Buddhist-Muslim relations are usually seen as inherently confrontational. This book challenges the view of Buddhism and Islam as fundamentally irreconcilable by exploring the diverse ways representatives of the two traditions have engaged each other in Southeast Asiaâthe global frontstage of contemporary Buddhist-Muslim relationsâand Japanâa Buddhist-majority country whose âIslam policyâ played a significant role in its surge to global power status. It investigates the processes through which mutual perceptions and discourses have developed in response to shifting socio-political circumstances and via the intellectual interventions of leading personalities.
Kieko Obuse, DPhil (University of Oxford), was formerly a Lecturer at Mahidol University, and is currently affiliated with the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies and McGill University. She co-edited The Oxford Handbook of the Sociology of the Middle East (2022) and is the book review editor of the Journal of Religion in Japan.
Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Notes on Transliteration, Foreign Names, and Translation
Introduction: Diversity and Change in Buddhist-Muslim Engagements
â1âChallenges Accompanying the Study of Buddhist-Muslim Engagements
â2âToward a Comprehensive Approach to Buddhist-Muslim Engagements
â3âWhy Focus on Doctrines?
â4âRedefining Doctrines and Theologies
â5âThe Production of Difference: Mutual Perceptions as Interpretive Possibilities
â6âBuddhist-Muslim Engagements in Southeast Asia and Japan
1âBuddhism and Islam: A Doomed Project?
â1âApplying the Categories in the Theology of Religions to Buddhist-Muslim Engagements
â2âThe Two Types of Parallelism
â3âKey Concepts and Doctrines of Buddhism and Islam
â3.1âProphethood and God in Islam
â3.2âBodhisattva and Emptiness as the DharmakÄya
â3.3âTheravÄda, SÅtÅ-Zen, and JÅdo-shin Schools
â4âComparative Analysis and Implications for Buddhist-Muslim Perceptions
â4.1âHoly Men in Buddhism and Islam: Prophets, Saints, and Bodhisattvas
2âBuddhas and Prophets in the Shared History
â1âThe Early Period (632â1256)
â1.1âFirst Encounters
â1.2âEarly Muslim Writings
â1.3âEarly Buddhist Writings
â2âThe Post-classical Period (1256â1585)
â2.1âPost-classical Encounters
â2.2âPost-classical Muslim Writings
â2.3âPost-classical Buddhist Writings
â3âThe Modern Period (1585â1947)
â3.1âModern Encounters
â3.2âModern Muslim Writings
â3.3âModern Buddhist Writings
3âThe Challenge of Pluralism and the Chance of Parallelism within Buddhist-Muslim Dialogue in Southeast Asia
â1âBuddhist-Muslim Relations in Thailand and Malaysia
â2âDialogue Initiatives in Thailand and Malaysia
4âSoutheast Asia as a Fertile Ground for Parallelism? Emerging Trends in Contemporary Buddhist-Muslim Engagements
â1âBuddhist Writings in Thailand
â2âBuddhist Writings in Malaysia
â3âMuslim Writings in Malaysia
â4âLeading Voice of Parallelism in Southeast Asia: Imtiyaz Yusuf
â5âParallelism Employed Outside Southeast Asia
â5.1âPioneer of Buddhist Parallelism: Alexander Berzin
5âFrom Exoticism to Asian Brotherhood: The Japanese Engagement with Islam
â1âThe Early-to-Modern Period (754â1854)
â1.1âEarly Encounters
â1.2âJapanese Writings of the Early Period
â1.3âMuslim Writings (from the Seventeenth Century Onward)
â2âThe Late-Colonial Period (1854â1912)
â2.1âLate-Colonial Encounters and First Japanese Conversions to Islam
â2.2âJapanese Writings from the Late-Colonial Period
â2.3âMuslim Writings of the Late-Colonial Period
â3âThe Imperialist Period (1912â1945)
â3.1âEncounters during the Imperialist Period
â3.2âJapanese Writings on Islam from the Imperialist Period
â3.3âMuslim Writings during the Imperialist Period
6âRepositioning Islam in Contemporary Japan: Can Parallelism Challenge the Monotheism-Polytheism Divide?
â1âIslam-Related Incidents in Japan and the Discourse of Othering
â1.1âThe Japanese Discourse of a Monotheism-Polytheism Divide
â2âDialogues and Symposiums
â2.1âBuddhist-Muslim Dialogues in Japan
â3âMuslim Writings in Contemporary Japan
â3.1âAccounts by Non-Japanese Muslims
â3.2âAccounts by Japanese Muslims
â4âBuddhist Writings in Contemporary Japan
â4.1âSeeds of Parallelism
â4.2âToward a Fully-Fledged Parallelism
â4.3âStructural Parallelism of Mystical Experiences: Toshihiko Izutsu
â4.5âParallelism between Allah and Emptiness/Amida Buddha: Rikyū Kono
Conclusion: The Potential of Parallelism as a Method for Religious Studies
Bibliography
Index
Students and scholars of Religious Studies, interreligious/interfaith studies, Islamic Studies, Buddhist Studies, Middle East Studies, Southeast Asian Studies, East Asian Studies, comparative and intercultural theology, cultural and intellectual history, and the sociology of Orientalism; academic/university libraries; journalists and policy-makers working on interreligious issues and cultural diversity in Southeast and East Asia; those interested in Buddhism and Islam.