Buddhism and fallacies of idol worship

The destruction of Buddha statues in Bamiyan, (Afghanistan) by Taleban has

prompted a worldwide discussion on this subject. It is common knowledge that
having idols of religious significance would eventually lead to the practice of idol
worshipping. Even idols without any religious importance, with the passage of time,
have proven to become objects of worship. Does this worship and veneration of
idols, created by humans, conform to human intellect and reasoning? This is the
basic theme of this discussion and as the subject was initiated due to the recent
destruction of Buddha statues, we would like to have a brief discussion about
Buddhism, particularly about the authenticity of it's scriptures, on which the present
day Buddhism is built upon. Your active participation with suggestions and even
corrections, if there were any, would be highly appreciated. Our fervent hope is that
an unprejudiced and unbiased approach to this discussion, would undoubtedly
.result in a very constructive outcome

Even though we live in the 21st century, the period of knowledge and science, the
phenomenon of idol worshipping still persists in many of the nations of the world.
The Qur'an, the book of guidance for the entire mankind, revealed fourteen centuries
ago, alerts us to the fallacy involved in worshipping idols. The story of Prophet
Ibrahim, peace be upon him, who tried to demonstrate his people how illogical such
an act of ignorance is, has been narrated in the Qu'ran

And recite to them the story of Ibrahim. When he said to his father and his people
"What do you worship?" They said: "We worship idols and to them we are ever
devoted" He said: " Do they hear you, when you call on (them)? Or do they benefit
you or do they harm (you)?" They said: "(Nay) But we found our fathers doing so"
)(Holy Qur'an 26:69-74

Ibrahim left his father's house and abandoned his people and shunned what they
worshipped. He decided to do something about his people's state of belief, but did
not reveal it to anyone. He knew that there was going to be a great celebration on the
other bank of the river, which would be attended by all the people. Ibrahim waited
until the city was empty, then came out cautiously directing his steps towards the
temple. He went there carrying a sharp ax. He looked at the stone and wooden
statues and at the food laid in front of them as offerings (dana). He approached one
of the statues and asked "The food in front of you is getting cold. Why don't you
eat?" The statue kept silent and rigid. Ibrahim asked the other statues around him

)Will you not eat (of the offerings before you)?' (Holy Qur'an 37 : 91 "

He was mocking them for he knew they would not eat. He once again asked them

)What is the matter with you that you speak not?' (Holy Qur'an 37 : 92 "

He then raised his ax and started smashing the false deities worshipped by the
people and by this he wanted to show his people a practical proof of their
foolishness in worshipping something other than Allah, the One True God. He
destroyed them all except one, on whose neck he hung the ax. When the people
returned, they were shocked to see their deities smashed to pieces, lying scattered all
over the temple. They began to guess who had done that to their idols, and Ibrahim's
.name came to their minds

They said: "Who has done this to our gods? He must indeed be one of the wrong
."doers

"They said: "We heard a young man talking against them, who is called Ibrahim

"They said: "Then bring him before the eyes of the people, that they may testify

"?They said: "Are you the one who has done this to our gods, O Ibrahim

Ibrahim said: "Nay, this one, biggest of them (idols) did it. Ask them if they can
"?speak

So they turned to themselves and said: "You are the wrong doer" Then they turned
to themselves( their first thought and said): "Indeed you (Ibrahim) know well that
"!these (idols) speak not

Ibrahim said: " Do you then worship besides Allah, things that can neither profit
you, nor harm you. Fie upon you, and upon that you worship besides Allah! Have
)you then no sense?" (Holy Qur'an 21: 59-67

The story of Prophet Ibrahim and his continuous struggle against idol worship and
all other forms of polytheistic practices as well as his enormous sacrifices to establish
the worship of Allah amongst mankind needs lot more pages to explain. The
following is the explanation found in the “Fundamentals of Tawheed” by Dr.A.A.B.
.Philips, how the idol worship found it’s way amongst the mankind
 Prophet Mohammed (Peace and Blessings be upon him) described in vivid detail “
exactly how Polytheism (Shirk) found its way among mankind after long periods of
Monotheism (Tawheed), which began with Prophet Adam. The Prophet’s
companions related the concept to us in their explanation of Verse 23 of Chapter
Nooh (Noah), where in Allah describes the reaction of Prophet Nooh’s people when
.)he invited them to the worship of Allah (only One True God

They said to each other:`Do not leave your gods! Do not give up Wadd and Suwaa “
nor Yaghooth, Yaooq and Nasr’” Qur’an 71: 23

The Prophet's companion Ibn Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him) said the
following in his commentary on this Qur’anic verse: “These were idols of Nooh’s
nation which in time ended up among the Arabs. These idols were named after some
righteous men among Nooh’s people. When these righteous men died Satan inspired
the people to make statues of them named after them, in remembrance of them.
These statues were placed in their favorite meeting places as reminders of
righteousness and no one of that generation worshipped them. However, when that
generation died off and the purpose of the statues was forgotten, Satan came to their
descendants and told them that their predecessors used to worship the statues
because it was due to them that it rained down from the sky. The descendants were
fooled and began to worship them as idols. The following generations continued to
.worship them

The Tafseer (explanation) of the verse given by these illustrious companions of the
Prophet (peace be upon him) paints a clear picture of the process by which idolatry
and polytheism found its way into the pure monotheistic system of beliefs held by
our ancestors. It confirms the degeneration pattern, identifies the historical origin of
ancestor worship and it also explains why Islam is so firmly opposed to the
depiction of human and animal forms in statues or paintings. The prohibition of
images can also be found among Ten Commandments given to Prophet Moses and
recorded in the Old Testament: “You shall not make for yourself a graven image or
likeness of anything that is in the heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that
is in the water under the earth” Exodus 20:4

Now, you will be able to see some satanic confusion repeated. Early followers of
Prophet Jesus maintained this attitude until an infusion of Greco-Roman thought
thoroughly distorted Prophet Jesus’ monotheistic teachings. This change produced a
 rash of statue making in which martyrs, saints, apostles, Mary, Jesus and even God
.were depicted

To know what Buddhism says about idol worship, we have to examine their sacred
books. The Bible of Buddhism is called ‘Tri Pitaka’ composed of three books, written
in Pali. These are the books of the Hinayana or Theravada sect of Buddhism, which
claims to be more orthodox than the other sect, Mahayana. Mahayanist use
Mahavastu and Lalitavastu as their sacred books written in Sanskrit. We will be
dealing with the books of the Hinayana sect and the following are the collections in
.this division of Buddhism

Sutta Pitaka’ collection of sermons and discourses of Buddha. Supposed‘)I

to be the most important of the Pitakas as a source book of Buddhist
.’doctrine. It consists of five divisions known as ‘Nikayas

2. Majjima Nikaya 3.Sanyukta Nikaya, 4. Anguttara Deega Nikaya .1

.Nikaya and 5. Kuddaka Nikaya

.Vinaya Pitaka’ composed of rules of conduct, particularly of monks‘)II

.Abhidhamma Pitaka’ analysis of doctrine‘)III

In any of these texts we do not find any evidence or statement approving or

promoting of idol worship by Buddha. On the contrary, Buddha has opposed
making of idols, when Ananda, a close relative, the most devoted attendant and a
leading monk sought permission to make an idol of Buddha. The practice of idol
.worship in present day Buddhism is an innovation, defying the teachings of Buddha

Idol worship, the nearest analogy I can provide you is like calling someone else as
one’s father, while his real father is another person. Rejection of one’s father and
attributing this very honorable position to another person is a very disgraceful and
disgusting thing any human being will think of doing. The only one true God (Allah)
is the Creator, Sustainer, Cherisher of everything in the heavens and the earth and
whatever lies between them. It is He, Who only deserves our worship. If we make
idols of human beings, animals and other created objects, for the purpose of
worship, my simple question is, do we earn the Blessings or the Wrath of Allah? This
is the unpardonable sin any human being can commit. The seriousness of this sin
.will not equal the analogy provided above

The following is a glimpse of basic principles of Buddhism and the views expressed
by competent persons about the authenticity of their sacred scripture. Dr. Khalifa
Abdul Hakim in his book ‘The Prophet and His Message’ sums up the basics of
Buddhism as follows. “What we know about Buddha with any certainty is only this,
that overwhelmed by the pain and misery of life, he wandered away from his
princely realm, deserting his community, his wife and child, in search of light to
solve the problem of cosmic pain. The light that he received showed him the
unreality of all life. Life, according to him, could not be mended. The only remedy,
therefore, is that it must be ended. Actions, good as well as bad, are the products of
desire. Therefore, to end all actions and ultimately all life, all desires should be
annihilated. The aim of life should be to negate itself to attain to a desire less state,
Nirvana, to which no category of life or consciousness is applicable, for which reason
.”it is indescribable

Just as Christian theology revolves around the ‘figment of ORIGINAL SIN’, so too
does all Buddhist theology revolve around the ‘fact of SUFFERING’. After spending
some six years in his quest for truth, Buddha arrived at the conclusion that ‘ all is
suffering!’ (Sarvam Dukham). This is the corner stone on which the entire structure of
Buddhism is founded. Now, let us examine some statements concerning the
authenticity of Buddhist sacred books. Christmas Humpreys, author of the book
‘Buddhism’, says of himself that he studied Buddhism for thirty years and of
Buddhism in the world today he knows more than most and he has this to say about
:the Buddhist Scriptures

The Buddha himself wrote nothing, and none of his teaching was written down for“
at least four hundred years after his death. We, therefore do not know what the
Buddha taught, any more than we know what Jesus taught; and today at least four
schools, with sub-division in each, proclaim their own view as to what Buddhism
.”is

The disappearance of original teachings and practices of Buddha are almost

complete today, for the Buddhists are sunk in superstitions, idol worship and Hindu
.religious rituals. Original Buddhism has changed colours completely
 H.G. Wells (An Outline of History Page 392) has described this in a very terse
language. “Gautama’s disciples have cared more for the preservation of his tree than
of his thought, which from the first they distorted and misconceived (the Bo tree
which helped him to rest his back, while achieving ‘enlightenment’, still exists and
with a sapling from the original tree planted in Sri Lanka, the Sri Maha Bodi in
Anuradapura , venerated and worshipped excessively)”. Writing on the corruption
:of Buddhism, Mr. Wells makes the following interesting observations

Tibet today is a Buddhist country, yet Gautama could he return to earth, might go“
from end to end of Tibet seeking his own teaching in vain. He would find the most
ancient type of human ruler, a god-king, enthroned, the Dalai Lama, depicted as the
‘living Buddha’. (At the time when Wells wrote, the Dalai Lama had not fled to New
Delhi). At Lhasa he would find a huge temple filled with priests, abbots and lamas,
whose only buildings were huts and who made no priests-and above a high altar he
would behold a huge golden idol, which he would learn was called ‘Gautama
Buddha’! He would hear services intoned before this divinity, and certain precepts,
which would be dimly familiar to him, murmured as responses. Bells, incense,
prostrations, would play their part in these amazing proceedings. At one point in the
service a bell would be rung and mirror lifted up, while the whole congregation, in
………an access of reverence, bowed lower

About this Buddhist countryside he would discover a number of curious little

mechanisms, little wind-wheels and water-wheels spinning, on which brief prayers
were inscribed. Every time these things spin, he would learn, it counts as a prayer.
‘To whom?’, he would ask. Moreover, there would be a number of flagstaffs in the
land carrying beautiful silk flags-which bore the perplexing inscription, ‘Ong Mani
Padme hum’ , ‘the jewel is in the lotus’. Whenever the flag flaps, he would learn, it
was a prayer also, very beneficial to the gentlemen who paid for the flag and to the
land generally. Gangs of workmen, employed by pious persons, would be going
about the country cutting this precious formula on cliff and stone. And this, he
would realize at last, was what the world had made of his religion”(H.G.Wells-An
Outline of History). Gautama Buddha achieved ‘enlightenment’ at the age of thirty-
five. From then until he died forty-five years later, he devoted his entire life to
preaching his ethical doctrines. Yet he never paid any attention to the vitally
important task of recording his message in a permanent written form. As a matter of
fact, the only religiouspersonality who ever paid any proper attention to this task
was the Messenger of Allah, Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him). The
Quran enjoys the unique distinction of being, on the one hand, the only religious
scripture in the world today which is directly reported from the Messenger of the
 Almighty, and on the other, the only original religious scripture which has survived
.historical criticism in respect of its integrity, authenticity, genuineness and purity

The Scriptures of Buddhism are numerous and mutually conflicting. Buddhism

employed, in the main, two languages for recording scriptures. In the Pali language
are recorded the scriptures of the Hinayana sect and in the Sanskrit language those
of the Mahayana sect. Both these sets of scriptures oppose each other. This makes a
Hinayana – Mahayana reconciliation next to impossible. Both these languages, Pali
and Sanskrit, are now virtually dead or survive only as literary curiosities. The most
striking and undisputable statement about the authenticity of the Buddhist
scriptures is by Chief Monk Akuratiye Amarawansa, Chancellor of the Vidyodaya
Buddhist University (Pirivena), Maligakanda, Colombo; Scholar of the Tripitaka and
Chief Monk of Southern Sri Lanka. In his preface to the Sinhala translation of Deega
:Nikaya, he has expressed the following

We cannot assuredly state that the 'Deega Nikaya' we have in present days was“
the one that was presented to the first reform council (Dharma Sangayana). There
were many reform councils held after the first one. In all these reform councils,
Nikayas and Divisions would have been subjected to many amendments.
Therefore, the most accepted view would be that the present day 'Deega Nikaya'
is a collection of Suttas subjected to amendments, additions and deletions done
during many reform councils held after the first one. It is very difficult to state the
exact historical details of these amendments. The view of the scholars is that there
are differences of historical period between each 'Sutta' and even between parts of
the same 'Sutta'. According to the scholars, 'Brahmajala', 'Samajjapala' and
'Thevijja' are supposed to be the oldest 'Suttas' in 'Deega Nikaya'. Similarly,
'Janavasaba', 'Mahasudassana' and 'Lakkana' have been considered by scholars as
belonging to a later period of history……. It is evident from 'Lakkana' sutta how
Buddha has been gradually transformed into a super human being. It is useful to
read the 'Lakkana' sutta to know about the thirty two super human signs of
Budda". This description continues further and we feel that it is sufficient to state the
above details to illustrate that the present day Buddhism is not what Buddha has
.taught

Another important observation was found in a book written by one of the well
known Buddhist scholars, Dr. Kirinde Sri Dhammananda Chief Priest (Sri Lanka) in
.'his book ' What Buddhists Believe
 Page 57: 'A few hundred years after his passing away, the disciples of the Buddha
organized a religion around the teachings of the Master. While organizing the
religion, they incorporated, among other concepts and beliefs, various types or
miracles, mysticism, fortune telling, charms, talismans, mantras, prayers and
many rites and rituals that were not found in the original teaching'. The learned
Chief Priest has appropriately described the development of the present day
Buddhism and how it deviated from the original teachings. Basing on these scholarly
assertions can anyone say that the 'Absolute Truth' supposed to have been
expounded by Buddha after his 'Enlightenment' has been preserved in its pristine
?purity

Page: 71: 'Some scholars assert that the Abhidhamma is not the teaching of the
Buddha, but it grew out of the commentaries on the basic teachings of the
Buddha. These commentaries are said to be the work of great scholar monks……..
From ancient times there were controversies as to whether the Abhidhamma was
really taught by the Buddha.' According to the learned Chief Priest, the authenticity
of the nucleus of the present day Buddhism 'Abhidhamma' has been a controversial
.subject since the beginning

The above statements deal lengthily about the amendments, additions and deletions
of the sacred scriptures of Buddhism done after Buddha. Another striking point is
the extraordinary differences in the chronology of Buddha’s appearance adopted by
the various nations that have embraced his faith. This difference amounts to nearly
two thousand years. The Chinese have the following dates for this event: B.C., 640,
767, 949, 1045 and 1130. From the Tibetan books, fourteen different dates have been
collected by the learned Hungarian, Cosma de Korosi: B.C., 546, 576, 653, 752, 837,
880, 882, 884, 1060, 1310, 2135, 2139, 2144 and 2422. The Japanese date is about B.C.
1000. Fa Hian, a Chinese traveler who visited Sri Lanka in C.E. 410, says that ten
days before the middle of the third moon, the King of this island was accustomed to
send a preacher to proclaim the austerities and mortifications of Buddha, at the
conclusion of which he declared: “Since his parinirvana (death) 1497 years have
elapsed;”, which would make the death of Buddha to be in the year B.C. 1087
( Laidlay’s Pilgrimage of Fa Hian). Hiun Thsang, another Chinese pilgrim, who
wrote in C.E. 640, after his return from India, says that the accounts differ about
.Buddha’s death, it being fixed at 900, 1000, 1200, 1300 and 1500 years before his time

The Maha Wansa (chronology of Sri Lanka) fixes the same date for the death of
Buddha and the landing of Vijaya in Sri Lanka; but this date, B.C. 543, is never found
in the sacred chronology of Buddhism, before it was borrowed from the chronology
of Sri Lanka ( Max Muller: Ancient Sanskrit Literature). Dr. Edward Conze, in his
book, ‘Buddhism, Its Essence and Development’ remarks: “ Buddhism is a body of
traditions in which few names stand out, and in which fewer dates are precisely
known. It is indeed most exasperating when we try to apply our current ideas of
historical criticism. Langlois and Seignobos in their textbook of historical method,
state that ‘ a document whose author, date and sources from which it has come
cannot be determined, is just good for nothing’”. Dr. Conze goes on to remark sadly:
“Alas, that is the case with most of the documents on which we build a history of
.”Buddhism

Let us see the views of scholars about the Qur’an. An ardent critic of Islam, Sir
William Muir, had to say the following in his book ‘Life of Mohammed’ published
two centuries ago. “Except for the Qur’an, there is no other book under the sun
”which, for the last twelve centuries, has remained with so pure a text

Dr. Maurice Bucaille, a member of the French Academy of Sciences, in his book ‘The
Bible, the Quran and Science’ has to say the following: “ The above observation (his
own thesis) makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad as the
author of the Qur’an untenable. How could a man, from being illiterate, become the
most important author, in terms of literary merits, in the whole of Arabic literature?
How could he then pronounce truths of a Scientific nature that no other human
being could possibly have developed at that time, and all this without once making
”?the slightest error in his pronouncement on the subject
Then do they not reflect upon the Qur’an? If it had been from (any) other than “
Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction” Qur’an 4:82

And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our servant (i.e. “
Prophet Muhammed), then produce a surah (chapter) the like thereof and call upon
your witnesses (i.e. supporters) other than Allah, if you should be truthful” Qur’an
2:23

The scripture of Islam is in one language, Arabic, which is today a living language
spoken by hundreds of millions of people all over the world. Thus the ordinary and
.even the uneducated have direct access to the scripture of Islam

Invite (all) to the Way of your Rabb (Only God, Cherisher and Sustainer) with “
wisdom and beautiful preaching; and argue with them in ways that are best and
 most gracious, for your Rabb knows best, who have strayed from His Path, and
)who receive guidance” (Qur’an 16:125

You are the best of people chosen for mankind because you command righteousness, “
.forbid evil and believe in Allah” Qur’an 3: 110

Reference and theme from ' Islam and Buddhism in the Modern World' by Mr.
Imran Nazar Hosein