MUHAMMAD (PBUH) IN BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES

MUHAMMAD (PBUH) IN BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES
by Dr. Zakir Naik

According to the Gospel of Buddha by Carus pg. 217 and 218 (From Ceylon
sources): "Ananda said to the Blessed One, 'Who shall teach us when thou art
gone?' And the Blessed one replied, 'I am not the first Buddha who came
upon the earth nor shall I be the last. In due time another Buddha will
arise in the world, a holy one, a supremely enlightened one, endowed with
wisdom in conduct, auspicious, knowing the universe, an incomparable leader
of men, a master of angels and mortals. He will reveal to you the same
eternal truths, which I have taught you. He will preach his religion,
glorious in its origin, glorious at the climax and glorious at the goal. He
will proclaim a religious life, wholly perfect and pure such as I now
proclaim. His disciples will number many thousands while mine number many
hundreds.'

Ananda said, 'How shall we know him?'

The Blessed one replied, 'He will be known as Maitreya'."

(i) The Sanskrit word 'Maitreya' or its equivalent in Pali 'Metteyya' means
loving, compassionate, merciful and benevolent. It also means kindness and
friendliness, sympathy, etc. One Arabic word which is equivalent to all
these words is 'Rahmat'. In Surah Al-Anbiya: "We sent thee not, but as a
mercy for all creatures." [Al-Qur'an 21:107]

Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was called the merciful, which is 'Maitri'.

(ii) The words Mercy and Merciful are mentioned in the Holy Qur'ân no less
than 409 times.

(iii) Every chapter of the Glorious Qur'ân, except Chapter 9, i.e. Surah
Taubah begins with the beautiful formula, 'Bismillah Hir-Rahman Nir-Rahim',
which means 'In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful'.

(iv) The Word Muhammad is also spelt as 'Mahamet' or 'Mahomet' and in
various other ways in different languages. The word 'Maho' or 'Maha' in Pali
and Sanskrit mean Great and Illustrious and 'Metta' means mercy. Therefore
'Mahomet' means 'Great Mercy'.

Continued
http://www.allaahuakbar.net/buddhism/muhammad.htm


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