The Last Prophet Buddha Continue..

Haroon Mosque

Brothers and Sisters,               Friday November 16^th. 2012

Surah Ghafir 40:78.  And, indeed We have sent Messengers before you (O Muhammad): of some of them We have related to you their story.  And of some We have not related to you their story, .......

          “Around the Ka’bah lies the graves of three hundred prophets.” (Sahih Muslim) There are many Prophets that we do not know.   We have learnt the story of Prophet Ibrahim, Musa, Isa (A.s.) and how they are related to Prophet Muhammad (Sal).  Though we could not find any story about Buddha in the Quran but consider this:'I am not the first Buddha [ awakened one ] who has come upon the Earth, nor will I be the last. In due time another Buddha will rise in the world, a holy one, a supreme enlightened one, endowed with auspicious wisdom embracing the universe, an incomparable leader of men.  He will proclaim a righteous life wholly perfect and pure, such as I now proclaim. His disciples will number many thousands, while mine number many hundreds. He will be known as Maitreya.' - Buddha Gautama. 

          Prophet Muhammad (Sal) proclaimed that Islam is completed during the last Hajj. Islam taught about the knowledge of Universe. Buddhism spread through Asia while Islam spread through out the world.  As a result many Muslims scholars who studied Buddhist texts believe that Maitreya is “Rahmatu lil ‘Alameen” (Mercy for the Worlds), which is the name for the Prophet Muhammad and it is said in the Quran.  According to the research on the book Antim Buddha – Maitreya concluded that Muhammad had been the last and final awakened Buddha that came into existence long after the current teachings. 

Surah Al-Ahzab 33:40 Muhammad (SAW) is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last (end) of the Prophets. And Allah is Ever AllAware of everything.

          The seal of Prophets or the last and final Buddha according to Buddha’ Prediction will come when the world reaches 80,000 years of age, before the end of the world. Seven days after the birth of the Bodhisatta,(the last Buddha) his mother dies and is reborn in the Tusita Deva world (heaven).  He would be born and later conquered in the city of Ketumati - tranquil, safe, and free from danger. It is illuminated at all time. Men and women will be happy and joyful, enjoying festivals. They will have plenty to eat and drink. The city will have beautiful lotus ponds, full of water that is fragrant, clear, clean, cool, and sweet. The ponds will be accessible to people at all times.

          The prediction can be understood like this: 80,000 years is the time from Adam (A.s.) to the time of Prophet Muhammad (Sal). Prophet Muhammad (Sal) was an orphan since babyhood.  He was born in Mecca the city pure and safe.  The city is full of lights at all time.  Zamzam water is still available for the visitors today.  Finally, Prophet Muhammad (Sal) conquered Mecca.  There is no other city in the world representing Ketumati like Mecca. 

Surah Al-Imran 3:96 Verily, the first House (of worship) appointed for mankind was that at Bakkah (Makkah), full of blessing, and a guidance for Al-'Alamin (the mankind and jinns).

          Rasullullah(Sal) stated in a Hadith- “The best and the most beloved city on the face of this earth to Allah is Makkah.” (Sahih Al-Bukhari)  “There is no city on earth through which Allah multiplies one good deed by a hundred thousand except Makkah.” (Sahih Bukhari , lbn Hibban)  Mecca is the original place of worship to Allah (Sub) Alone from the beginning of time till now.  It is confirmed by many scriptures in many names like Bakkah and also Ketumati.

The last Prophet Buddha

Haroon Mosque

Brothers and Sisters,                      Friday November 9^th. 2012

          In the next 2 years ASEAN Community comprised of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam will be officially commenced.  There are more than 250 millions Muslims, the largest in ASEAN.  The second largest is Buddhists.  When the community is one then it is necessary to learn how to live in peace together.  To know them and to know us will help us win without entering into any war.  Remember Umar (rd.) conquered Jerusalem without bloodshed.  Let’s begin with Al-Quran.

Surah At-Tin  95:1-3   1: By the fig, and the olive, 2: By Mount Sinai, 3: And by this city of security (Makkah).

            Al-Quran mentioned about the places where Allah (Sub) revealed His Revelations. The family of Fig Tree or Ficus includes Bodhi, Banyan, where Buddha achieved enlightenment and preached under the Bodhi tree.  Buddha means person who is enlightened and preaching the truth. It does not mean ‘God’.   It is equal to Messenger of Allah in Islam. At present we can neither accept nor reject his prophethood due to inadequate evidence. There were hundreds thousands of Buddha in the universe.  But there are 5 major Buddhas taught in Buddhism. Similarly to Islam when we have 5 major Nabi who were heavily trialed by Allah (Sub). The Buddha was not an Indian but the decedent of Prophet Ibrahim with Keturah. His father was King Suddhodana, Leader of the Sakya clan in the state of Kosala, and his mother was Queen Maya. He was raised by his mother's younger sister after his mother's death seven days after childbirth. Later his first cousin, Ananda joined the Buddha as his attendant.  Does it sound so familiar to us when Prophet Muhammad (Sal) was also an orphan and his cousin Ali (Rd.) became Muslim when he was a boy and was also as his attendant. 

          At the age of 35, he attained Enlightenment. Siddhartha Gautama discovered the Buddhist Middle Way—a path of moderation away from the extremes of self-indulgence and self-mortification.   Let’s examine the Middle Way in Islam.

Surah Baqarah 2: 143.    “Thus We have appointed you a middle nation.”

          Prophet Muhammad taught us to be well balanced. He (Sal) fast and break fast.  He prayed and slept at night. He (Sal) warned us against loving or hating to any extreme.  He explained, “Do not love your friend excessively; he may one day become your enemy.  Do not hate your enemy excessively; he may one day become your friend.”[At-Tirmidhi]    Jâbir bin ‘Abdullâh  narrated, “We were sitting in the company of the Prophet . He drew a (straight) line and drew two (other) lines on its right side and two lines on its  left side.   He  then  placed  his hand on the middle  line and  remarked, “This  is Allâh’s Path.”  Then, he recited this verse: ‘and verily, it is My Straight Path; so follow not the (other) paths. They will separate you away from His Path.’ (Surah Al-An-am 6:153).’” (Ibn Mâjah 1/11)

          Gautam Buddha rejects all the Gods in Polytheism widely spread by Hinduism in India.  That is why people misunderstand that there is no God in Buddhism.  Buddha was preaching Monotheism.  Similarly when Prophet Muhammad (Sal) said “La Ilaha Illallah” (there is no other gods but Allah), he rejected all the false gods in Mecca.  The Middle Way of Buddhism refers to the insight into emptiness or Sunyata. The definition of Sunyata varies: the unseen, everlasting, ever-existing etc.  In conclusion, the teaching of Buddha can be like this: “There is no god except Sunyata.” Buddhism spread through out Asia and even to Greek. But only 300 years after the time of Gautama Buddha, Buddhism was declining.  Many Buddhist Temples were turned into Hindu temples, many innocent monks were killed and the Hindu traditions were blended seamlessly into Buddhists’ way of life.      This reminds us how we protect ourselves by not blending the tradition of Jahiliya into our way of life.  Remember the Middle Line that Rasulullah (Sal) advised us to follow and there are other 4 paralleled lines that we must not follow.  

Eidil Adha

Haroon Mosque  Eidil Adha 1433

Brothers and Sisters,                                Friday October 26^th. 2012

          Hajj demonstrates the essence of Islam - the true religion believing in Allah Alone.  All the ceremonies and places the pilgrims have gone to rehearse a great deal of history of Tawheed, or believing in Islamic Monotheism.  Hajj is obligatory once in a lifetime. The Prophet (Sal) said, "He who performs (Hajj) with no obscenity or evil practices will come out as a newly born baby - free from all sins." (Bukhari & Muslim)

          This day, many thousand years ago, Prophet Ibrahim (As) sacrificed his only son to fulfill his loyalty to Allah Alone and the same day Allah (Sub) saved Prophet Ismail (As) life, instead a ram was provided for the sacrifice. 

      

Surah Al-Hajj  22:37….It is neither their meat nor their blood that reaches Allah, but it is piety from you that reaches Him…

          On this day of Eid Al-Adha, the pilgrims select Ismail for sacrifice.  His Ismail can be anything that is causing an obstruction for him to reach Allah. It can be wealth, job, rank, power, lust, greed.  Anything that is dear to him as Prophet Ismail (As) was to Prophet Ibrahim (As). We are also sacrificing an animal, bear in mind that we are in fact, sacrificing that dearest thing in our life and telling Allah (Sub) that: “Anything dearest to me in life, will not hinder me from reaching You and acquiring Your pleasure.”

                
The essence of throwing pebbles is to disconnect with Satan.  We have to follow the path of Prophet Muhammad (Sal) in order to stay away from the footsteps of Satan.  Remember his visit to Taif, in the early years of Islam.  He went there to try to save the people from worshipping idols and to worship Allah Alone. But they drove him out of Taif and left him injured and bleeding. The angel of mountains appeared and offered to destroy the city of Taif in an earthquake. “No, no! he (Sal) pleaded. “Don’t destroy them. Perhaps their children will one day accept my message.”    That’s the kind of merciful example we must follow. Perhaps the children of today’s Islam haters will be sitting amongst us.  Anything is possible for Allah! Don’t let our anger lead us into Satan’s footsteps.   We cannot defend Islam by burning flags, temples.

Surah As-Saff 61:8 They intend to put out the Light of Allah (i.e. the religion of Islam, this Quran, and Prophet Muhammad SAW) with their mouths. But Allah will complete His Light even though the disbelievers hate (it).

        
Allah can defend His religion. The history of Islam shows that many Islam’s worst enemies became the most outstanding Muslims.   Umar ibn al Khattab (Rd) was on his way, sword unsheathed, to kill Prophet Muhammad (Sal). When he heard the opening verses of Surah Ta Ha, his heart melted and he became an outstanding Muslim as the second Caliph and conqueror of Jerusalem.    Amr ibn al As (Rd) wanted the King of Abyssinia to return the Muslims to Mecca where they were being persecuted. Later Amr accepted Islam, within 2 weeks he led Muslim armies to conquer Egypt.  Khalid bin Walid (Rd) fought against Prophet Muhammad at the Battle of Uhud and later led the Muslims to conquer Roman and Persian armies.  Allah knows, what we do not know. We should stop behaving like judge or executioner. Remember that Allah is the best of planners.

Surah Al-Imran 3:32 Say (O Muhammad SAW): "Obey Allah and the Messenger (Muhammad SAW)." But if they turn away, then Allah does not like the disbelievers.

          Turn controversy into an opportunity to share Islam with others. Tell our non-Muslim neighbors, friends about Prophet Muhammad (Sal). Tell them how he transformed a band of uncivilized community into a nation of civilization.  Tell them how he established women rights, caring the weak and showed kindness even to his enemies.  He was courteous to people of other faiths.  And most importantly, make sure that we get to know our own Prophet well. 

Surah Al-Maidah 5:3…“This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed My Favour upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.”…

          Prophet Muhammad (Sal) would take one route to the place of worship and took another route while returning to meet and wish relatives and friends along the way.  And we also should exchange Salaams among us. May Allah strengthen our Muslim relationships and improve our conditions in our communities and our countries too.