Islam:
1) Islam was revealed in the year 570 CE when the prophet Muhammad was born, it’s a monotheistic religion worshipping Allah (Muslim word for God) by praying 5 times a day and other main beliefs or pillars which all have to do with worship and social justice. Similar beliefs about interactions with God to Sikhism. Muhammad, the final Muslim prophet, is highly praised, much of Islam is based on his migration from Medina to the holiest city of Mecca. Centered in Mecca, where Muslims must make a pilgramige to every year. Early growth of Islam is the result of violent, militaristic conquests. Created a distinct political reputation for Muslims, that they fought for religion but were motivated by greed.
2) Sunni and Shi’a are two main groups in Islam, they both agree on the fundamental beliefs and practices of Islam, but have mostly political, social, or ethnic differences. These differences started when Muslims needed to figure out who would lead Islam after Muhammad died in 632 CE. Sunnis believe that Muhammad chose Abu Bakr, a close friend of his, to lead the Islamic state and community. Shi’as believe that he chose Ali, his son-in-law and cousin to succeed him. Abu Bakr ended up succeeding him. They both have evidential claims to why they think their respective leaders should have been the successor.
3) Sufism is a section of Islam. Sufis are not actually mentioned by Muhammad, but they practice currently. They can be found in Sunni and Shi’a groups, but they are the highest order of Islam. They are the people that dedicate all of their time to worshipping Allah. They are formed into Tariqas, or orders. Some Tariqas say that they can trace their roots back to the teachers of Muhammad. Sufis have contributed a lot to Islam, many of their teachings come from Sufis.
4) Akbar was the third ruler of the Indian Mughal Empire from 1558 to 1603. He was a Muslim as were his predesessors, however the majority of their subjects were Hindus. He was strongly influenced and interested by Sufism. He had experienced the true oneness of God or in his case Allah, as referenced in all monotheistic faiths, including Sufism. He had debates with Hindu, Christian, and other religious scholars, he was very tolerant of all religious. He insitituted a number of policies to make his subjects completely allowed and encouraged to practice their faith, this also encouraged them to be more loyal to him. He even showed an example by letting his Hindu wives continually practice their religion. He also repealed various taxes on non-Muslims. Eventually, he declared himself a new religion he created which was a blend between Islam, Hinduism, and Zoroastrianism. His religion never grew, because some Muslim official were never very tolerant of different religions.
*5) The Ottoman empire was based on the practices of Islam, and it was one of the largest empires throughout all of history. It took rule in 1301 and fell in 1922, but was at first very instable. It grew substantially because there were fighters who forced Christians to convert to Islam. The Ottoman empire replaced the Byzantine empire, so the former Byzantine capital, Constantinople, became the Ottoman capital. The success of this empire is due to many factors including centralized government, unity under one religion, and the same family ruling for generations and generations.
Buddhism:
1) Buddhism is based on Siddhartha Gautama’s journey to spritual enlightenment. Siddhartha Gautama was a Hindu in Lumbini, present day Nepal. He lived in India when he was older, where Hinduism comes from. He was born in 490 BCE to an upper class home and was sheltered from the sufferings in life. He was strongly affected by seeing suffering old men on the streets, he saw a religious elderly man who was not in pain like the rest. From this, he was inspired to search for the path to enlightenment or understanding. He traveled and tested out different philosohpies, but was most satisfied when he pursued, “The Middle Way”, the middle way does not involve strict self-restriction of goods, nor does it require a person to be ignorant and gluttonous. One day meditating under a tree, Siddhartha Gautama achieved enlightenment and became the Buddha.
2) Critical aspect of Indian philosophy is attaining enlightment or liberation, also known as nirvana.
there is no self. One self is an illusion created by the interactions of the five aggregates or elements.
Buddha emphasized that nirvana is neither eternal life or annihilation because of the idea that there isn't a self to be destroyed or given eternal life. Illusion is seen as knowledge of the mode of existence. There is no god in Buddhism. Buddhism is based on teachings or dharma, not about deities. Buddha is another meaning for the awakened one. Buddhism is established in present day Cambodia in 100 b.c and in Vietnam in 150 b.c. in the 3rd century Buddhism spreads through Persia through trade.
*3) Shakya Muni is a Hindu god but was a Buddhist, similar to Jesus Christ being Jewish. Shakya Muni preached Buddhist sayings, not new things but things that the Buddha already taught. There is the ceremonial and the spiritual part of Hinduism, in the spiritual part there is no caste system so everybody is equal which very much emmulates Buddhist philosophy. Hinduism and Buddhism are very similar in both their locations and part of their beliefs.
4) During 250 B.C and forward, people of southeast Asia knew about Buddhism due to the fact that they had increased contact with Indian merchants who came to the region for trade. They had established trading centers in that region, bringing their culture and religion with them. Through cultural diffusion, people began to have a mixture of Buddhism and Hinduism. But during the 11th century, the significant way that Buddhism expanded was through rulers and monks. When the Chines moved to Northern Thailand for trade, there was a ruler named Khmer King, and he ruled the northern Thai. However, there came the time that another ruler, named Rama Kamheng, who freed the kingdom from Khmer’s power. After taking control, Rama encouraged people to practice Buddhism. After that, in the 8th century, another ruler named Saliendra adopted Buddhism in the Java Island, building monuments, and temples. However, after 5 years, Islam came to the Island, soon after being the predominant religion, although there are still few Buddhists living there.
5) Today, China is governing Tibet. This had become possible since in 1949, the Chinese government captured Tibet. The major affect that this had was that there were many riots and uproars occurring. As this continued to occur, the government officials of Tibet fled to Dharamsala,India. For those that weren’t able to flee, they were killed. Tibet’s leader today, Dalai Lama, is also in India, and because of this, the Chinese want to kill him. From the riots, a total of 1.2 million civilians of Tibet were killed and 6,200 monasteries were demolished.
Sikhism:
1) Founded in the Punjab by Guru Nanak (born 1469 death 1539) in the 15th Century CE and is a monotheistic religion. Sikhs think religion should be practiced by living in the world and coping with life's everyday problems, which is a similar concept to Buddhism. Some major beliefs are that: everyone has a direct connection to god, there is one god, everyone is equal before god, god is neutral in appearance and gender, being part of a community and being helpful to others is important, no religious ceremonies or rituals. Sikhists believe in karma and reincarnation. Guru Nanak grow up in a Hindu household and had Islamic friends. When he was an adult he had a revelation and learned that there wasn’t Hinduism and Islam for they were worshiping the same god. He tried to blend the cultures to appeal to those of the other faiths and allow his massage to be heard.
2. Diwali, the festival of lights also a hindu holiday late october or early november
symbolises the release of Guru Hargobind and 52 princes from prison in 1619
It goes that when asked the emporer said he would release Guru, but when he was asked to also release the 52 princes he said he would only allow them to leave if they held up his cape made up of exactly 52 strings so each prince held exactly one. In celebration the lights of the Golden Temple were lit in celebration and are lit in celebration of this every year. The holiday is a time to light lanterns and lights along with exchanging gifts and cleaning up your house. (Mostly it’s almost exactly like Christmas)
*3. Amritsar Massacre in April 1919 General E H Dyer ordered troops to fire at 10,000 Indians killing 400 and injuring 1000. The British promoted him, but forced him to immediately forced him to retire added to Indian independence movement. Some historians regard this as the start of the British rule’s decline.
4. 1947 Indian Independence Sikhs too few for own state between India and Pakistan. Sikhs joined with India to keep part of Punjab their home area but were badly treated. Islamics broke off to create Pakistan and go off from India. They lost land and rights as a result of all this.
1966 After a lot of push from the Sikhs India divided Punjab into 3 and gave Sikhs a majority and made it a state. Although the Sikhs found the state lines unfairly drawn and although happy for the state they still demanded more from the government.
5. The fifth guru, Guru Arjan (1563-1606), built the Golden Temple and Adi Ganth (“original collection”). The Golden Temple became the religious monument for Sikhism and was surrounded by a pond for protection. The Adi Ganth became the major book for Sikhism and was created from the writings of holy saints, himself and other gurus he collected the hymns for the book. After which the Islam emperor demanded he convert, and resisting he eventually died from torture. The Adi Ganth is divided into two sections, first the Japji, a decently long poem by Guru Nanak describing the religion and how god is indescribable. The second is 39 rags (“tunes”) by Guru Nanak and later gurus. The third piece is a collection of works, including hymns and poems from Hindu, Muslim and Sikh gurus and saints.
Hinduism:
1) Hinduism: Hinduism is known as the worlds oldest religion. It is traced from 5000-10000 b.c. It originated in India and is based on teachings from the Veda. Hindus believe in one god named Braham, however, they view other gods as manifestations from him. their main goal in this religion is seeking salvation. Buddhism plays an important role in influencing Hinduism due to the way the parables and stories were used as religious instruction, Indian art, sculpture, and education. Additionally, when Aryans began to travel southward towards India in 1500 B.C., they conquested the land. Since their nature is warlike, this is still preserved in the Vedic religion, the foundation of Hinduism. The mode of worship that is still preserved in Hinduism is marriage, prayer for abundance of children, rain, cattle, and long life.
2) In 1320, french missionaries began to arrive in India. One significant missionary, named Jordanus Catalania arrived in Surat in 1323. He changed religion in India since he revived Christianity and brought thousands of Christians with him. Not only that, but when Portugese missionaries, which were mainly Roman catholic, arrived, they expanded their bases on the west coast. They had the determination of converting all Indians to their religion. They succeeded, since they converted most of them. Additionally, in Bombay, High class Hindus were converted by the Portugese in the 16th century. Most of the Hindus were descendants of the Christian community formed by St. Barthmolew and are considered as Portugese Christians.However, the changes that occured was that beginning in the 18th century, Protestant missionaries were in India, building different Christian communities.
3) In 1984 Hindus and Sikhs became at war with one another. Discontent on each side went into politics and came to violence. In June Preacher Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale became a leader of the most angry Sikhs. He was commonly falsely thought of as a representative of all Sikhs. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers took refuge in the Golden Temple Complex. The Hindus then had operation “Blue Star” sending in troops killing Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale’s Sikhs and severely damaging the temple, the most holy Sikh location. When the Sikhs heard this they found that the Indian Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi had order this and found it completely against their religion and community, so in October 1984 she was killed by two Sikh bodyguards. The next four days was anti India rioting and the government said 2,700 people died primarily Sikhs even though the newspapers and human rights groups said 10-17 thousand died.
4.) In 1947, during the post Indian independence, thousands of people were attending mass ceremonies where Hindu Dalits were converting to Buddhism and Christianity. The events occurring in Nagpur were part of a protest against the injustice of the Caste system. The dalits, who were once known as untouchables, wanted to escape the prejudice and discrimination they were facing at the time. Most laws that were created in order to protect the Dalit’s rights were ineffective. Although the Caste system was outlawed after India gained it’s independence in 1947, Dalit’s say that people’s attitude towards them are still the same. Many of the ways they are still treated based on the Caste system is that they are often expected to do many menial jobs. Additionally, in many villages they aren’t allowed to drink water from the wells used by the high caste Hindus.
5.) In 2002, there was Gujarat violence or riots between Hindu and Muslim communities in Gujarat. According to official figures, 1044 people were killed during the riots. Of those people, 497 were Muslim and 790 were Muslim. All of this violence erupted after the Godhra train burning, where a train carrying Hindu fundamentalists was burned near the train station of Godhra by a Muslim mob. The riots began the very next day after that and continued for several months. These riots had been controversial due to the fact that there were a number of human rights groups accusing the Hindu government of active complicity in the violence, and failing to bring justice upon the state of Guajarat. However, in 2004, it was found that the fire was actually accidental.
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