|
INTRODUCTION
  
Many people today are searching for a way to escape from all the inhumanity,
chaos, confusion, quarrels, conflicts, worries, selfishness and deceit
we see in the world; they are looking for a way to establish a way of
life that will bring them contentment, inner certainty and peace.
Some of these seekers believe they will find the happiness and peace
of mind they are looking for in religions such as Hinduism or Buddhism.
Many people have been influenced by these eastern religions because of
their aura of mystery and mysticism, and because they make use of techniques
such as meditation, and because of the unusual attitudes, dress, manner
of speech and religious practices of those who follow them.
However, although religions like Hinduism and Buddhism- among the oldest
we know of-give some good ethical advice, not everything they contain
is true. Over the centuries, they have absorbed elements of the customs
and traditions of the societies that have adopted them en masse, and have
degenerated as a result of various legends and erroneous beliefs that
have been added to them, so that the form in which we know them today
is one tainted with superstition. It is for this reason that these religions
espouse many beliefs and practices that conflict with reason and logic.
|
|
So in the following pages it is important to remember
that when we talk about Buddhism and Hinduism we are really talking about
the current extremely ancient and now corrupted and degenerate religions,
and not about the original religions and their founders. We have been
taught by Allah that every people has had messengers and prophets to guide
them through revelation. Some elements in Buddhism similar to the values
of the Qur'an may lead one to think that Buddha might have been one of
these messengers, who preached the religion of truth. But this religion
is extremely ancient and inevitably became corrupted after him, and lost
its authenticity by mixing with the cultures and religions of the countries
in which it originated and to which it spread, and thus turned into a
superstitious religion.1
|
Eastern religions attract people because of
their mystical and mysterious air, despite containinga great many
irrational and illogical beliefs and practices.
|
The belief in karma is one such characteristic of these religions that
are currently attracting interest in our countries. Although it encourages
people to adopt certain positive moral qualities, the philosophy of karma
also contains several erroneous and superstitious beliefs. It is not possible
for these superstitions, which form the basis of the belief in karma,
to become a way to freedom for humanity or to bring people genuine inner
certainty and peace of mind. On the contrary, they cause even greater
spiritual confusion. They cause people to adopt erroneous points of view
and mistaken practices. It is these misleading beliefs and practices which
are the main subject of this book.
|
This is a clear explanation for all mankind,
and guidance and admonition for the heedful,
(Surah Al'Imran: 138)
|
Before considering the erroneous aspects of the belief in karma, it will
be useful to remind ourselves of the following truth: the way to ensuring
real happiness and peace of mind in this world is the religion of Islam
and its source, the Qur'an which our Lord, Allah, the One and Only Lord
of the universe, chose for humanity in order to restore the truths previously
revealed to prophets and messengers among all peoples on Earth but forgotten
and corrupted to some extent almost everywhere. As Allah has told us,
the Qur'an and the Sunnah are the only things capable of rescuing humanity
from darkness and bringing us into the light; the Qur'an is the only book
capable of being humanity's means of liberation. Allah explains this truth
in the following words in the Qur'an, which are addressed to whoever follows
one of the religions which existed before Islam:
People of the Book! Our Messenger has come to you, making
clear to you much of the Book that you have kept concealed, and passing
over a lot. A Light has come to you from Allah and a Clear Book. By it,
Allah guides those who follow what pleases Him to the ways of Peace. He
will bring them from the darkness to the light by His permission, and
guide them to a straight path. (Surat al-Maida: 15-16)
Alif Lam Ra. This is a Book We have sent down to you
so that you can bring mankind from the darkness to the light, by the permission
of their Lord, to the Path of the Almighty, the Praiseworthy. (Surah Ibrahim:
1)
In this book we shall deal both with those aspects of the
belief in karma that concern good ethical practices that accord with the
teachings of the Qur'an, and with those erroneous aspects that accord
neither with the Qu'ran, nor with human reason and nor with human conscience.
We should remember, however, that the belief in karma, in the perverted
form in which we have it with the inclusion of the concept of reincarnation,
is one that is not supported by any evidence whatsoever and that it is
not contained in any divinely revealed book; it is apparently a philosophy
consisting merely of ideas that people have formulated. A philosophy of
this kind could easily be put together by any person. In fact, an ordinary
person could formulate several of these philosophies. Moreover, one would
not need to possess any knowledge or spend any time in order to do this;
a short time would be quite enough to formulate a whole philosophical
system of "beliefs unsupported by evidence". That is because belief in
karma does not make claims to any basis in rationality.
Would it make sense to attempt to implement the rules of an irrational
philosophy that lacks proper evidence to support it? In this book, using
evidence to support our arguments, we will attempt to show how illogical
it is to believe in karma or to try to live in accordance with it or with
any other similar philosophy.
|
