MAJOR INTERNATIONAL RELIGIONS

Hinduism
Introduction

The most popular among the Aryan religions is Hinduism. ‘Hindu’ is actually a Persian word
that stands for the inhabitants of the region beyond the Indus Valley. However, in common
parlance, Hinduism is a blanket term for an assortment of religious beliefs, most of which are
based on the Vedas, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita.

Sources (Scriptures)

There are several sacred scriptures of the Hindus. Among these are the Vedas, Upanishads and
the Puranas are the upper most. The word Veda is derived from vid which means to know,
knowledge par excellence or sacred wisdom. There are four principal divisions of the Vedas
(Rigveda, Atharvaveda, Yajurveda, Samveda). After these there is

ITIHAAS: The two epics of Hinduism are the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.

Concept of God in Hinduism

Hinduism is commonly perceived as a polytheistic religion. Indeed, most Hindus would attest to
this, by professing belief in multiple Gods, while some Hindus believe in the existence of three
gods Bhrama, Shiva and Vishnu. Some believe in thousands of gods, and some others in thirty
three crore i.e. 330 million gods. However, learned Hindus, who are well versed in their
scriptures, insist that a Hindu should believe in and worship only one God.

The major difference between the Hindu and the Muslim perception of God is the common
Hindus’ belief in the philosophy of Pantheism. Pantheism considers everything, living and non-
living, to be Divine and Sacred. The common Hindu, therefore, considers everything as god. He
considers the trees as god, the sun as god, the moon as god, the monkey as god, the snake as god
and even human beings as manifestations of god!

Concept of Life after death

Most of the Hindus believe in the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, which is called ‘Samsara’ or
the doctrine of rebirth, is also known as the theory of reincarnation or of transmigration of the
soul. This doctrine is considered to be a basic tenet of Hinduism. According to doctrine of
rebirth, differences between individuals, even at the time of their birth are due to their past karma
i.e. actions done in the past birth. For example if one child is born healthy while another is
handicapped or blind, the differences are attributed to their deeds in their previous lives. Those
who believe in this theory reason that since all actions may not bear fruit in this life, there has to
be another life for facing or reaping the consequences of one’s actions. The important point
worth noting is that the doctrine of rebirth is not postulated, propounded nor even mentioned
anywhere in what are considered to be the most authentic Hindu scriptures i.e. the Vedas. The
Vedas make no mention of the entire concept of transmigration of souls.

Buddhism
Introduction

Historical criticism has proved that the original teachings of Buddha can never be known. It
seems that Gautama Buddha’s teachings were memorized by his disciples. After Buddha’s death
a council was held at Rajagaha so that the words of Buddha could be recited and agreed upon.
There were differences of opinion and conflicting memories in the council. Opinion of Kayshapa
and Ananda who were prominent disciples of Buddha were given preference. A hundred years
later, a second council at Vesali was held. Only after 400 years, after the death of Buddha were
his teachings and doctrines written down. Little attention was paid regarding its authenticity,
genuineness and purity.

Source (Scripture)

The most important of all Buddhist scriptures is the TRI-PITAKA which is in Pali text. It is
supposed to be the earliest recorded Buddhist literature which was written in the 1st Century
B.C. The TRI-PITAKA or Three Baskets of law is composed of 3 books:

1. .Vinaya Pitaka: ‘Rules of Conduct’ This is a book of discipline and mainly deals with
rules of the order.
2. .Sutta Pitaka: ‘Discourses’ It is a collection of sermons and discourses of Gautama
Buddha and the incidents in his life. It is the most important Pitaka and consists of five
divisions known as Nikayas. Dhammapada is the most famous
Pali literature and contains aphorisms and short statements covering the truth.
3. 3.Abhidhamma: ‘Analysis of Doctrine’ This third basket contains meta physical doctrines
and is known as Buddhist meta physicals. It is an analytical and logical elaboration of the
first two pitakas. It contains analysis and exposition of

Buddhist doctrine.

Noble Truths:

The principal teachings of Gautama Buddha can be summarised in what the Buddhists call the
‘Four Noble Truths’:

 There is suffering and misery in life .

 The cause of this suffering and misery is desire.
 Suffering and misery can be removed by removing desire.
 Desire can be removed by following the Eight Fold Path.
B. The Noble Eight Fold Path:

(i) Right Views (ii) Right Thoughts (iii) Right Speech (iv) Right Actions (v) Right Livelihood

(vi) Right Efforts (vii) Right Mindfulness (viii) Right Meditation

Concept of God

Buddha was silent about the existence or non-existence of God. It may be that since India was
drowned in idol worship and anthropomorphism that a sudden step to monotheism would have
been drastic and hence Buddha may have chosen to remain silent on the issue of God. He did not
deny the existence of God. Buddha was once asked by a disciple whether God exists? He refused
to reply. When pressed, he said that if you are suffering from a stomach ache would you
concentrate on relieving the pain or studying the prescription of the physician. "It is not my
business or yours to find out whether there is God – our business is to remove the sufferings of
the world".

Concept of Life After Death

To Buddhism, however, death is not the end of life, it is merely the end of the body we inhabit in
this life, but our spirit will still remain and seek out through the need of attachment, attachment
to a new body and new life. Where they will be born is a result of the past and the accumulation
of positive and negative action, and the resultant karma (cause and effect) is a result of one’s past
actions.

Judaism
Introduction

Judaism is one of the major Semitic religions. Its followers are known as Jews and they believe
in the prophetic mission of Prophet Moses (pbuh).

Sources (Scripture)

The complete Jewish Bible is composed of 24 books called the Tanach (‫ תנ״ך‬.(The Tanach is
made up of Torah (5 books of Moshe, the word Torah means 'teachings'), Nevi'im (Prophets),
K'tuvim (Writings).

Concept of God

Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary;
consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the
world, and more specifically, with the people He created. Judaism thus begins with an ethical
monotheism: the belief that God is one, and concerned with the actions of humankind.

Concept of life after death

Traditional Judaism firmly believes that death is not the end of human existence. However,
because Judaism is primarily focused on life here and now rather than on the afterlife, Judaism
does not have much dogma about the afterlife,

• Judaism believes in an afterlife but has little dogma about it

• The Jewish afterlife is called Olam Ha-Ba (The World to Come)
• Resurrection and reincarnation are within the range of traditional Jewish belief
• Temporary (but not eternal) punishment after death is within traditional belief

Christianity
Introduction

Christianity is a Semitic religion, which claims to have nearly 1.2 billion adherents all over the
world. Christianity owes its name to Jesus Christ (peace be on him). The Holy Bible is the sacred
scripture of the Christians. Christianity teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, God having become
human and the savior of humanity. Because of this, Christians commonly refer to Jesus as Christ
or Messiah. The three largest groups in the world of Christianity are the Roman Catholic Church,
the Eastern Orthodox churches, and the various churches of Protestantism. The Roman Catholic
and Eastern Orthodox patriarchates split from one another in the East–West Schism of 1054 AD,
and Protestantism came into existence during the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century,
splitting from the Roman Catholic Church.

Source (Scripture)

The Bible is divided into two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old
Testament is the Holy Scripture of the Jews and contains records of all the prophets of the Jews
that came before Jesus (pbuh). The New Testament contains records of the life of Jesus (pbuh).
The complete Bible, i.e. the Old Testament and the New Testament put together, contains 73
books. However, the Protestant Bible i.e. the King James Version, contains only 66 books as
they consider 7 books of the Old Testament to be apocrypha, i.e. of doubtful authority. Therefore
the Old Testament of the Catholics, contains 46 books and that of the Protestants, 39 books.
However the New Testament of both these sects contains 27 books.

Concept of God

Concept of God in Christianity is as Trinity, it refers to the teaching that the one God comprises
three distinct, eternally co-existing persons; the Father, the Son (incarnate in Jesus Christ), and
the Holy Spirit. Together, these three persons are sometimes called the Godhead, although there
is no single term in use in Scripture to denote the unified Godhead. An early statement of
Christian belief, "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are
not
 Islamic Civilization and Culture
Introduction:

Meaning of civilization: it means the manner of order in which men live together as citizens.
Citizens willingly merge themselves together to form social, religious, legal and economic
organizations. These organizations then develop to form a complex society; civilization is an
advanced state of human society, in which a high level of culture, science, industry and
government has been reached. Civilizations are characterized by dependence upon agriculture,
long distance trade, some form of government, specialization of occupations and division of
labor, urbanism, class stratification etc. It also has a transport system, writings, and standards of
measurement, formal legal system and progress made by man in every sphere of action.

Characteristics of Civilization:

1. Means of subsistence
2. Type of livelihood
3. Settlement pattern
4. Forms of government
5. Social stratification
6. Economic system
7. Other cultural traits

Meaning, definition and characteristics of culture:

Meaning: culture is a set of traditional values, norms and beliefs that are transmitted and shared
in a given society. They include customs, rituals, values, beliefs and norms, passed from one
generation to another.

Characteristics of culture:

1. Culture is a social construction

2. It is learnt (enculturation)
3. It is dynamic and not static (doesn’t remain the same always)
4. It is shared: requires social interaction

Elements of culture: beliefs, values, customs, rituals, language, symbols, stories and artifacts.

Islamic civilization:

The foundation for it was laid by the Holy Prophet. It stretches from one end of the globe to
another (muslims are part of one ummah) and is based on the concept of unity. Muslim dynasties
ruling in various parts of the world helped mold and enhance Muslim civilization: golden period
was under the Abbasids where ‘Al Andulusia’ became the center of Muslim learning. Moreover,
Spain, Baghdad, Cairo, India etc. all became center of Muslim cultural and economic activity.

Salient features of Islamic Civilization:

1. Tauheed, which is the bedrock of Islamic civilization

2. Universal dimension: not contained to one territory, caste, class, ethnicity etc.
3. Open and pluralist: it allows importation (adding) ideas from other civilizations. Allows
religious autonomy - coexistence with other civilizations
4. Balanced: middle ground between material and spiritual life, encourages moderation
5. Eternal civilization: perennial - lasts as long as Islam, till the end of time
6. Complete belief system: pillars, beliefs, sharia
7. Progressive and flexible/dynamic: it is not static, can be updated according to needs
8. of time
9. Traditional yet fresh and modern
10. Equality and brotherhood
11. Freedom of thought and action

Distinctions of Islamic Civilization:

1. Tauheed: Affects all other things; everything else is a corollary of or an extension of this
fundamental principle
2. Self-purification: prerequisite for closeness to Allah. Purity of heart, body, and soul and
mind. Purity via good deeds such as zakat, roza, namaz, justice, piety etc. Love of this
world is impurity.
3. Dignity of man: man is a vicegerent of God on earth. Man is ‘ashraf ul makhlooqat’ and
even angels prostrated before men
4. Equality: “verily, we have honored all children of Adam” (quran)
5. Social justice: economic, political, legal
6. Moral values
7. Tolerance
8. Rule of law
9. Universality: not bound by the notions of nationality, creed or caste like Hindus.

Clash of Civilizations

Introduction:

Clash of civilizations is a theory coined by Samuel P. Huntington which talks about the post

cold war era. During this time, two intellectuals presented their theories regarding global

politics:
1) Francis Fukuyama: world has reached the ‘end of history’. Eternal triumph of the

ideology of liberal democracy, human rights, capitalism, free market economy etc.

And no alternative ideology will not come up

2) Huntington: communist or capitalist ideology is no more going to be a source of

conflict. The world has reverted back to its normal state of affairs, and now a cultural

conflict is going to take place. In the future, conflict is going to be along cultural or

religious faultlines. Most probably this clash will be between western and islamic

civilization primarily because islamic civilization has gained prominence ever since

the start of the post cold war era. His theory was supported by people like Bernard

Lewis and Patrick Buchanan, as well as Islamic scholars such as Maulana Maududi.

How does his theory evolve?

Huntington says that initially, conflict was between princes, which led to the creation of

‘nation states’. After the French Revolution, conflict was amongst nation states but contained

within the western world. Eventually, post cold war era led to the reconfiguration of global

politics, and now clash amongst civilizations is inevitable.

Events supporting this theory: 7/7 attack on London, 9/11 attacks, internationalization of

terrorism.

Civilization according to Huntington:

He believes that civilization is a cultural entity and that religion forms the most basic element

of a culture and of a civilization. He says rise of the chinese and Islam are the biggest

threats to the western hegemony.

He says that the Islamic civilization has experienced a massive population growth/explosion

and is fueling instability on its borders and within itself. He also posits that a ‘sino-islamic;

cooperation will emerge to counter western propaganda and hegemony (CPEC in

Pakistan?).
He says that the western-islamic clash is going to be the bloodiest of all clashes in the 21st

century.

Causes of this CoC as espoused by Huntington:

1) Differences between the two civilizations are massive: difference in history, culture,

language, tradition and religion - no compromise between both civilizations, because

one can’t be half muslim and half christian

2) Increased interaction leads to increased friction which leads to increased conflict

3) Globalization increases interdependencies of countries which means increasingly the

differences and similarities between cultures become more apparent to everyone

4) A surge in muslim population growth: this is increasing unemployment amongst

muslims, muslim youth is getting disoriented and frustrated, which is increasing

recruitment amongst terrorist groups such as ISIS

5) Islamic resurgence: this is creating cultural and religious consciousness amongst

muslims

6) Economic modernity: economic divide is increasing in societies and the gap between

rich and poor is being filled by religion

7) The demise of the soviet union: It has removed the common enemy between Islam

and the West which was uniting both before (critique: is the fight against taliban in

Afghanistan still uniting west with pakistan?)

8) Rejection of the notion that western values are universal: Many muslims are

increasingly denouncing the universality of western values

Flaws in Huntington’s Theory:

1) Not all muslims are pitched against the west - some bend over backwards to get a

green card/canadian or foreign nationality

2) Disunity amongst muslim ummah: shia sunni conflict, saudi-iran conflict, lack of
common leadership amongst muslims

3) Robert Bartley says that globalization will enhance pluralism and peace, rather than

increase conflict and paranoia

4) Asami says that national identity supersedes civilizational identity

5) Religion is not always a unifying force; pak-bangladesh split of 1971 (common

religion but divided along linguistic lines)

6) Within muslims, many different cultures are present

7) Edward Said: called Huntington’s theory ‘clash of ignorance’ as he believes that in

today’s world, there is increased inter dependency amongst countries which will bring

civilizations together and that liberal democracy, human rights, equality, freedom etc.

are not western but islamic values

Se