KNOW ABOUT- BUDDHISM, HINDUISM, CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM

 Understanding Religion is a very complicated task as views on religion depend upon the people perspective and experiences they had in the past. It varies from person to person depending on their understanding, beliefs and traditions.

From the beginning- Buddhism 

Buddhism is the world’s fourth-largest religion, consisting of 7% of the global population, which was founded was Siddhartha Gautama more than 2,500 Years ago. Many Buddhists beliefs and philosophies are based on original teachings taught by Buddha known as “The Four Noble Truths”, which are considered crucial for understanding Buddhism. It also embraces the concept of karma and reincarnation and freedom from this cycle by attainment of Nirvana and adopting the path of the bodhisattva, which is the main principle of Buddhism.

Gautam Buddha passed away in 483B.C, after which his followers began to distribute his teachings the entire world, which later became the foundation of Buddhism. In the 3rd Century, when Ashoka, the Great became an emperor of Mauryan dynasty, he officially made Buddhism, the state religion of India. In the next few centuries, Buddhism spread all over India and even beyond that but after the invasion of Huns, the wealth of knowledge of Buddhist teachings was destroyed. (“(PDF) Buddhism and Development: A Background Paper,” n.d.)

Islamic emergence 

In the Middle Ages, during Muslim Invasions Islam began to spread quickly. Islam is the world’s second-largest region, consisting of 24% of the world’s population, which was originated in the 7th century CE in Mecca. Around 8th century it was expanded Iberia in the west to Indus in the east.

It was founded by Prophet Muhammad, the messenger of God, who believes in the concept of one God (Allah). All Muslims follow Quran whole heartily and considered it as final revelation from God, in which all guidelines regarding worship and Islamic law called sharia are mentioned. There are five pillars of Islam, which are five basic religious acts considered compulsory for people to follow. They are the creed (Shahada), daily prayers (Salah), almsgiving (Zakat), fasting during Ramadan (Sawm) and the pilgrimage to Mecca (Hajj). Quran controls every aspect of people lives and society with different special laws for women and the environment. They firmly believed that righteous are rewarded in heaven and sinner is punished in hell, which the main foundation on which this religion is based. Islam rejects the concept of polytheism, idolatry and Christine doctrine of the trinity. Well, there is a certain similarity in Islam and other religions such concept of angels and monotheism. It is one of three major Abrahamic religions along with Christianity and Judaism.They have a common belief in “Day of resurrection” on which trials are conducted based on which Jannah and Jahannam are assigned to them. (Alsobrooks & White, n.d.)

After the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70

Christianity is the world’s largest religion which is based on life teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity began in the 1st century in Roman Province of Judea as the second temple of Judaic, after which 12 Jesus disciples also known as Apostles and their followers spread the religion around the world.  After the fall of Jerusalem, Emperor Constantine of the Great legalized Christianity in the Roman empire. Jesus life teachings are described in four canonical gospels called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Religious teaching and beliefs were concise in creeds, of which Apostles Creed, which was developed between the 2nd and 9th century was widely accepted. It was used as a summary of Christian doctrine in churches of Rome. It discussed beliefs in Jesus as a child of God, resurrection, Rise of Christ, the holiness of the church, communion of saints, and all about Day of Judgment after death, about hell and salvation. These beliefs and teachings are very common with Islam teachings, especially regarding death and salvation. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the main events on which Christianity is based. (Christianto, n.d.)

Lets learn about Hinduism

Hinduism is the fourth largest religion in the world, with 15% world population following Hinduism. It is widely spread in many Asian countries like India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and many others. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world and contained a broad range of philosophies, pilgrimages and sacred texts such as Upanishads, Puranas and Vedas. Unlike, other religions have a strong tradition of questioning authority for better understandings of truth. There are four key and principle concepts of Hinduism, which is also known as Four Purusarthas namely Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Hindus are also recommended to follow qualities like honesty, Ahimsa, Compassion, self-restraint and Patience. There are four main Hindu denominations within Hinduism namely Vaishnavism (which considers Vishnu as supreme god), Shaktism (which consider Shiva as supreme god), Shaktism (which consider Shakti as a supreme goddess) and Smartism. Hindusim consists of diversity in religious beliefs and ideas on spirituality and traditions without any sort of authority and binding holy book. (Flood, 2017)

It is also beliefs in the concept of Atma(Soul), Reincarnation of Atma, Karma and dharma( duties of human being and right way of living) due to which it very similar to Buddhism. It is very closely related to Buddhism and Jainism. Authority and eternal truths, which is mentioned in sacred texts and knowledge of which are taught by saints, gurus and sages play an important role in Hinduism. Hindus also beliefs in doctrine samsara, which is a continuous cycle of life and death and karma. One of the fundamental principles of this Hinduism is that people’s actions and thought are reflected in their present and future which is “Karma”. (Flood, 2017)