Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| Barr |
| 03/21/01 at 03:20:13 |
| Released March 18, 2001 The Wisdom Fund, P. O. Box 2723, Arlington, VA 22202 Website: http://www.twf.org - Press Contact: Enver Masud What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? by Enver Masud WASHINGTON, DC - The Taliban's destruction of the statues of Buddha at Bamiyan, Afgahnistan, have provoked near universal condemnation. One voice, however, has not been heard--that of Buddha himself. What would Buddha say having witnessed 13 centuries of Muslim rule in Afghanistan during which centuries of cultural heritage survived? Yet in just 21 years, since the Russian invasion of 1979, "thousands of Hellenistic, Iranian and Indian artifacts from Afghanistan's many-layered past have been smuggled out to the voracious and amoral Western art market."--Robert Hughes, "Buddha Bashing," TIME, March 19, 2001. What would Buddha say having witnessed a decade of Soviet occupation, the expulsion, by the courageous Afghans, of the mighty Soviet superpower--which led to its demise, and the fall of the Berlin Wall at the cost of 1.5 million Afghans killed, another million maimed, six million who migrated because of Russian brutalities (out of a total population of 18 million), and many thousands who continue to be maimed or killed by the land mines left behind by the Soviets? What would Buddha say to the U.S. that not only turned its back on the Afghans following these sacrifices, but continues to fuel a civil war against the Taliban which has brought a large measure of security to the 90 percent of Afghanistan which it controls, is reported to have wiped out virtually all opium production (roughly 75 percent of the world's supply), but sees peace and progress thwarted by the U.S.? What would Buddha say to the U.S. which in the mid-1990s embargoed arms to the Bosnian Muslims, and a world that stood by and watched the genocide of the Bosnians, and the destruction of over 8000 mosques and priceless treasures from Bosnia's National Museum, by Christian Orthodox Serbs and Catholic Croats? What would Buddha say to NATO, which on its 50th anniversary, desperate for a new mission following the break up of the Soviet Union, and to protect its credibility, under the guise of saving Kosovo's Muslims, bombed military and civilian targets in Yugoslavia? What would Buddha say to the U.S. which demonizes the Taliban because it seeks control of Caspian oil, enemies to justify defense spending--the U.S. share of the world's military spending at about 35 percent is now substantially higher than during the Cold War, and nearly three times that of all its potential adversaries combined--and to deter others from building an oil pipeline through Afghanistan? What would Buddha say to the Chinese, Russians and Indians who fear the Taliban's support for oppressed Muslims in the Chinese province of Xinjiang, the former Soviet republic of Chechnya, and in the disputed state of Kashmir? What would Buddha say to the world's powers for their determination to protect the statues at Bamiyan, while they do little to prevent the destruction of Palestinian homes, and the killing and wounding of thousands of Palestinians, armed only with stones, and a few rifles and automatic weapons, against the most powerful state, and nuclear power, in the Middle East--Israel? What would Buddha say to a "world [which] seems to care more about the destruction of two stone statues, which--let's be honest--hardly anyone had ever heard of until ten days ago, than about 100,000 refugees who have been starving and freezing to death near Herat a few hundred miles away from them?"--"The Afghan iconoclasts," The Economist, March 10, 2001. Born in 563 B.C. in India, Siddharta Gautama, the Buddha, was deeply moved by the suffering of his people, and at age 29 gave up his kingdom and a life of luxury to seek enlightenment. When asked, "Are you a saint? Are you an angel? Are you a god? What are you?" answered, "I am awake." His answer became his title, for this is what Buddha means. Buddha might ask the world, "Are you awake?" To the Taliban he might say, "I have failed to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people. Forgive me." Copyright ? 2001 The Wisdom Fund - Provided that it is not edited, and author name, organization, and web address (www.twf.org) are included, this article may be printed in newspapers and magazines, and displayed on the Internet. |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| Barr |
| 03/21/01 at 03:32:01 |
| No smilies intended for the article... can't seem to remove them. sorry |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| Saleema |
| 03/21/01 at 13:15:27 |
| Assalam ualykum, Mashallah, what a moving article. wassalam |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| jehad |
| 03/23/01 at 15:24:23 |
| WHAT WOULD BODDAH SAY TO THE DISTRUCTION OF THE IDOL.. HE WOULD SAY "ALHUMDULLILAH!".. he was not a pagan, he did not worship idols... he worshiped allah alone, he never claimed to be allah, or orderd idols of himself constructed. asalm walakum |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/23/01 at 18:01:04 |
| What would Buddha say on seeing what is going on in the world today? Allahu 'Alam. But maybe something in the same spirit as this: "Blind is this world. Few are those who clearly see. As birds escape from a net, few go to a blissful state." Dhammapada 174 And Allah knows best...[slm] |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| Arsalan |
| 03/24/01 at 02:59:49 |
| [slm] Jehad said:[quote]he worshiped allah alone[/quote]Really? Is this a fact, or some hypothetical theory?? |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| AbdulBasir |
| 03/25/01 at 14:07:55 |
| [quote]he worshiped allah alone[/quote] [slm] I would venture to say that no one can say this for sure, the Qur'an is silent about Buddha, and no one knows but Allah what was in his heart... Of course we can theorize, and as Allah says, every nation received prophets (cf:[35:24]); given the impact he has had on the world, could he be one? Allahu 'Alam. One well known-scholar in the US was asked this question, and he basically said, Allah knows, but probably, even likely. But this is of course only known by the All-Knowing. It is however intriguing that if one looks carefully at his life and his works, it bears many similarities with Isa AS. His objections to suffering, the priestly orders, the ritualism, and so on. Many Christian and Buddhists themselves have looked at this and even come up with fantastic theories (including Isa AS learning from Buddhists). Indeed, one could say that following his death, he bears even more similiarity to Isa AS in that one of his major groups of "followers", the Mahayana believed him to be God (sort of at least). Interesting huh? Moreover, one could theorize that what happened to the teachings of Buddha was similar to the teachings of Isa AS. That is, they were corrupted into a message very different from the one he espoused. Of course we can say for sure this happened with Isa AS but we cannot for Buddha. Nevertheless, it is interesting that some people have examined the eschatologic texts of "non-Abrahamic" scriptures and have found possible prophecies about Rasullalah[saw]. Some of them are uncanny in their accuracy. Indeed it is said that Buddha spoke of "another Buddha" who would come and be under divine protection, even in battle, and famed for his compassion, humility, and unique truthfulness. Apparently Buddha emphasized this prophecy so much that his followers were less aggrieved when he died. Again of course, all of this is theory, and we should be careful. I would recommend, with reservation, "Muhammad in World Scriptures" by M. Vidyarthi; you might disagree with many things, but the book is interesting food for thought. And Allah knows best. [slm] |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| chachi |
| 03/25/01 at 16:35:38 |
The early Buddhists used to make a wheel or other symbols to depict buddha never a idol of him |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| jehad |
| 03/26/01 at 11:03:21 |
| BODDah never claimed to be god, and never told people to make idols of him. its not in any other there texts |
| Taliban coolness |
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| PacificBreeze |
| 03/27/01 at 16:03:47 |
| worshipping buddah came afterwards..it wasn't a part of his teachings etc... anyhow...has anyone seen the charlie rose show on kqed??? oh my godddddd, sayed rahmatullah hashami is DA BOMB!!! he was sooo awesome masha'allah lol totally responding back to the rubin's(?) (this ny prof or some analyst) statements! even rubin had to concede some! :) and what's all this noise/uproar against Pak??? hello, i see an indian influence here!!! blame it on the paks, sure...isn't that a hint on who's side they are on? INDIA! the supporter that's backing up all these allegations and sponsoring ppl like that sebastian junger dude. lol like hashimi said.."whatever!" ;) |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| humble_muslim |
| 03/28/01 at 06:13:56 |
| AA Forgive my ignorance, but I thought that the concept of worshipping the creator was not part of Buddha's teachings ? So how could he have been on the straight path, when the first message of all the Prophets was to worship Allah SWT ? |
| NS |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| jehad |
| 03/29/01 at 15:03:56 |
| texts get corrupted, it is clear from what remains of the text that he did worship, so who was it that he worshiped? dont confuse boddha with boddism, just like you dont confuse christianity with esa. allah hu allim, if he was a prophet or not, but he was definatly not a idol worshiper, or some one claiming to be god. |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| Arsalan |
| 03/29/01 at 18:37:49 |
| [slm] [quote]but he was definatly not a idol worshiper, or some one claiming to be god.[/quote]How do you know this with such conviction?? |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| Saleema |
| 03/29/01 at 23:31:03 |
| Assalam ualykum, I wish I hadn't thrown away my notes on Buddhism! (Zen buddhims is really strange and mind boggling but that's besides the point...) But Buddha didn't claim to be a god or an angel when asked what he was he replied, "I am awake." Meaning he had reached peace, serenity,etc, etc, He did not worship idols. but his followers started worshiping him after some time. What's interesting is that there's a story about him where the devil tries to lead him astray by seducing him with women but Buddah rejects them. Then the devil offers him wealth and he rejects that too and some other things. then my teacher made the connection between Jesus (A) and Muhammad (A) and said that all great religious personalities were offered the same earthly seductions and they all rejected it. anyway, would you all like to hear what kind of things Zen Buddhists like to think about? Ex: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" And it will take 30 years to practically your whole life to think on one question and everytime you think you have got the answer you go tell it to your teaher or monk and if that's not the right answer the monk will beat you with a stick! :) (man, what's with asian ppl always beating their students!) anyway Saleema |
| Re: What Would Buddha Say to the Taliban? |
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| PacificBreeze |
| 03/29/01 at 23:29:04 |
| hashmi on pbs again! he's awesome masha'llah..very blunt..and his replies are logical.. :) you have to listen/check out the interviews! :) btw, he's 24! for today's interview: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/asia/afghanistan/hashimi.html |
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