তুলনামূলক ধর্ম আলোচনা

Comparative religions, Sociology Et cetera ***********

There are some major religions like Judaism, Christianity,Buddhism and Hinduism. I think we can talk on these one after another to see the fundamental structures of their own.

Judaism derived from the name of Judah son of Jacob. Christianity from the name of Jesus Christ. Buddhism from the name of Siddhartha Gautama, Hinduism from the river Sindh (Came from the name of a location). Thus it proves all the names of these religions are named as per their preachers and it also proves tat the names of these religions were given by the followers of those teachers of their respective religions. Hmm Islam is not named after Muhammad.

(1). Judaism is more inclined at this material world than heaven. This world is the place where the desired prosperity can be achieved.Follow The Book of Job where Job found wealth and peace in this world.

The Sadducees one of the major sect rejected the idea of the Oral Law and insisted on a literal interpretation of the Written Law; consequently, they did not believe in an afterlife. Interestingly the Ten Commandments are more related in worldly affairs than hereafter.

Moses Maimonides who was one of the most influential Torah scholars negated any final eternal life.

Another scholar, Baruch Spinoza went further by saying tat Old Testament did not give any light on eternal life. To him religion is not divine inspiration or long-held tradition that was the starting point for understanding Scripture. Rather, one's own judgment and reason were the only tools required to carefully scrutinize the biblical accounts and any supernatural or unsubstantiated claim had to be subordinated to human, intellectual autonomy and societies should be governed by a rational/free-thinking kind of morality.

That is why Ernest Renan and Berdiaef said tat Judaism is unable to talk about pure eternal life due to its idea on natural world. Hasdai Crescas was a Rabbi and was the head of the Jewish community of Aragon. His idea was that the universe might be the body of God.

Werner Sombart said in his book Les- juifs- et -la- vie- economique, the history of Jews is a history of formation of capitalism.

So the Jews always talked about embellished world of this earth not about any divine hereafter. Lol tats why at the beginning Nuclear science was called as Jews science.

Can we see ancient cities like:

Tyre, Sidon,Antioch,Jerusalem,Alexandria,Carthage,Rome , or medieval cities like Cordova,Granda,Toledo,Seville and modern cities like Amsterdam, Venice even today’s America were and are dominated by the Jews Mercantile interests? Yes we do.

So Materialism is the substance of Judaism.

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(2) Christianity in short:

Divine extroversion of Judaism with its material approach led another flow to submerge next civilization into opposite introversion and it was Christianity. New Testament was replaced over Old Testament.

According to Christianity human energy must not be broken down onto two opposite directions: toward heaven and toward earth.

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money” (Matthew 6:24).

It says “the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world” (1 John 2:16 ). To them this world belongs to Satan.

The social distinction is very clear in Christianity. The priesthood and the orders versus the ordinary life of lay people, the celibacy for the clergy versus marriage for ordinary people. Celibacy is the truth and marriage is a compromise in Christianity. Christianity is not interested to improve the social and national position.

Marcionian gospel believed Jesus abolished the Law of Moses and he contrasted Jehovah. Marcionists believed that the wrathful Hebrew God was a separate and lower entity than the all-forgiving God of the New Testament. He turned the Jews God of Justice and savior of the visible world to the God of love who created the invisible world as well. Religion is therefore in Christianity always remains an intention to live within oneself and face oneself not one of how to live with prosperity in this world.

"For this reason I say to you, do not worry about your life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on” (Luke 12:22). To them life is to live at the top of the mountain in the temple and to leave behind the unrepairable world governed solely by Lucifer.

“but I say unto you, resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also”. (Matthew 5:39 ASV ). Evil is not to be resisted as it requires force and administration. Towards Jews the answer of Christianity is, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

In Christianity one cannot care for one's soul and for worldly goods at the same time. If one hopes for goods, he gives up his soul; if one hopes to save one's soul, he gives up worldly goods. Otherwise, one could be torn and would have neither one nor the other.

Men wish to attain freedom through avoiding all that which might restrict them and their bodies and keep them from obtaining what they desire. The means man uses to fulfill his body- riches, a high position, a good reputation- do not result in the wished-for freedom; on the contrary, they restrict it all the more. To attain greater freedom, men build a prison out of their sins, passions, and superstitions and shut themselves up in it.

“Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

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( 3)

ISLAM, under the study of comparative religion.

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At one stage it hd come to say that religion must be separated from worldly affairs. This notion developed in Europe after been observed Christianity and Judaism and the clashes between church and general people.

Religion can affect the world only if it, itself becomes "worldly", secular, of this world. If it gets involved in politics, in the broadest sense of present day world. I am not going to give any definition but some people may think that there are similarities and differences between Islam and Christianity.

One the other hand one may see Islam includes many Judaic components and many non- Judaic elements. Hegel’s viewed Islam as the direct continuation of Judaism, an idea which can be attributed to his Christian point of view. Similarly, Spengler tells the book of Job an Islamic writing. In his Patterns of comparative Religions. Mircea Eliade placed Muhammad at the transition point between the second third (last) period in mankind's spiritual development.

The third period, which has not yet ended, started with Muhammad. The history of the human mind according to Eliade is a process of general secularization. In this vision, Muhammad stands on the threshold of the triumph of religion (Christianity)and the new secular age. As such he stands at the focal point of historical balance.

Now setting aside the one-dimensionality of Eliade's historical vision we clearly can point out the inevitable 'middle' position of Islam and Muhammad as characteristic of the seeing.

Jesus avoided Jerusalem because, as any other city, it was also a city of Pharisees, disputers,scribes, unbelievers, and shallow believers. Socialism does not address villagers but inhabitants of large cities. Muhammad goes to the cave Hira but each time returns to the godless city Makkah to carry out His mission.

But Makkah was not the home of Islam it flourished in Medina. In the Hira life Muhammad was abstemious, monk, meditator. In Makkah he emerged as revealer of divinity and in Medina He also became establishmentarian authority.

Thus it was a successful amalgamation of divine mysticism and its logical formation. Divine meditation got related with material execution. Thus Islam extracting from cognizant of the mystic spirit and socio-political activities.

The religious acceptance of worldly matters.

Christianity could never stand on one God. Though there is a picture of divine atmosphere but it failed to propose any clear reality to the mankind who lives with body too. But Allah by Prophet Muhammad gave a platform to everyone where the Gospel’s image of God came closer with certainty to the human mind and thoughts. Allah is a God who corresponds to the yearning of our soul and also to certain sublime ideas of our mind.

In the Gospels, God is father: in the Quran, God is master. In the Gospels, God is loved; in the Quran God is respected.

This particularity in the Christianity understanding of God was reversed later in a series of confused pictures that compromised the original monotheism of Christianity. Such a development is not possible in Islam. Regardless of all the historical crises it has passed through, Islam has remained “the clearest monotheistic idea".

Man's soul conceives of divinity only. Through the mind, divinity is transformed into the idea of the one and only God- Allah.

The Christianity God is lord of the individual world (people and souls) only, while Lucifer holds the reins of the material world. This is why the Christians belief in God preconditions inward freedom, while Islamic belief in Allah implies a demand for the outward freedom as well. The two essential dogmas of Islam (Allahu Akbar: God is the greatest, and famous al-aqidah--creed--,la ilaha illa Allah:There is no deity but Allah), are at the same time the two most revolutionary devices in Islam.

Sayyid Qutb noted them to be a revolution against worldly authority which was usurped the fundamental prerogatives of divinity. According to his, they mean that "the power is to be taken away from the priests, the leaders of the tribes, the wealthy and the rulers, and returned to Allah. Therefore, there is no deity but Allah is abhorrent to those who are in power in any age and place.

In the same manner Christianity was unable to accept the idea of a perfect man who was still a man. From Jesus teaching, Christianity drew the conclusion of god-, I am, of Jesus as the son of God. Muhammad, however had to remain just a man because he would otherwise have been superfluous.

While Muhammad gave the impression of a man and a warrior, Jesus gave the impression of an angel. The same applied to the women in the Quran who -unlike Martha and Mary of the Gospel-- appear exclusively in their natural function, namely as spouses and mothers.

Therefore, the Christian eye on Muhammad as ‘too much human nature’ is actually a misunderstanding.

The Quran itself stresses that Muhammad is only a man and paraphrased all future attacks on him ( Quran.25:7).

A mere comparison of the vocabulary used in the Gospels and the Quran leads us to several obvious conclusions.

In the Gospels certain words appear very frequently::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::blesses,holy,angel,eternal life,heaven,pharisee,sin,love,repentance,forgiveness,mystery,body ( as the bearer of sin),soul,purification,salvation and so on.

In the Quran the same terms are based on an image of the world, the foreground of which is now occupied by entirely definite and realistic terms such as: Reason,health,cleanliness,strength,buying,contract,pledge,writing,weapons,battle,position,force,struggle,trade,decisiveness,caution,punishment,justice,profit,revenge,hunt,medicine,interest and so on.

Islam knows no specifically 'religious' literature in the European sense of the world. Just as it knows no pure secular literature.

Every Islamic thinker is a theologian. Just as every true Islamic movement is also a political movement.

Similar conclusions can be drawn from the comparison between a mosque and a church. A mosque is a place for people, while church is " God's temple". In the mosque, an atmosphere of rationality prevails; in Church, it is an atmosphere of mysticism. The mosque is always the focus of activity, close to the market, at the heart of the settlement and open, while the church seems too 'elevated; fora similar position. The architecture of the church tends to stress ceremonious silence, darkness,height, a hint of the 'other world". The truth is that in entering a Gothic cathedral, people leave all the earthly cares outside, as if they were entering another world. In a mosque people are supposed to discuss certain very earthly worries after prayer.

We can compare the Christian principle of the Pope's infallibility to the infallibility of the Islamic ijma ( reasoning).

The New Testament turns to man; the Quran turns to the people.

Thus the principle of the people, the whole, and the community emerges. The former is entirely in harmony with the spirit of the Christian elitism and its hierarchical, sacral,monastic principle similar to Buddhism. The latter has a certain secular connotation of refers to the people as an expression of a higher, common mind.Islam does not recognize the elite in terms of monks and the other for the ordinary people. This is an announcement of a democratic principle.

Fight against oppression and struggle against disparity is the command of the Quran which one is totally different than Christianity and other religions. Muhammad was a saint as well as was a warrior who had nine swords.

Prohibition of alcohol in Islam is a social character. There are certain religions even in Hinduism it is taken as artificial stimulants to some degree to help ecstasy.

The unique feature of Islam as a unity is however torn asunder by some who emphasize its religious component at the expense of its other component. Islam is reduced to religion and mysticism. As soon as activity weakens, as soon as we neglect our "share in this world" ( Quran, 2:177).

And cease to be in harmony with it,the Islamic state becomes like any other and the religion in Islam begins to affect as any other: the state becomes a naked power serving only itself, while religion begins to pull society toward passivity and backwardness.

The king, amirs, godless scientists, clergy,dervish orders, mysticism, drunken poets-- all of these simple constitute an external aspect of the inner break according to the well known Christianity formula: “render unto God that which is God's and unto Caesar that which is Caesar's”.

The mystic philosophy as its base is certainly the most typical form of that deviation, which could be called the " Christianization"of Islam-- a relapse within Islam from Muhammad back to Jesus.

There is another, opposite danger too, but the general impression prevails that the materialism of Islam-that is the sum of the natural and social elements inherent to it- make the Islamic world impervious to other extreme materialist teachings which are constantly spreading from Europe.

In pre-revolutionary Russia, its Don Quixotesque Christianity was unable to face the leftist realism. Thus Islam is neither a religion nor a secular mode of thinking.

To be continued

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Sources:

1.Bertrand Russell:The History of Western Philosophy.

2. Sombart: Les Jufisdans la vie economique.

3.Stefeno Bianco:Polvalence and Felexibility in the structure of Islamic City.

4. Henri de Lubac:Introduction a Origene.

6. Quran.

7. Bible.

8. Alija Izetbegovic.

9. SayyidQutb

10. Karl Marx.

11. Hegel

12. Some others.