Pendapat Sarjana-sarjana Islam tentang Buddha

Tulisan di bawah ini saya petik dari jurnal Faces of Islam in Southern Thailand. oleh Imtiyaz Yusuf jilid 7, March 2007.
Ini merupakan copy-paste dan tidak ada tokok tambah dari saya.

..
I have referred to the history of relations between Islam and
Buddhism in my other paper (Imtiyaz Yusuf, 2003:131-143). Here I
present it again with some additional information.
Religious encounter between Islam and Buddhism is as old as Islam. The first encounter between Islam and ashab al-Bidada or the Buddhist community took place in the middle of 7th CE in the regions of East Persia, Transoxiana, Afghanistan and Sindh. Historical evidence
suggests that some early Muslims extended the Qur'anic category of ahl al-Kitab―people of the book or revealed religion to include the Hindus and the Buddhists. The second encounter took place in Southeast Asia beginning around 12th ‐ 13th CE. During the 2nd century of Islam or the 8th century CE Muslims translated many Buddhist works into Arabic. We can find Arabic titles
such as, Bilawar wa Budhasaf and Kitab al-Budd. as evidence of Muslim study of Buddhism(Ignaz Goldziher, 1981:141).
Ibn al‐Nadim (d. 995 CE), the author of al-Firhist, in spite of being
aware of the idol‐worship of the Buddha, comments that:

These people (Buddhists of Khurasan) are the most generous of all the inhabitants of the earth and of all the religionists. This is because their prophet Budhasaf (Bhodhisattva) has taught them that the greatest sin, which should never be thought of or commited is the utterance of 'No'. Hence they act upon this advice; They regard the uttering of 'No' as an act of Satan. it is their very religion to banish Satan.

There is evidence of Buddhist survival in the succeeding Muslim era of this region, for example, the Barmak family of Buddhist monks who played a powerful administrative role in the early Abbasid Dynasty. The Abbasid ruled from Bagdad during 750 - 1258 CE , governing most of the Islamic world. The Barmakids controlled the Buddhist monastery of Naw Bahar near Balkh including other Iranian monasteries.
There was also the survival of several Buddhist beliefs and practices among the Muslims of Central Asia. For example, the Samanid dynasty which ruled Persia during the 9th and 10th centuries invented and modelled the madrasah or Muslim religious schools devoted to advanced studies in the Islamic religious sciences after the Buddhist school in Eastern Iran. Similar may have been the case with pondoks and pesenterens- Muslim religious schools of Southeast Asia.
Muslim religious scholar and historian, Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari (839-923 CE), who was born in Amul in Tabristan, Nothern Persia mentions that Buddhist idol were brought from Kabul, Afghanistan to Bagdad in the ninth century.It is also reported that Buddhist idol were sold in Buddhist temple next to Makh mosque in the market of the city of Bukharain present Uzbekistan.

Religious encounter between Islam and Buddhism is as old as Islam, it predates the coming of Islam to Southeast Asia by about thirteen centuries.

The first encounter between Islam and ashab al-Bidada or the Buddhist community took place in the middle of 7th CE in the regions of East Persia, Transoxiana, Afghanistan and Sindh.

Historical evidence suggests that some early Muslims extended the Qur'anic category of
Ahl al-Kitab also to include the Hindus and the Buddhists .
Ibn al-Nadim, (d. 385 AH/995 CE), the author of al-Firhist in spite of
being aware of the idol-worship of the Buddha comments that:
These people (Buddhists of Khurasan) are the most generous of all the
inhabitants of the earth and of all the religionists. This is because their prophet Badasaf(Bodhisattva) has taught them that the greatest sin, which should never be thought of or committed is the utterance of `No.' Hence they act upon this advise; they regard the uttering of `No' as an act of Satan. And it is their very religion to banish Satan.
(S. M. Yusuf, 1955 : 28)

Classical Muslim scholar of comparative religion al-Shahrastani' (AH/1086-1153 CE), in his section on 'Ara' al-hind' (The Views of the Indians) of his magnum opus Kitab al-milal wan-nihal(Book of Religious and Philosophical Sects) pays high spiritual respect to Buddhism. This was done by identifying the Buddha with the Qur'anic figure of al-Khidr, as a seeker of enlightenment mentioned in the Qur'an.

More recently, late Prof. Hamidullah observes that in line with the Qur'anic view of prophethood, the Buddha can be regarded as one among the previous prophets. According to Hamidullah, the symbolic mention of the fig tree in chapter 95, verse 1 of the Qur'an alludes to the prophethood of the Buddha. He concludes that since Buddha is said to have received
Nirvana- Enlightenment under a wild fig tree and that fig tree does not figure prominently in the lives any of prophets mentioned the Qur'an, hence, the Qur'anic verse refers to Gautama Buddha.

By the fig and the olive,By Mount Sinai,And by this land made safe;
Surely We created man of the best statureThen We reduced him to the lowest of the low,Save those who believe and do good works, and theirs is a reward unfailing.
So who henceforth will give the lie to thee about the judgment?Is not Allah the most conclusive of all judges?
Qur'an 95:1-8

Dr Imtiyaz Yusuf is a lecturer at the Graduate School of Philosophy and Religion, Assumption University Bangkok.