Page 32 - Islam and Karma
P. 32

ISLAM AND KARMA



             the highest caste as a Brahmin – priest. It is believed that if one does
             good deeds during his life as a Brahmin, he will not come back to this
             world again. For someone of this kind, the "wheel of life" is completed
             and he has "attained Nirvana”.
                  According to this belief, ”attaining Nirvana" means that one has
             thrown off all worldly desires and returned to the soul of Brahman
             who is described as the "Soul of the World”, with whom one is united.

             In Indian religions, this is thought to be the greatest happiness a soul
             can achieve. Thus, according to this incorrect belief, even though a
             person may do good every time he is born into this world, this will
             never result in his having an afterlife; he will return to and become
             united with the soul of Brahman. 3
                  In some Buddhist sources, we are given the following information
             about life after death:

                  Whether one is reborn in Heaven or in one of the various levels of
                  Hell, the forms of existence in these places are transitory, as they are
                  on earth, and are not eternal. As in Hinduism, the period of time dur-
                  ing which the individual remains in these places depends on the
                  amount of good and evil they have done while on earth. When the
                  proscribed time has been completed, they will return to earth again.
                  Heaven and Hell are no more than temporary states of existence in
                  which the acts of the individual while on earth receive their reward. 4
                  Thus we see that in karma concept there is a belief of a kind in a
             Heaven and Hell in which people receive the reward of their actions.
             However, because this belief is not derived from a religion of truth, it
             contains many inconsistencies and logical fallacies. First of all, it is
             claimed that Heaven and Hell are transitory, not eternal—this is not

             what true religions tell us.
                  The most illogical aspect of this idea is the belief that this whole
             system works by itself. In other words, the existence of a Creator Who







                                                30
   27   28   29   30   31   32   33   34   35   36   37