Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism
Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism
Common Ground - Islam and Buddhism
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Ethics of Detachment <strong>and</strong> Compassion<br />
What is to be noted here is that the proud <strong>and</strong> boastful owner of<br />
the orchards is a believer in God, at least overtly <strong>and</strong> formally: he<br />
believes in his ‘Lord’, he speaks of returning to his Lord, <strong>and</strong> is<br />
aware, at some level at least, that the Hour—the end of his life, <strong>and</strong><br />
that of the cosmos, the Day of Judgement <strong>and</strong> then eternity—is a<br />
reality that cannot be evaded; he believes, though, that even if he is<br />
‘returned’ to God, he will receive something even more satisfying<br />
‘as a resort’. Yet, despite his knowledge <strong>and</strong> apparent faith in God,<br />
his attitudes are described in terms of idolatry <strong>and</strong> disbelief: he falls<br />
into shirk <strong>and</strong> kufr because of his ignorance of the impermanence,<br />
<strong>and</strong> ultimately illusory nature, of ‘his’ possessions. His comrade, a<br />
humble believer, remonstrates with him not in relation to his pride<br />
<strong>and</strong> his boasting, but in relation to his subtle disbelief: Do you<br />
disbelieve in Him Who created you of dust, then of a drop, <strong>and</strong> then<br />
fashioned you a man? The vices of boastfulness <strong>and</strong> exultation in<br />
one’s possessions are here grasped at their root, as manifestations of<br />
kufr, <strong>and</strong> not just kibr (pride). For his part, the true believer affirms:<br />
But He is God, my Lord, <strong>and</strong> I ascribe unto my Lord no partner. The<br />
strong implication here is this: your attitude, by contrast, not only<br />
manifests disbelief in God, it also implies that you ascribe unto God<br />
a partner, thus becoming a mushrik, a polytheist. These implications<br />
are confirmed by the words of the owner of the gardens, after he sees<br />
them ruined: Would that I had ascribed no partner to my Lord!<br />
The ‘god’ of Desire<br />
Disbelief in God <strong>and</strong> ascribing partners to Him, therefore, are not<br />
simply questions of denying His existence <strong>and</strong> overtly setting up<br />
some stones <strong>and</strong> statues to worship instead of Him. Rather, one can<br />
delude oneself into thinking that one is a true believer, on the basis<br />
of some purely mental or verbal attestation of belief, while in fact<br />
being dominated by states of mind <strong>and</strong> being which belie that belief,<br />
<strong>and</strong> which indeed belie one’s religion, even if one is accomplishing<br />
its formal rites. This is the message which is given in the following<br />
short chapter of the Qur’ān, entitled ‘Small Kindnesses’ (al-Mā‘ūn,<br />
107:1–7):<br />
Have you observed him who belies religion?<br />
That is the one who repels the orphan,<br />
And urges not the feeding of the poor.<br />
87