PEACE IN DIFFERENT RELIGIONS

of moral principles. The basis of Buddhism may be called a moral philosophy, or an ethical way of life. The life of Gautam Buddha (Siddharth Gautam), the founder of Buddhism, is historically not well authenticated, but it is believed that he was born in north India around 560 B.C. When he attained adulthood, he happened to see some scenes of human misery. Since he was a sensitive person, he began to ponder over the reason for pain and suffering. He then set himself the goal of ending pain and suffering in human life. After a long period of deep reflection and meditation, he formulated certain moral principles. Since his chief objective in life was to end human misery, he attached the greatest importance to the fact that man should free himself from all kinds of desires for it is these desires that lead man into all kinds of evils, including violence. The principles he set forth to govern human life are as follows: One must renounce all desires and all thoughts of lust, bitterness, and cruelty. One must harm no living creature. One must abstain from all killing. One must work in an occupation that benefits others and harms no one. In principle, there is no place for violence in Buddhism for the aim of Buddhism is basically personal reform and personal reform can come about only by striving hard against one’s own self, rather than by committing aggression against others. It would be correct to say that violence is alien to the Buddhist scheme of things. Ideologically, Buddhism has no direct relation with violence. Peace in Islam Peace is contained in the meaning of the very word ‘Islam’ itself. The root of the word ‘Islam’ is silm, which means ‘peace’. And so, Islam means a religion of peace. According to a hadith report (recorded in the Sahih al-Bukhari), the Prophet remarked that peace is part of Islam. Likewise, the Prophet is reported to have declared that a Muslim is he from whose tongue and hands people live safely. In other words, a Muslim in the true sense of the word is a person who does not harm anyone by his or her words or deeds. Among God’s various names or attributes mentioned in the Quran is As-Salam, or ‘The Source of Peace’. That is to say, God is Peace. Similarly, in a hadith report recorded in the Sahih al-Bukhari, the Prophet mentioned that God Himself is Peace. According to Islam, heaven is