Page 175 - Islam and Buddhism

n ages past, people worshipped statues made of
wood and stone and beseeched them for help. They
feared these statues, believing that they were watch-
ing them and would become angry whenever a per-
son committed sin. Buddha is the Buddhist idol. But
Buddhists who equate Buddha with God—and those
who hop on the bandwagon and become Buddhists to draw at-
tention to themselves—do not realize how seriously they are de-
ceived. Because they do not believe in the eternal afterlife,
Paradise or Hell, it never occurs to them that they will have an
accounting in the presence of God. Since they believe that they
are already on the right path, they react with great surprise when
invited to follow it.

All of the messengers who warned against the
pagan religions that people had followed and called
others to the oneness of God encountered similar
reactions. In the Qur'an (38: 4-7), God says:
They are surprised that a warner should
come to them from among them-
selves. The unbelievers say,
"This is a lying magician.

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