Rev.Henderson
World Religion
10/12/2013
Buddhism VS Islam
Buddhism and Islam are two major global religions in modern times with roots that are ancient. These two religions have billions of people who are followers, and act as major influences in politics, culture, and societies all over the world. The Islamic religion has the most followers in countries located in the Middle East and northern Africa. Buddhism has the most followers throughout the continent of Asia. Even though both religions are very different, and are in two different places, they both share a common goal.
Buddhism originated in India, and was founded by a man by the name of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who was known to be Buddha, or the enlightened one. Born as a prince, he later renounced his comfortable life in search for nirvana. In order to do that, he joined a band of ascetic, who was a group of Hindu priests. The Buddha taught his followers to follow "the middle way", which is, not the way of extreme asceticism. He earned full understanding of the nature of being by meditation and …show more content…
The religion began to spread rapidly from the Arabian Peninsula in less than 30 years. The Persian and Roman Empires were defeated by the much less equipped and out-numbered Muslim armies. Over the next several centuries, Islam reached far as India in the east, and to Spain in the west. The spread continued through traders to Southeast Asia, where Indonesia, today's largest Muslim country, received the message of Islam through Arab traders. During the peak of Islam's rule, when Europe was in the Dark Ages, the sciences of mathematics, algebra, astronomy, medicine, physics and other disciplines were made and are still in use today based on the principles of the early Muslim scholars. Today, Islam is considered to be the fastest growing religions in the