bs_bs_banner

T M W

V 104

J ANUARY /A PRIL

2014

Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road

By Johan Elverskog
Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2010.
340 pp. ISBN 978-0-8122-4237-9
Johan Elverskogs Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road is one of the most significant
recent contributions to scholarship on Buddhist-Muslim relations, a subject which has
long suffered neglect on both academic and popular levels. It provides an historical
narrative of involvement between Buddhists and Muslims in and around Inner Asia up
to the end of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Being perhaps the most extensive academic study
of the history of Buddhist-Muslim relations thus far produced, its most innovative aspect
is the way it has attempted to demonstrate similarities between Buddhism and Islam,
which have often been regarded as irreconcilably different, through examining their
histories rather than their beliefs and practices.
The author introduces the topic by referring to the Muslim attacks on Nalanda in 1202,
usually regarded as indicating the demise of Buddhism in India. He argues that the
stereotypical image of Muslims as hostile towards Buddhists has been constructed in the
West, and reaffirmed with the Talibans destruction of the giant Buddha statues in
Bamiyan in 2001 (pp. 14). The book proposes to challenge such preconceptions,
through examining five different thematic issues in historical Buddhist-Muslim involvement: trade, perceptions, art, politics and religious foodways (pp. 4 and 7), promising
rather boldly: What follows is not only a good story, but also reveals how rather than
being diametrically opposite Buddhism and Islam are actually very much the same (p.8).
Chapter One, titled Contact, deals with the period from 700 to 1000CE. It first
discusses how Buddhism and Islam developed in their respective geo-cultural areas, i.e.
Northern India and Arabia, and demonstrates that both religions spoke to a new, urban,
merchant class, providing it with a means of validating itself in this new socioeconomic
world by means of religion (p.25). The author also points out that Muslims went into
the Indian subcontinent primarily to further their economic interests and not to spread
the Islamic faith; the decline of Dharma being due to Buddhists losing the support of the
merchant community to Muslims and Hindus (pp.4142, 44). Noting that Buddhists were
proactive in this economic competition (p.52), he emphasises that there was little
tension between the two groups, with Muslims allowing Buddhists to continue with their
religious observances (pp. 48, 50 and 52).
Chapter Two, titled Understanding, traces the development of mutual perceptions
between Buddhists and Muslims in the same period. It argues that attitudes towards their
religious other were mutually determined, for the most part, by what they perceived
themselves to be: Muslims as the confident winners on the Indian subcontinent and
Buddhism as the doomed tradition. This contrast is shown to be reflected in the decreased
interest that Muslim writers displayed in Buddhism. For example, al-Shahrastan
(10861153) simply explains it away using Islamic theological categories such as

228

2014 Hartford Seminary.

B R

idolatry (pp.7071, 8889), rather than examining what Buddhists really practiced
(p.64). Buddhists, on their part, responded frantically to Islam by creating entirely new
mythologies and astrological systems (p.115). Their sense of doom and desperation
(p.97), the author argues, is reflected well in the Kalacakratantra, which depicts Muslims
as the ultimate enemy for Buddhists (p. 115).
Chapter Three further explores the issue of idolatry in Buddhist-Muslim relations
during the period of 11001400, highlighting the influence Buddhist art had on Islamic
religious art. Throughout the chapter, the author emphasises the truly cosmopolitan
environment realised under Mongol rule. The fruit of this pax Mongolica (p.162)
includes Rashd al-Dns (12471318) work of history, which discusses both Kashmiri
and Chinese traditions of Buddhism (p.149f ), and even the latest development in the
creation of a Tibetan Buddhist canon (p.161). Against this backdrop, the author argues
that Islamic art produced the very first portraiture of Prophet Muhammad, something
undreamed of in its earlier history. This development was partly encouraged by
Buddhism, a profoundly visual tradition (p.165). It was enacted for pragmatic reasons,
since competing Sunni and Shia groups used the visual medium in their efforts to
promote their respective faith among the Mongols, following the (originally Tibetan)
Buddhist use of visual representations (pp.167169).
Chapter Four, titled Jihad, in turn casts a light on more confrontational aspects of
the post-Mongol history (14001650). Tracing the division of the Mongol Empire and
how the different khans attempted to balance religion and their Mongol heritage, it
demonstrates how the new divide between the Buddhist and Muslim worlds of Inner
Asia, came into existence. The author highlights parallels found between developments
in the Turkic-speaking Muslim half and the Tibeto-Mongol Buddhist half (p.179),
most notably, how similar theocratic models developed in both worlds, with the Great
Master of the Naqshbandiyya Sufi order and the Great Fifth (Dalai Lama) of the Tibetan
tradition respectively, uniting religious and political power in one person (p.216).
Given that these worlds were so far apart, he thus argues that most of the violence which
took place during this period was due to internal tensions triggered by political,
economic, or other ideological concerns, and was not an expression of collective
hostility from one religion towards the other (p.224).
Chapter Five, titled Halal, is set in the period of 16441911 and examines the
changing policies that non-Muslim rulers of the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties adopted
towards Islamic dietary practices. Examining the political, social and economic concerns
behind them, it highlights the great symbolic importance attached to religious foodways:
what we eat defines us in terms of religion, class, nationality, and so on . . . it is a
powerful means of drawing boundaries (p.241). While the chapter discusses various
episodes of tension between Buddhists and Muslims, it eventually concludes with a rare
example of a comparative analysis of Buddhist and Muslim practices that was produced
through a modern perspective. Injannashi (183792), a Mongol nobleman and writer,
argues for the importance of recognising an internal logic upon which various religious
practices are based (pp.257259): The outer aspects may differ but the thought behind
2014 Hartford Seminary.

229

bs_bs_banner

T M W

V 104

J ANUARY /A PRIL

2014

them are the same. His analysis is then interpreted thus: By proving Buddhists and
Muslims are fundamentally the same, Injannashi believed he had overcome not only the
problem of prejudice but the problem of difference (p.260).
In Conclusion, the author once again emphasises that the idea that Buddhism and
Islam are inherently different is still prevalent in the contemporary period (p.261).
Proposing now to [think] instead about the present and future, he finishes by asking
further important questions about Buddhist-Muslim relations, such as what the history
of Buddhist-Muslim encounter tells us about the contemporary world, and how
Buddhists and Muslims will understand each other (p.264).
This work squarely challenges the stereotypical images of Buddhism and Islam. The
author draws on a variety of materials, including fabricated stories, using them skillfully
to explore the social and political contexts of Buddhist-Muslim involvement. However,
towards the end of the book, it could appear that the author rushes rather too much
towards the conclusion that Islam and Buddhism are pretty much the same.
As the author eloquently demonstrates, there are indeed a number of parallels
between the ways Buddhism and Islam have developed in history. However, this
alone would not establish the sameness of these two traditions. What he has shown,
especially by discussing Injannashis view in such positive terms, is how similar
Buddhists and Muslims are as human beings in their reactions to various social,
political, and cultural circumstances. Moreover, as the author acknowledges,
Injannashis view was exceptional in his time; since he did not believe in any
supernatural beings, he merely provided a non-religious perspective, not an example
of a Buddhist or Muslim voice. Therefore, focusing on Injannashis view is arguably
unhelpful in understanding the real dynamics of Buddhist-Muslim perceptions. In
other words, it does not seem to provide a sufficient platform upon which contemporary Buddhists and Muslims can overcome the conventional negative perceptions
about each other. For this purpose, it is essential to discuss the doctrinal differences
that are perceived between the two traditions. Most notably, the question of God has
been the biggest stumbling block in contemporary Buddhist-Muslim relations. It
would have been helpful if, rather than proposing simply to watch out for future
developments, the author had discussed major trends in contemporary Buddhist and
Muslim views about each other, including those expressed regarding the Bamiyan
incident, which he used as the starting point for his story.
It has to be admitted however that the absence of a proper doctrinal discussion in
this book indeed derives from the very novelty of the historical approach it has
employed, and its focus on human activities. There is no doubt that this work serves
as an invaluable source for those who are interested in Buddhist-Muslim relations and an
inspiration for further research.

Kieko Obuse
Mahidol University
230

2014 Hartford Seminary.