated and of course misunderstood. Definitely we know that there is no such thing as founder in Islam, yet for people who have no knowledge of Islam, such term might be misleading. InsyaAllah, I believe Sheikh Imran Hosein has his own reasons when using the term.

Overall, this book is surely worth reading. Great book, great author .

Allahu A'lam.