A Comparative and Analytical Study of the Concept of Soul in Islam and Buddhism in the Light of Twentieth Century Scholars

Abstract

The soul plays a central role in Islam and Buddhism, influencing both religions' perspectives on the nature of humans, life, death and the afterlife. Though both traditions ask the same sorts of existential questions, they offer very different answers to what constitutes the soul and identity of the person. In Islam, the soul is considered a gift of Allah to people and is an integral part of their moral responsibility, accountability and life after death.

The Qurʾān says, "And they ask you about the soul, say: 'Of the command of my Lord and of your knowledge you have been given only a little' (Qur'an, Sūrah al-Isrāʾ 17:85). According to this verse, the soul cannot be fully understood by man, but its presence is guaranteed in Islamic beliefs. By contrast, Buddhism does not believe in an eternal, unchanging soul, but rather in the doctrine of Anattā (Non-Self) that explains how the individual is seen as a dynamic collection of the Five Aggregates (Pañcakkhandha) which are not a spiritual entity.

The Buddha taught that a lack of compassion is the source of all suffering. It is because of lack of compassion that all suffering arises, as Walpola Rahula states in What the Buddha Taught (London: Gordon Fraser, 1959, pp. In 51-56, the Buddha has steadfastly rejected the notion of a permanent self and taught of impermanency (anicca) and dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda), which form the foundation of human existence. This research compares and analyzes the idea of soul from Islamic and Buddhist points of view using the lenses of Muslim and Buddhist selected scholars of the twentieth century. The study focuses on the contribution of Abul A‘la Maududi, Muhammad Asad, Fazlur Rahman and Muhammad Hamidullah among the Muslim scholars while the Buddhist view is brought in through the works of Walpola Rahula, Bhikkhu Bodhi, D. T. Suzuki and other prominent Buddhist scholars. Their interpretations have been discussed in connection with the fundamental religious sources to show the continuity and the intellectual development in current scholarships.

The methodology adopted in the research is qualitative, comparative, and analytical with the primary sources of the research are Quran, authentic hadith books, pali canon, and reliable commentaries. The study shows that Islam considers the soul as a reality that has an existence in the metaphysical realm and that will be answered in the afterlife, while Buddhism denies the existence of a permanent soul but instead teaches the concept of the continuity of souls through the concept of "karma" and "rebirth".

These conflicting views have had a significant impact on the concept of human identity, moral obligation, salvation, and eternal fate in both religions. The results advance current comparative religious studies by providing a critical evaluation of two major religious traditions and how they have different understandings of the soul that influence their theological and philosophical perspectives.