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Islamic Studies 48:3 (2009) pp. 367394 367
Dialogue Between Islam and Buddhism through the Concepts Ummatan
Wasaan (The Middle Nation) and Majjhima-Patipada (The Middle
Way)
IMTIYAZ YUSUF
On truths path, wise is mad, insane is wise. In loves way, self
and other are the same.
Having drunk the wine, my love, of being one with you, I find
the way to Mecca and Bodhgaya are the same.
Rm, Kullyt-e Shams-e Tabrz # 302
Abstract
Monotheistic religions Judaism, Christianity and Islam have
coexisted with Buddhism in many parts of Asia for centuries. This
led in the past to dialogue as well as misunderstanding between the
two at the doctrinal and social levels. This paper seeks to
initiate dialogue between Islam and Buddhism through the Islamic
concept of ummatan wasaan (Middle Nation) and the Buddhist concept
of majjhima-patipada (Middle Way) as a means to build understanding
and harmony in Asian societies. The Buddha and the Prophet Muammad
(peace be on him) as religious teachers explained to humanity as to
what is the true state of being and how the illusions which drag
humanity through darkness and injustice can be overcome. In this
age of globalization when physical barriers between various
societies in terms of material culture are virtually being
eliminated there is an urgent need for dialogue between
monotheistic religious traditions and Buddhism. This could take
place between Islam and Buddhism or Judaism and Buddhism or
Christianity and Buddhism, but it is imperative that this dialogue
takes place for it is likely to generate mutual understanding and
respect between the followers of these two categories of religion.
%
Introduction
The spread of religions from one part of the world to the other
has led, from times immemorial, to coexistence and dialogue between
the followers of a
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 368
large number of different religions. Perhaps the main difference
between the past and the present is that while in the past this
phenomenon was not called dialogue, it is called so in our time and
is consciously pursued. In the past this phenomenon consisted of
interaction between religions that gave rise to parallel ideas and
institutions in different religious traditions. This at times
resulted in various forms of religious syncretism. No doubt the
purists objected to this in the past as do their namesakes today.
Since Buddha and Buddhism do not seem to be much concerned with the
concept of theos (God), some people tend to believe that Buddhism
is merely a philosophy rather than a religion. However, the
worldwide practice of Buddhism shows that it certainly is a
religion, albeit a religion with a philosophical bent. In fact any
judgment on this issue depends on how we define religion. As for
us, we adopt the following definition of religion and consistently
adhere to it throughout this paper: Religion is the varied,
symbolic expression of, and appropriate response to that which
people deliberately affirm as being of unrestricted value for
them.1 According to this definition, Islam, Buddhism and all major
world religions legitimately fall into the category of religion.
Islam and Buddhism have engaged in a religious interchange in the
course of their encounters in Central, South and Southeast Asia.
Their early encounters were followed, in some instances, by
conversion of Buddhists to Islam as happened in Central and
maritime Southeast Asia. Yet there were also other regions where
Buddhism and Islam continued to exist side by side for long as
happened in India and also mainland Southeast Asia. The point being
made here is that there is a long record of Muslim-Buddhist
dialogue, though this is at the present either non-existent or
rare. This, in our view, is largely due to the strong trend of
reified interpretations of religion in the contemporary world. This
in turn is the outcome of ignoring or overlooking the interchanges
that took place between these religions in the past, be they
between region-based religions such as between Hinduism, Jainism
and Buddhism in South Asia or between Judaism, Christianity and
Islam in the Middle East, or between Hinduism, Buddhism,
Christianity and Islam in the Age of the Silk Road (4 BCE1400 CE)
and the Age of Commerce (14501680 CE) in different regions of the
world. Muslims often employ the Qurnic expression ummatan wasaan
(the Middle Nation) to characterize their religion and community.
The expression suggests that Islam is a moderate religion and that
Muslims are required to be a middle or moderate nation. In
practice, Muslims conduct their daily life taking the Prophet
Muammad (peace be on him) as a paragon of moderation. 1 T. William
Hall et al., Religion: An Introduction (New York: Harper & Row,
1986), 11.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 369
Similarly, the Buddhist expression majjhima-patipada refers to
the notion that Buddhism represents the Middle Way.
This paper attempts to study the concepts of ummatan wasaan (the
Middle Nation) in Islam and majjhima-patipada (the Middle Way) in
Buddhism, arguing that these concepts can serve as a model worthy
of emulation by Muslims (or other monotheists) and Buddhists in
their respective majority or mixed societies. It also seeks to make
this study the starting-point of a socio-religious interchange and
dialogue between Islam and Buddhism.
The paper thus aims to contribute to reviving the
Muslim-Buddhist dialogue in contemporary times in the aftermath of
Western colonialization and the subsequent surge of Asian and
African nationalistic sentiments.
Buddhism and Islam in History
Though Islam and Buddhism differ doctrinally, they came into
contact first in Central Asia,2 and later in South Asia and
Southeast Asia.3 There is indeed a long history of relations
between Islam and Buddhism.4 The religious encounter between Islam
and Buddhism is as old as Islam itself.5 The first encounter
between Islam and the Buddhist community, took place in the middle
of the 7th century in East Persia, Transoxiana, Afghanistan and
Sindh.6 Historical evidences indicate that the early Muslims
extended the Qurnic category of Ahl al-Kitb (People of the Book or
revealed religion) to Hindus and Buddhists.7
2 See, Richard C. Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road (New York:
St. Martins Press, 1999). 3 See, Syed Muhammad Naguib al-Attas,
Some Aspects of Sufism as Understood and Practised among the Malays
(Singapore: Malaysian Sociological Research Institute, 1963). 4
See, Imtiyaz Yusuf, Religious Diversity in a Buddhist Majority
Country: The Case of Islam in Thailand, International Journal of
Buddhist Thought and Culture, vol. 3 (September 2003), 13143. 5
That is, in 610 CE when the Prophet Muammad (peace be on him)
received the first revelation in Makkah. 6 S.v. Balkh in The
Encyclopaedia of Islam2, eds. H.A.R Gibb et al. (Leiden: Brill,
1960) 1: 1101 and Buddhism in Encyclopaedia Iranica,
editor-in-chief Ehsan Yarshater (New York: Center for Iranian
Studies, Columbia University, 1985-present), 4: 196, 199. 7 The
term Ahl al-Kitb, or the People of the Book, is a Qurnic term. The
Prophet (peace be on him) also used this expression to refer to the
followers of Christianity and Judaism, indicating thereby that
these religions were based on revealed books (Torah, Psalter,
Gospel) which gave them a position distinct from that of the
followers of other religions in Arabia. See, G. Vajda, Ahl al-Kitb
in Encyclopedia of Islam, eds. P. Bearman et al. III edn. (Leiden:
Brill, 2010), Brill Online; Andre Wink, Al-Hind: The Making of the
Indo-Islamic World (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1990), 1: 193-194; Derryl
N. Maclean, Religion and Society in Arab Sind (Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1989), 40-41; S. M. Ikram, Muslim Civilization in India (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1964), 11.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 370
During the second century of Hijrah/the eighth century CE, the
Central Asian Muslims translated many Buddhist works into Arabic.
We come across Arabic titles such as Bilawhar wa Bdhsaf and Kitb
al-Budd, as evidences of Muslims learning about Buddhism.8
Significantly, in spite of being aware of the fact that the idol
of the Buddha was an object of worship, Muammad b. Ab Yaqb Isq Ibn
al-Nadm (d. 385/995), the author of al-Firhist observes 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 Bdhsf (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.9
There are also evidences of Buddhist influence on Muslims in the
succeeding period in Central Asia. One possible source of this
unfluence was the Barmak family, the descendants of Buddhist monks,
who played a powerful administrative role during the early Abbasid
caliphs who ruled from Baghdad for five centuries (132656/7501258)
over the greater part of the Islamic world. It is noteworthy that
the Buddhist monastery of Naw Bahr near Balkh in addition to other
Iranian monasteries had remained in the past under the supervision
of the Barmak family.10
We find vestiges of several Buddhist beliefs and practices among
the Muslims of Central Asia. For example, during the Smnid dynasty
which ruled Persia during the third and fourth/ninth and tenth
centuries, the madrasahs devoted to Islamic learning, were modelled
after the Buddhist schools in eastern Iran.11 Similar seems to have
been the case of pondoks or pasenterens, the Muslim religious
schools of Southeast Asia, which were presumably influenced by the
Hindu/Buddhist temple schools of learning that existed in the
region from times prior to the arrival of Muslims.
8 Ignaz Goldziher, Introduction to Islamic Theology and Law,
trs. Audrns and Ruth Hamori (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1981), 141. 9 Ab l-Faraj Muammad ibn Ab Yaqb Isq Ibn
al-Nadm, Kitb al-Fihrist, ed. Ra-Tajaddud ibn Al al-Mzindrn
(Tehran: Ra-Tajaddud, 1391/1971), 407; see also, S.M. Yusuf, The
Early Contacts Between Islam and Buddhism, University of Ceylon
Review, vol. 13 (1955), 28. 10 See, Richard C. Foltz, Religions of
the Silk Road, 100. See also, Richard Bulliet, Naw Bahar and the
Survival of Iranian Buddhism, Iran, vol. 14 (1976), 1405. 11 See,
Richard C. Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road, 100101. See also, The
Encyclopedia of Religon, ed. Mircea Eliade (Farmington Hills, MI:
Thomas Gale, 2005), s.v. Madrasah.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 371
The celebrated historian and Qurnic exegete, Ab Jafar Muammad
ibn Jarr al-abar (d. 310/923), who was born in abaristn, northern
Persia, mentions that Buddhist idols were brought from Kabul to
Baghdad in the third/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 Bukhara in present
Uzbekistan.12 The next encounter between Islam and Buddhism which
took place in South and Southeast Asia during the 6th10th/12th16th
centuries. In the case of India, there is a common misunderstanding
that Islam wiped out Buddhism by means of conversion and
persecution. Let us see what Marshall Hodgson (d. 1968) has to say
about this misunderstanding:
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.13
The third encounter between Islam and Hindu-Buddhist
civilization took place in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand. It was
a sort of dialogue between a monotheistic, monistic version of
Islam on one hand and non-theistic religious traditions on the
other. The Islam that was introduced in this region had a
conspicuously mystic orientation which had been largely shaped by
the Persian and Indian traditions of Sufism. The Muslims who first
brought Islam to Indonesia and then to Malaysia and southern
Thailand during the 6th9th/12th15th centuries were largely Sufi
mystics. In religious terms, this led to a meeting between the
Hindu view of moksha (liberation) through the Hindu 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 ones identity by its merging into the
Universal Being) as expounded in the monotheistic
12 See, Richard C. Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road, 100. 13
Marshall G.S. Hodgson, The Venture of Islam, 3 vols. (Chicago: The
University of Chicago Press, 1975), 2: 557.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 372
pantheism of the Sufis.14 Gradually there emerged a hybrid
syncretic culture, particularly in Java and other parts of
Southeast Asia, giving rise to a version of Islam that was
mystical, fluid and soft, one that nurtured a spiritualism peculiar
to the region.15 Today Islam coexists with Hinduism and Buddhism in
South and Southeast Asia. The state of this relationship is varied
and diverse, something that can be appreciated in the context of
the regional and local histories of the various countries of the
region.
Buddhism as a Non-Theistic Religion
Humanity has experienced Ultimate Reality mainly in three ways:
one, viewed from outside as in the cases of Abraham, Moses, Jesus,
Muammad and other Semitic Prophets (peace be on them); two, viewed
from within as in the case of Indian religions of Hinduism, Jainism
and Buddhism; and three, through a shaman (medium) as in the case
of Shamanistic and African religions. In this regard we can say
that the Buddhist encounter of Ultimate Reality from within
resulted in nirvana (enlightenment) which equals sunyata
(nothingness/nonsubstantiality). The Buddhist concept of sunyata
seems, in a sense, to parallel the Abrahamic religious notion of
transcendental monothe-ism or non-anthropomorphism. It can even be
argued that notwithstanding the known doctrinal differences between
the two religions, the Islamic notion of Gods dht or essence as
distinct from His attributes appears to have a degree of
resemblance with the Buddhist transcendental monism. Usually the
monotheists, that is, Jews, Christians and Muslims of the Middle
East, along with their religious counterparts in Europe, are prone
to regard the Asian religions of Hinduism, Jainisim, Taoism and
Shinto as polytheistic religions. Were we to consider this from the
perspective of the history of religions it will help us appreciate
that the notion of Ultimate Reality in Asian religions is utterly
alien to the Middle Eastern and European cast of mind. As a result,
it is extremely difficult for the adherents of monotheistic
religions to conceive of any non-theistic concept of Ultimate
Reality such as the one in Buddhism or, for that matter, the
non-dualism of 14 The Islamic concept of fan, more traditionally,
can be equated with the passing away of ones will in complete
submission to the Divine Will as expressed by the Prophet (peace be
on him) in a adth, None of you can be a true believer until his/her
desires are completely subdued to what I am sent with. See, Ab
Muammad al-usayn b. Masd al-Farr al-Baghaw, Shar al-Sunnah, Kitab
al-mn, Bb Radd al-Bida wa l-Ahw. 15 See, Alijah Gordon, The
Propagation of Islam in the Indonesian-Malay Archipelago (Kuala
Lumpur: Malaysian Sociological Research Institute, 2001), and
Anthony Shih, The Roots and Societal Impact of Islam in Southeast
Asia, Stanford Journal of East Asian Affairs, vol. 2 (Spring 2002),
114.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 373
Hinduism. John Hick explains this by referring to the inability
of the monotheists to distinguish between personal and non-personal
views of Ultimate Reality.16 Monotheistic religions understand God
in personal terms whereas non-theistic religions view Ultimate
Reality in two ways: (1) by worshipping many devas (gods) at a
popular level, and (2) by adhering to the notion of non-personal
Ultimate Reality at the philosophical level. Max Mller (d. 1900)
characterized this 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 by
accepting the existence of other deities.17 According to Michael
Levine, Non-theistic concepts of deity are seen as alternatives to
theistic notions regarded as unacceptable on religious, as well as
affective and rational grounds.18 Unlike the Semitic theistic
tradition, the theistic and non-theistic notions of deity are not
seen in the Greek, Indian and Chinese religious traditions as
mutually contradictory; they are rather viewed as complementary. In
the Western philosophy of religion, non-theistic concepts of deity
are found in the religious thought of process theology Alfred North
Whitehead (d. 1947), Paul Tillichs (d. 1965) concept of God as
ultimate concern, Charles Hartshornes (d. 2000) dipolar theism and
the Christian existentialist theology of John Macquarrie (d.
2007).19 In Buddhism, the principle of non-personal Ultimate
Reality or the Absolute is described as nirvana (enlightenment).
The Buddhist scholar Nagarjuna (150250 CE) charaterized it as
sunyata (emptiness/nonsubstan-tiality). 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 sharah in Islam and Halakha (the law, the path) in
Judaism. Both Hinduism and Buddhism have a non-dualistic view of
Ultimate Reality. To appreciate the Buddhist doctrinal orientation,
it would be useful to recall that the Indian religious scene was
known for belief in the multiplicity of devas (gods) along with the
Hindu concept of monism, nature being constituted of one substance.
Buddhism too recognizes the existence of a great number of
impermanent devas (gods) and of men who become buddhas that
16 See, John Hick, God Has Many Names (Philadelphia: The
Westminster Press, 1982). 17 See, Max Mller, Lectures on the Origin
and Growth of Religion As Illustrated by the Religions of India
(London: Longmans, Green and Co, 1878). 18 Michael Levine,
Non-theistic Conceptions of God in Chad Meister and Paul Copan,
eds. The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Religion (New York:
Routledge, 2007), 237. 19 See, ibid., 238.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 374
is, those who achieve enlightenment, along with the belief that
the world operates according to the law of dharma (the moral order)
and that Ultimate Reality comprises of sunyata (emptiness).20
Buddhism tends to view the question of God as not quite relevant.
While this might appear as unjustified overgeneralization, there is
philosophical compatibility between the non-theistic seen from
Asiatic religions perspective, and the theistic views of Ultimate
Reality, the latter as enshrined in the concepts of Elohim/Yahweh,
Christian Godhead, and Islams monotheistic concept of Allah.
According to the Buddhist view, however, Ultimate Reality is
constituted of sunyata (emptiness/nonsubstantiality).
Buddha and Muammad the Prophetic Dimension From a Muslim
perspective of the history of religions, God has from time
immemorial raised Prophets among all nations, only some of which
are mentioned by name in the Qurn.21 The Qurn mentions 25 Prophets
by name including Muammad (peace be on them)22 and all of them
belong to the Semitic religious tradition. One can appreciate the
problems that would have arisen had the Qurn mentioned all the
Prophets (peace be on them) of the world for in that case it would
have been unfamiliar stuff to the Arabs, its primary addressees.
Furthermore, the Qurn is basically a book of guidance rather than
an encyclopedia of religions. However, there is no ambiguity about
the fact that the Qurn affirms prophethood to be a universal
phenomenon:
And indeed, [O Muammad], 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. (Qurn 40: 78. See also, Qurn 4:
164)
And never have We sent forth any apostle otherwise than [with a
message] in peoples own tongue . . . (Qurn 14: 4)
At the same time, Islams position regarding diversity of
religious identities is recognised by it as part of Gods scheme of
things apart from its affirmation, as already noted, that Divine
Guidance was communicated to all peoples. The Qurn also states
that:
To each among you have We prescribed a Law and an Open Way. If
Allah had so willed He would have made you a single people but (His
plan is) to test you in
20 Helmuth Von Glasenapp, Buddhism: A Non-Theistic Religion
(London: George Allen and Unwin, 1970), 15. 21 See, Qurn 40: 78. 22
See for example, Qurn 3: 333, 144; 6: 8387.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 375
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. (Qurn 5: 48)
The Buddhas religious experience of nirvana (enlightenment) and
the Prophet Muammads experience of way (revelation) became
important sources of their essential message of religious
moderation.
The significance of the Buddha and Muammad (peace be on him) is
related to their achievements as message-bearers of an enlightened
and humane outlook which overcame the impediments of religious
ignorance and bigotry. In the case of the Buddha, this ignorance is
rooted in the cycle of samsara (rebirth due to attachment to the
world) and is the cause of dukkha (suffering). In the case of
Muammad (peace be on him), ignorance stems from the illusions of
kufr (human rebelliousness or human rejection/denial of the
existence of God) and shirk (polytheism or attribution of Divine
qualities to aught but God) as the cause of khusr (loss).23
It would be interesting to explore what was the Buddhas own
position regarding Gods existence and unity. In this connection it
would be necessary not to take for granted that the Buddhist
positions in post-Buddha sources on these vital doctrinal questions
were the same as those of the Buddha himself. The available
evidence indicates that he did not deny Gods existence: at times he
remained silent and on other occasions he did talk about the
question, as we shall see.
To have a better appreciation of the matter it would be
pertinent to bear in mind that the Buddha was born and lived in a
world full of belief in magic and petty gods and nature spirits of
trees, mountains, rain, rivers and sky, a world wherein priests had
a vested interest in conducting prayers and rituals to petty gods
and spirits. All this, however, did not bring an end to the mental
anguish or social suffering caused by the human condition related
with his birth, sickness, old age and death which was the Buddhas
primary concern. In terms of geography of religion, the Buddha
lived in the world of Indian gods and demi-gods where there was no
debate between indigenous polytheism and the Semitic religions. The
Buddha sought to dispel belief in the superstitions prevalent in
his time. He thus stressed what might be termed a rational approach
to salvation based on the adoption of humanist values of compassion
and cultivation of virtues. The Buddhas main goal was to show the
way to end human suffering. It was presumably for this reason that
he remained silent on questions about God and gods. This does not
mean that he 23 See, Qurn 103: 13.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 376
was an atheist. For he did believe in the Ultimate Reality
although the thrust of his teaching was to alleviate human
suffering. The Buddha, moreover, distinguished between the mundane
and supermundane world. He identified the supermundane world with
enlightenment, peace, and freedom from suffering. In the Buddhist
scripture of Udana [Udn (Inspired Utterances)], the Buddha
describes the supermundane realm as consisting of the eternal
Being. He explains it as follows:
There is, O Bhikkhus (monks), an unborn, unoriginated,
uncreated, unformed. Were there not, O Bhikkhus, this unborn,
unoriginated, uncreated, unformed, there would be no escape from
the world of the born, originated, created, formed. Since, O
Bhikkhus, there is an unborn, unoriginated, uncreated, unformed,
therefore is there an escape from the born, originated, created,
formed?24
Interestingly, the classical Muslim scholar of comparative
religion, Muammad b. Abd al-Karm al-Shahrastn (479548/10861153), in
the section on Ar al-Hind (The Views of the Indians) in his magnum
opus, Kitb al-Milal wa l-Nial (Book of Religious and Philosophical
Sects), shows high regard for Buddhism and its richness in
spirituality. This is evident from his identifying the Buddha with
the Qurnic figure of al-Khir as a seeker of enlightenment.25 More
recently, the late Professor Muhammad Hamidullah (d. 1423/2002)
seems inclined to the view that the Buddha might have been a
Prophet. He refers to the mention of the fig tree in of the Qurn
(95: 1). This, says Hamidullah, according to several old and new
commentators of the Qurn, may refer to the Bode tree of the
revelation of Buddha; and his birth place Kapila-Vastu is supposed
to have given the name of the prophet Dh l-Kifl. He concludes that
since the Buddha attained nirvana (enlightenment) (ficus religiosa)
under a wild fig tree and as that fig tree does not figure
prominently in the life of any of the Prophets mentioned in the
Qurn hence the Qurnic verse refers to Gautama Buddha.26 Be that as
it may, there is a great deal of parallel between the Qurnic
concept of prophethood, i.e. history of Prophets (named and
unnamed) and
24 The Udana, tr. D.M. Strong (London: Luzac & Co., 1902),
112. 25 Muammad b. Abd al-Karm al-Shahrastn, Kitb al-Milal wa
l-Nial (Cairo: Mabaat al-Azhar, 1328/1910), 2: 1275. See also,
Bruce B. Lawrence, Shahrastani on the Indian Religions (Hague:
Mouton, 1976), 11314. For al-Khir see, Qurn 18: 64. 26 Muhammad
Hamidullah, Muhammad Rasulullah (Lahore: Idara-e-Islamiat, n.d.
1974), 54 and 160 f. See also, David Scott, Buddhism and Islam:
Past to Present Encounters and Interfaith Lessons, Numen, vol. 42
(1995), 14155.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 377
the Buddhist concept of Buddha. Buddha is not a personal name,
but a designation which, in a way, could be considered, if not
identical with then at least somewhat similar to the designation of
a nab or rasl (Prophet). Buddhas appear over time to teach religion
and the path to nirvana (enlightenment/ salvation). Buddhist
sources mention that 27 Buddhas have appeared over a period of
5,000 years.27 The Buddhas enlightenment experience of nirvana and
the Prophet Muammads experience of way (revelation) had a
liberating effect on both in so far as the both became free from
the shackles of ignorance and uncalled-for fetters of social
custom. Both were well-wishers of humanity and sought answers to
age-old questions about the human predicament: What does it mean to
be human? Why is there anguish, suffering and injustice? The Buddha
called this phenomenon dukkha (suffering), whereas the Qurn refers
to man as having been created in kabad (affliction).28 The parallel
between the teachings of the Buddha and Muammad (peace be on him)
on this point can be seen in the Buddhist doctrine of the Four
Noble Truths and a significant doctrine in the Qurnic srah titled
al-Balad which we shall mention ex tenso below. The Buddhist
doctrine of Four Noble Truths consists of the following
teachings:
1. Life means dukkha (suffering). 2. The origin of suffering is
attachment. 3. The cessation of suffering is attainable. 4. The
(eight-fold) path leads to the cessation of suffering.
Compare the above with the verse 4 of Srah al-Balad (Srah 90): (
) (Verily, we have created man unto [a life of] kabad pain, toil
and trial).
The srah reads as follows:
NAY! I call to witness this land this land in which thou art
free to dwell and [I call to witness] parent and offspring: Verily,
We have created man into [a life of] kabad pain, toil and trial.
Does he, then, think that no one has power over him? He boasts, I
have spent wealth abundant! Does he, then, think that no one sees
him?
27 See, Paul J. Griffiths, On Being Buddha: The Classical
Doctrine of Buddhahood (Albany, NY: State University of New York
Press, 1994), 87119. See also, Jamshed Fozdar, The God of Buddha
(New York: Asia Publishing House, 1973), 13. 28 See, Qurn 90:
4.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 378
Have We not given him two eyes, and a tongue, and a pair of
lips, and shown him the two highways [of good and evil]? But he
would not try to ascend the steep uphill road... And what could
make thee conceive what it is, that steep uphill road? [It is] the
freeing of ones neck [from the burden of sin/bondage], or the
feeding, upon a day of [ones own] hunger, of an orphan near of kin,
or of a needy [stranger] lying in the dust and being, withal, of
those who have attained to faith, and who enjoin upon one another
patience in adversity, and enjoin upon one another compassion. Such
are they that have attained to righteousness; whereas those who are
bent on denying the truth of Our messages they are such as have
lost themselves in evil, [with] fire closing in upon them. (Qurn
90: 120)
I see an analogical compatibility between the Qurnic usage of
the word kabad meaning pain, distress, hardship, toil and trial and
the Buddhist religious term, dukkha (suffering). This is of help in
explaining the Islamic concept of the meaning of life, its struggle
and its goal, especially to the Buddhists. Through nirvana
(enlightenment) the Buddha was liberated from the fetters of
suffering (dukkha) and entered the state of relief, peace, calmness
and rest. He was freed from the state of confusion, turmoil,
anguish and distress and entered the state of bliss (detachment).
Similarly, the Prophet Muammads experience of way (revelation)
liberated him from the suffering caused by religious ignorance
obtaining in his milieu symbolised by shirk (polytheism, that is,
attribution of divine qualities to aught but God) and kufr
(rejection/denial of the existence of One Unseen God) which led to
submission to God. Thus through nirvana the Buddha entered the
state of bliss, marking his freedom from suffering and rebirth, and
Muammad (peace be on him) entered the state of salm (peace) through
his experience of way. Both became propagators of world religions
which carry the message of human freedom and liberation. The Buddha
realized the state of being arahant (the state of enlightened human
being) and Muammad (peace be on him) the state of being rasl (the
Messenger of God).29 Each of them defeated the 29 For the Buddha
there might not be much historical evidence to show that he was or
claimed to be Gods Messenger or Prophet. However, the possibility
that he was a Prophet has not been altogether ruled out in view of
the fact that his original teachings might have been from God which
have not remained unaffected by the vicissitudes of history. It may
be noted, nevertheless, that some outstanding Muslims scholars have
either affirmed or did not categorically reject the possibility of
the Buddhas Prophethood. We have already drawn
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 379
antagonistic forces of evil, called mara in Buddhism and Shayn
in Islam. This is described in the Buddhist narrative of the
Buddhas struggle with the forces of mara during the process of his
enlightenment as contained in the Buddhist text of Sutta Nipata
(425449).30 Similarly, in the case of Islam, a adth states: aslama
shayn31 (my shayn has become a Muslim and does whatever I order
him), meaning that through internal jihd the Prophet (peace be on
him) had turned his lower faculties and instincts to the service
and obedience of God. The Prophet (peace be on him) thereby became
al-insn al-kmil (the perfect man) who had full control over the
Shayn.32 Likewise, through nirvana the Buddha realized his
Buddha-dhatu (Buddha nature or the true, pure nature) and emptiness
of every being; in other words, he realized the original nature
latent in all beings which, when realized, leads to enlightenment.
The Buddha obtained nirvana from within himself on the basis of
self-effort in the course of seeking an answer to the question of
dukkha (human suffering) and pursuing salvation. As for Muammad
(peace be on him), he reached his singular spiritual stature
through way (revelation) from outside himself while seeking to
comprehend the meaning of being insn (human) in terms of the
purpose of creation and the goal of life.
Buddhisms Middle Way and Islams Middle Nation as Rejections of
Extremism
Majjhima-Patipada (The Middle Way)
The fourth Noble Truth prescribes the eightfold path implying
that the practice of the eight prescribed principles leads to the
end of suffering. These attention to observations of Muhammad
Hamidullah about the Buddha. See, pp. 376377 and n. 26 above. An
Egyptian mid-twentieth century scholar, mid Abd al-Qdir, published
a work Bdh al-Akbar: aytuh wa Falsafatuh (Cairo: Maktabat Nahat
Misr, 1957), in which he takes the position that the Prophet Dh
l-Kifl (meaning the one from Kifl) mentioned in the Qurn (21: 85
and 38: 48), refers to Buddha. Although most scholars identify Dhu
l-Kifl with the Prophet Ezekil, Abd al-Qdir believes that Kifl is
the Arabicized form of Kapil, the abbreviation of Kalipvastu (the
site where Buddha received enlightenment). He is also of the view
that the fig tree mentioned in the Qurn (95: 1) refers to Buddha
since he received enlightenment at the foot of a fig tree. See
also, Alexander Berzin, Buddhism and its Impact on Asia, Asian
Monographs no. 8 (Cairo, Center for Asian Studies, Cairo
University, June 1996). For a more circumspect attitude on the
question, see, Muammad if al-Ramn Sewhrw, Qaa al-Qurn, 7th edn.
(Delhi: Nadwat al-Muannifn, 1964), 2: 229233. 30 Encyclopedia of
Buddhism, s. v. Mara. 31 See for the full text of this adth, Ab Abd
al-Ramn Amad b. Al b. Shuayb al-Nis, Sunan al-Nis, Kitb Ishrat
al-Nis, Bb al-Ghrah; see also, Amad b. Hanbal, Musnad Amad, Kitb
Musnad Abd Allh b. Masd Ra Allh Tal anh. 32 See, Annemarie
Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Lahore: Sang-e Meel
Publications, 2003), 113, 196.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 380
eight principles are as follows: Right views; right intent;
right speech; right action; right livelihood; right effort; right
mindfulness and right concentration. By pursuing the course of
wisdom, moral conduct and mental discipline as contained in the
eightfold path one can achieve nirvana (enlightenment). The first
two prescribed practices of adopting (1) right views (samma-ditthi)
and (2) right intention (samma-sankappa) stress on the development
of the panna (wise/wisdom) dimension of personality. These
constitute the preparatory steps needed to follow the Middle Way.
These include having a clear conceptual understanding of reality
which will lead to the adoption of right intention in dealing with
matters of life and death and to see things as they really are. The
next three practices, viz. samma-vaca (right speech),
samma-kammanta (right action) and samma-ajiva (right livelihood)
put stress on the sila (ethical development) of personality as a
means of exiting from the course of suffering. Mental purification
through ethical conduct will lead one to clear concentration;
restraining oneself from unethical conduct will prevent one from
engaging in speech and acts which pollute ones conscience. The last
three practices of the eightfold path, namely samma-vayama (right
effort), samma-sati (right mindfulness) and samma-samadhi (right
concentration) put stress on developing mental discipline so as to
attune oneself to the Middle Way. This will bring mental calm,
repose and collectedness in dealing with different dimensions of
human experience and prevent one from falling a prey to distorted
perspectives. But one must pass beyond a merely intellectual
understanding: Enlightenment consists in fully internalizing that
understanding, realizing it in fullest sense, and so silencing the
passions.33 The Buddha, as mentioned in his biography, after having
practiced extreme yogic (ascetic) practices to attain liberation
rejected the path of the extremists. He did so on the grounds that
it led to nowhere, only resulting in more suffering and
selfishness: they had left his secular self unchanged; he was still
plagued by desire and still immersed in the toils of
consciousness.34 Hence he proposed the Middle Way, as the route to
liberation, enlightenment and salvation. The Middle Way is the path
of avoidance of suffering and getting caught in the cycle of
pratityasamutpada (dependent origination). The Middle Way of the
Buddha is the path to liberation by overcoming the forces of the
five skandhas (aggregates) which are the cause of suffering, that
is, body/matter, sensation/feeling, perception, mental formations/
33 Richard F. Gombrich, Theravada Buddhism (London: Routledge,
2006), 63. 34 Karen Armstrong, Buddha (New York: Viking/Penguin,
2000), 57.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 381
conditioning and mundane consciousness to which one clings and
thereby suffers. One thinks of them as real self while they are
not. The five aggregates are mara (demons) which cause one to be
tied and attached. The Middle Way of the eightfold path is the path
of freedom, of liberation from being attached to the five
aggregates, or it means to overcome materialism. The Buddhist
Middle Way seems a valid option to confront the contemporary
scourge of excessive materialism which is challenging all religious
ways of life. The eightfold path is described in the following way
in the Buddhist scripture of Dhammapada.
The Path
273 The best of the paths is the path of eight. The best of
truths, the four sayings. The best of states, freedom from
passions. The best of men, the one who sees.
274 This is the path. There is no other that leads to vision. Go
on this path, and you will confuse MARA, the devil of
confusion.
275 Whoever goes on this path travels to the end of his sorrow.
I showed this path to the world when I found the roots of
sorrow.
276 It is you who must take the effort. The Great of the past
only show the way. Those who think and follow the path become free
from the bondage of MARA.
277 All is transient. When one sees this, he is above sorrow.
This is the clear path.
278 All is sorrow. When one sees this, he is above sorrow. This
is the clear path.
279 All is unreal. When one sees this, he is above sorrow. This
is the clear path.
280 If a man when young and strong does not arise and strive
when he should arise and strive, and thus sinks into laziness and
lack of determination, he will never find the path of wisdom.
281 A man should control his words and mind and should not do
any harm with his body. If these ways of action are pure he can
make progress on the path of the wise.
282 Spiritual Yoga leads to light: lack of Yoga to darkness.
Considering the two paths, let the wise man walk on the path that
leads to light.
283 Cut down the forest of desires, not only a tree; for danger
is in the forest. If you cut down the forest and its undergrowth,
then, Bhikkhus, you will be free on the path of freedom.
284 As long as lustful desire, however small, of man for women
is not controlled, so long the mind of man is not free, but is
bound like a calf tied to a cow.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 382
285 Pluck out your self-love as you would pull off a faded lotus
in autumn. Strive on the path of peace, the path of NIRVANA shown
by Buddha.
286 Here shall I dwell in the season of rains, and here in
winter and summer; thus thinks the fool, but he does not think of
death.
287 For death carries away the man whose mind is self-satisfied
with his children and his flocks, even as a torrent carries away a
sleeping village.
288 Neither father, sons nor ones relations can stop the King of
Death. When he comes with all his power, a mans relations cannot
save him.
289 A man who is virtuous and wise understands the meaning of
this, and swiftly strives with all his might to clear a path to
NIRVANA.35
The Buddhist sage Nagarjuna mentioned earlier, who is also known
as the second Buddha, was the founder of the Madhyamaka or the
Middle Way school. He composed the Mulmadhyamakakarika (Fundamental
Verses) on the Middle Way which is divided into 27 chapters. It is
comprised of Nagarjunas comments on topics such as the nature of
causality and conditionality, motion and action, the self, its
suffering and bondage, nirvana, and the Buddha. The verses are
philosophically dense and rather difficult to understand. Nagarjuna
asserts the Buddhist concept of sunyata (emptiness of all things)
including the Buddha himself, and also the identity between
pratityasamutpada (dependent origination) and sunyata
(nothingness/nonsubstantiality), of nirvana (enlightenment) from
samsara (cycle of rebirth) and conventional nature of all truth. In
this way, Nagarjuna maintains that it is a delusion to think that
the world we experience is real. The world is a construct and
clinging to it causes suffering. Overcoming such delusions leads to
understanding the true nature of things which replaces our
emotional and mental anxieties by serenity. The upshot of
Nigarjunas discourse is that we misunderstand the world, taking it
for real, permanent and everlasting. However, the realization of
sunyata (that things have no self-being or essence) leads to the
Middle Way which frees us from attachment to things.36
35 Juan Mascaro, tr. The Dhammapada (Hammondsworth: Penguin
Books Ltd., 1973), 7576. 36 Nagarjuna uses concepts to undermine
the thought-constructed ways in which we understand the world has
long led critics Buddhist and non-Buddhist, Eastern and Western to
accuse him of nihilism. Indeed, it is likely that the Yogachara
school of Buddhism, which emphasizes the reality of consciousness,
arose partly as a response to such nihilistic interpretations.
Evidently some later Buddhist thinkers were concerned that
Nagarjunas exclusively negative approach using language solely to
remove the delusions created by language needed to be supplemented
by more positive descriptions of the Buddhist path and goal.
Eventually, the Madhyamaka and Yogachara approaches became
understood as complementary, providing what is generally accepted
as the basic philosophy of Mahayana.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 383
The Middle Way is the path of avoiding extremes of anger and
fanaticism and also of hedonism and asceticism. It is the path of
moderation, peace and compassion. It is the path that leads to the
realization of sunyata (emptiness). Upon attaining nirvana, one
does not abandon the Middle Way but continues its practice to
further develop ones adherence to morality, meditation and wisdom.
Damien Keown drgues:
The Eightfold Path is thus a path of self-transformation: an
intellectual, emotional, and moral restructuring in which a person
is reoriented from selfish, limited objectives towards a horizon of
possibilities and opportunities for fulfillment. Through the
pursuit of knowledge (panna) and moral virtue (sila), ignorance and
selfish desire are overcome, the cause of the arising of suffering
is removed, and nirvana is attained.37
The Middle way is explained further in Dhamanapada as
follows:
10. Violence All beings tremble before violence. All fear death.
All love life. See yourself in other. Then whom can you hurt? What
harm can you do? He who seeks happiness By hurting those who seek
happiness Will never find happiness. For your brother is like you.
He wants to be happy. Never harm him And when you leave this life
You too will find happiness.38
17. Anger Let go of anger. Let go of pride. When you are bound
by nothing You go beyond sorrow.
David Loy, Second Buddha: Nagarjuna Buddhisms Greatest
Philosopher, available at: , accessed 20 February 2009. 37 Damien
Keown, Buddhism: A Very Short Introduction (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2000), 56. 38 Thomas Byrom, tr. The Dhammapada,
available at: , accessed 3 March 2009.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 384
Anger is like a chariot careering wildly. He who curbs his anger
is the true charioteer. Others merely hold the reins. With
gentleness overcome anger. With generosity overcome meanness. With
truth overcome deceit.39
Ummatan Wasaan (The Middle Nation) Coming to Islam, a
monotheistic religion, its characteristic moderate stance is
expressed by the word wasa. Unfortunately this important concept of
the Qurn is currently eclipsed by the extremist views of the few,
who justify their views and acts by coming up with radical and
extremist interpretations of the political thought of Islamism
which arose in the 20th century as a political critique of the
secular ideology of Muslim nationalism. The Qurnic concept of
Ummatan Wasaan (middle nation or people of moderation) is enshrined
in the following verse:
( )
And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way,
so that [with your lives] you might bear witness to the truth
before all mankind (Qurn 2: 143)
The expression ummatan wasaan can be translated into English as
a community of the middle way,40 as a justly balanced41 community
or middle nation.42 Basically it means that the Muslims should not
be a community of extreme right or extreme left but follow the
middle path or the straight way, i.e. the way of Gods guidance
which is characterised by moderation. Muhammad Asad comments on the
term community of the middle way as follows:
Lit., middlemost community- i.e., a community that keeps an
equitable balance between extremes and is realistic in its
appreciation of mans nature and possibilities, rejecting both
licentiousness and exaggerated asceticism. In tune with its
oft-repeated call to moderation in every aspect of life, the Quran
exhorts the believers not to place too great an emphasis on the
physical and material
39 Ibid. 40 Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qurn (Gibraltar:
Dar al-Andalus, 1984), 30. 41 Abdullh Ysuf Al, The Holy Qurn: Text,
Translation and Commentary, New Revised Edition (Brendwood, MD:
Amana Corp., 1409/1989), 58. 42 Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of
the Glorious Quran (Lahore: Taj Co. n.d.), 23.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 385
aspects of their lives, but postulates, at the same time, that
mans urges and desires relating to this life of the flesh are
God-willed and, therefore, legitimate. On further analysis, the
expression a community of the middle way might be said to
summarize, as it were, the Islamic attitude towards the problem of
mans existence as such: a denial of the view that there is an
inherent conflict between the spirit and the flesh, and a bold
affirmation of the natural, God-willed unity in this twofold aspect
of human life. This balanced attitude, peculiar to Islam, flows
directly from the concept of Gods oneness and, hence, of the unity
of purpose underlying all His creation: and thus, the mention of
the community of the middle way at this place is a fitting
introduction to the theme of the Kabah, a symbol of Gods
oneness.43
In terms of intra- and inter-religious relations, the concept of
ummatan wasaan implies that the Muslims should have cordial and
reciprocal relations with other communities in keeping with the
Qurnic view of religious pluralism as expressed in the following
verses:
And if God had so willed, He could surely have made you all one
single community: but [He willed it otherwise] in order to test you
by means of what He has vouchsafed unto you. Vie, then, with one
another in doing good works! (Qurn 5: 48)
O men! Behold, We have created you all out of a male and a
female, and have made you into nations and tribes, so that you
might come to know one another. Verily, the noblest of you in the
sight of God is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him.
Behold, God is all-knowing, all-aware. (Qurn 49: 13)
Verily those who have attained to faith (in this divine writ),
as well as those who follow the Jewish faith, and the Christians,
and the Sabians all who believe in God and the Last Day and do
righteous deeds-shall have their reward with their Sustainer; and
no fear need they have, and neither shall they grieve. (Qurn 2:
62)
There shall be no coercion in matters of faith. (Qurn 2:
256)
The above Qurnic verses indicate that: (1) The unification of
religious belief and practice does not form part of Gods
plan for humanity. On the contrary, religious differences are
natural and should make humans compete with one another in doing
good works rather than destroying themselves in mutual antagonism
and strife.
(2) Humanity constitutes a single family of equals and none has
been invested with inherent superiority over others. Diversities
found among various
43 Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qurn, 30.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 386
groups of people should foster mutual understanding rather than
antagonism and hostility. The Qurn condemns all kinds of prejudice
whether racial, national or tribal. The Prophet Muammad (peace be
on him) remarked: Behold, God has removed from you the arrogance of
pagan ignorance (jhiliyyah) with its boast of ancestral glories.
Man is either a God-conscious believer or an unfortunate sinner.
All people are children of Adam, and Adam was created out of
dust.44
(3) A fundamental doctrine of Islam is that salvation hinges on
three elements: belief in God, belief in the Day of Judgment, and
righteous action.
(4) There is no compulsion in [matters of] dn i.e. in faith and
religion in the sense of compliance with a morally binding law.
Muhammad Asad further comments on this verse as follows: all
Islamic jurists (fuqah ), without any exception, hold that forcible
conversion, is under all circumstances null and void, and that any
attempt at coercing a non-believer to accept the faith of Islam is
a grievous sin: a verdict which disposes of the widespread fallacy
that Islam places before the unbelievers the alternative of
conversion or the sword.45
The characteristics of the members of ummatan wasaan (Middle
Nation) are as follows:
they are monotheists in terms of religious belief; they are kind
to their elders (especially to parents); they do not slay their
children out of fear of poverty; that is, they do not engage in
infanticide; they refrain from shameful acts, whether open or
secret; they never kill anyone unless it be a necessary requirement
of right and justice; they treat orphans with tenderness; they
adhere to fairness and equity in business transactions; they speak
kindly; they recognize a legitimate social role for women; they
fulfil their covenants with God;46 they call upon their Sustainer
humbly and in the secrecy of their hearts. For God loves not those
who transgress the bounds of what is right; and they do not spread
mischief on earth after things have been set right.47
44 Ab s Muammad b. s al-Tirmidh, Sunnan al-Tirmidh, Kitb Tafsr
al-Qurn an Rasl Allh, Bb Wa min Srat al-ujurt. 45 Muhammad Asad,
The Message of the Qurn, 88. 46 See, Qurn 6: 151152. 47 See, Qurn
7: 5556. The above directives for human welfare are found more or
less in all religions, monotheistic or otherwise.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 387
The majority of Muslims is moderate while the extremist tendency
has affected the outlook of only a very meager minority that seeks
to inflate its importance through propaganda. For Muslims, the
Prophet Muammad (peace be on him) is the example par excellence of
a moderate person who is worthy of emulation through imitatio
Muammadi.
Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation between Socially Engaged
Islam and Socially Engaged Buddhism
Interreligious dialogue between Monotheism and Buddhism is a new
initiative. Of late there has taken place considerable interaction
between Christianity and Buddhism as can be seen in the works of
Masao Abe,48 John Cobb,49 Leonard Swidler,50 and others.51 Dialogue
between Hindus, Buddhists and Jews and Muslims at the bilateral and
multilateral levels has, however, also been proceeding
gradually.52
48 Masao Abe, Zen and Western Thought (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1989); Masao Abe, Buddhism and Interfaith Dialogue
(Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1995); Masao Abe, Zen and
the Modern World (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2003). 49
John B. Cobb, Beyond Dialogue: Toward a Mutual Transformation of
Christianity and Buddhism (Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress
Publishers, 1982). 50 Leonard Swidler and Seiichi Yagi, A Bridge to
Buddhist-Christian Dialogue (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press October
1990); Leonard Swidler and Antony Fernando, Buddhism Made Plain: An
Introduction for Christians and Jews (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books,
April 1985). 51 For topical discussions in Buddhist-Christian
dialogue see the journal, Buddhist-Christian Studies. 52 See, Yudit
Kornberg Greenberg, Hindu-Jewish Summits (20072008): A Postmodern
Religious Encounter, Interreligious Insight, vol. 7, no. 1 (2009),
2639; Hananya Goodman, ed. Between Jerusalem and Benares:
Comparative Studies in Judaism and Hinduism (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1994); Rodger Kamenetz, The Jew in
the Lotus: A Poets Re-Discovery of Jewish Identity in Buddhist
India (New York: Harper One, 1995); Sylvia Boorstein, Its Easier
Than You Think: The Buddhist Way to Happiness (New York: Harper
One, 1997); Sylvia Boorstein, Thats Funny, You Dont Look Buddhist:
On Being a Faithful Jew and a Passionate Buddhist (New York: Harper
One, 1997); Majid Tehranian and Daisaku Ikeda, Global Civilization:
A Buddhist-Islamic Dialogue (London: I. B. Tauris, 2008); Chandra
Muzaffar and Sulak Sivaraksa, Alternative Politics for Asia: A
Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue (New York: Lantern Books, 2002); Imtiyaz
Yusuf, Dialogue Between Islam and Buddhism: The Concepts of al-Insn
al-Kml and Bodhisattva (forthcoming); also by the same author,
Muslim-Buddhist Relations in Islam and the Future of World Peace
(New York: Interreligious and International Federation for World
Peace, 2002), 8489; Presenting Islam to the Buddhists in Rizwan Wu,
ed. Readings in Cross-Cultural Dawah (Singapore: Darul Arqam Muslim
Converts Association of Singapore, 2001), 137163, Dialogue between
Islam and Buddhism Through the Concepts of Tathagata and Nur
Muhammadi, International Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture,
vol. 5 (February 2005), 103114; Religious Diversity in a Buddhist
Majority Country: The Case of Islam in Thailand, International
Journal of Buddhist Thought and Culture, vol. 3 (September 2003),
131143.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 388
In order for this dialogue to advance further the monotheists,
i.e. Jews, Christians and Muslims, have to come to the common
ground and share a common view of their religious identity as
monotheistic and also avoid to write each other off by hurling
charges of imposture, deception and blasphemy. The monotheistic
religions should not claim the monopoly of truth and should further
proceed to find the common ground with Asian Religions through the
essentials of truth found in their scriptures, so to proceed
towards a state of religions harmony.53 This will involve engaging
in dialogues of scripture, religious experience and action. Of
these the last type has a greater chance of extensive application
while the first two types are limited to specific groups.
The dialogue of action involves religious engagement between
socially engaged monotheism and socially engaged Asian religions.
Religious engagement will address the issues of building ethical
values, mutual relationship and trust and active pursuit of common
good. The aim is to build interreligious cooperation between
religious communities in order to alleviate anguish and pain in the
world by spreading the ethics of compassion, peace, harmony and
hope. These values lie at the heart of each religion but are not
noticed in their interreligious dimension when each religion views
itself myopically. The challenge before the followers of religions
is to build religiously pluralistic societies that are
compassionate and caring and are not bound by or enmeshed in petty
politics in the name of religion. Religions have to solve rather
than create problems and this requires them to foster good
practices. One might ask: is that not the goal of the original
propagators of all religions? As far as we are concerned, this is
very much the goal of religious engagement.
Socially Engaged Islam
A Muslim statement on religious engagement says that: The roots
of current political, economic and social imbalance and inequality
are behavioral. Institutional reforms alone cannot improve the
situation. The pursuit by each individual of his or her
self-interest must be moderated by a concern for others resulting
in caring and sharing. This ingredient is best supplied by
53 Theological similarities between the three monotheistic
religions has been addressed by Karen Armstrong, A History of God
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1993). Karen Armstrong has also
pointed out the basic similarity between the fundamentalist
movements in these three faiths in her, The Battle for God (London:
Harper Collins, 2001). On the similarities in the theme of
monotheistic theology, see also, F. E. Peters, Children of Abraham
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2006).
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 389
religions, but reason too affirms that in view of humanitys
shared habitat and the interdependencies in the human situation in
general.54
The statement also confirms Muslim tawidic (monotheistic)
principle which, apart from affirming the unity of Deity, also
implies unity of humankind and requires economic and social justice
and solidarity with fellow beings and responsible living in an
interdependent world. It prescribes the following:
(a) That the Muslims respect differences in belief and practice
among religious
and spiritual communities and appreciate all efforts at
developing better mutual understanding among the followers of
different religions.
(b) Religion should function in contemporary society as a moral
force leading to a peaceful, just and sustainable world.
(c) Religious people should cooperate to make this world a
better place and should not allow differences in religious belief
and practice to stand in the way of this cooperation.
(d) Men and women of religion should rise to the occasion,
expose the calls to destructive confrontation, and rally humanity
to the causes common to all civilizations: survival, freedom,
justice, human dignity, peace, sustainability, and moral excellence
and progress. They must oppose all hegemonic agendas that would
impose the will of some over others.
In the area of taking specific actions the statement emphasises
the following:
1. The global Muslim community should demonstrate that
terrorists have no
place in Islam. 2. It should actively engage in the
international campaign against land mines. 3. It should join
efforts to find globally shared paths to sustainable economic
growth and social justice. 4. It should support the Earth
Charter in respect of safeguarding the planetary
ecosystem. 5. It should restore democracy in the Muslim world
and urge Western powers
to end support for anti-democratic forces in Muslim countries.
6. It should empower Muslim women. 7. It should support the
building of civil society to address the problem of
corruption. 8. In the sphere of Islamic education it should
emphasise values such as peace,
universal human solidarity, justice, compassion, honesty and
integrity.
54 Jim Kenny and Irfan Ahmad Khan, Vision to Action: Statements
on Interreligious Engagement Project (IEP21): Muslim Statement,
Interreligious Insight, vol. 6, no. 2 (April 2008), 61.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 390
9. It should make use of media to develop empathy and
understanding among Muslims for all human beings and all living
beings.
10. It should develop a univocal commitment to civilizational
dialogue with the aim to build understanding and harmony between
Islamic and all existing civilizations.55
Socially engaged Islam which is permeated with Islamic values is
committed to changing society along progressive lines. These values
are: muswh (equality), adl (justice), isn (benevolence), salm
(peace), ramah (compassion) and ikmah (wisdom). Thanks to these
values, engaged Muslims are striving to remove suffering, injustice
and oppression on earth for the sake of the betterment of human
life and society. This stance parallels that of the Buddha who
espoused similar ideas. The aim of Islams call that Muslims become
a middle nation is that they should contribute to building peace on
earth in cooperation with other religious and socio-political
entities. Engaged Islam lays stress on acquiring education and
knowledge in order to remove illiteracy and achieve development so
as to build a moderate society. But political rivalry between
different social factions and nations is the greatest obstacle in
the path of achieving this objective. Hence the need for
acquisition of knowledge is essential for Muslim social engagement.
In this regard the Muslim educators should put stress on the
following verses of the Qurn:
My Lord! Increase me in knowledge. (Qurn 20: 114)
Read for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One
Who teaches by the pen,
Teaches man that which be knew not. (Qurn 96: 35)
You are indeed the best community that has been brought forth
for [the good of] mankind: you enjoin the doing of what is right
and forbid the doing of what is wrong, and you believe in God.
(Qurn 3: 110)
Socially engaged Islam supports the building of democracy in the
Muslim world which is largely either non-existent or has a very
slander base of existence. Democracy is operational only in no more
than a handful of the 52 Muslim member countries of the
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
Socially Engaged Buddhism
Socially engaged Buddhism seeks to engage actively with the
problems of the 55 Ibid., 6065.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 391
world social, political, economic, and environmental on the
basis of Buddhist ideas, values, and the spirituality enshrined in
the religious concepts of karma, Dependent Origination, the Four
Noble Truths and non-violence. Many people believe that Buddhists
focus exclusively on spiritual attainments. However, the fact is
that socially engaged Buddhists involve themselves with the
problems of the world and seek to reconcile this involvement with
the Buddhist teaching of nonattachment with worldly objects.56
Engaged Buddhists hold that since the root of human suffering is in
the mind rather than the external world, the pursuit of
enlightenment does not require one to turn away from the world.
Thus working to reduce the suffering of humans, living things and
the planet is integral to the Buddhist spiritual stance leading to
selflessness and compassion. Vietnamese Buddhist monk, Venerable
Thich Nhat Hanh, (1926 ) who is also a poet and peace activist,
mentions the following 14 points as the principles of engaged
Buddhism:
1. Do not be idolatrous about or bound to any doctrine, theory,
or ideology,
even the Buddhist ones. Buddhist systems of thought are a means
to guide; they are not absolute truths.
2. Do not think that the knowledge you presently possess is a
changeless, absolute truth. Avoid being narrow-minded and bound to
present views. Learn and practice nonattachment from views in order
to be open to receive others viewpoints. Truth is found in life and
not merely in conceptual knowledge. Be ready to learn throughout
your entire life and to observe reality in yourself and in the
world at all times.
3. Do not force others, including children, by any means
whatsoever, to adopt your views, whether by authority, threat,
money, propaganda, or even education. However, through
compassionate dialogue, help others to renounce fanaticism and
narrow-mindedness.
4. Do not avoid suffering or close your eyes before suffering.
Do not lose awareness of the existence of suffering in the life of
the world. Find ways to be with those who are suffering, including
by personal contacts, visits, images and sounds. By such means,
awaken yourself and others to the reality of suffering in the
world.
5. Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not
make fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure as the aims of your
life. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources
with those who are in need.
6. Do not maintain anger or hatred. Learn to penetrate and
transform them when they are still seeds in your consciousness. As
soon as they arise, turn
56 See, Sallie B. King, ed. Socially Engaged Buddhism (Honolulu:
University of Hawaii Press, 2009).
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 392
your attention to your breath in order to see and understand the
nature of your hatred.
7. Do not lose yourself in dispersion and in your surroundings.
Practice mindful breathing to come back to what is happening in the
present moment. Be in touch with what is wondrous, refreshing, and
healing both inside and around you. Plant seeds of joy, peace, and
understanding in yourself in order to facilitate the work of
transformation in the depths of your consciousness.
8. Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the
community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all
conflicts, however small.
9. Do not say untruthful things for the sake of personal
interest or to impress people. Do not utter words that cause
division and hatred. Do not spread news that you do not know to be
certain. Do not criticise or condemn things of which you are not
sure. Always speak truthfully and constructively. Have the courage
to speak out about situations of injustice, even when doing so may
threaten your own safety.
10. Do not use the Buddhist community for personal gain or
profit, or transform your community into a political party. A
religious community, however, should take a clear stand against
oppression and injustice and should strive to change the situation
without engaging in partisan conflicts.
11. Do not live with a vocation that is harmful to humans and
nature. Do not invest in companies that deprive others of their
chance to live. Select a vocation that helps realize your ideal of
compassion.
12. Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means
possible to protect life and prevent war.
13. Possess nothing that should belong to others. Respect the
property of others, but prevent others from profiting from human
suffering or the suffering of other species on Earth.
14. Do not mistreat your body. Learn to handle it with respect.
Do not look on your body as only an instrument. Preserve vital
energies (sexual, breath, spirit) for the realization of the Way.
For brothers and sisters who are not monks and nuns, sexual
expression should not take place without love and commitment. In
sexual relations, be aware of future suffering that may be caused.
To preserve the happiness of others, respect the rights and
commitments of others. Be fully aware of the responsibility of
bringing new lives into the world. Meditate on the world into which
you are bringing new beings.57
57 Thich Nhat Hanh, Interbeing: Fourteen Guidelines for Engaged
Buddhism (Berkeley: Parallax Press, 1993). A Muslim reader of these
points would find himself familiar with most of the principles
stated herein as expressed in various verses of the Qurn or in the
sunnah of the Prophet Muammad (peace be on him) recorded in the
books of adth.
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DIALOGUE BETWEEN ISLAM AND BUDDHISM THROUGH THE CONCEPTS UMMATAN
WASAAN 393
A Thai Buddhist activist Sulak Sivaraksa (1933 ) is a socially
engaged Buddhist who uses Buddhist ethics for social and spiritual
transformation. In an interview describing socially engaged
Buddhism he remarked that, Each one of us carries within seeds
potentialities for love, anger, happiness, violence, and peace.
These lie dormant until we water them with our actions. Being angry
sprouts the seeds of sadness and discontent. Living in awareness
sprouts seeds of peace.58 Sulak holds that true change could only
be brought about through social activism. He holds that socially
engaged Buddhism stresses on practicing sila (not exploiting
yourself or others) and meditation to sow the seeds of peace. The
aim is to attain prajna (understanding of reality) and to practice
karuna (compassion). Thus began Sulaks search for development
models based on Buddhist ideals. He founded the International
Network of Engaged Buddhists which also engages in interreligious
dialogue and social activity with members of other religions.59
Socially engaged Buddhism stresses on undertaking efforts to build
a sense of universal responsibility in the areas of social justice
and care for earth; building cultures of peace, engaging in
dialogue of action with other religious communities in the areas of
youth development and social service to the poor in society.60
Conclusion
This paper has shown that both monotheistic and non-theistic
religions expound moderation in religion. Their essential message
to humanity is to avoid extremism of all sorts in order to build
mature human beings and peaceful societies. That is the ideal. The
history of religions shows that religious extremism has emerged in
all religions. While these religions present themselves as sources
of building peace between different segments of humanity, their
historical record is not free from the stain of violence. Hence,
reviving the message of the middle way or middle nation is an
urgent task, especially today when the extremism of religious
nationalists and fundamental-ists threatens to wreak havoc on
humanity. The Islamic moderate position of wasaiyyah is a middle
position between religious conservatism and extremism. In the words
of Charles Le Gai Eaton:
58 The interview is available at: , accessed 24 February 2009.
59 Ibid. 60 Jim Kenny and Sallie B. King, Vision to Action
Statements on Interreligious Engagement Project (IEP21): Buddhist
Statement, Interreligious Insight, vol. 6, no. 2 (April 2008),
6570.
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IMTIYAZ YUSUF 394
The Quranic concept of a middle nation tells the Muslims to be
worthy of being heir to ancient and universal truths, and to
principles of social and human stability (often betrayed but never
forgotten) of which our chaotic world has a desperate need; a
nation which witnesses to a hope that transcends the dead ends
against which the contemporary world is battering itself to
death.61
Buddhisms notion of Majjhima-Patipada (Middle Way) and Islams
notion of Ummatan Wasaan (Middle Nation) emphasize moderation and
offer firm foundations to promote cooperation between different
communities. This is promising because the goal of building
peaceful relations between different religions communities is an
urgent need of our time in view of the fact that immoderate
religious views are likely to ignite animosity and conflict that
can inflict incalculable harm on humanity and its habitat the
earth. Interreligious relations and dialogue between monotheistic
and Asian religions require initiatives by moderate and socially
engaged monotheism of Judaism, Christianity and Islam and socially
engaged Buddhism and other Asian religions. This process can be
initiated by engaging in the dialogue of life and action at the
general community level, leaving the task of more sophisticated
dialogue of theology, doctrine, scripture and experience to the
specialists.
61 Charles Le Gai Eaton, Islam and the Destiny of Man (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1985), 26.